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111-555: St George County Council was a publicly owned electricity supply utility in the St George area of southern Sydney , Australia. It supplied electricity to consumers in the Kogarah , Hurstville , Rockdale and Bexley Municipalities (Bexley merged with Rockdale in 1949). It existed, from December 1920, until 1980 when its operations and assets, and those of Mackellar Country Council and Brisbane Water County Council, were merged into

222-567: A coal-fired power station , on the Georges River, at 'Lugarno', but the site was actually on the southern side of the river, opposite Lugarno . The site was just outside the area supplied by St George County Council. The site was in line with the SCC's prior practice of placing generation close to consumers, but there was local opposition to the proposal. The new station was to be SCC's means of increasing its generating capacity, in response to

333-638: A lightbulb socket . In December 1927, a new regulation was introduced mandating that any new domestic electricity connection, in the St George area, must include at least one power point . The early power points used had two round pins (no earth connection), without a switch. The first such sockets may have been to BS 73 ; after 1930, similar sockets, to BS 372, were manufactured in Australia. The now standard three-pin Australian power plug/socket design

444-532: A suburb of Sydney's inner west , is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district , straddling the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Inner West Council in the state of New South Wales , Australia. King Street is the main street of Newtown and centre of commercial and entertainment activity. The street follows the spine of a long ridge that rises up near

555-609: A committee composed of members of the jointly-acting councils, and which was empowered to carry out its activities, anywhere within the combined areas of those councils. The St George County Council would be the first of this new type of trading entity in New South Wales, in 1920, but many more would be established by 1953. In 1935, the existing electricity undertaking of the Sydney City Council (SMC), by then also extending over many smaller municipalities, adopted

666-593: A demonstration theatre, with a foyer and lounge.The second floor had facilities for cookery classes and staff rooms. During the 1946 coal strike, which caused gas shortages, St George County Council offered a service to bake up to 500 Christmas cakes made by gas company customers, in the ovens used for cookery classes at Electricity House, and at its headquarters in Kogarah. St George County Council retailed electrical appliances, as part of its aims to increase electricity consumption. The involvement of county councils in

777-547: A few years, radio receivers would require electricity, as would other electrical appliances like toasters, irons, electric jugs, electric stoves and refrigerators. It was time to connect electricity to the St George area. Local government entities in New South Wales (municipalities and shires) originally had responsibility for supply and distribution of electrical power within their boundaries. This situation led to two municipalities in Sydney having their own power stations. The first

888-528: A house of 1½ width at the corner of the street, this last being a commercial premises, or "corner store". During the Federation period, single-storey row houses became increasingly common. This preponderance of small houses is indicative of the working-class employment of most Newtown residents, many of whom worked in the city or at local shops, factories, warehouses, brickyards and at the nearby Eveleigh Railway Workshops . Retail and service trades dominated

999-438: A large proportion of Newtown's residents lived in terrace houses of the cheapest possible construction. Many of these terraces were "two-up two-down", with rear kitchen, some having adjoining walls only one brick thick and a continuous shared roof space. Hundreds of these terrace houses still remain, generally 4 metres (13 ft) wide. It was not uncommon for speculative builders to build a row of these small houses terminating in

1110-629: A loan of £100,000, from the Commonwealth Bank , at 5% interest per annum, repayable over a term of 30 years. Tenders had been called, and work was projected to start in August 1921. The first light pole was erected, in February 1922, at Arncliffe , and the first wires installed in June 1922. Substation No.1 is located at Arncliffe. In July 1922, new power and light poles were being erected at

1221-537: A measles epidemic. Camperdown Cemetery remains, though much reduced in size, as a rare example of mid-19th-century cemetery landscaping. It retains the Cemetery Lodge, a huge fig tree dating from 1848, as well as a number of oak trees of the same date. It survived to become the main green space of Newtown. Among the notable persons buried in the cemetery are explorer-surveyor Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell , Major Edmund Lockyer and Mary, Lady Jamison (widow of

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1332-587: A number of churches were established, including St Joseph's Roman Catholic church in the 1850s, the Methodist church on King Street, now Newtown Mission, and the Baptist church in Church Street. The present St Stephen's Anglican church, a fine example of Victorian Gothic architecture , was designed, like its predecessor, by Blacket, and built in the grounds of the cemetery between 1871 and 1880. Both it and

1443-1192: A place to commit crime and evade motorised patrols. Homes in these areas are owned by either the Department of Housing or the Aboriginal Housing Office. The complexes take up a significant amount of Newtown’s Indigenous Australian population. The SA1 covering the Golden Grove housing estate according to the 2016 census, is the suburbs most economically/socially disadvantaged. Department of Housing sites in Newtown: 8 Prefabricated terraces, 7 walk-up flats, 250–350 residents. Alice Street/Camden Street 9 Prefabricated walk-up flats, 75–120 residents. Alice Street/Hawken Street corner 13 Prefabricated walk-up flats, 1 6-story tower block, 300–500 residents. Forbes Street/Golden Grove Street/Darlington Road 1 9-story tower block, numerous Victorian terrace houses, 170–240 residents. Station Street/Reiby Lane corner As well as numerous Victorian terrace houses and walk-up flat developments scattered around

