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Demolition Books - Albums and Prints, 1900-1949

Description

Unique IDAS-0051Start dateBetween 1st January 1900 and 20th June 1949Start date qualifiercircaFormatPhotograph - AlbumShort descriptionThis series contains photograph albums, 1900-1949, that have come to be known as the 'Demolition Books'. In fact, only the first 15 volumes relate to demolitions (and condemnations) of properties. Photographs in later volumes show properties to be resumed and construction and alterations to properties. DescriptionThis series contains photograph albums, 1900-1949, that have come to be known as the 'Demolition Books'. In fact, only the first 15 volumes relate to demolitions (and condemnations) of properties.

The remaining volumes feature properties to be resumed, construction and alterations to Council depots, the Fruit, Vegetable, Fish and Poultry Markets, the Pyrmont Power Station and various sub-stations, alterations and additions to the Queen Victoria Building, Council parks, the Moore Park Destructor, streets in Camperdown, the Coffee Palace in Hay and Sussex Streets, the Municipal Garage in Palmer Street, the Hippodrome, plague prevention in Camperdown, decorations and illuminations of the Sydney Town Hall and City streets, the Domain Baths and the Dawes Point Battery.

The albums were created by:
- City Engineers Department I (AG-0005) in the period 01/06/1936 to 20/06/1949
- City Architect and Building Surveyors Department II (AG-0016) in the period 01/06/1936 to 20/06/1949
- City Engineering and Building Surveyors Department (AG-0061) in the period 31/08/1928 to 01/06/1936
- City Architect and Building Surveyors Department I (AG-0078) in the period 01/01/1900 to 31/08/1928.

Council began taking photographs of City buildings in 1900, apparently at the instigation of the City Building Surveyor, R H Brodrick. The first photographs are of 11-17 Judge Street, which was condemned by Council and subsequently sold by the owners to a new set of owners who were unaware of the condemnation notice, and who complained to Council when they were informed the building was to be demolished. (AS-0028, A-00280387) This sort of occurrence may have persuaded the City Building Surveyor of the necessity of having a record of the buildings they were condemning.

The first mention of the photographs is not until 1 August 1901, in the minutes of a meeting of the Finance Committee. The minutes record that: ‘During the consideration of Accounts it was decided that owing to the regular expenditure for photographs of old buildings it was advisable to obtain competitive pricing for the work’. (AS-0011 No.14, page 30).

Brodrick responded to this request on the 4 September 1901 with the following: ‘I have interviewed Mr Kent. He is not only employed by this Dept but has I believe given every satisfaction to the Health Dept. Mr Johnson who was formerly employed gave up the work as non-remunerative. Mr Kent informed me that he is quite satisfied to compete but will most probably have to raise his terms. It must be clearly understood however that prices cannot be called for each individual batch of photos as sometimes they are urgently required (at once) such as Haymarket Fire & demolitions’”. (AS-0028, A-00280417).

The Inspector of Nuisances added that: ‘Mr Kent's services are chiefly used in this Dept for the detection & record of smoke nuisances which in some cases mean a long wait & inconvenient positions & command a special price’. (AS-0028, A-00280417).

The City Health Officer W Armstrong supported both of these statements and the Finance Committee agreed on 26 September 1901 ‘that the present arrangements stand for the present year.’

Brodrick not only wanted a photographic record of condemned buildings, but landmarks of the City as well. However, he did not convince the Finance Committee of the necessity of photographic landmarks. He wrote to the Town Clerk of 6 September 1901 that: ‘I have to report that many old Sydney buildings are being demolished, places of interest to old citizens generally. I have of late had photographs of these premises secured in time, but as exception has been taken to the expense of such work, I have ceased to give instructions. I shall be pleased to know if it is the wish of the Council to have these further landmarks preserved, or not’. (AS-0028, A-00280417).

This letter does not seem to have had any response from the Town Clerk, as Brodrick wrote again on 17 October 1901 that: ‘This completes all work carried out by Murrell & Co, and I would like the Town Clerk to kindly let me know, before I give orders for any further work, if I am to have photographs taken of old land marks in the City, (as mentioned in my report of 30th Sept last), as well as condemned buildings’. (AS-0028, A-00280417).

