ARCH7216_La Perouse Final
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L A P E R O U S E
1.Cowley, Rowan. “Healing Process Begins” Southern Courier, Jun. 25, 2002. Accessed March, 2018. <br />
2.Thompson, Angus. “Bridge To The Past” Southern Courier, Oct. 21, 2008. Accessed March, 2018. <br />
3.Fitzgibbon, Wendy. “Remains Returned to Park” Southern Courier, Jun. 25, 2002. Accessed March, 2018. <br />
4.Taylor, James. “Author Tells of the Stolen Generation: Stories Make History Accessible to Kids” Southern Courier, Jun. 16, 2015.<br />
<br />
5.Kensy, J. (2008). <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>. Retrieved from: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/la_perouse.
I T I S T H E P E R F E C T L O C A T I O N F O R A L I T T L E G E T A W A Y
T H E H I S T O R Y O F L A P E R O U S E
T H E S I G N I F I C A N T S P O T S O F L A P E R O U S E
THE ROUTE OF THE CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY PROJECT
T H E J O U R N E Y B A C K H O M E
WHITE AND INDIGENOUS KIDS “DIVING FOR THE MONEY” IN WEEKEND
L A P E R O U S E | M A C Q U A R I E W A T C H T O W E R | 1 8 2 2
T H E MACQUARIE TOWER<br />
:<br />
<strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> is a unique suburb where people around Sydney would<br />
visit and getting away from the busy urban life during the weekend.<br />
In the first assessment of mapping the suburb of <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>, I started<br />
to feel and understand the “spirit” of <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> – an isolated<br />
community only 18km from Sydney CBD, a world within a world.<br />
Therefore <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> has a very unique context compare to other<br />
Sydney suburbs. First, there are lots of visitors come to here every<br />
weekend for family activities which makes it a tourist spot rather than<br />
a suburb; secondly, people in <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> cherish the natural<br />
landscape and historical treasure, limited of urban development were<br />
established there, this might be influenced by the local indigenous<br />
history and culture; thirdly, the history of the suburb <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> was<br />
quite long (date back to 1800s), many of the public facilities may have<br />
been decayed and therefore moved to somewhere else.<br />
Therefore it was a struggling process for me to both choose the<br />
public building for my project and suit my own interest of finding the<br />
“untold stories” of <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>. Instead of picking a building I<br />
continued on researching the history of <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>. The fire of the<br />
Macquarie Watch Tower in 1957 has captured my eyes. The complex<br />
stories and dramatic transformation of the Macquarie Watch Tower<br />
made me believed that this building is an essential element to<br />
discuss when talking about <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>. Behind its historical value as<br />
an old architecture, the different purpose of the building through<br />
different period of time reflects the socio-cultural environment of the<br />
time. In fact, there were some interesting individual stories hided<br />
under the flow of the time and the disappeared space caused by the<br />
fire.<br />
Photo of the Macquarie Watchtower before 11957.<br />
Elevation of Macquarie Watch Tower, 1822 Plan of Macquarie Watch Tower, 1822
In the 1820s, <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> was considered as an isolated back door<br />
to the Colony, a small detachment of troops were set to watch and<br />
take care of the Bay from smugglers and misguided vessels.<br />
Therefore the Macquarie Watch Tower was built in 1822 to suit this<br />
purpose and provided a shelter for the soldiers. The designer of the<br />
Tower was remain a mystery. Although the watch tower was<br />
named after the Governor <strong>La</strong>chlan Macquarie, the tower was not<br />
listed in his building works. The watch tower is made of Sydney<br />
sandstone with the wall thickness of 600mm. Its exterior diameter<br />
is 7240mm and has the height of approximately 7240mm as well.<br />
The Macquarie Watch Tower served this role till 1826. During this<br />
period of time, the soldiers have appropriated the Garden that was<br />
established by Sir <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> in 1788.<br />
Then in 1831, the tower was acquired by the Department of<br />
Custom as the coastal customs out-station. However the tower<br />
was too small to house the officers, tidewaiter and boatmen<br />
therefore significant repair and renovation was essential in order<br />
to serve its purpose. The entire renovation and expansion of the<br />
“Coastal Custom Office” was rather a process fulfilled with failure<br />
and unsuccessful approach. The initial improvement commenced<br />
in 1832 by a stonemason called James Walsh but the result turned<br />
out to be non-successful since the storm water was constantly leak<br />
into the building through windows and roof. In 1835, a huge storm<br />