1554-794: A plan was discussed to rename the council area "South Sydney" (as three municipalities North of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) had merged to form North Sydney three years earlier), but nothing came of it. Although there are a few earlier buildings in Newtown, the most rapid development came in the late 19th century, with many former farms and other large properties being subdivided and developed as row-houses, known popularly as "terrace houses". With their predominance of Victorian-era houses with stuccoed facades, balconies of iron lace and moulded architectural ornaments, many Newtown streets are similar to those of other well-known inner-city suburbs like Glebe , Paddington and Balmain . From about 1870 onwards,

1665-426: A power reticulation network drawing power from either Pyrmont or Balmain. Some other municipalities, typically outside the inner suburbs, such as Manly , also had smaller power stations, but over time these power stations closed, and these areas reverted to taking their power from larger power generating entities. The preamble of Local Government Act of 1919, stated its purposes as " An Act to make better provision for

1776-445: A rate of 200 per week. On 9 March 1923, the new electric street lighting was switched on for the first time. The event was marked by a gathering of dignitaries from local government, NSW Government , the railways, Commonwealth Bank, the consulting engineers, and construction contractors, at Kogarah . By that time, 200 miles of streets had been completed, and £50,000 of the loan had been drawn down. Originally, expected to take five years,

1887-416: A reputation as a bohemian centre and the gay and lesbian population also increased. The 1980s was the period that probably saw the greatest diversity in Newtown. At this time, cheap housing was still available. During the 1990s many long-established businesses closed, including Brennan's Department Store, a charming old-fashioned department store founded in the 19th century, and one of the last relics of

1998-466: A sizeable migrant community. In 1968, a controversial redistribution of local government boundaries by the Askin state Liberal government saw part of Newtown become part of Marrickville Council . From the 1970s, as the post-war population prospered, raised families and aged, many moved to outlying suburbs to build larger houses, resulting in a supply of relatively cheap terrace houses and cottages entered

2109-826: A thriving retail precinct and the area was soon dotted with factories, workshops, warehouses and commercial and retail premises of all kinds and sizes. Several major industries were established in the greater Newtown area from the late 19th century, including the Eveleigh Railway Workshops , the IXL jam and preserves factory in North Newtown/ Darlington , the St Peters brickworks and the Fowler Potteries in Camperdown. Newtown

2220-550: A time when a major expansion would inevitably occur. The electricity industry in New South Wales was dramatically altered by the formation of the Electricity Commission of New South Wales (ECNSW), in 1950. Notably the Sydney County Council lost its two power stations, Pyrmont and Bunnerong , becoming only a distributor of electricity. The people in control of the new ECNSW were not drawn from

2331-548: A wide intersection of King Street and Missenden Road, was stripped of all its original Art Deco tiles and had its upper floor substantially damaged before protests to the council prevented this being taken further. One of the major architectural conservation projects in Newtown in recent years has been the restoration of the Trocadero dance hall in King Street North. This large entertainment venue opened in 1889 and

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2442-419: Is home to some public housing pockets built throughout the late 1960s to the 1970s, mainly consisting of unit complexes with walk-up apartments, extensive townhouses and tower blocks closely built together on small blocks of land, resided by the suburbs 1000 social housing tenants. These housing complexes dominate the housing stock on some of Newtown streets. The large housing estates gradually shrunk as many of

2553-541: Is on the Leppington & Inner West Line and Liverpool & Inner West Line of the Sydney Trains network. The station opened in 1855, as one of the original four intermediate stations on the Sydney to Parramatta railway line (the others being Ashfield , Burwood and Homebush ), and it was soon serviced by ten steam trains a day. In 1878 the station was moved from Station Street to its current location by

2664-469: Is one of the last 19th-century dance halls still standing in Sydney. Over the years it functioned variously as a dance hall, a skating rink, a cinema, a boxing and vaudeville venue, a bicycle factory and a motor body works. From 1920 onward it was owned by the Grace Bros retail company, and several sections were leased out as shops or accommodation. For many years the shopfront on the northern side of

2775-492: Is part of the southern suburbs of Sydney , in the state of New South Wales , Australia . The area includes all the suburbs in the local government area of Georges River Council and the part of Bayside Council which was Rockdale City prior to 2016. This is everything within the boundaries of Salt Pan Creek to the west, The Georges River to the south, Botany Bay to the east and the M5 Motorway and Wolli Creek to

2886-494: Is serviced very well by public transport. The Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line , South Coast Line and Airport Line have frequent services to the city directly or via Wolli Creek . There are also abundant bus routes serving the region operated by Transit Systems and U-Go Mobility . The population of the St George region, as estimated in 2020, was 285,214. Several major local institutions have 'St. George' in their title: Newtown, New South Wales Newtown ,

2997-408: Is the longest and most complete commercial precinct of the late Victorian and Federation period in Australia. King Street is often referred to as "Eat Street" in the media due to the large number of cafés, pubs and restaurants of various cultures. Cafés, restaurants and galleries can also be found in the streets surrounding King Street. The area known as Newtown was part of a broader area where

