Historical Markers Program 2020
Consultation has concluded
Consultation Period: 27 July to 17 August 2020
Linking People of the Past with Sites of the Present
The Georges River Local Government Area (LGA) is an important commercial, transport, environmental, medical and educational district with numerous sites of natural and cultural history and heritage and local historical significance.
A historical markers program, as guided by Georges River Council and the local community, looks to:
- Create awareness of the history, heritage and cultural identity of the Georges River LGA to build a strong sense of identity and belonging in the community
- Mark historically important places in the local area
- Incorporate a historical resource and open air archive which provides multi-dimensional and ongoing opportunities for community engagement with the local area
Selection of sites for the 2020 Georges River Council Historical Markers Program
Georges River Council’s Historical Markers Program was launched in 2018 to highlight and recognise people and places of historical and cultural importance, as recommended by the local community.
Applications for the 2020 program have been reviewed by a selection panel and Council would like to hear your thoughts on the recommended sites:
World War Two Anti-Aircraft Searchlight
The small reserve on the corner of Douglas Haig and Baker Streets Oatley was the site of a 1942 searchlight intended to detect and illuminate enemy aircraft. The light with accompanying generator was attended by No 52 Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Battery Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) personnel who were stationed nearby. The searchlight represented the threat of an aerial attack to suburban Sydney, and was an immediate reminder to the community that the war at that time was at Australia’s doorstep.
The recommended location of the marker is in the reserve at the corner of Douglas Haig and Baker Streets, Oatley.
Isaac Peake’s Farm
Olds Park stands on land that was once part of the homestead of Isaac Peake, the fourth offspring of John Robert Peake, after whom the suburb of Peakhurst was named. He and his brother, Jacob Peake had farms on either side of modern-day Stony Creek Road. Hurstville council minutes from the 1890s record Isaac Peake's agreement to donate land to allow the extension of Stony Creek Road to Forest Road. Holley Road, adjacent to the Olds Park Sports Club, takes its name from the maiden name of Isaac Peak’s wife Martha.
The recommended location of the marker is near the public walking path in the northern section of Olds Park in the vicinity of Olds Park Sports Club.
Edith Blake
Edith Blake grew up in Sans Souci and trained as a nurse at Prince Henry Hospital. She joined Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Service when World War 1 started, responding to a British request for 200 Australian Nurses to join the Service. She served in Heliopolis, Alexandria as well as a hospital in Britain for German Prisoners of War. She was then posted to a hospital ship, HMHS Glenart Castle. In February 1918, on the way to France to pick up wounded, the ship was hit by a torpedo from a German U-Boat and sank. Edith Blake was one of 8 nurses killed. She is the only Australian nurse to die in World War 1 as a result of enemy action. To honour her achievements, Georges River Council assigned the name “Edith Blake Reserve” to the reserve at the corner of Montgomery and South Street in Kogarah. A marker placed here will provide contextual information about the origin of the name of the reserve and the sacrifice made by Edith Blake.
The recommended location of the marker is near the public footpath in Edith Blake Reserve, Kogarah.
Nethery Family
The Nethery family have an unbroken connection with the area now known as Anglo Square, Carlton, going back more than a hundred years. Edward Samuel Nethery (born 1884) married Mary Ann Driscoll in 1911. They had seven sons and a daughter. They first came to Kogarah circa 1917. Edward was a schoolteacher, teaching latterly at Clemton Park. Their sons were Edward, Francis, John, Gregory, Cyril, Robert and Septimus, and their daughter was Mary. Each of the sons served in WWII. They were keen sportsmen, and as children and young men they played games in the local parks and paddocks. Both Cyril and Greg played for St George at rugby union, and Greg captained the first grade team in the late 1940s. Edward played for the Army team in early WWII, and Cyril for the RAAF side. Several of the boys became school teachers like their father. Mary Nethery married a Mr Bridges, and continues to live in the family home, providing an unbroken connection with the vicinity of more than a hundred years.
The recommended location of the marker is in the Anglo Square reserve, near the public walking track.
Marker for replacement: Steam Tram Terminus
This marker was installed in 2016 in front of Kogarah Station near the intersection of Railway Parade, Montgomery Street and Regent Street, Kogarah. The marker is a record of the transport infrastructure that significantly shaped the social and commercial identity of the area. The existing marker includes a spelling mistake: “Steam Tram Terminus, 1887 – 1937. This marks the site of the Kogarah to San[sic] Souci line, a relic of Sydney’s public transport infrastructure.”
The replacement of the marker will allow the spelling mistake to be corrected and for new information that was submitted this year to be included on the marker. The new information relates to the significant usage of the area by horses and passengers travelling to the nearby Moorefield racecourse.
The recommended location for the replacement marker is in the vicinity of the existing marker near the intersection of Railway Parade, Montgomery Street and Regent Street, Kogarah.