destroyed the window and an added kitchen of the Macquarie<br />
Watch Tower. The habitability of the tower was really bad of the<br />
time which lead to another round of renovation development.<br />
During the time between 1835 and 1850, an addition building with<br />
skillion roof was constructed against the tower and by 1863, skillion<br />
roofed additions have occupied three sides of the tower, became a<br />
semi-circular addition surrounding the octagonal tower. Also in<br />
1850, a pitched roof replaced the existing flat, lead lined roof for the<br />
tower. The renovation also included a new fire place and a<br />
chimney. The replacement of windows, roofs and door frames<br />
were done by 1864.<br />
In1868, the Botany Heads Provision School was established in the<br />
Macquarie Watch Tower. Geographically, <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> was an<br />
isolated and remote place which increase the difficulties in<br />
establishing public facilities. From a historical point of view, <strong>La</strong><br />
<strong>Perouse</strong> was the place where a lot of Aboriginal people were living<br />
of the time. Due to the concerns above, the colonial government<br />
might just ignored the people and the development of the<br />
community there. By that time, Michael McDermott was the<br />
Custom Officer of <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>, he and his family were living in the<br />
Tower. He realized the need of education in the area and started<br />
the Botany Heads Provision School in his living room in the Tower.<br />
On the first day, there were 25 students enrolled, both Aboriginal<br />
and non-Aboriginal children. Also his 17 years old daughter and<br />
governess also helped to teach the class with limited amount of<br />
resources. Due to the expansion of the class, an additional building<br />
(4m x 3m) was opened for the school use in 1873. An inspector<br />
recorded it as the best school he ever seen.<br />
Beyond the effort of people who were committed to education of<br />
the area, tragic event occurred with external reasons. The pool<br />
sanitation of the area caused death of children from diphtheria<br />
epidemic. The school was forced to close for 2 months. There were<br />
discussion about the extension of classrooms and fresh water<br />
supply after this incident.<br />
Plan of Macquarie Watchtower ,1864.<br />
Front elevation of Macquarie Watchtower, 1864.<br />
Section of Macquarie Watchtower, 1864.
<strong>La</strong>ter on, Botany Heads Provision School became <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong><br />
Public School and was located to Bunnerong Street in 1910 and<br />
moved to the present site in Yarra Bay in 1944. Through the rapid<br />
change and transformation of the school, great effort was made to<br />
ensure the integrity of the school that was Aboriginal children’s<br />
rights to attend the school. The school has evolved to be the<br />
educationally vibrant and culturally rich institution it is today<br />
through the dedicated teachers and the efforts and support of<br />
families living in the area over generations from 1868.<br />
In 1903, the Custom Station transferred to NSW Government. The<br />
Macquarie Watch Tower became the house for the Caretaker of<br />
the local areas. In 1957, the additional structures and part of the<br />
original Macquarie Tower was destroyed by accidental fire. The<br />
Tower was burnt to what it was like when it was originally built.<br />
The brief story of the Macquarie Watch Tower ends here. Now it<br />
becomes a monument echoing the history of <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>. The<br />
tower has witnessed the colonial development, the suffering of the<br />
local Aboriginal people, it was the first Custom Office of Sydney<br />
and the first school that enrolled both Aboriginal and<br />
non-Aboriginal children. The Macquarie Watch Tower, being there<br />
for nearly 200 years, has grown, expanded and ruined over times,<br />
now standing there and continue to witness the story of <strong>La</strong><br />
<strong>Perouse</strong>. What’s different from before is that now the story fulfill<br />
with the laugh of families of different cultures and background.<br />
1. Jill Sheppard Heritage Consultant, <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Headland Conservation<br />
Management Plan (Sydney, 2008/2009).<br />
2. “Macquarie Watchtower, <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>,”Randwick & District Historical Society,<br />
accessed April 20, 2018, http://www.randwickhistoricalsociety.org.au/school.htm.<br />
3. State Records NSW 5/15041.3<br />
4. “The Watchtower Fire - 1st October 1957,” Randwick & District Historical Society,<br />
accessed April 20, 2018, http://www.randwickhistoricalsociety.org.au/macqfire.htm.<br />
5. “Botany Heads Public School,” Randwick & District Historical Society, accessed<br />
April 20, 2018, http://www.randwickhistoricalsociety.org.au/school.htm.<br />
6. Brief historical account of <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> School for its foundation in 1868 to 1940<br />
Mission Publications, Australia 1968.