3108-714: The Cadigal tribe of the Eora people lived, who ranged across the entire area from the southern shores of Sydney Harbour to Botany Bay in the south-east and Petersham in the Inner West . The first indigenous Australian to receive a Christian burial was Tommy, an 11-year-old boy who died of bronchitis in the Sydney Infirmary . He was buried in Camperdown Cemetery , in a section now located outside

3219-471: The County of Cumberland , which included the St George area. Such an outcome did not eventuate at the time. In 1961, there was again talk of amalgamation of the metropolitan county councils, as a single state-owned supply authority, stoked by the difference in electricity prices between metropolitan county council areas. Once again, it came to nothing. Sydney County Council had been established under an act of

3330-679: The Governor may, by proclamation, change the boundaries of a county council. The NSW Parliament passed the Sydney Electricity Act, in December 1990. The Act abolished Sydney County Council and transferred its assets and obligations to a new state-owned corporation , Sydney Electricity. The new entity was required to pay a dividend to the NSW Government . Regional county councils, the remaining county councils outside

3441-592: The University of Sydney and extends to the south, becoming the Princes Highway at its southern end. Enmore Road branches off King Street towards the suburb of Enmore at Newtown Bridge, where the road passes over the Main Suburban railway line at Newtown railway station . Enmore Road and King Street together comprise 9.1 kilometres of over 600 shopfronts. The main shopping strip of Newtown

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3552-670: The inner south-west due to its geographical location from Sydney CBD . The first inhabitants of the St George area were Australian Aboriginals . At the time of the arrival of the First Fleet , the Eora tribe inhabited land from Port Jackson to Botany Bay and the Georges River . There is evidence to suggest that these people belonged to the Gweagal , Bidjigal and Cadigal clans. James Cook sailed HMS Endeavour into Botany Bay in 1770 for his first landing on

3663-679: The 'county council' structure, becoming Sydney County Council . In 1951, the electricity undertakings of Manly and Warringah Shire were merged into Mackellar County Council . By 1953, the only retail electricity suppliers, within the Sydney Metropolitan Area, that were not county councils were the two privately owned electricity utilities, Electric Light and Power Supply Corporation and Parramatta and Granville Electric Supply Company. Their distribution networks were subsequently taken over by Sydney County Council (1956) and Prospect County Council (1957), respectively. Thereafter,

3774-574: The 1840s. He acquired land in the area, part of which became known as ‘Gannons Forest’ which later was the centre of Hurstville . By 1851, it was estimated that 50 to 100 carts of timber and lime crossed the Cooks River daily. St George Parish was one of the original parishes within Cumberland County . It is one of nine parishes named after saints, of which only St George and St James are still commonly used as place names. A map of

3885-576: The 1990s, Newtown High School was chosen by the NSW Department of Education as the site for a new specialised performing arts high school, which would combine traditional academic subjects with music and theatrical performance education. The school was renamed Newtown High School of the Performing Arts . Prior to becoming Newtown High School, it was Newtown Junior Technical School (the "tech") that educated boys from 1st Year to 3rd Year at

3996-453: The 20th century is the site of the former Burland Community Hall, on King St. In the early 20th century the site was occupied by the original Hub Theatre. From the mid-20th century it was occupied by an Art Deco -style cinema operated by the Hoyts cinema chain. In the mid-1960s the cinema was converted into a community hall and it was renamed Burland Community Hall in 1965. For years it was

4107-459: The Act, covered joint undertakings by councils and that such joint undertakings could be managed either by " the councils themselves jointly, or by a joint committee composed of members of the councils." It provided the legislative framework for what would later be known as 'county councils'; a new type of publicly owned trading entity, which was a joint undertaking of more than one council, controlled by

4218-627: The Alpha House and Beta House apartment complexes on King Street , which were formerly both multi-storey warehouses. Prior to becoming apartments, Alpha and Beta house became two artist warehouses that accommodated the birthing of many national and international performing arts companies and artists. One such company, " Legs on the Wall ", was created in Beta House. Newtown has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Newtown railway station

4329-469: The Lugarno power station were reused as the basis of Wallerawang 'A' power station . St George County Council would receive additional power via a new 132kV transmission line from Port Kembla and the new Tallawarra power station . The Sydney Council took over the electricity undertaking of Sutherland Council, in 1954, and there were suggestions that it would become the sole electricity supply authority for

4440-573: The NSW Parliament, the Gas and Electricity Act 1935. This was amended, in November 1979, to enlarge SCC's area by merging into it three adjoining county council areas, one of which was St George County Council. There was some resentment that the merger was effectively an expropriation, by Sydney County Council, of assets owned by constituent local governments of the abolished county councils. There

4551-515: The NSW Railways, first took hold. Saywell continued to generate electrical power until October 1923—also continuing to supply power to Rockdale's electric street lighting and his other consumers—despite no longer supplying the electric tramway after 1917. The tramway still was used to move coal wagons from the railway, at Rockdale, to his power station. However, Saywell's d.c. system was far too small, too unreliable, and too antiquated to serve

