1810 – new street names for Sydney

In 1810, plans of new and old street names were published in The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser under proclamation of the then Governor, Lachlan Macquarie.

The plan included explanations and references, for instance:

Macquarie Street [named after the Governor just 10 months after he took office]

– The easternmost street in the town, and extending in a southerly direction from the Government Domain to Hyde Park.

York Street (previously Barrack Street)

– Extends from the Barracks, in a southerly direction to the Burying-ground, parallel with George Street.

Prince Street (previously Windmill Row)

– Extending from Charlotte Square and the Government Stone Windmill in a northerly direction towards Dawes Point.

Explanations and references to all City of Sydney street names are available through the City of Sydney’s historian, Shirley Fitzgerald who has compiled a spreadsheet which is freely available here for download.  The spreadsheet includes information on streets (such as Prince Street) which no longer exist.

“Variously Prince/Princes, renamed by Macquarie in 1810. As the most important street in the area, it was named for the Prince of Wales. Previously Windmill Row ‘between Charlotte Sq and government stone windmill northerly to Dawes Point’. Removed for construction of the Harbour Bridge. Now beneath the Bradfield Hwy.”

Courtesy of Google maps, here’s what some of those 1810 streets look like in 2011.

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