L A P E R O U S E | T H E C A B L E S T A T I O N | J A M E S B A R N E T | 1 8 8 2
T H E C A B L E S T A T I O N<br />
:<br />
<strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>, located at the northern headland of the Botany Bay, is<br />
a unique suburb where it seems so peaceful and settled with its<br />
natural beauty situating around and within. However, if you<br />
observe and study it furthermore, you will realise the hidden<br />
history of its nature, people and industry.<br />
A throwback to my first visit to <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>, it was a Sunday<br />
afternoon. I saw a lot of visitors that were taking photos and<br />
playing around at the site, and I was one of them. At that time I<br />
was only fascinated by the beautiful natural elements, the fresh air,<br />
the greens, the land, the water and the sky. Little did I know the<br />
land I was walking on and the air I was breathing in, have a variety<br />
of story that happened and weaved into them.<br />
The story should start from the very beginning when <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong><br />
was not called <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>. The land was known as “Gooriwal” by<br />
the indigenous Muruoradial people who were believed to live on<br />
this land since thousand years ago. The indigenous Muruoradial<br />
people have never claimed the ownership of the land, they were<br />
only living and protecting it with their traditional ways. They used<br />
fishing to protect the water and treated everything as a whole.<br />
However, with the geographic location of “Gooriwal”, where it<br />
performed as an entrance to a beautiful bay. On the 26th of<br />
January in 1788, French explorer Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte<br />
da <strong>La</strong>perouse and his expedition found this beautiful site where<br />
they can sail in and repair their ships while resting before they<br />
headed back to Europe. They camped on the site for about six<br />
weeks, and they witnessed the beginning of the British settlement<br />
in Sydney, and that was another chapter of the story. This land was<br />
later named “<strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>”, in order to honour the navigator of the<br />
scientific expedition, Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte da<br />
<strong>La</strong>perouse.<br />
I was walking along the driveway where the people were getting<br />
fewer and fewer, and I saw this building that situates in the centre<br />
of the meadow, with three kids chasing around each other at the<br />
front of the building, it is the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Museum.<br />
Side view of the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Museum<br />
Kids playing in front of the museum
The heritage building which housed the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Museum<br />
today was initially designed and built as a Cable Station by the<br />
colonial architect James Barnet in 1882, and it was the only link to<br />
New Zealand and the rest of the world at that period. Throughout<br />
the time, the building was renovated and extended a few times in<br />
order to meet the new requirements of the cable company. Also,<br />
before the building was selected to house the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong><br />
Museum, it has changed its role from a cable station staff<br />
accommodation to a nurse’s home and a variety of other purposes<br />
from 1917 to 1944, and established as a salvation army women’s<br />
and children’s refuge from 1944 to 1987. The exterior of the<br />
building was painted white to help comfort the feared women and<br />
children to calm down and let go of the past. It is important to<br />
note that, this refuge was the only one in Sydney that helped the<br />
female victims and the children from misfortune and violent<br />
marriage at that time. The building has started to function as a<br />
connection to the outside world, and became a shelter, a home for<br />
the women and the kids who were in need, provided them with a<br />
place to settle down, move on and start a new chapter in their life.<br />
Another throwback to my last visit to <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Museum, I found<br />
a single bride who was in a photo shooting process near the<br />
staircase. My curiosity got me wondering why is she taking the<br />
photo alone and why is she here instead of the more beautiful<br />
beach. However, I did not want to interrupt the bride and her<br />
team, so I continued my journey to the museum. I started to<br />
collect the information that I need for my research, and I was<br />
refreshing myself with all the resources that I have learned and<br />
tried to combine it with my narrative. I sat on the chair on the<br />