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4662-480: The Newtown area took its name from a grocery store opened there by John and Margaret Webster in 1832, at a site close to where the Newtown railway station stands today. They placed a sign atop their store that read "New Town Stores". Captain Sylvester John Browne, father of Thomas Alexander Browne ("Rolf Boldrewood"), built "Newtown House" in the area around the same time, which has also been cited as

4773-587: The Parish of St George that's north of The M5 and Wolli Creek but south of the Cooks River is considered South-Western Sydney rather than Southern Sydney. This northern portion of the cadastral parish was formerly in the City of Canterbury but now within the amalgamated City of Canterbury-Bankstown . In some instances, the whole cadastral Parish of St George (both north and south) is grouped together and considered

4884-758: The Railway Commissioners about taking bulk power from the railway's network. At that time, the transmission line was only to extend as far as Hurstville —where a large railway substation was later built—meaning that Sutherland Shire reluctantly had to drop out of the proposed supply arrangement. The four St George municipalities, Kogarah, Hurstville, Rockdale, and Bexley, set up the St George County Council in December 1920. Sutherland Shire subsequently set up its own electricity supply department, in 1925. It obtained its bulk power from New South Wales Government Railways, which had electrified

4995-549: The SCC's management, who had lost favour with the minister Joseph Cahill . On 1 January 1953, the electricity generation operations of the Department of Railways became part of ECNSW, which then became the new bulk electricity supplier to St George County Council. Bulk power continued to be provided, under the same conditions as the contract with the Department of Railways, until that contract expired in April 1955. By 1958,

5106-614: The Sydney Metropolitan Area, were similarly dissolved, on 1 July 1993, and their areas of supply and assets given to new electricity supply entities, which were also state-owned corporations of the NSW Government. The proclamation referenced the 'Electricity Act 1945', incorrectly as there was no such N.S.W. legislation; apparently what was meant was the Electricity Development Act 1945 (1946 No 13). St George, Sydney The St George region of Sydney

5217-643: The area include the Athena School . The University of Sydney 's Centre for Continuing Education provides adult education open to the general public. In part because of its industrial and commercial history, the Newtown area contains many pubs . These include a number of late-Victorian establishments and several in an Art Deco style from the mid-20th century. In July 2000, one of these, "The Marlborough", called by historian Chrys Meader "the Gateway to Newtown" because of its visually commanding appearance at

5328-626: The area is known as the home of the St George Illawarra Dragons and the St George District Cricket Club . The biggest commercial areas in the St George area are located at Hurstville , Kogarah and Rockdale . Hurstville is the largest central business district in southern Sydney and features a large shopping centre called Westfield Hurstville . Additionally Rockdale features another large shopping centre, Rockdale Plaza. The St. George area

5439-476: The area now falling within the present boundaries of Newtown, north of King Street, was originally part of Camperdown . This area was named by Governor William Bligh , who received it as a land grant in 1806 and passed it to his daughter and son-in-law on his return to England in 1810. In 1848 part of this land was acquired by the Sydney Church of England Cemetery Company to create a general cemetery beyond

5550-464: The area. Wood gatherers, bark collectors, sawyers and charcoal burners moved into the area to work the forests of Simeon Lord and supply Sydney's timber needs. By the 1840s, Major Mitchell was building the Illawarra Road (now Forest Road) on the ridge through ‘Lord’s Bush’, which required enormous amounts of trees and bush to be cleared. Irishman Michael Gannon was innkeeper at Cooks River in

5661-408: The boundary of the City of Sydney. Camperdown Cemetery , one block away from King Street, was to become significant in the life of the suburb. Between its consecration in 1849 and its closure to further sales in 1868 it saw 15,000 burials of people from all over Sydney. Of that number, approximately half were paupers buried in unmarked and often communal graves, sometimes as many as 12 in a day during

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5772-668: The building housed Maurice's Lebanese Restaurant, commemorated in John Kennedy's "On King St, I'm A King". The building was purchased by Moore Theological College in 1974, and from 1981 to 1994 it housed the Con Dellis used furniture store, but all occupation ceased after that time. Fortunately, a sympathetic restoration program during 2005–06 by Moore College has returned this outstanding 19th-century building, including its elaborate Flemish-style facade, to its former glory. One Newtown landmark that has undergone many changes during

5883-540: The cemetery are on the National Trust register of buildings of national significance. Its Mears and Stainbank carillon is unique in Australia, while its Walker and Sons organ of 1874 is regarded as one of the finest in New South Wales. On 12 December 1862 the Municipality of Newtown was incorporated and divided into three wards: O'Connell, Kingston and Enmore, covering 480 acres (194.25 ha). In 1893

5994-417: The city and outwards to Tempe , Dulwich Hill and Canterbury , respectively. Since then the 423 service from the city to Kingsgrove Bus Depot via Newtown has been added. There is also the 352 service that goes east through Surry Hills to Bondi Junction and the 370 service running north to the University of Sydney and Glebe Point and south-east to the University of New South Wales and Coogee . In

