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Quick facts for kids Mort's Dock
Vessels at Mort's Dock, Sydney Harbour, 1908
Location	Thames, Mort, College, McKell, Cameron, Yeend Streets, Balmain, New South Wales, Australia
Built	1853–1867
Architect	Thomas Sutcliffe Mort (originally)

New South Wales Heritage Register
Official name: Mort's Dock; Mort's Dock & Engineering Company; Mort Bay Park
Type	state heritage (archaeological-maritime)
Designated	14 January 2011
Reference no.	1854
Type	Boat Building
Category	Maritime Industry
Builders	Private labour

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Mort's Dock was a very important place in Balmain, New South Wales, Australia. It was a special kind of dock called a dry dock, where ships could be brought out of the water for repairs. It also had a slipway (a ramp for pulling boats out) and a shipyard (where ships are built).

Mort's Dock was the very first dry dock in Australia! It opened in 1855 and worked for over 100 years, finally closing in 1959. Today, the area where the dock once stood is a lovely park.

The Story of Mort's Dock
What Remains Today
Why Mort's Dock is Important
See also

The Story of Mort's Dock

Mort’s Dock at Waterview Bay, Balmain, around 1860

Mort’s Dock at Waterview Bay, Balmain, in 1887

Workers at Mort's Dock laying the keel for a new ship in 1941.

How Mort's Dock Began

The area where Mort's Dock was built used to be called Waterview Bay. A small stream flowed down from Balmain Hill into the bay. Along the stream were little waterholes, named "Curtis Waterholes" after the person who owned the land, James Curtis.

In 1842, James Reynolds bought land near the water. He built a stone house and dammed the stream. He then sold fresh water to ships anchored in the bay.

Later, in 1853, Captain Thomas Rowntree bought the land. He saw it as a perfect spot for a "patent slip," which is a ramp to pull ships out of the water. To get money for his idea, Rowntree sold his ship, the "Lizzie Webber." This is how he met Thomas Sutcliffe Mort, who was an auctioneer.

Mort quickly realised that Sydney needed a place to fix ships. At that time, there were no such facilities anywhere south of Mumbai, India! The location in Balmain was just right.

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort: A Visionary

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort was a very clever businessman. He was born in England and came to Sydney in 1838. He started as a clerk and quickly became successful. By 1843, he was organising wool auctions, which were the first ones just for wool. He also helped Australia become a big wool exporter.

Mort became Sydney's top auctioneer by 1850. He had made a lot of money from buying and selling land. He was always looking for good port spots for his wool ships. Building a dry dock at Waterview Bay was his big idea, and it helped the area grow quickly.

Building Australia's First Dry Dock

Mort and Captain Rowntree teamed up to create Mort's Dock. In the 1850s, steamships started appearing in Sydney Harbour, but there was nowhere to repair them. So, in 1854, Mort and Rowntree bought land at Waterview Bay. They dug out a huge dry dock, about 123 metres long and 15 metres wide.

They formed the Waterview Bay Dry Dock Company in 1853. Even though the government was building another dry dock at Cockatoo Island, Mort went ahead with his plan. He even offered workers a piece of land if they helped finish the dock!

The dock was ready by March 1855. This was a whole year before the government's dock at Cockatoo Island was finished. The first ship to be fixed at Mort's Dock was the SS Hunter, a mail steamer that travelled between Sydney and Newcastle.

As the dock grew, Mort sold more land around it. This helped pay for the dock's expansions in 1866 and 1875. By 1877, many working-class families lived in the area.

Growing Beyond Ship Repairs

At first, the dock didn't make as much money as expected. So, by 1861, Mort and Rowntree started leasing out land around the dock for other businesses. These included cargo storage, small engineering workshops, and a metal foundry.

By 1867, Mort's Dock became a major engineering centre. They built steam locomotives, ship parts, mining equipment, and even steel pipes for the Sydney Water Board. Mort also changed partners and later sold his shares to his foreman and manager.

The company became the biggest private employer in the colony. It was also a very important place for the union movement. The Australian Labor Party (which was then called the Labor Electoral League) was even started by unionists from this dock in 1891!

In 1870, the dock put together the first locomotive ever made in Australia.

Expansion and War Efforts

In 1901, the company opened a second dry dock, Woolwich Dock, to handle more work. By 1917, Mort's Dock had built 39 steamships, seven Manly ferries, and even parts for Sydney's water reservoirs and the Sydney General Post Office.

When World War II started, Mort's Dock became incredibly busy. The Royal Australian Navy needed many new ships. Between 1940 and 1945, Mort's Dock built 14 of the 60 Bathurst-class corvettes (small warships) made in Australia during the war. They also built four of the twelve River-class frigates (another type of warship). By the end of the war, Mort's Dock was the second-biggest builder of naval ships in Australia, after Cockatoo Island Dockyard.

The End of an Era

After the war, shipbuilding slowed down. Many businesses moved away from Balmain because land was cheaper elsewhere. The biggest change came in the 1960s with the rise of container shipping. This new way of moving goods meant that Mort's Dock was no longer needed.

Mort's Dock closed in 1958, and the company officially stopped trading in 1968. In 1960, the site was bought by Australian National Line (ANL). The old dock was filled in, and the buildings were pulled down to create a container storage area.

However, people in Balmain wanted the site to be a park, not a container terminal. Groups like the Balmain Association fought to save the area's history. In 1986, it was decided that part of the site would become parkland. The container terminal closed in 1989.

Today, the filled-in dry dock is remembered by the nearby Dry Dock Hotel.

Key Dates in Mort's Dock History

1853: Construction of the dry dock began.
1855: The dry dock was finished and opened.
1866: Engineering and blacksmith works were expanded.
1874: The dry dock was made longer, to 390 feet.
1898: The dry dock was extended again, to 640 feet.
1959: The company went out of business.
1963: ANL bought part of the site to make a container facility.
1968-1969: The dry dock was filled in and the site was levelled for container storage.
1980: Plans were made to turn about 7 hectares of the site into a park and housing.
1985: Development of the park began.
1989: The park was completed.

What Remains Today

Even though the dock was filled in, the old parts of the dry dock are still buried under what is now Mort Bay Park. You can still see the top of the stone walls of the dry dock in the park. Other parts, like the old ship bollards (posts for tying up ships) and pieces of the slipways, are also still there.

Experts believe that the site holds a lot of important historical information. Because it was filled in, many of the original structures are still in good condition, like a time capsule!

Why Mort's Dock is Important

Mort's Dock was the biggest shipyard and engineering workshop in Australia in the late 1800s. It helped Sydney become Australia's most important port for ships. The buried remains of the dry dock are very rare and special.

Mort's Dock was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on January 14, 2011, because it met several important criteria:

It shows how history unfolded: It was Sydney's first dry dock and operated for a very long time.
It's linked to important people: People like Thomas Rowntree, Thomas Sutcliffe Mort, and even future leaders like John Storey (who became Premier) and William McKell (who became Governor-General of Australia) worked or trained there.
It shows great skill and design: Building the first dry dock in the colony was a huge technical achievement. The site itself is also a special landmark.
It's important to the community: Mort's Dock was the biggest private business in the colony. It helped Balmain become a working-class area and was key to the start of the trade union movement and the Australian Labor Party.
It can teach us more about history: Because the remains are so well preserved, scientists and archaeologists can learn a lot about Australia's industrial and maritime history.
It's rare: It's one of only a few surviving dry docks from that time in Australia. It shows us a way of life and shipbuilding that no longer exists.
It's a great example of its kind: It represents shipbuilding, ship repair, and engineering from that time. It built many ships, including important warships during World War II, which were vital for Australia's defence.