The Union Club

Scarce colonial engraving of the Union Club building at its original Bligh Street address.

In June 1857 various leading citizens determined to create a new gentlemen’s club in Sydney that was broad, more social and less political in function. With James Macarthur (1798-1867) as its first President the club grew quickly and acquired a large Georgian mansion in Bligh Street (designed by Francis Greenway) close to Parliament and to the then financial centre of the town. In the 1880s, the Club was rebuilt by the William Wardell in the dignified Palladian style then popular in similar London clubs. Further renovations were completed in 1907 under Sir John Sulman. In the mid-1950s, the Club rebuilt in the Bent Street section of its gardens – using the services of the leading architect of the day, Sir Arthur Stephenson. This building with its distinctive curved brickwork shape was the last of the purpose-built city clubhouses in Australia. It remains to this day, the centre of club activities which was formed by a merger between the Union Club and the University & Schools Club in January 2007.

Superb engraving from original edition of, The Graphic a British newspaper which began in 1869 until 1932. Started by William Luson to compete against the established Illustrated London News, it employed some of the best artists and was an immediate success. The Graphic’s influence within the art world was immense, its many admirers included Vincent Van Gogh.