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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.

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