Grace Brothers

Grace Bros was an Australian department store chain, founded in 1885. Grace Bros. joined Myer in 1989 to become the largest department store group in Australia. All the departmental stores were operating under Grace Bros. until they were re-branded under the Myer name in 2004.


The Grace Brothers, Albert Edward and Joseph Neal Grace decided to leave England in 1880 to go to America and Australia. Joseph Neal arrived in Australia in 1883 and shortly after in 1885, Albert Edward arrived in Sydney. Grace Brothers had a long and rich history of retailing in Sydney following its founding by the Grace Brothers, Albert Edward and Joseph Neal Grace.

In 1885, brothers purchased 15x60 store front at 203 George Street near Railway Square terminus. They stocked the store with $1000 merchandise. They moved to the new location, Broadway in 1887 with the expansion of the store. By 1906, they had opened a five-story building at Broadway, now the site of the Broadway Shopping Centre. A full page announcement appeared in Sydney morning Herald about the Grace Bros. Company Policy in 1911. In 1917 the company was registered as Grace Bros Ltd. with the motto – Sure to get it at Grace Bros. Under the NSW Companies Act Grace Bros Ltd changed its name to Grace Bros. Pty. Ltd.

In 1926, the Grace Brothers, Albert Edward and Joseph Neal Grace, purchased a block of land on the corner of York, Clarence and King Streets in Sydney, on which they would build the "Grace Building". Both brothers believed that the site was perfectly positioned for the building as a "The Showpiece of the Company".  New public transport routes were opened and even Company letterhead showed the building as being "...on the Harbour Bridge Highway." The Grace Building was officially opened by Sydney Lord Mayor Ernest Marks on 3 July 1930.

In 1931, Joseph Neal Grace died and Albert Grace became Managing Director of Grace Bros Ltd. In 1933 Albert took his first step towards the expansion of Grace Bros stores from City to suburban Parramatta and Bondi. Prior to his death in 1938, Albert Grace planned suburban expansion of the Grace Bros stores from the City, a move which is considered the reason Grace Bros survived when many of their contemporaries perished such as Anthony Hordern’s and Mark Foy's. Isabel Grace died in 1970 at age of 86 years.

Over the years, grace Bros. opened many suburban and country stores. Parramatta and Bondi Junction stores were opened in 1933. Parramatta store was the first suburban Grace Bros. stores. In 1961 Chatswood Grace Bros. was opened followed by Roselands on October 1965. In August 2001, the final grace bros. store was opened in Castle Hill. In 2004, Sydney retailing icon Grace Bros. replaced its 109 year old name to Myer. 

Norman Mackay Field - World War One – Parramatta Soldiers

World War One – Parramatta Soldiers – Norman Mackay Field

Private Norman Mackay Field lived in Inkerman Street Granville, NSW when he enlisted on the 17 March 1916. He was 32 years old, single and worked as a cement worker at Goodlet and Smith’s in Merrylands. He had previously served 18 months with the Scottish Rifles. Norman was Methodist and his next of kin, his sister Ethel May Field, lived in North Sydney.

On the 22 August 1916 he embarked from Sydney on the HMAT Wiltshire A18, and disembarked at Plymouth England on the 13 October 1916. He proceeded to France on the 8 January 1917 on the "Princess Henrietta" and on the 18 January 1917 was transferred to the 4 Division of the Australian Division Base Depot.                                                                                                     

Private Norman Field was killed in action in the field in France on the 7 June 1917 at 34 years of age, and was posthumously awarded the Victory Medal.                                                                                         

John Farrell - World War One – Parramatta Soldiers

World War One – Parramatta Soldiers – John Farrell

Private John Farrell was one of three brothers who served in the First World War. Although John had been born in Wagga, at the time of his enlistment he was living in Mechan Street Granville, NSW, with his brother and sister. John was a carpenter by trade and unmarried.

On the 24 July 1916 he suffered a gunshot wound to his left thigh in France, and needed to be transferred to Graylingwell War Hospital in Chichester for treatment. He began his return to France by marching in from England, and proceeded to the front on the 4 October 1916, and rejoined his unit the 3 Battalion on the 12 October 1916.

On the 11 May 1917 he died in France of gunshot wounds and was buried in Grevillers, France.

St John’s Anglican Cathedral

1803 - St John’s Anglican Cathedral is the oldest place of worship in Australia. It was opened on 11^th April 1803. 

1818 - The twin towers which stand today were constructed under the supervision of Lieutenant John Watt in 1818, making them the oldest surviving part of any Anglican Church in Australia. They are built from handmade sandstock bricks, possibly by convicts, and overlaid with a stucco render giving the appearance of stone. The choice of design is attributed to Elizabeth Macquarie, the wife of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, who was inspired by a ruined church in Reculver, Kent in England.