6105-487: The colonial pioneer landowner, physician, constitutional reformer and "knight of the realm", Sir John Jamison ), and Eliza Emily Donnithorne , recluse and rumoured inspiration for Miss Havisham . The cemetery also holds the remains of many of the victims of the wreck of the Dunbar in 1857. From 1845, when the first Anglican church was built on the site of the present Community Centre on Stephen Street, by Edmund Blacket ,

6216-463: The continent of Australia . Captain Arthur Phillip led the First Fleet into the bay on 18 January 1788 to found a penal colony there but found the sandy infertile soil disappointing and moved the site of the settlement north to the natural harbour of Port Jackson . The ridge between the Cooks River and Georges River was covered in a dense forest which first attracted timber cutters to

6327-487: The cottage of Reibey's dairyman survives, a little further down the street. One of the most impressive surviving sets of 19th-century housing in Newtown is the imposing terrace of five elegant five-storey mansions running along Warren Ball Avenue in North Newtown, facing onto Hollis Park. From the late 19th century onwards, the Newtown area became a major commercial and industrial centre. King Street developed into

6438-463: The council had just 1,023 connected premises, which included premises in all four municipalities, but was increasing at around 80 newly connected premises per fortnight. The 1920s and 1930s saw a rapid proliferation of electrical appliances, in particular radio receivers. Some customers had only installed lighting and either had to retrofit power points, got into trouble by making unauthorised and dangerous appliance connections, or plugged appliances into

6549-594: The end of which they gained the Intermediate Certificate unless they had already left school at the age of 15. Girls of the same age group were educated in the southern part of Newtown Public School. The primary public school was segregated with the boys part facing Newman St opposite the tannery works that often omitted obnoxious odours.' (From "Prior to...odours" it is based on personal knowledge through living in Newtown and attending those schools.) Primary and infants school include: Private schools in

6660-560: The entire task was, by then, forecast to be completed after only two-and-a-half years. Later, in June 1923, Rockdale Council wrote to Saywell's company, expressing gratitude that the company was continuing to supply power to those of its consumers who were yet to be connected to the new electricity supply; by November 1923, the power supply from Saywell's small 1900-vintage power station already had been discontinued, as light poles went up in Brighton-le-Sands. In December 1923,

6771-526: The existing Sydney County Council . It obtained its bulk power from the New South Wales Government Railways (after 1932, New South Wales Department of Railways ), until 1953 when the electricity generation assets of that entity became part of the Electricity Commission of New South Wales . It was the first of many county councils, which were an important part of the mixed economy that existed in New South Wales, during

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6882-413: The existing Sydney County Council, on 1 January 1980. The entity remained a county council, but one with an expanded constituency. Representation on Sydney County Council was provided for Hurstville, Kogarah and Rockdale municipalities. The electricity reforms of 1945 cast a long shadow of the state's remaining county councils. Section 12 of the Electricity Development Act 1945 (1946 No 13), provided that

6993-524: The first building housing the new county council was later constructed. The foundation stone of the building was laid in September 1922. In 1939, St George County Council opened a new building, Electricity House, in Forest Road, Hurstville, which was devoted to customer-facing services. The headquarters remained at Kogarah. Electricity House had three floors and a basement level. The ground floor

7104-515: The first meeting of the new county council, in early December 1920. The initial plans to electrify the St George area included lighting over 400 miles of streets. The system would use 11kV high voltage distribution to feed substations and 415/240 V a.c. low voltage reticulation for consumers. The new county council ratified its supply agreement with the Railway Commissioners, in June 1921. It needed to borrow to implement its network of electrical reticulation and street lighting. In May 1921, it took out

7215-437: The fork of King Street and Enmore Road. Until the 1960s, when trams were phased out in Sydney, Newtown was a major hub for train-tram transfers; several regular electric tram services were centred there and the old Newtown Tram Depot (long vacant and now largely derelict) still stands next to the station. The long-abandoned former office buildings of the tram depot (adjacent to the current station entrance) were renovated during

7326-515: The former City of Canterbury, now the eastern part of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown , although most customary references to the "St George area" today do not include that part of the parish. In 1920, the local councils in the St George area constituted St George County Council, to deal with distribution of electricity in the region. St George County Council was merged with Sydney County Council (another inter-council electricity supplier) to form "Sydney Electricity" in 1989. The regional identity

7437-459: The government of areas ; to extend the powers and functions of local governing bodies; to establish bodies to take common action on behalf of areas ... " 417 of the Act defined the powers of a council (a city council a municipality or a shire) to establish a trading undertaking, and 418 a) of the Act, defined as a trading undertaking " a) the supply of electricity and the supply and installing of electrical fittings and appliances ". 521 of

7548-417: The growing St George area. By 1920, the St George area had a significant suburban settlement, with a population of around 57,000. It was already serviced by town gas from the Australian Gas Light Company , but there was a pent up demand for electricity. Gas could be used for cooking, space heating, water heating, and gas-powered refrigerators , but gas was an inferior choice for lighting. Moreover, within

7659-474: The heyday of Victorian commerce in Newtown. Many homes have been restored and remain examples of 19th-century architecture in Sydney. Like other similar inner-Sydney suburbs (most notably Paddington and Glebe ), gentrification has led to another shift in Newtown's demographics. From the 1970s onwards, many major industrial and commercial sites in the area were closed or vacated. Many of these former commercial sites have since been redeveloped as housing such as