Murrell and Co were a firm of photographers operating in George Street at the time. (Sand’s Sydney Directories, 1900).

The Town Clerk responded on 5 November 1901 that: ‘It is understood that the Government are doing all that is necessary in this matter. Should any special case arise you might refer to me’. (AS-0028, A-00280417).

The taking of photographs of condemned buildings seems to have remained an issue, as on 22 January 1902 the City Surveyor wrote to the City Building Surveyor that: ‘In connection with cases to be dealt with under Sections 78/9 of the Sydney Corporation Act, I trust that photographs are being taken of the premises condemned. I believe it has been the custom in the past and should, in my opinion, be continued.’ (AS-0028, A-00280417).

On 23 January 1902 Brodrick reported again to the Finance Committee that: ‘I consider it not only advisable, but absolutely necessary to obtain photographs of all buildings condemned under powers of the Council, for purposes of identification as exhibits in case of possible subsequent disputes, and as a record of the external condition of premises at the date of service of notice requiring demolition of same. I concur with the opinion of the City Surveyor, and strongly recommend that the requisite photographs be taken of all places condemned, and prior to demolition.’ (AS-0028, A-00280417).

On 6 February 1902 the Finance Committee approved the continuation of the practice and left the matter of expenditure to the discretion of the Town Clerk. This was confirmed by Council on the 11 February 1902.

The Mr Kent referred to in the City Building Surveyor's report of the 4 September 1901 is probably Milton Kent. His name is embossed on the prints from August 1918 but it seems likely that he was responsible for most of the photographs from 1900 onwards. Kent does not appear to have corresponded formally with Council. He is referred to occasionally in correspondence but there does not appear to be anything in writing from him to Council.

The photographs taken by Mr Johnson which Brodrick referred to on 4 September 1901 do not appear to have survived.

The practice of taking photographs of condemned buildings seems to have ceased in 1931.

It appears that 39 of the volumes in this series originated from the City Building Surveyor’s Department, and the rest from the City Surveyor / City Engineer’s Department. They were all microfilmed as one series. The volumes from the City Building Surveyor’s Department are probably volume numbers 1-15, 17, 19-26, 32-36, 38-41, 43-45, 47 and 48. Milton Kent appears to have been responsible for all of the City Building Surveyor’s Department photographs as well as some of the Engineers. According to Ken Smith, Council’s first Archivist, an employee from the Engineer’s Department also took a lot of photographs.

The prints from these 39 albums were produced from glass negatives. They were pasted into albums and numbered consecutively from 1-1638, for the Condemnation and Demolition Books, and 1 to the end for each of the other albums covering specific buildings. (For example, the Queen Victoria Building photographs are numbered 1-179, the Hippodrome from 1-119). The glass plates were given the same number as the prints and placed in boxes. Both albums and boxes were labelled the same, as ‘Condemnations and Demolitions’, Alterations and Additions QVM Building, etc.

The albums from the City Engineer’s Department were not normally labelled on the cover, were numbered inconsistently, and most do not have negatives, except for a small number of flexible plastic negatives.

Des Cramp, formerly the Principal Draftsman with the Planning and Building Department, remembers that by the 1960s the glass plates were looked after by the Plans Custodians of the Planning and Building Department. They were stored in wooden boxes on top of steel cabinets in Block A, the Council administration building that was demolished to build Town Hall House. If someone took a fancy to the boxes or needed a new toolbox, they would dump the glass plates in large bins out the back, and remove the boxes. Des remembers the glass plates of the Hippodrome photographs being lost in this way. The feeling at the time was that the prints still survived so it did not matter if some of the negatives were destroyed. (Telephone interview with Des Cramp, 21 May 1996).

