St George Historical Society

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St George Historical Society

We are dedicated to the history of the St George District and Lydham Hall Historic House Museum. We have since become an incorporated body.

OUR HISTORY

The aim of the St George Historical Society is to conserve and encourage the recording of local history, and to conserve and raise awareness of the historical heritage of the St George District of New South Wales, Australia. The society was formed in 1961 at the instigation of the late Ron Rathbone who became the inaugural Secretary. When first formed it was known as the Rockdale Hist

orical Society. The name was changed to the St George Historical Society at the first Annual General Meeting on 17 August 1962. OUR MUSEUM

The society also manages a local historic house, Lydham Hall. Built in the early 1860s for businessman Joseph Davis and his family, Lydham Hall later became the childhood home of Australian author Christina Stead. Rockdale City Council purchased Lydham Hall in 1970 to celebrate our Centenary. Council opened the building to the public on 20 February 1971 and St George Historical Society members have been volunteer guides at the site ever since. Lydham Hall is set in lovely gardens and has one of Sydney’s finest collections of antique furniture, as well as a unique collection of Willow Pattern China. A Museum containing a collection of items of local interest is located upstairs. A number of books covering the history of our area are also available from Lydham Hall. The house and museum address is 18 Lydham Avenue and it is open every Sunday from 2pm to 4pm. The house is available for special events, including baby naming ceremonies, weddings and wedding photography. Group tours can also be arranged outside of the opeing hours noted above. For more details, phone 9567 4259

MEMBERSHIP

The society's activities are funded through memberships which are due on the 1st of July every year. To become a member, please follow the link at http://stgeorgehistsoc.org.au/membership/ or visit Lydham Hall where payment can be made directly to volunteers at the house. Meetings are held on the 3rd Saturday of each month at Rockdale Library and are usually held in conjunction with an informative talk of local historical interest.

18/12/2025

Early Jewish Pioneers in the St George Area

My topic concerns the early Jewish settlement in this area, the era of the Illawarra Jewish Association of the 1930s and the establishment of the Illawarra Hebrew Congregation in April 1943:
https://stgeorgehistsoc.org.au/early-jewish-pioneers-in-the-st-george-area/

Like and Follow Us for more posts about St George's history.

14/12/2025

"Cameos of Bexley" by Ron Rathbone OAM
New edition now on sale.

Few parts of Sydney have as much character as the suburb of Bexley.

Its location on a ridge overlooking Botany Bay; its wide, tree lined streets; its neatly kept parks and reserves; its well cared for houses; the remnants of a grand and opulent past and its proud and independent residents combine to give this area a distinctiveness that is all its own.

For forty years, it was Ron's privilege to represent the people of Bexley on the Rockdale City Council and for twenty-four of those years to teach their children at the Bexley Primary School.

This publication is dedicated to the people of Bexley.

First published in 2006, this new edition has been redesigned, edited, and indexed.

Purchase your copy at our online shop or at any of our events:
https://stgeorgehistsoc.org.au/product/cameos-of-bexley/

11/12/2025

TEMPORARY PROTECTION ENFORCED: Federation Queen Anne home "Hillside", 116 Villiers Street, Rockdale

At last night's Bayside Extraordinary Council Meeting, the rescission motion was lost and the Interim Heritage Order remains enforced, protecting 116 Villiers Street, Rockdale while Council Heritage Officers complete a heritage report.

Thanks to everyone who wrote a formal submission or spread the word about this at-risk Federation Queen Anne home.
Special thanks to the concerned residents and councillors speaking during the meeting to advocate for our local heritage.

You can watch a recording at:
https://youtu.be/GBPbw-tzE_8?t=2962
The link begins with this item at 49m22s.

We'll keep you updated.

10/12/2025

Tonight, our Council drew a line in the sand.

I want to thank the more than 50 community members who made submissions or spoke. You were heard. Your voice matters.

You helped set a clear boundary around protecting our shared history.

Your council voted to uphold the Interim Heritage Order on a significant historical home that had long been recognised as important yet left without protection.

Tonight’s debate laid bare a simple choice: private interest or the public good. Some councillors argued strongly for private interests and made repeated false claims — including criticisms directed at Peaceful Bayside. These kinds of personal attacks are unfortunately familiar, but they do not deter us from standing up for our community.

A broader issue was also clear. Several of the councillors who opposed the IHO have, over many years, voted against wider heritage protections. Those protections would have provided clarity for buyers and avoided exactly the kind of uncertainty we faced tonight. When long-term planning is resisted, these challenges inevitably arise.

