It started like this:
Janelle Towells, a relation on the Brandtmann side of our family, sent me two newspaper clippings. She wrote:
"I found this advert for “The Stafford” at 75 Harrington Street, The Rocks, Sydney. My dear Aunty Kathleen (nee Humphrey) gave it to me years ago. She had written on it that your Grandmother was born in one of the Terraces featured in the photo/ sketch. I thought you might be interested in it".
The handwritten note reads, in part:
"Stafford Terrace consisted of a row of seven houses. Three of them still remaining at end of row. Mary Brandtmann was born in one of them in Harrington Street" .
This was news to me. I had previously known that the Brandtmann's house was in Pitt Street, Redfern, but now I knew that my grandmother Mary Brandtmann was born in 'The Rocks' and that three of the Stafford Terraces still existed, incorporated into the Rendezvous Hotel, 75 Harrington Street.
Harrington Street is in 'The Rocks', an historic area of Sydney - "a neighbourhood of historic laneways and old buildings in the shadow of Sydney Harbour Bridge". It became established shortly after the colony's formation in 1788. It is within easy walking distance from Circular Quay.
Madge and I have always liked The Rocks, so when sharing the clippings with family, I idly mentioned that maybe one day we would go and stay a night or two in one of those 'Historic Terrace' apartments.
A few days later, a relative who prefers not to be mentioned by name, emailed to say that as a gift out of the blue, he would like to pay for us to stay for two nights.
We happily and gratefully accepted and enjoyed our stay there in February 2021. This is a version of the 'report' I later prepared for our mysterious benefactor.
The Stafford Terraces
From a framed poster in the Terrace Apartment:
Built in 1886 and known as the 'Stafford Terraces' these terrace houses were part of the Colony's first hospital complex and are part of The Rocks Urban Conservation Area. They have historical significance in demonstrating the progression from small scale cottages erected by convicts, to larger and well-built housing erected by their descendants.
We stayed in the cream coloured terrace on the left - the largest of the three terrace apartments. From the front, you would not know that the terraces are a part of quite a large hotel. The Rendezvous Hotel reception entrance is the arched door to the left of the cream terrace.
The Rendezvous Hotel as it looks from the back - not so historic.
Inside the Stafford Terrace apartment, this is on ground floor.
On the ground floor there is also a kitchen.
Upstairs - a leafy outlook through the lovely old windows. The bathroom is also on this level.
Over the road from the terrace there is a gas lamp that burns through the night. The sign 'Nurses Walk' reminds that the Stafford Terraces "were part of the Colony's first hospital complex".
Just five minutes walk from the Stafford Terraces, The Big Dig Archaeology Education Centre is part of Sydney Harbour YHA in The Rocks heritage precinct. The centre "facilitates hands-on archaeology educational experiences and opens the archaeological site to the public".
Beneath the YHA building. Many artefacts have been retrieved from The Big Dig over the past 20 years or so.
Many of the artefacts from The Big Dig are on display in The Rocks Discovery Museum.
Also in the museum, the photo above - of Jack Mundey being carried out of a protest gathering. Mundey was instrumental in helping to save the 'The Rocks' for posterity. Within The Rocks precinct there is now a Jack Mundey Place. A well deserved recognition and acknowledgement.
A walk up Harrington Street brings you to St. Patrick's Church on the corner of Grosvenor Street. In the adjacent courtyard, there is a coffee-shop.
As I 'paid a visit' to the Church, I thought how Mary Brandtmann and her family would certainly have been part of the congregation here, before they moved to Pitt Street in Redfern.
On the walk up Harrington Street, four murals have been painted on the walls of an overhead bridge. This is one of them. They illustrate The Rocks in four different periods.
Inside the historic terrace apartment, this framed poster above gives those who stay a good idea of the history and significance of the Stafford Terraces.
THANKYOU MYSTERIOUS BENEFACTOR!
********