Petersham and Leichhardt
Leichhardt began its existence as a number of land grants. In particular two brothers, Hugh and John Piper, had a number of large grants between them.
Hugh Piper established the estate of 'Piperston' which he sold in 1846 to Walter Beames who was a friend of Ludwig Leichhardt. Beames assisted Leichhardt with provisions for his explorations and he also changed the name of 'Piperston' to Leichhardt, in honour of his friend [1].
Robert Laws purchased land from Walter Beames on 3 March 1859 at the price of £130. In 1866, the land was valued at £350 and was described as being situated "at Leichhardt in the Parish of Petersham being part of Block F of the Leichhardt Estate" [2]. See the Primary Application below for details.
Hugh Piper established the estate of 'Piperston' which he sold in 1846 to Walter Beames who was a friend of Ludwig Leichhardt. Beames assisted Leichhardt with provisions for his explorations and he also changed the name of 'Piperston' to Leichhardt, in honour of his friend [1].
Robert Laws purchased land from Walter Beames on 3 March 1859 at the price of £130. In 1866, the land was valued at £350 and was described as being situated "at Leichhardt in the Parish of Petersham being part of Block F of the Leichhardt Estate" [2]. See the Primary Application below for details.
robertlawsprimaryapplicationland.pdf | |
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Leichhardt was proclaimed a municipality in 1871, taking in parts of what was then the larger municipality of Petersham. In 1949, it was merged with the municipalities of Annandale and Balmain. In 1967, the municipal boundary was altered to include Glebe and parts of Camperdown. In 2003, the municipal boundary was again changed, to exclude Glebe and Forest Lodge, which are now part of the City of Sydney [3]. In 1949, Petersham became part of the Marrickville municipality.
Land Owned by Robert Laws
It seems likely, from the land sales described in the SMH, that when he died Robert Laws owned at least the land bordered by Moore, Catherine, Mackenzie and Hill Streets in Leichhardt. This appears to be a block of roughly 4000 square metres. Advertisements for the sale of land he owned in other parts of Leichhardt seem to indicate that his holdings in fact extended beyond this parcel of land.
Robert's wife, Charlotte, died in 1902 at home, 165 Catherine Street Leichhardt. New townhouses are now located at 165-175 Catherine Street so the house the family would have lived in is long gone. But 165 is further down Catherine Street and on the other side of the road, so I wonder if Robert in fact owned a larger piece of land originally and sold some of it off as he got older?
In 2017, there are several Laws family members living in the area. Listed in the Sydney White Pages telephone directory are the following descendants:
V J Laws: 24 John Street Leichhardt
D V and D Laws: 8 Fredbert Street, Lilyfield
S Laws: 49 The Boulevard, Lilyfield
Vincent John Laws is a name that crops up in many generations of this family and the V J Laws who currently lives at 24 John Street seems to be another Vincent John whose wife, Valerie, passed away in 2017 [4].
Abattoir Road and the Bullock Road, Petersham
From articles in the SMH of the time, it seems the city's only abattoir and meat market were located in Petersham. I guess the road names reflect the fact that they lead to these locations. Neither street name exists today. From what I can gather, Abattoir Road appears to have followed the route now taken by Lilyfield Road. This makes sense because Lilyfield Road leads pretty much from the city via Glebe to Petersham. I need to get hold of a map from the period so I can compare it with a modern road map.
Brickmaking
In the early nineteenth century it was recognised that the clay soil in the St Peters-Petersham area of Sydney was good for making bricks and a number of brickworks were established in the area. You can read more about brickmaking in this area here: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/node/19567
[1] https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/explore/libraries/community-history/making-history/land-and-suburbs/inner-west-council-suburb-history
[2] Primary Application, 1866 (copy on file);
[3] http://www.leichhardt.nsw.gov.au/Library/Local-History/Our-Suburbs/Leichhardt
[4] https://www.heavenaddress.com/Valerie-Agnes-Sims--Laws/1701351/obituary
[2] Primary Application, 1866 (copy on file);
[3] http://www.leichhardt.nsw.gov.au/Library/Local-History/Our-Suburbs/Leichhardt
[4] https://www.heavenaddress.com/Valerie-Agnes-Sims--Laws/1701351/obituary