wooden floor verandah in front of the building entrance, and there<br />
was an elder lady who was sitting next to me. “Isn’t this beautiful?”<br />
she asked, I said, “yes, my mom will love this place for sure.” <strong>La</strong>ter I<br />
knew that the elder lady grew up here in the salvation army refuge<br />
for women and children, and she left when she was 13 years old.<br />
She told me that in the past 20 years, she has been coming back to<br />
this building every now and then, not for any specific reason. Every<br />
time she comes back, she will just be sitting in the same spot,<br />
looking towards the ocean and the sky. That was how she and her<br />
mom found peace when they were helped here, and this is just the<br />
way she keeps the memories with her mom.<br />
The bride taking photos at the stairs of the museum<br />
After all, I found the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> museum does not only exhibit the<br />
history of Australia and France. Instead, it provides a sense of<br />
belonging to those who were lost to find their way back home.<br />
Moreover, the definition of this place has transformed from a<br />
“temporary destination” for the foreigners to a “permanent<br />
beginning” for all the people who were saved and helped here. It is<br />
truly amazing to see how the good and bad past can mix and form<br />
a better and more thoughtful future together with all classes,<br />
colours, and races in Australia.<br />
1 Curby, P. (2009). Randwick. Randwick, N.S.W.: Randwick City Council, pp.116-119.<br />
2 <strong>La</strong>perouse Museum. (1988). Sydney: A N.S.W. Bicentennial Council project jointly<br />
with the <strong>La</strong>perouse Association for the Australian Bicentenary and the French<br />
Government, pp.1-6.<br />
3 Aboriginal Display at <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>. (2009). Mankind, 1(4), pp.86-87.<br />
4 NSW, M. (2018). <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Museum. [online] Museums & Galleries NSW. Available<br />
at: https://mgnsw.org.au/ organisations/laperouse-museum/ [Accessed 24 Apr.<br />
2018].<br />
5 SBS News. (2018). <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>'s unknown historical significance. [online] Available<br />
at: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/ la-perouse-s-unknown-historical-significance<br />
[Accessed 25 Apr. 2018].<br />
6 Ross, J. (2016). An end to isolation – the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Cable Station. Sydney, pp.31-46.<br />
The corridor view towards the ocean
L A P E R O U S E | T H E B A R E I S L A N D F O R T | J A M E S B A R N E T | 1 8 9 0
T H E B A R E I S L A N D F O R T<br />
:<br />
History of Bare Island started from a piece of description from<br />
Captain Cook’s journal. The name of Bare Island was first<br />
mentioned when he described Botany Bay as a harbour and wrote:<br />
“to sail into it, keep the south shore on board until within a small<br />
bare island which lies close under the north shore”.(1) This “small<br />
bare island” is what we known today The Bare Island at <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>.<br />
However, since the first mention of bare island from Captain Cook,<br />
this small island was little more than a landmark for almost 100<br />
years, as the colony grew and industry and settlements appeared<br />
in the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> area, Bare Island still remained undeveloped.<br />
Fortress<br />
Bare Island 1777<br />
Until the year of 1877, due to the Russian threat to the Colony, two<br />
defence experts named Sir William Jervois and Peter Scratchley<br />
were sent by British government as part of a co-ordinated plan to<br />
strengthen the defences of Botany Bay, and they advised that a<br />
fort need to be built on bare island to safeguard against this.<br />
Because geographically speaking Botany Bay was considered as<br />
the back door to get into Sydney, this will cause vulnerable<br />
problem of Sydney, the construction of a port on Bare Island would<br />
reduce attack from entry point. (2) Though the Crimean wars had<br />
ended some 20 years already at that time, those pre-nuclear days<br />
the threat of bigger, more devastating wars was a very real fear.<br />
Jervois and Scratchley helped the new government co-ordinate a<br />
defence scheme for the under protected people of Australia.<br />
Jervois’ recommendation for the fortification of Bare Island with<br />
five guns and barracks to accommodate 80 men was accepted by<br />
NSW Government, and construction plan was proved in 1880, and<br />
the lowest tender of 25020 pounds by builder John McLeod was<br />
accepted in 1881. The fortifications were completed in 1885, and in<br />
1890 the barracks were ready for use. (3)<br />
Bare Island 1937<br />
However, controversy arose in 1890 regarding the construction of<br />
