Westfield Shoppingtown

One of the most dramatic changes to shopping in the Botany area in the 1980s was the development of the Westfield Shoppingtown in Eastgardens.

The Mascot Library and Museum is currently running an exhibition on shopping in Botany and Mascot

Searl and Sons' Botany Nursery

Searl and Sons  was a large nursery, florist and seedsmen company, started by Frederick Searl and his two boys, John Thomas and Frederick Henry in 1867. They had a top retail location in George Street, Sydney, where the Queen Victoria Building is currently located. The company were growing flowers from nurseries in prime land near Parramatta and later Newtown.

 In June 1887 Frederick and John Searl, together with John’s father-in-law William Stabback, purchased 23 acres in Banksmeadow, near Smith Street, Botany. They paid 736 pounds, 14 shillings and 9 pence for the land.

The area was prime land for many growers like market gardeners, farmers and nurserymen. The Botany area was low lying and the soil was very good for productivity. One other feature of the area was the abundance of natural water.

Searl & Sons developed a nursery over 17 acres of the land and produced flowering shrubs, ornamental trees, fruit trees and flower plants. There was also a cottage, stable, glasshouse, containing a large variety of orchids, and other greenhouses on the land.

Searl & Sons Botany Nursery

Frederick, John and later Frederick’s son William took great care in developing the Botany nursery and it became a showpiece for Searl & Sons, being regarded as one of the largest and most impressive nurseries of its kind in the Commonwealth.

The company even started to show visitors around the spectacular nursery, often meeting people off the tram and driving them to the site. However, it was advised to give good notice of arrival.

Searl & Sons began to fall into serious financial trouble after the death of Frederick Henry Searl in 1920. The next generation were struggling to keep the business afloat without the guidance of the more experienced Searls. In 1922, after holding a large number of stores and producing nurseries, only the Botany Nursery remained in Searl’s ownership and contributed produce for the business.

On August 13 1925 Searl & Sons transferred all assets to a public accountant for benefit of the company’s creditors. Due to this the Botany Nursery was sold at auction, ending the Searl’s involvement in it.

The Roads of Change - Botany Road, Mascot

Botany Road has seen many changes throughout its history. Yet it still remains one of the most unique and important main roads in Botany and Mascot. These pictures show some of the change the road has seen over the last 70 years.

 This image shows Botany Road, Mascot, looking north from 1938.

This image, from a similar position, shows the same stretch of road from 2011.

David Alexander - Lauriston Park's Greyhound Legend

David Alexander was one of the village of Lauriston Park’s champions during its push for development and change. The small village, located where the Sydney domestic airport is currently located, had a very tight community however they often had to struggle for developments and improvements in the area, such as sewerage and lighting.

David was always at the forefront of lobbying for the village.

He was elected to the Council in 1917 and a monthly meeting rarely went by without him pointing out to the rest of the council the problems and issues at the Lauriston Park estate. 

He eventually became Mayor from 1931 -1933 and continued his push for focus on Lauriston Park.

His family donated the land for the Lauriston Park Hall in 1914. His residence was on Ross Smith Avenue, at the North end of Lauriston Park.

David Alexander was also very active in the Greyhoud Racing Industry of NSW. He was the founder/first editor of Australia’s highest selling greyhound newspaper, the Greyhound Recorder - a famous publication in the greyhound racing industry.

The Dave Alexander Memorial, which was run at Harold Park and later switched to Wentworth Park, was named after him.

David was honoured with life membership of the NSW National Coursing Association and remains an important historical figure in NSW and Australian greyhound racing.

The Vanished Town Clerk

One of the most intriguing mysteries in North Botany (later renamed Mascot) around 1906 was the disappearance of the town clerk, Mr T.A. Watson.

Mr Watson, who had served as town clerk with the Municipality of North Botany since 1891, had been granted a leave of absence to recuperate from indifferent health in 1905.

He had boarded a ship to travel to New Zealand for his holiday and wrote the Mayor of the time, Alderman King, notifying him of his arrival.

Since then, however, there had been no word from him. He had literally disappeared.

