Menu
Anthony Hordern & Sons
This collection contains a selection of items relating to Anthony Hordern and Sons and their famous Palace Emporium (now demolished).
Anthony Hordern & Sons was the largest department store in Sydney and one of the largest in the world.
Anthony Hordern, an English immigrant, and his wife Ann, opened the store in 1823 as a drapery shop. After their move to Melbourne, their sons Lebbeus and Anthony set up their own drapery firm in 1844 at 689 George Street, Brickfield Hill, the site now occupied by World Square.
In 1856 a new three-storey Haymarket store was opened. Anthony junior took his elder sons Anthony III and Samuel into partnership as Anthony Hordern and Sons. On 10th July 1901, the Haymarket premises was destroyed by fire. Business was temporarily moved to the Exhibition Building, Prince Alfred Park.
The new building, known as the New Palace Emporium, was erected on the site of their Brickfield Hill store in 1905 and sold a huge range of goods. It included three street frontages: George, Pitt and Goulburn Streets.
In April 1926 the business was sold to a public company set up for the purpose. By the early 1960s Anthony Hordern and Sons was no longer making profits. A number of the upper levels of the Brickfield Hill store were closed. Anthony Hordern's was taken over by Walton's in January 1970 and the Brickfield Hill site was sold.
The Palace Emporium was used by the NSW Institute of Technology (now UTS) and a number of small businesses. In the early 1980s the building's new owner, Singaporean based Ipoh Garden Development, planned to try to save the Anthony Hordern's building, but it proved to be too costly. It was controversially demolished in 1987 for the World Square development.
To find even more items relating to the Anthony Hordern's and the Palace Emporium try the search tool.
References
http://www.visitsydneyaustralia.com.au/anthony-horderns.html
https://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/stories/sydneys-home-furnishing-stores-1890-1960/anthony-hordern-sons
http://www.visitsydneyaustralia.com.au/anthony-horderns.html
CollectionSignificant BuildingsSydney BusinessesHaymarket