the fort, which was carried out under orders issued by the Colonial<br />
Architect, James Barnet. A Royal Commission was constituted to<br />
investigate reports of a bad workmanship and construction at Bare<br />
Island and conduct of the contractor. The whole project started to<br />
crumble before it was completed. In fact, the architect had not put<br />
cement in the most important sections and had used a mass of<br />
rubble, stones, pipeclay and dirt, which would have meant the<br />
disintegration of the fort on the firing of a single shot. And it was<br />
continually being repaired and altered before finally being placed<br />
outside the coastal defence plan in 1902. (4) Though, lack of<br />
construction material knowledge and uncommon use of concrete<br />
at that time, Bare Island Fort is still a significant piece of<br />
architecture that made of mass concrete by James Barnet’s who is<br />
an colonial architect of New South Wales. The Fort is been consider<br />
as a failure case for publicly funded construction of Australia after<br />
that time, and have significant impacts on the way of construction<br />
in the future.<br />
Bare Island 2018
Veterans’ Home<br />
In time, though bristling with guns, the fear of a Russian invasion<br />
diminished, the garrison was reduced, and by 1905 the Royal<br />
Australian Artillery only used the fort guns had reached a stage of<br />
obsolescence and the installation as a fort was abandoned. In 1912<br />
the fortifications received their final indignity. Guns were removed,<br />
walls knocked down, open sections bricked up, solid timber doors<br />
were gradually replaced by ‘modern’ glass panelled ones, and the<br />
fortifications became a nursing home for War Veterans, except<br />
during periods in World Wars I and II when it was occupied by<br />
Garrison forces until 1963. (5) The Women’s Branch of the British<br />
Empire League campaigned for the establishment of a home for<br />
war veterans who served in the Regular Naval or Military Forced of<br />
the Empire before the 1st January 1886. Thus Bare Island Fort<br />
Veterans Home opened on 20th March, 1912. A period of 51 years at<br />
which time they were transferred to a home established in<br />
Narrabeen. (6)<br />
Historic Site<br />
Mrs June Moore, secretary of the Historical Society, her husband<br />
Milton and their four daughters moved in the fort in 1963 for a few<br />
fees in a caretaker capacity to protect the building from further<br />
vandalism. They remained in residence for 2 years, June Moore<br />
called 'it was pretty gruesome, the rooms were like little cells, there<br />
was no hot water and the roof leaked'. (6) However being in<br />
residence enabled them to achieve many improvements with<br />
voluntary member assistance. Life in the fort could never be<br />
described as uneventful. There was the time in 1966 when<br />
excitement reached fever pitch. a century old long cannon with a<br />
10 inch bore was unearthed under the floor of the gun room by<br />
Warrant Officer Charles Gouldson. The cannon have since been<br />
remounted in its original position.<br />
Another exciting event is the restoration of ‘Bid Beryl,’ though in<br />
the 1930s, the guns of the fort were sold to scrap metal merchants.<br />
‘Bid Beryl’ was hauled down to this edge of the island, but was too<br />
heavy to be taken across the timber bridge to the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong><br />
mainland. (7) It was left as a rusting relic of the old fort. In the year<br />
of 1979, ‘Bid Beryl,’ the 107 year-old gun which has never been fired<br />
in anger, was lowered back into its original position at Bare Island,<br />
and the return of the gun is part of Bare Island’s restoration by the<br />
National Parks and Wildlife Service. On the 13th August 1979, ‘Bid<br />
Beryl’ was fired for the first time since its restoration to celebrate<br />
the Royal National Parks Centenary Year. (8) In the year of 2005,<br />
the Fortress started to be opened to the public, and now days<br />
hundreds of tourists visit the site to see the fortress that never fired<br />
a shot. More excitingly, it has been used as one of the sets for<br />
Mission Impossible 2 and for a Japanese game show. Bare Island<br />
Fort was never a place that only for tourist but a place that has rich<br />
history stories and has important historic value for Australia.<br />
1 ‘port of New South Wales’ December 1979,vol.2, no.7,p30-32.<br />
2 Randwick, ‘Bare Island Fort cloaked in a century of history’, June 1985.<br />
3 Ibid.<br />
4 ‘port aof New South Wales’ December 1979,vol.2, no.7,p30-32.<br />
5 ‘keeping the bear at bay.’ Maroubra Mag, 22 August,1984.<br />
6 Randwick, ‘Bare Island Fort cloaked in a century of history’, June 1985.<br />
7 Joseph, Glascott. ‘ historic gun returns to original position.’ SMH, 28 February, 1979.<br />
8 ‘ the cannon’s roar.’ SMH, 14 August, 1979.