1821 - St John’s Anglican Cathedral’s clock was built by the London Clock making Company Thwaites and Reed of Clerkenwell and installed in the northern Tower in 1821 

1850s - The church building of the early 1800s, except the towers, was demolished in the early 1850s after a severe storm and subsequent deterioration meant that the building was no longer fit for use.

1862 – The pipe organ was brought from England in 1862 and installed in the Western Gallery in 1863.

1882 - The new building was opened in 1855 and by 1882; the church family had expanded so much that the building needed to be enlarged. The well-known architect firm of Blacket and Son was commissioned to design transepts which completed the building as it is seen today.

George Taylor

George Taylor was born on 1 August 1872 in Sydney. He was a second son of George and Annie. He learned a trade in building from Sydney Technical College.  He first became known as an artist/cartoonist for various local and international papers.  He contributed drawings to The Bulletin, Worker, Sunday Times, Referee, and London Punch, but later became interested in aviation and radio. George was a member of the Dawn and Dusk Club. He married his wife, Florence Mary Parsons in 1907.

Taylor in his self-constructed glider at Narrabeen in 1909

He was very interested in technology. He experimented with a motorless aeroplane (glider) and, in November 1909, constructed one of full size. On 5 December 1909 he became the first person in Australia to fly in a heavier-than-air craft. Same day Florence Taylor also flew in her husband's glider. In 1910 he founded the Wireless Institute of New South Wales and was elected to the Royal Geographical Society of London for his military maps and to the Royal Astronomical Society for his theory of moon-life. George visited Europe to study broadcasting developments in 1922. He played a major role in framing the broadcasting regulations for Australia.

An epileptic seizure in his bath tub drowned him on 20 January 1928. His wife Florence Mary Taylor was very upset of his sudden death.

In 1929 a gift of £1100 was made to the University of Sydney by the G. A. Taylor memorial committee to found a lectureship in aviation or aeronautical engineering in his memory.

Florence Taylor – Architect and Engineer – Parramatta

 Florence Taylor – Architect and Engineer – 1879 to 1969

 

Florence Mary Parsons was born in Somerset, England on 29 December 1879. She was four years old when she came to Australia with her parents Charles Parsons and Augusta Parsons. Florence had two brothers, Tom two years older and five years younger Theodore. Her sister Lily was two years younger. They lived briefly in Queensland before moving to Parramatta. Her father worked as a draftsman clerk with the Parramatta Council.  Her parents died when she was in her late teens though both Charles and Augusta’s deaths are listed as unknown in Ancestry database.  After the death of her parents, Florence was forced to find a work to support her siblings. She was working as a clerk in one of her father’s architectural practice. She was inspired by the earnings of drafts people, who were earning far more than her. She enrolled herself in night classes at the Sydney Technical College. In 1904, she was first qualified female architect. Then she started her studies to become a first woman to train as an engineer in Australia. 1907 was the year when Florence Parsons married Sydney born artist, inventor and craft worker George Augustine Taylor. They got married in St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church in Sydney. In December 1909, Florence Taylor became the first Australian women to fly the aircraft (glider) built by her husband George Taylor. Both Florence and George were passionate about architecture and building industry.  

Florence’s husband died after drowning in his bath tub due to epileptic fit in 1928. After his death she was managing the publishing business until her retirement in 1961 at the age of 81. She lived in Potts Point and died on 13 February 1969.  

