Looking south-west-a section of the great Bayliss
panorama exposed from the recently-completed
Sydney G.P.O. clock tower. This was photographed
about April, 1886, the date
being confirmed by the completion of the premises of the Australian joint
Stock Bank (now the
Bank of New South Wales) at the corner of King and George Streets. Note the
glazier's whitewash on the newly-glazed windows.
Items of interest are the scaffoldingfor
the Town Hall ("The Centennial Hall"), the old markets, and across
Market Street to the north, Tuttle's sign, Tuttle's being a well-known studio
in its day while, in addition, it coated sensitised materials. (A similar photograph
made some five years later shows the early premises of Baker and Rouse at 375
George Street). The doorway of' the Bank premises (not shown very clearly owing
to the shadow) is worthy of personal study; the two marble figures represent
'Justice' and 'Plenty' while the doors themselves are made of iron richly ornamented
with bronze decorative mouldings culminating in relief medallions of St. George
and the Dragon.
Horse-drawn vehicles in a traffic hold-up on the old wooden Pyrmont Bridge-this
apparently due to an A.U.S.N. vessel being eased through owing to the narrowness
of the swinging portion of the bridge. In the absence of any intervening buildings
the majestic proportions of the Town Hall and of St. Andrew's Cathedral can be
fully appreciated. Work on the new Pyrmont Bridge was commenced in 1889.
All three landscape photographs were made during the progress of the 1886 Royal
Commission on Water Conservation as it travelled the River Darling from Bourke
to Wentworth.
The
photograph of the aboriginal group is interesting as
typifying the 'artistic posing' that was popular'at
the time.
The
scene on the great plains is believed to have been
made in the neighbourhood of' Wilcannia;.
the figure to the right in white clothing is J.
B. Donkin, a Commissioner, while the foreground
vegetation represents a fine display of Sturt's Desert Pea in full
flower.
The
regatta subject is thought to have been made at Horseshoe
Bend between Wentworth
and Mildura and some of the crews are believed to be wearing
the colours of some of the Adelaide clubs of the
day. A
point to
note is the flooded state of the
river system, as emphasised by Gilbert Parker perhaps
it is due to the waters of the Darling holding up the
mainstream,
a fact which would account for the
surprising absence of turbulence.
We see the finishing touches being made to the dome of the Queen
Victoria Markets as we look north along the York Street facade
from the roof of the Town Hall.
As the building was completed during 1898, this may well have been
one of Bayliss' last photographs.