L A P E R O U S E | T H E M I S S I O N C H U R C H | 1 9 2 9
Western Elevation<br />
Eastern Elevation<br />
Northern<br />
Elevation<br />
Section<br />
Plan
L A P E R O U S E M I S S I O N C H U R C H<br />
:<br />
<strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Mission Church, also named AEC (Aboriginal<br />
Evangelical Church), takes a significant historical position of the<br />
Aboriginal Christian Movement. It regarded as the mother church<br />
of the United Aboriginal Mission and the antecedent of the<br />
Indigenous Christian Organization, which is the center of the<br />
mission extending to all around Australia. [1]<br />
It is widely known that <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> is one of the most important<br />
suburbs of Aboriginal where the Aboriginal settlement is<br />
continuous for thousands of years. Although the colonizers, who<br />
stayed in the territory for only 6 weeks, unilaterally claimed their<br />
ownership of the land and gave it the name ‘<strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>’, the fact<br />
that Indigenous people have lived in this area much earlier than<br />
that can not be denied. Since the Europeans arrived, Indigenous<br />
people began a long history of oppressive and controlled life. From<br />
1883, the Aborigines Protection Board formed the reserves in <strong>La</strong><br />
<strong>Perouse</strong> in order to isolate Indigenous people from White<br />
Australian. [2] During that time, the Christian Endeavourers started<br />
to have contact with <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> and Aboriginal people were<br />
fenced up on the reserve and work for the mission. “The <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong><br />
mission became…the first national mission for interdenominational<br />
work among Aboriginal people in Australia, which attracted many<br />
Aborigines to church services.” [3]<br />
First Mission Church in <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong><br />
Following with the first missionary Retta Long residing in <strong>La</strong><br />
<strong>Perouse</strong> and the establishment of Mission Committee in <strong>La</strong><br />
<strong>Perouse</strong>, [4] the first Mission Church was erected on Frenchman’s<br />
Beach by those resident missionaries dedicated to working among<br />
the Indigenous people in 1894. From a surviving photograph, it can<br />
be seen that it was a plant gabled building with single-room<br />
structure. At that time, although the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Mission Church is<br />
humble, it is the only church served ‘both black and White’ in that<br />
area. [5] In Christmas and New Year holiday, the church as the<br />
celebration venues gathered Aboriginal and ‘white’ residents<br />
together.<br />
As the result, the Mission Church takes an important role in the<br />
history of <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>. And there are some episodes about the<br />
church can be found in the newspapers and publications.<br />
In the early of 1900s, Aboriginal residents of <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> ‘were<br />
threatened with removal from their land’ [6] and the debate of<br />
abolishing the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Aboriginal Reserve was widespread. The<br />
government cut of the wages and rations of the reserve that<br />
resulted in some Aboriginal residents suffered starvation. In order<br />
to defend Indigenous residents from removal, Christian members<br />
of the Aboriginal community gathered in the Mission Church. They<br />
wrote down the comments against the inhuman and injustice<br />
policy in the church.<br />
The connection of tramline made the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> more accessible.<br />
And it was ‘fast becoming a holiday resort for Endeavourers and<br />
others interested in the Mission’. On 19 September 1903, a large<br />
group of visitors from all parts of Australia following Christian<br />
Endeavourers flocked to <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>. It was an interesting scene<br />
that over 600 Christians packed into the tiny Mission Church to<br />
sing and pray. <strong>La</strong>ter on, many non-Christians are also attracted to<br />
come to visit the church because of their curiosity of Aboriginal<br />
Christians.
