Unique IDPE-000051Surnamede St RemyGiven namesHippolyteAlternative nameValentineBirth date qualifierno dateDetailed biographyBiography - de St Remy, HippolyteGenderMaleOccupational historyMonsieur Hippolyte de St Remy also known as Valentine de St Remy was employed by the City of Sydney from August 1855 until August 1859. He was initially employed as a draftsman in the City Engineer’s Department and during the course of his employment his duties and salary increased to become the equivalent of those of Assistant City Engineer. At the time of his resignation his salary had reached £300 per annum, only the principal office bearers of the City (Town Clerk, City Treasurer, City Surveyor and City Engineer) earned more.
During the period of St Remy’s employment, the City Engineer’s department was responsible for overseeing the development of the City’s Sewerage system and for the building and bringing into operation of the Botany Water Works for the supply of water to Sydney. St Remy supervised the Drawing Office and was responsible for the design and production of plans for various City Works particularly at Botany. He also performed extra work for the City of Sydney in completing some of the final maps of the trig survey of the City of Sydney, producing accurate delineations of the streets and buildings of the City on a scale of 10 feet to the inch. When Edward Bell, the City Engineer, recommended that St Remy’s salary be increased to £300 per annum in October 1856, he wrote “he is worth it”.
St Remy resigned from the City’s employment in August 1859, having been earlier not accorded a salary increase and noting that as the major works of the City were reaching completion his services might become redundant; he wrote that he had sought and found a position elsewhere.
The Common Seal and Coat of Arms of the City of Sydney, 1857-1902:
His major legacy to the City was the design of the first Common Seal for the Corporation of Sydney in April 1857. His design was enthusiastically adopted by the Councillors of the newly reincorporated body of the City Council and it was used, in various adaptations, through the remainder of the 19th Century as the Coat of Arms of the City.Source system ID51