7770-546: The homes were demolished and or reverted to private ownership as the surrounding area slowly went through gentrification . Most complexes were built with Radburn principles , with prefabricated walk-up flats and apartment blocks accessed by communal pathways and courtyards separated from roads, creating densely populated concentrations of disadvantage. The Radburn design has been widely criticised in outer-suburbs estates, allegedly contributing to some fire hazards and social problems with isolated areas giving local criminals

7881-471: The interwar and post-war periods of the 20th Century. Of the various publicly-owned trading entities, the country councils were the only significant ones controlled by local governments . It was a locally-owned enterprise, rather than a state-owned enterprise . The St George area was defined as the four municipalities, Kogarah, Hurstville, Rockdale, and Bexley; the area lying west of the Botany Bay shoreline, between Cooks River and Georges River , and to

7992-463: The largest and most important houses, such as "Erskine Villa" (formerly on Erskineville Road, and which gave its name to the suburb of Erskineville ), were demolished and the estates subdivided. Another loss was the home of Mary Reibey in Station Street, which was acquired by the Department of Housing in 1964, demolished in 1967, and replaced with an 8-story public housing tower block. Only

8103-428: The longer-term impacts of wartime restrictions on industry and the disruption of international trade. New South Wales had four large electricity generating entities, together generating 93% of electricity in New South Wales, one of which was Sydney County Council. Critically, there was no single entity responsible for planning and implementation of all new generating and power transmission capacity, in New South Wales, at

8214-420: The main western track was a barrier which divided the land. Newtown was established as a residential and farming area in the early 19th century. Nicholas Devine , the first principal superintendent of convicts called his property Burren Farm, after a region of County Clare in his native Ireland. Burren Farm would later become parts of Newtown and Macdonaldtown (now Erskineville ). Some histories say that

8325-417: The mayor. Devine's heir, John Devine, a coachbuilder of Birmingham, challenged the will, which was blatantly fraudulent. The "Newtown Ejectment Case" was eventually settled out of court by the payment to Devine of an unknown sum of money said to have been "considerable". The land was further divided into housing that is now evidenced by the rows of terrace houses and commercial and industrial premises. Part of

8436-473: The new St George County Council. They also delegated their power to borrow, for such purposes, initially up to £100,000. Each of the municipal councils elected three of their aldermen each, to sit on the new county council. Those twelve members of the new county council, in turn, elected one of their number to be the President of the county council. The Minister for Local Government , Thomas Mutch , called

8547-455: The north. This area corresponds to the southern portion of the cadastral Parish of St George , from which the region derives its name and the area was later covered by the St George County Council, the electricity supplier for the councils in this region. This southern portion of the parish below The M5 and Wolli Creek is the more contemporary definition of The St George Region that is considered part of Southern Sydney. The northern portion of

8658-400: The only significant ones controlled by local government , as opposed to state government . The four municipalities in the St George area and the neighbouring Sutherland Shire desired to extend reticulated electricity and electric street lighting to their areas. By 1919, SMC was unable to finance an extension, for such a large number of new consumers and, in any case, its generating capacity

8769-428: The original burial dockets were written. It is now known that the fourth name was not Wandelina Cabrorigirel , but Mandelina (Aboriginal). King street, Newtown's main street, reputedly follows an Aboriginal track that branched out from the main western track, now beneath Broadway and Parramatta Road , and which continued all the way to the coastal plains around Botany Bay . This conflicts with other claims that

8880-466: The other municipalities in the St George area, should buy Saywell's 'Electric Works' and tramway, to provide the area with electricity and expand the electric tramways. As the end of his tramway concession neared, Saywell expressed interest in providing electric street lighting for the neighbouring St George municipalities of Bexley and Kogarah, as well as more lighting in Rockdale. More distant Hurstville

8991-406: The parish revealed that the land was cut into areas ranging from 30 to 500 acres (2.0 km ) and a few large land grants of 2,000 acres (8.1 km ). The recipients were William Packer, Josh Thorp, James Oatley, Hannah Laycock, F. W. Unwin, Reuben and David Hannam, Patrick Moore, J. Beehag, John Porter and the larger grants were James Chandler and John and Robert Townson . The parish also covers

9102-509: The power supply crisis, and was regarded as a priority project. Once ECNSW was formed, it took control of the Lugarno power station project. The Lugarno power station project was effectively abandoned, when it was deferred in November 1950. ECNSW adopted the practice of siting power stations near coal mines, and using large transmission lines to feed centres of population, which had already begun to be implemented by Department of Railways and Southern Electricity Supply . The tenders received for

9213-406: The publicly owned county councils controlled all retail electricity distribution in New South Wales, each within their designated areas, seemingly as natural monopolies . County councils were an important part of the mixed economy that existed in New South Wales, during the interwar and post-war periods of the 20th Century. Of the various publicly owned trading entities, the country councils were

