Lavender Bay is a jewel in Sydney Harbour’s crown.

Apartment 1, 36 Arthur Street is for sale through Greg McKinley and Andrew Hoggett

https://www.rwebay.com.au/4926803/

The apartment was built in 1979 and is on the lower North Shore of Sydney. The bay is located three kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.

Lavender Bay was not named after the aromatic, light purple, flowering plant, Lavender, as commonly thought. Instead, it was named after the Boatswain (bosun), George Lavender (1755-1851), from the prison hulk “Phoenix”, which was moored there for many years. The bosun was the senior-most member of on the ship’s deck, apart from the superintendent or captain, and responsible for the components of a ship’s hull.

The ship, Phoenix, of 589 tonnes, was a three-decker merchant ship built on the Thames in 1798. On a voyage in 1824 on which she  transported convicts to Van Diemen’s Land [Tasmania] she was damaged on a reef inside Port Jackson Heads, in Sydney Harbour and condemned by the Vice- Admiralty Court to be broken up and her stores were to be sold. Instead, she was purchased by the state government for £1,000 and fitted up in May 1825 as a prison hulk.

The hulk was established to house the overflow from the Sydney Gaol. Its other purpose was to temporarily house prisoners detained for trial and those under sentence of transportation to the penal settlements. It was a floating remand centre for up to 200 prisoners. It uses ceased in 1837/8 and she was finally broken up.

The bay was originally called Hulk Bay and sometimes Phoenix Bay after the ship’s name and its uses.

George John Lavender lived on 14 acres (57,000 m²) in the area. His untimely death is recorded in the Coroner’s inquest report quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald, February 1850:

” An inquest was yesterday held at the North Shore, near Sydney, on the body of George John Lavender, aged 66, then and there lying dead … Mrs Lavender called out “murder”.

Mrs Lavender, wife of deceased, stated that for some weeks her late husband had been very much depressed in spirits, and on one occasion said he would put an end to his life … The

jury returned the following verdict: temporary insanity.”

Later, on 30^th  May 1915 Lavender Bay railway station was opened to take the place of Milsons Point railway station. But this only lasted for seven weeks. Passengers refused to alight here and demanded that trains stop at Milsons Point. During the harbour bridge construction, Lavender Bay Station was the terminus for the North Shore Line. The area is now railway storage sidings.  

Lavender Bay has many landmarks including a wharf providing access to private vessels. The Lavender Bay Baths (1910) were once popular with swimmers, located in the area beside the ferry wharf. This picturesque area has many walks and is home to famous Luna Park. 

By Andrew Woodhouse 

Heritage Solutions