Avery Terrace is a row of heritage-listed terrace houses located at 2–4 Atherden Street in the inner city Sydney suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed in 1881, and it is also known as Former Ebsworth's Terraces and Ebsworth's. The property is owned by Property NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 May 2002.

The land on which the subject property was once part of a grant to Robert Campbell Senior in 1834. Campbell used the site west of the "High Street" (later George Street North or Lower George Street) and another closer to the harbour's western shore to operate wharves and a successful mercantile business. Campbell & Co operated in the colony from 1800, and by 1804 the firm was heavily engaged in NSW trade. On 16 October 1834, Lot 1 (2 roods 15 perches), Lot 2 (3 roods 34 perches, later known as Lot 1), Lot 3 (3 roods 25.5 perches) and Lot 4 (2 roods 5 perches) were formally granted to Robert Campbell Snr "to promote the Establishment of Towns in the Colony of NSW". The grant was subject to conditions including the construction within three years of a permanent dwelling house with appropriate drainage on each allotment and payment of a "Quit Rent" over nine-years. Campbell used some of the land for his own business needs, leasing other parts for trade and associated port activities. It was one of a number of land grants acquired by Campbell in NSW.

In early 1841 Robert Campbell Snr subdivided Lot 1 in preparation for sale. The site was roughly triangular-shaped and bound by George Street North on its eastern side and by New George Street (later renamed Gloucester Walk) to the west. Its western boundary was dominated by a long sandstone bluff running north-south along the peninsula, reducing in height toward Dawes Point to the north. The bluff separated Campbell's Lot 1 and Lot 2 further to the west. Campbell was willing to accept £40,000 for his property of more than four acres adjacent to the wharf and including warehouses. Auctioneer Mr Thomas Stubbs described the land 'At Campbell's Wharf, Opposite the Entrance Gate' as, "All that well adapted and valuable plot of ground of the Estate of R. Campbell, Esq., M.C., and now subdivided into Six Building Allotments, open and immediately accessible to all the general shipping, Custom House, Bonded Warehouse, and harbour business of the trade and port of Sydney. (It) commands all the shipping lying in Sydney Cove".

The property, to be auctioned on 2 June 1841, bounded George Street and a short street "charted out as Union-street" (later renamed Atherden Street). In a prime position, it sketches a carriageway and approach from Campbell's Wharf and George-street, to a proposed parallel extension of George-street, forking off from Essex-street, through Argyle-street, passing the Custom House, and joining Lower George-street again. The land was well-positioned for the construction of "properly built warehouses", for which there was a strong demand. The land was reported to have realised an average of £16 per foot; however, Land Titles indicate that Lots 9 and 10 remained unsold. Lots 1 and 2 were purchased by George Atherden, a wharfinger of Sydney, who in 1878 was to purchase Lots 9 and 10 (11 perches to the south-west corner of Campbell's grant), which are the subject site. By 1856 Atherden had constructed four stone cottages facing Union Street. They were listed in the City of Sydney Assessment Books from 1858.

Robert Campbell Senior died at Duntroon on 15 April 1846. The estate included substantial acreages throughout New South Wales, as well as the residue of the George Street site and Lots 9 and 10. In 1848 the heirs to Campbell's estate agreed to partition the landholdings amongst the shareholders, with the one rood 32.5 perch residue of the George Street North allotment allocated to Arthur Jeffreys. The land remained part of the trust and was left to "the use of his brothers-in-law". An 1849 road alignment plan confirms Arthur Jeffreys ownership of the land at this time and the lots that had been sold, and the buildings constructed along George Street. Union Street is shown near the southern end of the site, bound on the north and south by Martyn and Coombes' owned buildings. George Atherden's premises are indicated on the southern boundary of Campbell's Lot 2.

Arthur Jeffreys died in England in 1861, leaving his interests in the Campbell Estate to his son, John Jeffreys. Primary sources of this period confirm that Lots 9 and 10 remained vacant until the early 1880s. In 1873 a conveyance was made between John and George Campbell and John Jeffreys of Fernhill, England, per Arthur's will. By this time, land titles indicate that it was the sole remaining allotment of Campbell's grant in The Rocks and known as Lots 9 & 10 (11 perches). In February 1878, ending a long period of ownership by the Campbell family, George Atherden purchased Lots 9 and 10, adding to his substantial land and business interests in The Rocks at this location. c. 1875 – c. 1876 the Union Street had been renamed Atherden Street after George Atherden, who owned property on the south side of the street and lots facing George Street.

In October 1878, George Atherden sold Lots 9 and 10 to Edward Stanley Ebsworth (1832–1901). A month before this, Ebsworth had purchased land nearby, facing George Street, commencing c. 1880 the construction of five terraces at the George Street site. By c. 1881 – c. 1882 Ebsworth had built a terrace on the Union Street allotment. Sydney Municipal Council's Assessment Books indicate that the Union Street terrace consisted of two, two-storey, four-roomed residences constructed of brick with slate roofs. The Atherden Street terrace, although not as ornate as the George Street terrace, or in such a prominent position, was a modestly scaled and detailed bald-faced Victorian Style residential structure, typical of the period. The brickwork was stuccoed, and the roof was a simple pitched gable over the house's main, two-storey section. The terrace was built close to the escarpment rising to Gloucester Walk and opposite a row of four similarly modest dwellings built in 1880 by Thomas Playfair, on the street's southside. The terraces at the west end of Atherden Street would have stood in contrast to the single-storey, stone cottages built by Atherden in the 1850s immediately to the east of number 1–7 Atherden Street.

By 1882 Ebsworth had leased No. 2 Atherden Street to Walter Bell, and No. 4 to George Cook. The gross annual rating was £52 for each property. Numbers 2 and 4 first appear in the Sands Directory in 1883 showing Mr Bell's occupation as sailmaker and Cook's as a wharfinger, consistent with the demography of the area at this time. Like many of the rental properties in The Rocks area, in the 19th century the tenants of the Atherden Street houses tended to be one to three years at the most. A few tenants returned at various time to live in other houses in Atherden Street. At this time the population of The Rocks was diverse, including high numbers of immigrants, often with trades related to maritime and wharf activities. A brief survey of the names and occupations of Atherden Street tenants listed in the Sands Directory provides an indication of the backgrounds of Rocks residents of the period. Atherden Street residents included sailmaker, wharfinger, master mariner, waterman and storeman. A few had trades such as painter, engineer and blacksmith; while a number are shown as clerks.