Despite this, enough councillors united and stood firm for the community.
I genuinely hope this marks the beginning of Council finally taking serious, long-overdue action on heritage protection — an issue that has needed attention for far too long.

Councillor Janin Bredehoeft and I raised this earlier this year through a Notice of Motion, and I raised it in the previous term as well. The resistance to heritage work has been longstanding, but tonight showed that progress is possible. 🙏🏽

08/12/2025

This week is our last council meeting for the year, and we have a contentious issue to work through regarding preserving local heritage.

Bayside Council has placed an Interim Heritage Order (IHO) on a home with proven historical value, and some councillors have asked for that IHO to be removed.

They asked for this at the last council meeting via a notice of motion and lost. So they have put up a recission motion this meeting to challenge it again.

From my perspective, I voted at the last meeting to maintain the Interim Heritage Order.

From my perspective, we as a council make a decision now not about this moment, but about the next and the moment after that. About not one person's future but our collective future
Just as the decisions of the past define us now.

Every moment is a line in the sand. Every moment is a moment to recreate our future. Recreate our opportunities, our identity, our safety, our prosperity for our community.

Not for ourselves. In the council chamber, we leave behind self. By our council now working together to protect one important heritage home, we have been in fact drawing a line in the sand, and starting the process of protecting many.

Because we are saying we have changed, in the past, the old council had the information they needed to protect this house, this history, this place. This house was specifically listed for protection in 1991 for heritage protection by the Rockdale Council. And it was ignored.

But so far this time around, we are not doing that. We are rewriting history. We are becoming a better Bayside. A better council. A council that is more like the ones around us. Not a pariah or an outlier. We are getting closer to the accepted norm for how councils act to preserve history.

And from my perspective, this is our role, to protect the heritage for our community: to think for tomorrow about what we might have forgotten or missed or failed yesterday.

If you too care about heritage in Bayside, it's time to raise your voice.

You could register to speak on this issue at tomorrow night's council meeting.

You can register at on item 11.1 - business paper link:
https://infoweb.bayside.nsw.gov.au/Open/2025/12/CO_10122025_AGN_5059_AT_EXTRA.PDF

Register to speak here:
https://www.bayside.nsw.gov.au/form/request-to-speak

Or write to our councillors here to raise your voice:
https://www.bayside.nsw.gov.au/meet-your-councillors

06/12/2025

AT RISK: Federation home "Hillside", 116 Villiers Street, Rockdale

Again, thanks to everyone who submitted a formal response to protect 116 Villiers Street, Rockdale (see photo).

On Wednesday, 10 December, there will be another attempt to revoke the Interim Heritage Order (IHO). The details are at the end of this post.

Please make a submission to Bayside Council by 5pm Tuesday:
Visit https://www.bayside.nsw.gov.au/form/request-to-speak
Choose "Council Meeting", date 10/12/2025
Enter your contact details
Click Next Page
Choose your method (attend online, attend in person, make a written submission)
Agenda item number: 11.1
Agenda item title: Rescission Motion - Notice of Motion - Revoking Interim Heritage Order - 116 Villiers Street, Rockdale
Select your vote (FOR(in support of) OR AGAINST(oppose)) revoking the IHO
Select "interested citizen/resident"
Click browse to attach your written submission (or write a brief summary of your speech if you are attending the meeting).
Click Next Page
Draw your signature and click Submit.

You can also email your response to us and we can submit it on your behalf.
We also recommend emailing your response to Mayor McDougall ([email protected]) and Deputy Mayor Heidi Lee Douglas ([email protected]).

Background
On 23 October 2025, an Interim Heritage Order (IHO) was imposed on 116 Villiers Street, Rockdale to protect the home while a heritage assessment by council officers was undertaken.
On 26 November, a motion to revoke the IHO was not passed by Bayside Councillors.
It was agreed that this Federation home would be protected until the heritage assessment was completed.
Councillors would then review the council officers' report and vote to either revoke the IHO or initiate the process to permanently list the home as a heritage item.

Instead of waiting for this heritage assessment, 3 councillors have submitted a rescission motion to again attempt to revoke the IHO. They reference a privately prepared heritage assessment dated November 2025 which states that the home "does not meet the threshold for heritage listing under one or more of the NSW heritage assessment criteria as a local heritage item".

