A Great Little Book: Just finished reading The Triumph of the Speculators by Joan Hatton & Lesley Muir. Covers the long wrangling that led finally to the opening in 1884 of the Illawarra Line - Sydneys first suburban railway - and the aftermath. Theres so much great information packed into this little books 84 pages - the movers and shakers behind the original Darling Harbour-Redfern-Parramatta Line; the fierce debates in the NSW legislative assembly over subsequent rail lines and the direction they should take (Henry Parkes vs John Robertson); the nature of the expanding suburbs of Newtown, St Peters and Botany in the second half of the 19th century, the rural nature of St George (and of Sutherland Shire even more so); the unsuitability of Wollongong Harbour for ships over 300 tons, and the perceived need for a railway from the mines at Coalcliff to a deepwater berth at Balmain; the enormous land-holdings of Thomas Holt, the reasons why the Illawarra Line finally took the route it did, forcing Kogarah village to move west; and so on and so on. Highly recommended, not just to fanatic users of the Illawarra Line like me, but to anyone interested in Sydneys history. I got my copy from Kogarah Library (Call No. 385.0094 HAT) and Ill be retuning it tonight, if anyone else wants a go. The title - Triumph of the Speculators - is very apt: the authors make it clear that it was land speculators who got the railway built, and who made enormous profits. Being a NSW politician at the same time as being a real estate agent, land owner and merchant didnt hurt these men either.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 07:02:25 +0000
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