2019 Historical Markers
- Collaroy House, Peakhurst – 764 Forest Road, Peakhurst
- “Ellesmere” camp, Sans Souci - Endeavour Street Reserve, Sans Souci
- Edmond & Elizabeth English - corner of English Street and Princes Highway, Kogarah
- Paramount/Hoyts Cinema, Mortdale - 126 Railway Parade, Mortdale
- William Currey VC MLA - 4 Regent Street, Kogarah (site of William Currey’s office while he was Member for Kogarah)
2018 Historical Markers
- Sans Souci Hotel - Sans Souci Park, Sans Souci
- Michael Gannon - Forest Road, Hurstville (near Kenwyn Street/ Croydon Road)
- Robert Kyle - Merriman Reserve, Kyle Bay
- Joe Anderson (King Burraga) - Ogilvy Street, Peakhurst
- Mervyn ‘Merv’ Lynch - Penshurst Park, Penshurst
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Applications for the 2020 program have been reviewed by a selection panel and Council would like to hear your thoughts on the recommended sites:
- World War Two Anti-Aircraft Searchlight
- Isaac Peake’s Farm
- Edith Blake
- Nethery Family
- Marker for replacement: Steam Tram Terminus
View All Ideasover 3 years ago
All the recommended sites are excellent contenders for the Historical Markers program
To be honest, it's really difficult to choose so please don't make us. I vote for all five markers to be completed. They all have outstanding merit and are all so different yet deserving. Please maintain a list of all the historical markers and historically significant building, parks, monuments, etc. on a dedicated page on the Council's website. That way people can easily find and reference the list and arrange visits for themselves but also with people not from the area as well as arranging school excursions, etc. We need the list easily accessible so that we promote the wonders of the St Georges and Georges River areas.
over 3 years ago
Edith Blake historical marker
Edith Blake was the only Australian nurse killed in action in World War 1 when her hospital ship was sunk in 1918. She trained at the Coast Hospital (later renamed Prince Henry) and applied to join the Australian Army Nursing Service soon after war was declared in August 1914, however, she was allocated to the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service in response to a request from the British Government. She worked in Australian and British hospitals in Egypt, on hospital ships, and nursed Germans in a British Prisoners’ of War Hospital, all the while wearing her Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association badge, writing to her family ‘It is a mark of an Australian nurse, of which we are very proud’. Edith died in the early hours of February 26, 1918, when the hospital ship Glenart Castle was torpedoed in the Bristol Channel by German U-Boat UC-56. She was one of more than 3000 Australian nurses who served in the First World War, some thirty of whom died. There is a strong family link to the area - Edith’s father Charles bought a large parcel of land fronting Kogarah Bay in Sans Souci in the early 1900s and four generations of the family lived there for around seven decades, and some are still in the council area. I think all of the potential marker sites listed are worthy (and council will hopefully provide a marker for each), but a marker so people visiting the hospital and using the reserve know who Edith was and what she did, would not only honour her memory and sacrifice, but recognise the continuing courage and commitment of nurses and medical personnel the world over, in times of conflict, and peace. Edith was my great aunt, and I would be happy to provide more information should you need it.
over 3 years ago
Carss Park Kogarah Memorial Park Swimming Pool
This is such a great historical monument - it has seen great swimming champions and a great community. It should stay where it is and be a reminder of the war veterans who put their personal funds into build the pool.
over 3 years ago
Contribution of Nethery Family
The Nethery family has made a significant contribution to the life of the St George area for over one hundred years. The family moved into their family home at 28 Anglo Square Carlton in 1918 and have had unbroken occupancy until the present day. The 91year old present occupant of the house (Mary Bridges nee Nethery) has lived her entire life in this house. The family has contributed to public education in the St George District over many years. Edward Nethery (senior) taught at Hurstville Public School until his death in 1934. His son Frank taught at Connells Point Public School and his daughter Mary was a teacher at public schools in the St George District for nearly all of her teaching career. In her later years she ran a Support Class for children with language disabilities at Hurstville Public School. The family made major contributions to sport in the St George District and beyond. Cyril played first grade rugby league and rugby union for St George and was a member of the Australian Combined Services Rugby Union Team during world War Two. Frank played first grade rugby league for Sydney University. John, Greg, Robert and Septimus played rugby union, including first grade, for St George. The boy's sporting prowess was fostered in the park opposite their home in Anglo Square Carlton - a place where later generations of the Nethery family have played until the present time. All of the seven Nethery boys served in various parts of the armed services during World War Two. Fortunately all returned from the war and established their own family homes, many of which were in the St George District.The family home at 27 Anglo Square remaining the centre of Nethery family life until the present. The Nethery family has contributed in many ways to the life of the St George District with Mary being a longstanding organist at St Patrick's Church Kogarah and Septimus practising as a dentist in Carlton for over thirty years.
over 3 years ago
All suggestions are worthwhile. Sans Souci would be a more appropriate place for Edith's plaque