The Bayside Council meeting is on Wednesday, 10 December, 7pm at Rockdale Town Hall, Level 1, 448 Princes Highway, Rockdale.
View the agenda (11MB PDF, pages 126, 127):
https://infoweb.bayside.nsw.gov.au/RedirectToDoc.aspx?URL=Open/2025/12/CO_10122025_AGN_5059_AT_EXTRA.PDF

03/12/2025

🏛 Lydham Hall Open Day 🏛

📆 Sunday, 7 December
🕰 10am - 4pm
🏛 Lydham Hall, 18 Lydham Avenue, Rockdale
💲Adults $8; Concession and Seniors $5; Children $5; Free entry for SGHS members , Companion Card holders, and children under 10
🌐 https://stgeorgehistsoc.org.au/lydham-hall/

Join us for the last Lydham Hall Open Day for 2025.
Meet our friendly volunteer guides and learn about the one of the oldest homes in the St George area.
In the Tea Room, our traditional Devonshire Tea (freshly baked scones, cream, jam, tea or coffee) is always on the menu.

Plan your visit and book tickets at:
https://stgeorgehistsoc.org.au/lydham-hall/

02/12/2025

🎄 Kogarah Historical Society Christmas Lunch 🎄

📆 Thursday, 11 December
🕰 12pm
🏛 Mortdale RSL, Macquarie St, Mortdale
💲$65
📞 To book, ring Anne (0425 215 589) or Adele (0444 566 329)

Our friends at the Kogarah Historical Society are celebrating the season with Christmas lunch.
You'll be greeted with a glass of champagne, and red and white wine on the table. Enjoy a two-course meal of roast lamb or turkey with vegetables and gravy, and for dessert, sticky date pudding or crème caramel.
There will be quizzes, prizes, and good conversation with the members and friends of the KHS.
For more info and to book, ring Anne (0425 215 589) or Adele (0444 566 329).

01/12/2025

The fate of "Hillside", 116 Villiers Street, Rockdale was discussed for almost 90 minutes during Wednesday's Bayside Council meeting.

The motion to revoke the Interim Heritage Order was not carried and the home remains protected until the council's heritage report is presented to councillors for review and a final determination.

Just as importantly, the councillors discussed the broader management of heritage.

To watch a recording of the meeting, click:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-07OaXWj3kg&t=5103s
(the link starts at item 13.7 (1:25:03))

Read the minutes (800KB pdf), item 13.7 on pages 39 - 42, at:
https://infoweb.bayside.nsw.gov.au/RedirectToDoc.aspx?URL=Open/2025/11/CO_26112025_MIN_4837.PDF

Thanks to everyone who spoke at the meeting or wrote a formal submission.
We'll keep you updated.

27/11/2025

Excerpts from “The Aldine Centennial History of New South Wales”

"The Aldine Centennial History of New South Wales, illustrated: embracing sketches and portraits of her noted people, the rise and progress of her varied enterprises, and illustrations of her boundless wealth, together with maps of latest survey" was a two-volume work edited by William Frederic Morrison and published in 1888.

Read brief biographies of noted identities, and descriptions of electorates and towns related to St George at:
https://stgeorgehistsoc.org.au/excerpts-from-the-aldine-centennial-history-of-new-south-wales/

Like and Follow Us for more posts about St George's history.

24/11/2025

Council will be voting on Wednesday night to revoke an interim heritage order on this unique Federation House in Villiers Street Rockdale.

Without the Interim Heritage Order, this house will be demolished and Rockdale will lose one of its most prominent architectural gems.

Please show your support by writing a submission to council against the motion to revoke.

Submissions must be in by 5pm Tuesday 25th November.

The link for submissions: https://www.bayside.nsw.gov.au/form/request-to-speak

23/11/2025

Georges River Council is revising its Place Naming Policy.

It's the process for officially naming public spaces, roads, facilities, and geographical features in Georges River suburbs:
Allawah, Beverley Park, Beverly Hills*, Blakehurst, Carlton*, Carss Park, Connells Point, Hurstville, Hurstville Grove, Kingsgrove*, Kogarah*, Kogarah Bay, Kyle Bay, Lugarno, Mortdale, Mortdale Heights, Narwee*, Oatley, Peakhurst, Peakhurst Heights, Penshurst, Ramsgate*, Riverwood*, Sans Souci*, South Hurstville
* part of the suburb is within another LGA

The policy also includes the process to apply for a memorial plaque on a Council bench.

Read the draft policy and give your feedback by 12 December at:
https://yoursay.georgesriver.nsw.gov.au/public-exhibition-of-the-place-naming-policy

Address

PO Box A89
Sydney, NSW
2205

Website

https://stgeorgehistsoc.org.au/

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