The Hills Shire Timeline - Baulkham Hills Council

40,000 BC - Darug Aborigines (also spelt Dharug, Daruk, Dharuk) inhabited the Shire until the early 1800s, especially around waterholes.
1791 - Governor Phillip journeyed to the Shire in April.
1794 - Hawkesbury Road (Old Windsor Road) was developed from Toongabbie Government Farm to the Hawkesbury River. William Joyce received the first land grant in the Shire and by 1811 was operating the Shire's first inn that was located on this road.
1799 - Joseph Foveaux was granted 300 acres which he sold to John Macarthur in 1801. John and Elizabeth Macarthur farmed sheep on this property before establishing them at Camden. Part of this land was later acquired by the Pearce family and became known as 'Bella Vista Farm'.
1801 - Toongabbie Road (Junction Road) was made from Toongabbie Government Farm to Baulkham Hills and then Castle Hill Road (Old Northern Road) was built to the new Castle Hill Government Farm.
1804 - The convicts rebelled on 4 March and made a stand for freedom at the Battle of Vinegar Hill on 5 March.
1807 - George Suttor of 'Chelsea Farm' Baulkham Hills, was the first person in the colony to produce oranges commercially.
1810 - Windsor Road was constructed.
1811 - Castle Hill Government Farm was converted to the first lunatic asylum in the colony. It operated until 1826 when it was relocated to Liverpool.
1823 - Most of the land in the southern part of the Shire had been granted by then. As the century progressed these original grants were subdivided into farms.
1826 - Construction of Old Northern Road, part of the Great North Road, from Castle Hill to Wisemans Ferry began.
1830 - More land started to be granted in the northern part of the Shire.
1840 - The first school in the Shire, St Simon's School, began at the Old Castle Hill Government Farm site.
1856 - John Malloy Kelly opened the first general store and post office in the Shire near the corner of Junction and Windsor Roads, Baulkham Hills (now the M2).
1886 - Castle Hill District Show began at Rogans Hill and moved to Showground Road Castle Hill in 1891
1890's - 'Bella Vista Farm' was thought to be the largest orchard in NSW.
1894 - A telephone service was extended to the Hills from Parramatta.
1902 - Tram from Parramatta to Baulkham Hills commenced with an extension to Castle Hill opened in 1910. This accelerated the subdivision of old estates adjacent to the railway into residential blocks.
1906 - Baulkham Hills Shire Council was created on 6 March via the Local Government Act of 1906. The first meeting was held on 16 June at James Pearce's Baulkham Hills residence.
1907 - Telephone links were created between the Hills and the Hawkesbury area.
1911 - Population of the shire was 3,498
1913 - Sir Joseph Cook, Member for Parramatta (which included the Baulkham Hills Shire) became Australian Prime Minister.
 - Water pipes in Showground Road were connected to the Sydney Water Supply. By 1917 there were water pipes in Baulkham Hills.
1920 - Slab huts in Windsor Road, Baulkham Hills, just south east of the crossroads were used in the filming of Raymond Longford's 'On Our Selection'.
1920's - Poultry and egg production replaced citrus and stone fruits as the main industry.
1921  Population of the shire was 5,113
1923 - A train service from Westmead to Castle Hill replaced the tram. It was extended to Rogans Hill in 1924.
1926 - Electricity came to Baulkham Hills and Castle Hill.
1932 - Railway closed mainly due to the advent of the combustion engine used in trucks, cars and buses that, in turn, needed a wider main road.
1933 - Population of the shire was 8,075.
1947  Population of the shire was 10,675.
1956 - Population of the Shire was 16,500.
1961 - Population of the shire was 23,643
1960's - Urban development accelerated from this time.
1966 - Population of the shire was 33,499.
1971 - Population of the shire was 57,373.
Sewerage connection was available to residents in Baulkham Hills; Castle Hill followed in 1977.
1976 - Population of the shire was 75,665.
1978 - Land in Victoria Avenue and Carrington Road, Castle Hill, was set aside for an industrial area now known as the Castle Hill Trading Zone.
1979 - The first stage of Castle Towers Shopping Centre commenced with additions following in 1982, 1989, 1993, 1999 and 2001.
1980 - Population of the Shire was 90,000. NSW Department of Environment and Planning began looking at the potential development of the Rouse Hill area.
1981 - Population of the shire was 93,068.
1982 - Council moves in to its new administration building on Showground Road, Castle Hill.
1986 - Population of the shire was 102,804.
1988 - The Hills Centre for the Performing Arts was opened at Castle Hill.
1991 - Population of the shire was 114,032.
1996 - Population of the shire was 118,797.
1997 - Baulkham Hills Shire Council obtained title to the significant heritage sites: 'Castle Hill Heritage Park' and 'Bella Vista Farm'.
2001 - Population of the shire was 139,404.
2001 - Rouse Hill Regional Centre plans revealed.
2004 - Baulkham Hills Shire Council opened its new 'state of the art' Castle Hill Library and Community Centre at Castle Grand.
2006 - Population of the shire was 159,391.
2008 - Baulkham Hills Shire Council opened its new Vinegar Hill Memorial Library and Community Centre at Rouse Hill in March.
The council’s name was changed to The Hills Shire Council in November.
2010 - Population of The Hills Shire as at June 2010 was 179,716
2011 - Initial Planning and Geotechnical Investigation of North West Rail Link route corridor begins.
2012 - State Government announces purchase of Showground Road Council Administration Building and surrounds for North West Rail Link Development. The Hills Shire Council purchases new building in Norwest Business Park with plans to relocate in 2013.
2013 - Council's new administration building, located at 3 Columbia Court, Baulkham Hills is officially opened on 15 December by Mayor Byrne and the Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, Governor of New South Wales.

Source: Baulkham Hills Council