History
Gone and Forgotten on Glebe Point Road, Part 2
Posted on 1st July 2024
Gone and forgotten are Gurth, Wamba and Mussett, three of the six dwellings replaced by the Anchorage at 451 Glebe Point Road. Read about some of the families that occupied these beautiful waterfront homes.
Glebe Point Rd – Then & Now: 96 and 98 Glebe Point Rd
Posted on 6th October 2026
Discover the rich history of 96 & 98 Glebe Point Road. From grocers, soup kitchens, and ALP rallies to Col Joye’s iconic ATA recording studios—and now a guitar repair shop. Read the full story.
Glebe Point Rd – Then & Now: 62 Glebe Point Rd
Posted on 6th October 2026
Discover how 62 Glebe Point Rd evolved from a century-old German bakery to a petrol station, architectural spare parts shop, and now a photo studio hosting a 9/11 exhibition. Click to read its rich history.
Rozelle Tram Depot … a potted history
Posted on 5th October 2026
Opened in 1904, Sydney’s Rozelle Depot served western ‘Red Lines’ before closing in 1958. Restored in 2016 as Tramsheds, it displays Tram 1995—the last Sydney tram to run—at its entrance.
Some Glebe-related items in the Caroline Simpson Collection
Posted on 9th July 2026
The Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection which focuses on the design, architecture and social history of Australian homes, has many items relating to Glebe and Forest Lodge. Here are just a few.
Then as now: Glebe’s ‘three broad social precincts’
Posted on 2nd April 2026
It is often observed that Glebe has (broadly) three socioeconomic groups that are (broadly) arranged geographically. The spatial distribution of those groups is not so different to that described by Jevons in 1858.
Did you know? – St Johns Road
Posted on 8th October 2025
This story of a former corner shop overlooking Orphan School Creek exemplifies the shift toward denser land use that reshaped Glebe and Forest Lodge around the turn of the 20th century.
Gone and Forgotten – Dann Street, Forest Lodge
Posted on 19th September 2025
By Rodney Hammett, August 2025, from Bulletin 6/2025 (August) In the 1860s much of what we now know as Forest Lodge was owned by just a few landed gentlemen. George Wigram Allen not only owned Toxteth Park in Glebe but also several parcels of land in Forest Lodge; the others being Thomas Holt, Thomas Ware […]
Avon Calling
Posted on 10th August 2025
Numbers 1 and 3 Avon Street were long-time homes of sisters Elizabeth and Christine (born Young). Elizabeth’s husband, Captain Kay, spent years at sea and had many adventures.
Grahame Murray Budd (1930–2025)
Posted on 9th August 2025
Grahame Budd, longtime Glebe resident and pioneer of Australian Antarctic science, died in June, aged 95. Read about Grahame’s life and legacy, including the first ascent of active volcano Big Ben, the highest mountain on Australian territory.
The story of Derwent Street from 1975 to 1980 continues …
Posted on 13th June 2025
The final instalment of Brian McDonald’s fascinating account of living in Derwent Street in the late 1970s.
Two more Blue Plaques for Glebe
Posted on 9th May 2025
Heritage NSW has just announced the latest successful nominations for a Blue Plaque; among which are two from our suburb …
51 Hereford Street, Glebe: Some early history
Posted on 7th April 2025
Have you ever wondered what was located at 51 Hereford Street before today’s controversial unit block was built in the mid-1990s? A newly unearthed photograph reveals the stately Victorian villa ‘Lask’, named after the Polish hometown of the Rogalsky family who built it in 1883.
How I got to Glebe: Duncan Leys
Posted on 3rd March 2025
Although Glebe Society President Duncan Leys grew up in Moree, Glebe has a special significance for Duncan, featuring in his family’s history.
Pub quiz
Posted on 3rd March 2025
There are eight pubs trading in Glebe today, a lot fewer than in earlier times. When was ‘peak pub’ in Glebe? Find out the answer to this and other Glebe pub trivia questions.
Memories of Lindy Anne Peisley
Posted on 28th October 2024
Lindy was one of the real characters of Glebe and she will be missed by family and friends.