In 1971, the Mitchell Library began acquiring photographic negative collections from local councils. Des remembers putting the surviving boxes of glass negatives in the back of a Council ute and driving them up to Macquarie Street. He kept some of the glass negatives and gave them to the Sydney City Library on 25 May 1977. Some of these appear to have ended up in the working papers of Eric Russell, a historian who was appointed in 1976 to write a history of the Council (See AS-0849). It seems likely that the glass negatives that were part of his papers were borrowed from the Library and never returned. Both of these sets of estrays are now back with the rest of the collection.

The Mitchell Library renumbered the negatives, usually placing a small sticker over the original Council sticker, with the new Mitchell Library number above, and the original City Council number underneath. Des Cramp said that some of these stickers had fallen off before they were given to the Mitchell. They were kept by the Mitchell in their original wooden boxes.

The Mitchell Library only acquired photographic negatives, so the albums remained with Council, probably with City Planning and Building Department (AG-0008) and later with the Sydney City Library in their premises at the Queen Victoria Building. Des remembers them being stacked on the floor near a back lift. Chris Weir remembers them being used as steps to reach the top shelves. Ken Smith, Council’s first Archivist, was told they were used to prop open doors. Ken eventually removed the albums to Archives custody, probably around 1978, and arranged for them to be microfilmed by Chris Weir, Council’s Reprographics Officer, in 1980. The Sydney City Library were offered a set of duplicate microfilm at the time but declined the offer because they did not have a suitable reader/printer. (AS-0116, 19.16.0050 and telephone interview with Chris Weir, Reprographics Officer, South Sydney City Council, formerly Sydney City Council and Ken Smith, 21 June 1996).

In 1976, the albums were listed and indexed as part of a National Estate Program, by the Power Institute of Fine Arts, University of Sydney. Two copies of the indexes are available at Archives.

Some of the albums are missing. Below is copy of a listing of the albums probably compiled by the Plans Custodians of the Planning Department in 1951, showing the albums that no longer are in Council custody, and the AS-0051 volume number for those still held by Archives. Most of the missing volumes are duplicates.

1. Photograph Book 1-103: CRS 51/1 (this is actually 1-104)
2. Photograph Book 104-204: Missing
3. Photograph Book 205-246: CRS 51/2 (205-303)
4. Photograph Book 251-346: CRS 51/2 (205-303)
5. Photograph Book 251-346: Missing
6. Photograph Book 347-432: CRS 51/3 (330-432)
7. Photograph Book 347-432: Missing
8. Photograph Book 433-533: CRS 51/4 (433-533)
9. Condemnation and Demolitions 447-533: CRS 51/5 (447-533)
10. Condemnation and Demolitions 534-653: CRS 51/6
11. Condemnation and Demolitions 534-653: Missing
12. Condemnation and Demolitions 654-773: CRS 51/7
13. Condemnation and Demolitions 654-773: Missing
14. Condemnation and Demolitions 774-887: CRS 51/8
15. Condemnation and Demolitions 774-887: Missing
16. Condemnation and Demolitions 888-1007: CRS 51/9
17. Condemnation and Demolitions 888-1007: Missing
18. Condemnation and Demolitions 1008-1127: CRS 51/10
19. Condemnation and Demolitions 1008-1127: Missing
20. Condemnation and Demolitions 1128-1247: CRS 51/11
21. Condemnation and Demolitions 1128-1247: Missing
22. Condemnation and Demolitions 1248-1343: CRS 51/12
23. Condemnation and Demolitions 1248-1343: Missing
24. Condemnation and Demolitions 1344-1439: CRS 51/13
25: Condemnation and Demolitions 1344-1439: Missing
26: Condemnation and Demolitions 1440-1512: Missing
27: Condemnation and Demolitions 1440-1535: CRS 51/14
28: Condemnation and Demolitions 1536- : CRS 51/15.
29: Hippodrome: CRS 51/33
30: Manning and Weights and Measures: CRS 51/35
31: Hay and Sussex Streets, Palmer Street Garage: CRS 51/32
32: New Vegetable Market Engine St Campbell St and New Quay Street: CRS 51/25
33. New Vegetable Market Engine Street (probably New Fruit Market at Engine St): CRS 51/26.
34: Weights & Measures Building and Wattle St Cement Shed: CRS 51/40
35: Brodie & Grose Sts, Mains Depot: CRS 51/20.
36: Plague Prevention: CRS 51/43
37: Decorations and Illuminations: CRS 51/44.
38: Q.V. Market Building: CRS 51/23
39. Q.V. Market Building: CRS 51/24
40. Kent St Workshop and Stores: CRS 51/38
41. Kent St Workshop and Stores: CRS 51/41
42. Boiler House Extensions: CRS 51/45
43. Boiler House Extensions: CRS 51/22.
44. Photographs 1931-1939: CRS 51/17.
45. 33,000 Switch Gear House: CRS 51/48.
46: 33,000 Switch Gear House CRS 51/47
47. Kent St Sub Stores & Gantry: CRS 51/36.
48. No 3 Generating Station Exts: CRS 51/34.
49. Phillip St Sub-Station: CRS 51/21.
50. Hippodrome and Castlereagh St Sub-Station: Missing
51. Newport, Melbourne Power House & Pyrmont No 4 Extensions: CRS 51/39.
52. No 2 Market, Fish, Market Stores & Kent St Sub-Station: CRS 51/19.

