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View of the Colonial Secretary’s residence, Sydney1839

by Martens, Conrad

This view of the Colonial Secretary’s residence in Bridge Street, Sydney, also shows the Francis Greenway designed fountain on the edge of Macquarie Place. The residence was originally built for the Judge-Advocate Ellis Bent, in around 1810, but later became the home of the Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay and his family. In 1826, Macleay’s daughter Fanny described the house as being the ‘worst & ugliest in Sydney’, its rooms ‘holes … unfit for a cat to sleep in they are so small & close’. The residence was substantially remodelled in the early years of the Macleays’ occupancy. Both the residence and the fountain were demolished in the 19th century.