In May 1928, according to The Sydney Morning Herald, the<br />
president of United Aborigines Mission and some white<br />
missionaries visit <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Mission Church to participate the<br />
ceremony with ‘their dark-eyed brethren’. [7] They cherished the<br />
memory of pioneer missionaries, including ‘Queen’ Emma<br />
Timbery, the one of earliest Aboriginal resident taking part in<br />
mission work. She was the leading figure of the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong><br />
Aboriginal Christians and devoted herself to evangelical work. [8]<br />
Due to the unstable sand site, the Mission Church started to sink<br />
into the ground and had to be relocated. It was rebuilt in the<br />
current location around 1929. Similar to the original church, the<br />
new church is also a simple single-room gabled building but with<br />
timber structure surrounding by the timber fence. A gabled porch<br />
was introduced on the eastern side of building with a colored<br />
window. Other six windows are placed on each longitudinal<br />
façade and a bell-cote is installed on the top of the roof.<br />
At the same year, the economic depression brought hundreds of<br />
unemployed to <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>. They camped here owing to the fresh<br />
water and the natural shelter. The history of Aboriginal people and<br />
non-aboriginal people living together unfolded against the<br />
intention of government who attempt to segregate them.<br />
However, while many publications showed the harmony between<br />
the Aboriginal people and non-aboriginal people, Mrs. Williams,<br />
the Aboriginal resident of <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> and the direct descendant of<br />
the Dharawal people, narrated the control of mission from<br />
Aboriginal Protection Board was actually ‘strict’. She said<br />
‘The manager’s role was to keep us in our place and tell us<br />
what we could do and what we couldn’t do. We were just<br />
treated like children.’ [9]<br />
Obviously, some Indigenous are not the supporters of the Mission<br />
Church as they believe it contaminated and spilled the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong><br />
Aboriginal community. They prefer to teach their children tribal<br />
values rather Christian values. They demonstrate that the church<br />
is not advantageous for them to find out their identity and<br />
preserve Indigenous spirituality. “That's (the mission church) part<br />
of our history.” Despite the disapproval of the Church, Mr. Mason<br />
recognized the existing of the Mission Church as a good place<br />
where ‘the white fella comes to live with black fella’. [10]<br />
Current situation of<br />
<strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Mission Church<br />
Window of Mission Church<br />
The Mission Church is out of used since services ceased in the<br />
1990s and it is in a poor condition currently. The windows originally<br />
with lancet colored glass are blocked by planks now and wire<br />
fence is used to enclose the whole church building. A wooden<br />
board written the timetable of the church is still hanging on the<br />
eastern façade beside the porch, but the white paint of the wood<br />
exterior wall has fallen off.<br />
Although the Mission Church has been closed for ages and<br />
became ropey, the historic meaning of it will be spread over a long<br />
period. It evidenced the changed relationships between<br />
Indigenous people and Europeans from various backdrop and<br />
ethnicities. It “has social and spiritual significance to the past,<br />
present and dispersed Aboriginal community of <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong>.” And<br />
the heritage listing has included the <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Mission church as<br />
“exceptional historic significance in the context of Aboriginal<br />
survival of European settlement”.<br />
Local Newspaper found<br />
in Randwick Bowen Library<br />
1 Office of Environment & Heritage, “<strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Mission Church”,<br />
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au (accessed Aprile 26, 2018).<br />
2 The Dictionary of Sydney, “<strong>La</strong> perouse”, https://dictionaryofsydney.org(accessed<br />
Aprile 26, 2018).<br />
3 Diane Nazaroff, “Part of <strong>La</strong>ndscape”, [unkown], July 28,1998, 21.<br />
4 Office of Environment & Heritage, “<strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Mission Church”,<br />
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au (accessed Aprile 28, 2018).<br />
5 Geoffrey Lewis, <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> : why he came to the Pacific(Randwick: Randwick and<br />
District Historical Society, 2006), 186.<br />
6 Ibid.<br />
7 [unknown], “The <strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Mission” The Sydney Morning Herald, May 12, 1928.<br />
8 Office of Environment & Heritage, “<strong>La</strong> <strong>Perouse</strong> Mission Church”,<br />
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au (accessed Aprile 26, 2018).<br />
9 Nazaroff, “Part of <strong>La</strong>ndscape”, 21.<br />
10 Ibid.