9324-509: The railway as far as National Park in 1926. Sutherland Shire's electricity undertaking also took over a small power supply operation at Cronulla . It was absorbed by Sydney County Council in 1954. The four St George municipalities had petitioned the Governor of New South Wales to declare their combined area a county. The four municipalities delegated their powers " to establish and conduct an electric light and power supply undertaking, " to

9435-418: The renovation and rebuilding of Newtown Station and how house a café and restaurant. This extensive renovation, completed in 2012, greatly improved commuter access to the station platforms (which lie in a deep cutting under King Street) including additional stairways and a disabled-accessible elevator, although the renovation works and the layout of the new station entrance blocked the old tram-line entry way into

9546-409: The rental market. Because of its proximity to the expanding University of Sydney and the Sydney central business district , along with the comparatively low rents, Newtown began to attract university students in the 1960s and 1970s. The area became a centre for student share-households in Sydney and the development of cafés, pubs and restaurants made it a mecca for many young people. Newtown gained

9657-536: The retailing of appliances was somewhat controversial, and was opposed by private enterprise interests. St George County Council was involved in a notable High Court ruling, on Section 51(xx) of the Constitution of Australia , in which the court held that a municipal corporation was to be distinguished from a trading corporation, notwithstanding the fact that it carried out trading activities ( R v Trade Practices Tribunal; Ex parte St George County Council ). In

9768-399: The source of the name. The name New Town was adopted, at first unofficially, with the space disappearing to form the name Newtown. This account of the origins of the suburb's name has been disputed by other historians, given evidence that the names "Newtown" and "New Town" were in use some years before Webster opened his store. The part of Newtown lying south of King Street was a portion of

9879-499: The south of Wolli Creek . It corresponds, but not in all respects, to the cadestal Parish of St George , in the County of Cumberland . It now corresponds to the Local Government Area of Georges River Council and part of Bayside Council 's area. The first electricity supply in the St George area, was that for Thomas Saywell's tramway, which ran from Rockdale railway station to the beach at Brighton-le-Sands . It

9990-839: The suburb increasingly throughout this period, with tradesmen and shopkeepers together accounting for 70–75% of the working population. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, Newtown prospered, so much so that in the Jubilee Souvenir of the Municipality of Newtown , published in 1912, it was described as "one of the most wealthy suburbs around Sydney". A number of imposing Victorian mansions were built on larger estates, as well as rows of larger and more stylish terrace houses in certain areas such as Georgina Street in North Newtown and Holmwood Street in South Newtown. As in many other historic areas of Sydney, some of

10101-472: The suburbs streets. Although it prospered in the late 19th century, during the first half of the 20th century, and especially during the Depression , like many inner-city Sydney suburbs such as Glebe and Paddington , the area became increasingly run down as wealthy Sydneysiders preferred to settle in newer and more prestigious areas. In 1949, Newtown was incorporated into the City of Sydney . Newtown

10212-416: The tram sheds, effectively cutting off direct vehicular access from King St into the tram sheds (which still lie vacant and derelict as of mid-2017). Transdev John Holland and Transit Systems operate buses through Newtown. The trams were replaced by bus services that inherited the old route numbers – 422, 426, 428 – and follow the old tram routes that run along King Street and Enmore Road, going inwards to

10323-519: The trams—Saywell's trams had two trolley poles , one positive and the other for negative—and 240V d.c. for other uses. The powerhouse included a large bank of batteries. As well as powering the trams and lighting his hotel, Saywell's powerhouse did supply some other customers with 'electric current'. These consumers included, by around 1911, some street lighting in the Municipality of Rockdale and some shop premises in Rockdale. As early as 1908, some citizens were advocating that Rockdale, in cooperation with

10434-463: The travel patterns of its tramway passengers, these power stations had some spare capacity, particularly outside peak hours, and the Railway Commissioners were willing to supply bulk power. With electrification of Sydney's suburban railways imminent, the railways were constructing a transmission line along the Illawarra railway line . The four St George municipalities and Sutherland Shire approached

10545-483: The two estates granted by Governor Arthur Phillip to the Superintendent of Convicts, Nicholas Devine , in 1794 and 1799. Parts of Macdonaldtown (now Erskineville ) and Golden Grove were also once part of Devine's grant. In 1827, when Devine was aged about 90, this land was acquired from him by a convict, Bernard Rochford, who sold it to many of Sydney's wealthiest and most influential inhabitants, including

10656-482: The two private electricity supply concerns in Sydney, Electric Light and Power Supply Corporation and Parramatta and Granville Electric Supply Company, had been nationalised. All generation and bulk electricity supply was, thereafter, by ECNSW, and all local electricity reticulation was by one of the county councils. Some large consumers such as the Department of Railways, once a generator, took power directly from ECNSW. From 1947, Sydney County Council had plans to erect

10767-475: The venue for community events such as dances, concerts, film screenings, meetings, parties, wedding receptions and a community market. In 1986 its upper floor was taken over for the Newtown branch of the City of Sydney Library network, following the decision by Marrickville Council to close its Newtown library branch due to budgetary constraints. In 1995 the library moved to new premises in the former Salvation Army Citadel in nearby Brown Street, and Burland Hall

