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Timeline
1792 - 1820
1842 | 1843 | 1848
| 1851 | 1853 | 1854
| 1857 | 1858 | 1860
| 1862 | 1865 | 1867
| 1868 | 1869 | 1870
| 1871 | 1872 | 1873
| 1874 | 1875 | 1876
| 1877 | 1879 | 1880
| 1881 | 1882 | 1883
| 1884 | 1885 | 1886
| 1887 | 1888 | 1889
| 1890 | 1892 | 1934
| 1977
1792 - 1820
1842
19 November
First meeting of Council – held in the George Street
Markets. |
1843
| 18 January
Council meets in its new quarters in the Pultenay Hotel, York
Street.
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26
April
Council approach Governor Gipps requesting the Old Burial Ground
for a site for the Town Hall. |
1843
Architectural competition held
for Town Hall designs. Mr Frederick Hilly awarded prize of
£50. |
1848
Council formally requests the
land formerly occupied by the first Government House, bounded
by Bridge, Bent, Phillip and Elizabeth Streets. |
1851
13
September
Council granted site bounded by Bridge, Bent, Phillip
and Elizabeth streets for a Town Hall.
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1853
1854
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Commissioners meet in the Oxford
Hotel, King Street. This becomes the new Council offices when
the Council reforms in 1857.
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James Barnet commissioned to
draw up plans for a Town Hall in the Classical style.
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1857
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City Council re-established.
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Government re-issues Bent Street site to Council for Town
Hall. |
1858
7 June
Council adopts plans for a Town Hall at the Bent
Street site.
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1860
Council meets in its new quarters
in Carrington Street, on the eastern side of Wynyard Square.
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1862
9 December
Council granted permission to sell (or exchange) the Bent
Street site.
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1865
Council
again applies for a grant of a portion of the Old Burial Ground.
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1867
Public architectural competition
held for designing the Town Hall. Prize money of £250.
17 entries, none of which could be built for the stipulated
£25,000. |
1868
|
Council meets in
its new quarters in Carlton Terrace, York Street, on the western
side of Wynyard Square. |
February
2nd Town Hall design competition announced, with plans
not to exceed £35,000. |
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4 April
Foundation stone for the Town Hall is laid by Prince
Alfred. Up to 2000 people attend the supposedly “private”
affair. |
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July
1st, 2nd and 3rd premiums awarded to the designs “Treu
und Fest”, “City” and “Bunyip”
respectively. The designs ranked 1st and 2nd were by the same
architect, J. H. Willson. |
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Allegations of corruption followed,
with claims that two aldermen had been offered bribes of £100
to influence their votes in favour of Willson.
Council withdrew the prize, but Engineer Edward Bell asked
to modify the Wilson design. Mayor invited Wilson to act as
architectural adviser. Two factions evolve in Council. One
supports the prizewinner Willson; the other the in-house engineers. |
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24 August -5
September
Public exhibition of Town Hall designs. |
1869
|
February
Work begins on Town Hall.
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3 March
The Cathedral Close Act (32 Vic No. 4) grants a portion
of the Old Burial Ground to the Council for the erection of
a Town Hall.
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May
Willson allegedly breaks into Bell’s office;
his signature appears scrawled across the plans; several plans
are reported missing. |
Mid-year
Excavations for the foundations are underway, contractors
Kelly & McLeod. They exceed by 8 ft the half acre originally
granted by the Government. Possibly a mistake at first, but
it becomes leverage for more land. An additional quarter acre
is handed over in November.
|
1870
3 December
Edward Bell, City Engineer, dismissed (for shortcomings
not associated with the Town Hall).
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1871
11 April
Kelly & McLeod win tender for joisting Town Hall. |
1872
| April
J. H. Willson dies. Hall and offices only partly constructed.
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| 21
October
John McLeod wins contract for construction of Town Hall Tower. |
| Architect Horbury Hunt publicly
questions the design and stability of the clock tower, and implies
that Council is irresponsibly in neglecting to employ a professional
architect. |
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1873
| April
Albert Bond appointed City Architect.
Discovers Willson’s notes and drawings of roof details
and the internal treatment of hall were very scanty.