The Mayor called a special meeting of council 10 weeks after the disappearance to discuss the matter. He submitted a minute in which he intimated that the only course open to him under the circumstances was to suspend Mr Watson for neglect of duties.

Alderman King stated that Mr Watson had been a 'faithful servant of the council for more than 16 years and it was a surprise to many that he had now, through some unaccountable cause, ensconced his leave'.

The Council endorsed the Mayor's motion and began looking for a replacement.

It appears Mr Watson was never heard of by the Council again.

Act. Corporal Alfred Benham - Botany's first lost son

Acting Corporal Alfred Henry Benham, from the 13^th Battalion, is believed to be the first soldier from Botany to be killed in the First World War. He was a clerk and lived on Tenterden Street. 

Alfred enlisted on 14 May 1915 and sailed with the 6th Reinforcements aboard HMAT Wandilla on 14 June 1915.

He died of wounds received at Gallipoli, on the 15^th of August 1915 aged 20 - only 12 weeks after enlistment.

"He was the first soldier born in the Municipality of Botany to pay the supreme sacrifice."

Alfred Henry Benham's name is located at panel 68 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

Botany Trams

Did you know that Sydney once had one of the most extensive tram networks in the world? It was the largest in Australia and the second largest in the Commonwealth, after London.

At it’s peak in the 1930s it had 1,600 cars in service at any one time, compared with about 500 trams in Melbourne today.

The Botany Line was the first line in a southerly direction from the old Redfern Station. It opened on 17^th May 1882, and its route was via Devonshire, Chalmers, Castlereagh, Redfern and Regent Streets into Botany Road to the terminus at Banksmeadow Park in Botany.

 

Crash between tram and truck, Botany Road Mascot. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Botany_Rd_Mascot._Australia_early_1900s.jpg

The terminus at Banksmeadow Park had a reversing loop and several sidings, which were used to become a depot, capable of housing eight motors and twenty-five cars.

Following duplication of tramlines in 1891 the Botany trams made alternate trips from Bridge Street to Leichardt. This allowed for better timetabling.

On 20^th April 1903 electric trams began running from Circular Quay to Bay Street Botany. This saw the reduction of in steam trams from Bridge Street to Botany Terminus becoming half hourly. The last day of the following month, 31^st May 1903 became the last day of steam trams in general traffic along this line due to completion of overhead works beyond Bay Street.

A visit by the American Fleet during August 1908 put tremendous strain on electric services elsewhere in the Sydney network. This saw steam trams return to the Botany line during this time, on some days fully operating the services, but from then it was electric trams only until replaced by buses in 1960.

There were a number of special lines branching off from the main Botany line.

The Botany Cemetery Line – in 1900 it was decided to move the cemetery at the site of Central Railway Station to Botany. This brought a special siding from Devonshire Street to the cemetery site, opened on 1^st July 1901, to haul coffins and headstones in ballast wagons. Passenger cars were also hauled for the convenience of visitors.

The Rosebery Racecourse Line – Special services ran from Botany to cope with the fortnightly meetings at the racecourse. However this failed to be an adequate solution for the amount and transport needs of racecourse visitors and caused many delays. A short double track line into Gardener’s Road from Botany Road towards the racecourse proved a solution. This opened on 3^rd November 1902 and ran until 1910 when the racecourse was shifted to larger grounds.

The Daceyville Line – This was an extension of the line to serve the new Rosebery Racecourse opened in 1910. It began regular passenger service, apart from race specials, on weekdays only between Waterloo and Daceyville gradually increasing to become full time from Circular Quay. The racecourse closed in 1940 and the last day of tram service was 22^nd June 1957.

The Botany Line closed for service on 22^nd October 1960. The final journey took place in the small hours of the following day, performed by tram R1 2035. It survived the journey unscathed, and lasted another four months to partake in the final procession of trams on the closing day of the system.

If you are interested in following the Botany Tramline route Sydney Buses route 309 generally follows the route of the Botany Tram service as it was in 1960. You may even be lucky enough to see some of the old track!

Click here for more information on Sydney trams. Or come and visit the Eastgardens Library and ask the staff.

MacGowan, I. (1990). The Tramways of New South Wales. Oakleigh, Vic. I.A. MacGowan