On 31 August 1995, the glass plates were returned to Council custody by the State Library of NSW. (CRS326, A06-00082). The glass plate negatives for most of the missing prints have survived, and these were microfilmed.

Some of the prints and negatives have three different numbering systems. This includes the original number given to both prints and negatives by the City Council, a Mitchell Library number given to the negatives, and a number given to each print during the microfilming process. A spreadsheet showing each of these has been prepared by Archives.
Relationship summaryRELATED TO: Resumptions of land AY-0026 (01/01/1900 to 20/06/1949)
RELATED TO: Management of Council property AY-0019 (01/01/1900 to 20/06/1949)
RELATED TO: Construction and maintenance of buildings and structures AY-0001 (01/01/1900 to 20/06/1949)
LanguageNo linguistic content - Not applicable (zxx)

Photograph

Album - Demolition Books - Volume 49 - Resumptions, 1916-1920

Print - Map of streets near Central Railway Station Haymarket, circa 1908

Print - St Francis Church from Castlereagh Street Haymarket, 1909

Print - Buildings from the corner of Goodchap Street Surry Hills, 1940

Print - Union Hotel, Margaret and Kent Streets Sydney, circa 1911-1912

Print - Sydney and Melbourne Hotel, Margaret and Kent Streets Sydney, circa 1911-1912

Print - Union Bank, Oxford Street Darlinghurst, circa 1911-1912

Print - Crown Lane Darlinghurst, circa 1912

Print - Regent Street Chippendale

Print - Cleveland Street Chippendale, circa 1911-1912

Print - Church Street Pyrmont, circa 1911-1912

Print - John Street Pyrmont, circa 1911-1912

Print - Harry Street, circa 1911-1912

Print - Bremner and Harvey Streets Pyrmont, circa 1911-1912

Print - Dalwood's Premises, Bathurst Street Sydney, circa 1911-1912

Print - Cleveland and Dale Streets Chippendale, circa 1911-1912

Print - Crooke, Kerr and Co. General Engineers, Bathurst Street Sydney, circa 1911-1912

Print - Rear of property, Bathurst Street Sydney, circa 1911-1912

Print - Bridge over Burraphore Lane Woolloomooloo, circa 1911-1912

Print - George Street Sydney, circa 1912

Series

Demolition Books - Glass Negatives

Access

Public access statusOpen to public access

Identification and Arrangement

Source system ID51System of arrangementNumerical

Digitisation

Digitisation statusPartially digitised

Relationships

CollectionExhibition - Our CityDemolition Books - AlbumsDemolition Books - PrintsDemolition BooksOrganisationSydney City CouncilCreating agenciesCity Architect and Building Surveyor's Department ICity Engineering and Building Surveyor's DepartmentCity Architect and Building Surveyor's Department IICity Engineer's Department IRelated activitiesConstruction and maintenance of buildings and structuresManagement of Council propertyResumptions of land

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Demolition Books - Albums and Prints, 1900-1949