Mort’s Statue, Macquarie Place.

Scarce c.19th hand coloured engraving by William Crothers Fitler (1857-1915) of the Thomas Sutcliff Mort statue erected in 1883

The monument commemorated the man who was regarded as a pioneer of Australian resources and industries. It depicts Mort wearing a knee length coat with his right arm on his hip and left hand resting on papers on top of a pedestal. The bronze statue stands in the south-western corner of Macquarie Place Park in Bridge Street, on the site of one of Sydney’s first fountains. It is part of a series of monuments celebrating 19th century liberal individualism, and was unveiled by the Governor Lord Augustus Loftus on Saturday 9 June 1883. It faces the Royal Exchange, which was the largest wool selling centre in the world. He was a pioneer of pastoral and livestock auctioneering with particular emphasis on the wool industry and was influential in establishing both international wool markets for Australia and setting the pattern for the later wool-broking firms. He also laid the foundations of the meat export industry in making exports of perishable food possible through refrigeration. ref City of Sydney / thomas-sutcliff-mort.