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22 April
Last stone of the Town Hall (the finial at the summit
of the tower) is laid by the Mayor, James Merriman. |
1874
|
Council learns it must pay a higher rent if it is to stay
in its current premises at Carlton Terrace. Decides to move
into the Town Hall early. Becomes necessary to bring the building
to a stage where it can be used. Bond forced to build temporary
walls, add windows and include temporary fittings.
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1875
1
July
First Council meeting to be held at the new Town Hall.
The City Council meets in the “temporary chamber”
with “lofty bare brick walls and … naked beams overhead.” |
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| 7 July
Albert Bond’s design for the completion of
the vestibule approved.
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July &
August
Henry Smith and James Bennett win various contracts
for finishing rooms in Town Hall. They also win contracts in
1876, 1877, & 1878. |
1876
|
23 May
John Falconer & Frederick Ashwin
win contract for glass in the dome of the Vestibule.
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1877
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December
Albert Bond, City Architect, resigns. David McBeath
is appointed as his replacement.
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1879
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Plans are underway for the 2nd stage of construction –
building the Main Hall.
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1880
12 February
Vestibule used for the first time for an official civic
function, when the Mayor, Robert Fowler, when he presides over
a banquet for the Sydney International Exhibition Commissioners. |
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| July
The ‘foundation scandal’. Quality of
the foundations for the 2nd stage of the Town Hall questioned.
Council commissions architects Mansfield, Blacket & Blackman
to investigate. Conclude work is defective: walls of basement
overhung foundation walls.
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November
McBeath, implicated in the foundation scandal, resigns
on the grounds of ill health. |
1881
| Thomas Sapsford appointed
City Architect. |
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March
Ald. J.D. Young calls for investigation into the
decorative plasterwork of stage 1. Found to be defective –
falling off the ceiling. Contractors Smith & Bennett allowed
to make good the work.
|
| Sapsford
ordered to draw up new plans for the foundation of the Main
Hall. |
| Clock tower completed. |
1882
|
Sapsford
releases new plans for Town Hall to the general acclaim of
the architectural fraternity. |
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1883
|
Main attention
is now on constructing the second stage of the Town Hall,
principally the main hall. In the meantime, Council resolves
to spend nearly £11,000 to complete the first stage
of building. |
June
Council lets contract to McLeod and Noble for the construction
of foundations to ground floor level. |
13 November
Foundation stone for the Main Hall laid by the Mayoress,
Mrs Lizzie Henrietta Harris. |
1884
|
John Hennessy, Assistant City Architect, resigns. |
1885
|
Council lets second contract for main structure to J. Stewart
& Co.
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4 December
Thomas Sapsford dismissed as City Architect, accused of overspending
and sloppy book keeping. Thomas Eves, Clerk of Works, also dismissed. |
| George McRae appointed temporary
architect while Sapsford suspended. |
1886
|
19 January
Thomas Sapsford reappointed as City Architect.
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|
26 April
Council awards contract for the superstructure (roof)
to Stewart & Harrison. |
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November
Thomas Sapsford dies at the age of 39, before the completion
of the Town Hall. Council appoints George McRae as the new City
Architect. |
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1887
|
Detailed drawings of roof slow to reach the contractors.
Main girders found to be defective; replaced by imported material
from UK. These do not arrive until early 1889. |
1888
|
Town Hall as yet unfinished and the butt of jokes, especially
in the Sydney Morning Herald |
1889
|
10 April
Final stone of the Main Hall laid by John Harris’
daughter, Mary Ann Harris.
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27 November
Centennial Hall finally opened. |
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1890
| 9
August
Opening of the Grand Organ. Mr W. T. Best, the City Organist
of Liverpool, UK, considered to be the finest concert organist
in the world, was invited to play at the opening.
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1892
| Steps
of the Town Hall removed and a porte-cochère constructed
at main entrance from George Street.
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Size:68 KB |
1934
| Construction
of the underground railway in the early 1930s leads to cracking
in the porte-cochère. It is demolished in 1934 and
steps reinstated.
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Size:93KB |
1977
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