A plaque for Sadie
Posted on 28th October 2024
A dedication ceremony was held in August in front of the old Glebe Post Office where a plaque has been installed to honour the life of Sadie (Sarah Murdoch King). Sadie was a well known figure in Glebe. She lived in Glebe for over 75 years, was a staunch unionist, advocate for the rights of women in the workplace and for people living in social housing.
How I got to Glebe – Lydia Bushell
Posted on 2nd October 2024
There’s a lot to the story of Lydia Bushell, an active long term member of the Glebe Society with an illustrious career in the conservation of antiquities.
‘Going to the Dogs’, by Max Solling and John Tracey
Posted on 28th August 2024
Richard Cashman’s review of ‘Going to the Dogs; A History of Greyhound Racing in New South Wales’, by Max Solling and John Tracey, says the authors have undertaken a thorough interrogation of what many have regarded as a sport on the margins of respectability.
Famous figures in Glebe’s past
Posted on 1st August 2024
Each month we publish articles by our intrepid History Team on famous and infamous figures in Glebe’s past.
Here are some of our recent stories. This photo is of ‘Comrade Wally Clayton’ of Glebe Point Road.
‘The Cream of the Coast’ in Forest Lodge
Posted on 27th March 2024
Stripped of its paint during recent renovations, the wall of a former corner shop in Forest Lodge revealed a fragment of a Streets Ice Cream advertisement before being once more retired beneath layers of paint. The fragment was from Streets’ tagline, ‘The Cream of the Coast’.
Forgotten Glebe – the Shot Tower
Posted on 16th March 2024
Part of Glebe’s industrial legacy, the Shot Tower previously at 82 Wentworth Park Road, contributed a distinctive architecture in the early 20th century.
Blue Plaque nomination #21: ‘Calmar’, 128 Glebe Point Road, designed by Edmund Blacket
Posted on 28th February 2024
The twenty-first and final site nominated by the Society in 2021 for a Blue Plaque is Calmar at 128 Glebe Point Road which was designed by Edmund Blacket.
It’s official: A Blue Plaque for Dorothy Drain
Posted on 28th November 2023
She charmed Frank Sinatra into giving her a rare interview. Journalist, war correspondent, and editor, Dorothy Drain’s home in Glebe will be remembered with a Blue Plaque.
Blue Plaque nomination #20: ‘Hartford’, 244 Glebe Point Road, once home to E. Randolph Magnus
Posted on 28th November 2023
A grand Glebe mansion with a history. Hartford, the home of pioneering dentist Edwin Magnus.
A successful Blue Plaque nomination for Dorothy Drain
Posted on 30th October 2023
Heritage NSW has accepted our nomination for a Blue Plaque at the former home in Toxteth Road, Glebe, of journalist, war correspondent and Women’s Weekly Editor, Dorothy Drain.
Blue Plaque nomination #18: 15 Wigram Road, ‘Minerva Terrace’, once the home of Harry Hopman
Posted on 5th October 2023
This month, the Society’s continuing series of nominations for a Blue Plaque recommends the home of Harry Hopman at Minerva Terrace, Wigram Road. Harry Hopman was the successful captain-coach of 22 Australian Davis Cup teams from 1939 to 1967. As architect of Australia’s post-war tennis supremacy, his stint as non-playing captain-coach became known as ‘the Hopman era’, during which he won the Davis Cup 15 times.
Blue Plaque nomination #17: 11 Lyndhurst Street Glebe, once home to Robert Askin
Posted on 29th August 2023
NSW Premier Robert Askin lived in Glebe from 1920 to 1931. He’s probably not our favourite son, but the Glebe Society will nominate his home for a Blue Plaque.
A letter from Lodge Street
Posted on 1st August 2023
His mother didn’t want him to go, but Glebe’s Frank Hurley persuaded Douglas Mawson to employ him as the official photographer on the 1911 Antarctic expedition.
Blue Plaque nomination #16: ‘Lyndhurst’, 61 Darghan Street Glebe
Posted on 1st August 2023
It has been an Anglican college, a Catholic college, a laundry, an ice cream factory, and a printing works. It was set for demolition in 1972, but historic Lyndhurst in Darghan Street was saved by the Glebe Society and other community groups for restoration. Lyndhurst was nominated by the Society to be considered for a Blue Plaque.
