Susannah Place facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Susannah Place |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | 58-64 Gloucester Street, The Rocks, City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Built | 1844 |
| Architectural style(s) | Victorian Georgian |
| Governing body | Sydney Living Museums |
| Owner | Property NSW |
| Official name: Susannah Place; Susannah Place Museum; Susannah Terrace | |
| Type | State heritage (built) |
| Designated | 10 December 1999 |
| Reference no. | 1310 |
| Type | Terrace |
| Category | Residential buildings (private) |
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
Susannah Place is a very old group of houses and a former grocery store in The Rocks, a historic area in Sydney, Australia. It was built in 1844. Today, it's known as the Susannah Place Museum. It's a special place because it shows us how ordinary working-class families lived for over 160 years.
The property is owned by Property NSW and looked after by Sydney Living Museums. These are government groups in New South Wales. Susannah Place was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 December 1999, meaning it's protected for its historical importance. People lived in these houses until 1990, making it a unique look into the past.
Contents
A Look Back in Time
Building Susannah Place
The land where Susannah Place stands has a long history. In the early 1800s, two men, William Walsh and Dennis Conway, owned buildings here. After they passed away, there were arguments over who truly owned the land.
Eventually, in 1835, an ex-convict named James Byrne bought the site. Maps from the 1830s show two buildings already there. After Byrne died, his wife, Sarah Byrne, had to sell the land in 1842.
Edward Riley bought the land in 1842. By 1844, the old buildings were gone, and four new houses were built. These are the houses we now call Susannah Place. It's thought that Edward Riley himself built them.
Life in the Early Days
Edward Riley and his wife Mary came to Sydney in 1838. With them was their niece, Susannah Sterne, who was a milliner. The houses are believed to be named after her. It's amazing that Edward, who arrived as an assisted immigrant, owned four houses just six years later!
Mary Riley became the owner after Edward died in 1853. She lived there for almost 30 years, providing a stable home. During her time, the houses likely got running water and sewer connections.
After Mary died, the shop and one house went to her "grand-daughter" Mary Ann Hensley. Mary Ann was actually the daughter of Susannah Sterne. Mary Ann and her husband, John Finnegan, ran the grocery shop for a short time.
Saving Susannah Place
In the early 1900s, after a plague outbreak, the government took control of many properties in The Rocks, including Susannah Place. Streets were changed, and Gloucester Street was raised.
Later, in the 1970s, there were plans to knock down Susannah Place. However, local residents and a group called the Builders' Labourers Federation put a "Green Ban" on the area. This meant they stopped work to protect the historic buildings.
Thanks to these efforts, Susannah Place was saved. In 1986, the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales became interested in the property. They worked to conserve the houses. Major repair work was done in 1992, and Susannah Place opened as a museum.
What Susannah Place Looks Like
Susannah Place is a row of four small houses built in the Victorian Georgian style. One of them used to be a corner shop. The houses are built on a sloping site, so the Gloucester Street side has two floors, and the Cambridge Street side has three.
The buildings are made of brick on a sandstone base. The roof is hidden by a low wall called a parapet. You can see "Susannah Place Anno Domini 1844" written on the Gloucester Street side.
Inside the Homes
Each house originally had six rooms over three levels. The kitchen was in the basement, and toilets were outside. The ground floor had living and dining rooms, and the first floor had bedrooms.
Today, many rooms are kept as they would have looked in different time periods. This helps visitors understand how families lived. The houses also show how technology changed, from using community water pumps to having piped water, and from oil lamps to gas and electricity.
Changes Over Time
Over the years, Susannah Place saw many changes:
- Around 1885, running water was connected.
- Around 1858, the houses were connected to the sewer system.
- The original shingle roofs were replaced with corrugated iron between 1877 and 1900.
- In the 1920s, outdoor laundries and bathrooms were added.
- Later, some basement kitchens were moved to timber additions at the back.
A Museum for Everyone
Since 1987, the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales has worked to preserve Susannah Place. Their goal is to keep the buildings as they are, showing all the changes that happened over time. They don't try to make everything look brand new.
The museum wants to "preserve the evidence of the building’s use." This means they keep old materials and show how the houses were adapted by their residents. For example, one room in No. 58 was left "as found" after the last family moved out in 1974, with only necessary repairs.
The museum also recreated the corner shop to look like it did in the 1910s-1920s. This helps visitors imagine what it was like to shop there long ago.
Who Lived Here?
Many families lived in Susannah Place over the years. Their stories help us understand life in The Rocks.
House No. 58
The Hughes family lived here from 1916 to 1929. Later, John and Adelaide Gallagher lived here, followed by their daughter Mary Anderson and her family. Their younger son, Ernie, lived in the house until 1974.
House No. 60
The first tenants were Ellen and Francis Cunninghame, who arrived from Glasgow in 1840. They lived here from 1844 to 1845. Ellen gave birth to two children while living in this house. Later, the house was a lodging house for sailors. Dorothea, Arthur, and Emmanuel Sarantides lived here from 1934 to 1946. The kitchen in this house is recreated based on memories from Dorothea’s grandchildren.
House No. 62
Edward and Mary Riley, the original builders and owners, lived in this house. They were Irish immigrants. The terraces are named after Mary's daughter, Susannah Sterne. Ellen and Dennis Marshall lived here for 28 years, from 1962 to 1990. They were the last tenants in Susannah Place and acted as unofficial caretakers for many years.
House No. 64 (The Shop)
This house included a small grocery shop. The first tenant in 1845 was James Munro, who made ginger beer. George Hill ran the shop from 1879 to 1898. After him, Eliza and Robert Sneddon ran the store from 1931 to 1935, which was the end of the shop for a while. Later tenants included Mary Carmichael and Ronald Smith.
The Shop Today
Today, the corner shop has been brought back to life! It's set up to look like it did in the 1920s, based on memories from Jim Young, whose parents, Hugo and Clara Youngein, ran the shop from 1904 to 1930. It's now the entrance to the museum and a working shop.
Why Susannah Place is Special
Susannah Place is very important for several reasons:
A Window to the Past
It's a rare example of simple working-class houses from the 1840s that haven't changed much. It shows us how people lived, what their homes were like, and how technology improved over 160 years. The buildings still have many of their original features.
A Unique Survival Story
Susannah Place survived major changes in Sydney. It wasn't knocked down during the "cleansing operations" after the plague in the early 1900s. It also survived development plans in the 1970s, thanks to local residents who fought to save it. This makes it a symbol of community strength.
Community Spirit
The stories of the families who lived here, collected through interviews, show how important Susannah Place was to them. It represents the daily lives of working-class people in The Rocks. It helps us understand the history of Sydney's urban working class in the 19th and 20th centuries.