10878-475: The wall. The cemetery also contains a sandstone obelisk erected in 1944 by the Rangers League of NSW, in memory of Tommy and three other indigenous Australians buried there: Mogo, William Perry and Wandelina Cabrorigirel, although their graves are no longer identifiable. When the names were transcribed from the records onto the monument, there was an error in deciphering the flowing hand in which many of

10989-498: The years following the Second World War, there was a rapid rise in demand for electricity. Insufficient generating capacity resulted in increasingly frequent black outs , exacerbated by strikes at power stations and the 1949 coal industry strikes , a cumulative lack of non-essential maintenance during wartime, breakdowns and lengthy repairs of critical items of equipment, and an inability to procure new capital equipment due

11100-603: Was Sydney City Council (also known, particularly relating to electricity undertaking as the City Council, or Sydney Municipal Council (SMC)), which owned Pyrmont Power Station . The second was the Municipality of Balmain , which outsourced its rights to a private company, Electric Light and Power Supply Corporation , which in turn built and operated Balmain Power Station . Municipalities, in proximity to those two, entered into arrangements to extend, into their area,

11211-572: Was almost certainly outside the distance range that Saywell's relatively low-voltage direct current system could serve, even if the small system had sufficient capacity to do that, which was unlikely. At the expiry of Saywell's 30-year tramway operating concession in 1914, the Government Railways took over the tramway, retiring Saywell's aging trams. The government trams worked on a different current collection arrangement (one trolley pole and rail return). The tramway supply and overhead

11322-535: Was already committed to other parts of the metropolitan area. SMC would remain constrained in its generating capacity, until it opened its second and larger power station, Bunnerong Power Station , in 1929. The third large electricity generating entity, in the Sydney region, was New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR), after 1932, NSW Department of Railways . It generated power for electric trams , and from 1926, electric trains , at Ultimo Power Station (from 1899) and White Bay Power Station (from 1913). Due to

11433-453: Was converted from steam to electric power, in 1900. An Act of the NSW Parliament, would have permitted Saywell to provide electric street lighting, for which he would have been paid, but it was never passed. Saywell constructed a coal-fuelled powerhouse, in what had been stables at the rear of his New Brighton Hotel, at what is now Brighton-le-Sands. It used a three-wire (-240V — 0V / Ground — +240V) direct current system, giving 480V d.c. for

11544-575: Was introduced in 1937. By 1928, extension of the network had required loans totalling £400,000, but by then those loans were being serviced entirely from revenues. By 1939, it had over 30,000 connected customers and 86 substations. Initially, the new St George County Council held its meetings at the council chambers of the Kogarah Municipal Council. In mid 1922 land was resumed in Montgomery Street, Kogarah, where

11655-443: Was opposition to the merger from residents and staff of St George County Council. The assets of the county councils were frozen, after Mackellar County Council attempted to transfer ownership of two buildings, one to Manly Council and the other to Warringah Shire Council . In December 1979, it was proclaimed that St George County Council, Brisbane Water County Council, and Mackellar County Council would be dissolved and merged into

11766-487: Was originally a relatively prosperous suburb, the legacy of which is the numerous lavish Victorian mansions still standing in the area. However, many parts of Newtown had gradually become a working-class enclave, and for much of the 20th century, Newtown was a low-income blue-collar suburb, often denigrated as a slum . In the post-war period, the low rents and house prices attracted newly arrived European migrants, and Newtown's population changed radically, becoming home to

11877-455: Was reconfigured, and, initially, Saywell's power station continued to provide power for the government tram. In December 1917, a new tramway substation entered service, at Rockdale, supplied by a high-voltage a.c. power line from Newtown , and ultimately powered from White Bay Power Station . It was later stated that it was around the time, when Saywell's concession expired, that the idea of the St George area's being supplied with bulk power, from

11988-467: Was redeveloped into offices and retail premises. One of the most notable local landmarks is the Hub Theatre opposite Newtown Station, next to the old Newtown Town Hall. The original Hub stood at, before moving to its present location, on the site of an earlier vaudeville theatre. It was converted to a cinema in the 1930. From the early 1970s, with the relaxation of Australia's censorship laws, it

12099-648: Was reinforced by the creation in 1949 of a federal electorate, the Division of St George , in the area. The Division was abolished in 1993. The area's identity is reflected in the name of the St George Illawarra Dragons team who play in the National Rugby League , and the St. George Bank . The St George area is a culturally diverse region. Major centres feature a substantial number of Southern European and Asian migrants and their families. In terms of sport,

12210-506: Was used to screen pornographic films and stage live "adult" sex shows, including the long running "Little French Maid". The Hub closed as a "porno" venue in the early 1990s and has been mostly vacant ever since; the owners of the Dendy chain tried to secure the venue for its Newtown cinema but were unsuccessful. Recently, the Hub has been home to live comedy shows and other such performances, seeing

12321-406: Was where customer accounts were paid and enquires could be made, with the remainder of the floor being used for displaying large and small appliances, electric ranges and water heaters. The basement level was used for a free appliance repair service and displays for domestic lighting, coppers (a large heated vessel used for boiling water and cleaning clothes) and washing machines. The first floor had

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