Barrack from George Street

Very rare early etching of the George Street Barrack with an aboriginal figure in the foreground, probably Bungaree and depicted as in Augustus Earle’s 1826 lithograph doffing his hat.

The first military barrack was in 1792 on the western side of George Street, between what is now Barrack and Margaret streets, and extending west to Clarence Street.

In 1836 Governor Bourke decided to move the military to a new site on the outskirts of the town and asked the officers to recommend a suitable site. Their favoured site was the Cleveland Paddocks, the present Prince Alfred Park, on the southern edge of the town. Plans were drawn up but no progress was made. In 1840 the Paddocks site was deemed unsuitable because it was by then developing as a residential and commercial area. The government settled on an area on the South Head Road, the present Oxford Street. It was remote from the town centre, unsuitable for agriculture because of sand dunes and sandstone outcrops, which could be used for building material, and was close to Busby’s Bore, the principal source of drinking water. The location on a high ridge line provided good strategic views in all directions. The area set aside was about the same size as that in George Street but adjacent vacant land offered opportunity for expansion.

Victoria Barracks in Paddington, built from 1841, was the third barracks.

References:
Butler, Printed Images in Colonial Australia 1801-1901, p. 69-70
Ferguson, Bibliography of Australia, 2390
Kerr, Dictionary of Australian Artists p.134-135

Collections:
National Gallery Australia: Accession no 2009.1108.24
National Library Australia: Bib ID 2772078