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Customs House, Sydney
Customs House is a heritage-listed museum space, visitor attraction, commercial building and performance space located at Circular Quay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The building served as a customs house prior to Federation and then as the head office of New South Wales operations of the Government of Australia agency Department of Trade and Customs (and its successors) until 1988. The customs function relocated to a new site in 1990. The initial designs were by Mortimer Lewis and it was built during 1845 by under the administration of Governor Sir George Gipps. It is also known as Customs House (former) and Site of former Customs House. The site was added to the Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004; and to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Ownership was transferred to the City of Sydney Council in 1994, when it became a venue for exhibitions and private functions. After being refurbished in 2003, it has also become the new home of the City of Sydney Library. The ground floor of the building houses a 4.2-by-9.5-metre (14 ft × 31 ft) scale model of Sydney's city centre viewed through a glass floor. The model was built by Modelcraft in 1998 and weighs one tonne. Images of the various versions of the building across its history are also displayed on the ground floor.
People of the Eora tribe are said to have witnessed from the site, in 1788, the landing of the First Fleet. Convict David O'Connor was hanged on the site in 1790 and it is said that his ghost haunts the Customs House to this day, offering people rum.[citation needed]
The first Customs house in Sydney was built in 1800. Its location is presumed to be at or near the spot of the landing and official flagraising on the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. This event marked the foundation of the colony of New South Wales. The site has been occupied by buildings ever since.
The driving force behind the construction of the later sandstone edifice on Circular Quay was Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes, the Collector of Customs for New South Wales for a record term of 25 years from 1834 to 1859. Colonel Gibbes persuaded the Governor of New South Wales, Sir George Gipps, to begin construction of the Customs House in 1844 in response to Sydney's growing volume of maritime trade. The building project also doubled as an unemployment relief measure for stonemasons and laborers during an economic depression which was afflicting the colony at the time.
The site at Circular Quay was chosen in 1843 to house the Customs Service for the rapidly growing colony. They were responsible for all imports and exports, excise on locally manufactured goods, immigration control, control of narcotic substances and morally corrupt goods such as books and films. During the war years this included items of enemy origin, or having socialistic or communistic tendencies. Accordingly, areas for storage, administration and public business were included in the original design of the building. As trade increased, so did pressures on space within the Customs House and two new wings were constructed between 1883 and 1889. These wings provided accommodation for the Shipping Office and Maritime Board. The Customs House opened for business in 1845 and replaced cramped premises at The Rocks. It was partially dismantled and expanded to three levels under the supervision of the then Colonial Architect, James Barnet, in 1887. Various additions were made over the next century, particularly during the period of World War I, but some significant vestiges of the original Gibbes-Lewis building remain.
These demands increased again with the approach of Federation. Custom's roles of immigration control and administration of tariffs were major reasons for Federation. They became, at this time, the major revenue raiser for the Commonwealth Government. Extensions were timed to coincide with the change in government. More floors were added to cope with new and expanding duties brought about by the massive political change. More revisions were made between 1915 and 1917 to further accommodate these changes and pressures brought about by the war.
Few major structural changes have occurred between 1917 and 1995. This reflects the movement of international shipping away from Circular Quay to other areas of the City and the State.
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Customs House, Sydney
Customs House is a heritage-listed museum space, visitor attraction, commercial building and performance space located at Circular Quay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The building served as a customs house prior to Federation and then as the head office of New South Wales operations of the Government of Australia agency Department of Trade and Customs (and its successors) until 1988. The customs function relocated to a new site in 1990. The initial designs were by Mortimer Lewis and it was built during 1845 by under the administration of Governor Sir George Gipps. It is also known as Customs House (former) and Site of former Customs House. The site was added to the Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004; and to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Ownership was transferred to the City of Sydney Council in 1994, when it became a venue for exhibitions and private functions. After being refurbished in 2003, it has also become the new home of the City of Sydney Library. The ground floor of the building houses a 4.2-by-9.5-metre (14 ft × 31 ft) scale model of Sydney's city centre viewed through a glass floor. The model was built by Modelcraft in 1998 and weighs one tonne. Images of the various versions of the building across its history are also displayed on the ground floor.
People of the Eora tribe are said to have witnessed from the site, in 1788, the landing of the First Fleet. Convict David O'Connor was hanged on the site in 1790 and it is said that his ghost haunts the Customs House to this day, offering people rum.[citation needed]
The first Customs house in Sydney was built in 1800. Its location is presumed to be at or near the spot of the landing and official flagraising on the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. This event marked the foundation of the colony of New South Wales. The site has been occupied by buildings ever since.
The driving force behind the construction of the later sandstone edifice on Circular Quay was Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes, the Collector of Customs for New South Wales for a record term of 25 years from 1834 to 1859. Colonel Gibbes persuaded the Governor of New South Wales, Sir George Gipps, to begin construction of the Customs House in 1844 in response to Sydney's growing volume of maritime trade. The building project also doubled as an unemployment relief measure for stonemasons and laborers during an economic depression which was afflicting the colony at the time.
The site at Circular Quay was chosen in 1843 to house the Customs Service for the rapidly growing colony. They were responsible for all imports and exports, excise on locally manufactured goods, immigration control, control of narcotic substances and morally corrupt goods such as books and films. During the war years this included items of enemy origin, or having socialistic or communistic tendencies. Accordingly, areas for storage, administration and public business were included in the original design of the building. As trade increased, so did pressures on space within the Customs House and two new wings were constructed between 1883 and 1889. These wings provided accommodation for the Shipping Office and Maritime Board. The Customs House opened for business in 1845 and replaced cramped premises at The Rocks. It was partially dismantled and expanded to three levels under the supervision of the then Colonial Architect, James Barnet, in 1887. Various additions were made over the next century, particularly during the period of World War I, but some significant vestiges of the original Gibbes-Lewis building remain.
These demands increased again with the approach of Federation. Custom's roles of immigration control and administration of tariffs were major reasons for Federation. They became, at this time, the major revenue raiser for the Commonwealth Government. Extensions were timed to coincide with the change in government. More floors were added to cope with new and expanding duties brought about by the massive political change. More revisions were made between 1915 and 1917 to further accommodate these changes and pressures brought about by the war.
Few major structural changes have occurred between 1917 and 1995. This reflects the movement of international shipping away from Circular Quay to other areas of the City and the State.