brigade

For more information about the SS Orient: www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/2362703683/ and www.laird-bogstown.com/orient 1.php

Yes, beachcomberaustralia, it looks French to me, possibly 'Pacifique', which means 'peaceful'.

Thanks for that Wardie44B, or 'Merci'. The French steamship "Pacifique" (built 1899) was owned by the M M (Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes - see note on flag) a French state-owned operation. She was 1,938 tons and (probably) operated the Marseilles - Port Said - Mahe - Reunion - Mauritius - Adelaide - Melbourne - Sydney - Noumea route. She was scrapped in 1925. Ref.- www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/mm.htm . The earliest reference to the SS Pacifique in the Sydney Morning Herald is an advertisement for sailing to Noumea at 1pm on Wednesday 15 November 1899 - trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/14233925?searchTerm=SS pacifique . This might not be the sailing that was about to happen in this photo, but it is certainly c.1900. The scaffolding in front of the Customs House (they were adding extra floors) also is evident in this photo - www.flickr.com/photos/state-records-nsw/3794327782/ .

Spot the differences! - acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemLarge.aspx?itemID=413341

Yes, a number of differences, beachcomber. What does is signify that the Pacifique isn't flying any flags (well, not the one on top and not the French flag) in the other image?

beachcomber australia Re your note. 1900 resumption map confirms it is the Grand Hotel. View "Plan T" on Archives Investigator - gallery.records.nsw.gov.au/index.php/galleries/maps-and-p... Also, there is a photo on Photo Investigator (not yet on Flickr) taken from Essex Street and looking south-west that shows part of the Grand Hotel (note the name in the window) - investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/asp/photosearch/photo.asp... In the 1880s it was the site of the Coach & Horses Hotel - acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/_zoomify/2008/D00663/a1367458.html Regarding the intersection of this photo (Cumberland & Little Essex), going clockwise: The south-west corner - The (soon to be vacant) north-west corner - The north-east corner - I've never found a photo of the south-east corner, but the Old Erin-go-bragh Hotel once stood there. See 1890 map - acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/_zoomify/2008/D00663/a1367458.html

pellethepoet Thank you! I was thinking wrongly that the 'Frog Hollow' photo was taken from on top of the Grand Hotel, but that was Gloucester, not Cumberland St. All so very muddling ...

beachcomber australia I'm just glad you didn't confuse 'Frog Hollow' with the one in Surry Hills. That would have been embarrassing :)

The 'North City Fire Brigade' seems to have been a volunteer organization from the 1880s, not part of the Metropolitan Fire Service. It suffered registration problems in 1896 (bureaucratic jealousies and bungling?) - trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/14059846 . Still going in 1903 - the fellow at the window could be one of these people - trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/14502563

For those of us trying to navigate old sydney, I've put together a composite of the resumption map and something a little more recent. Enjoy!

Some of those faces - the eyes in particular - look like they have experienced things no one would like to see.

The photographer on this had to be incredible. This picture is downright flawless, and with the equipment they had back then. Wow. I'm freakin' amazed.

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called THIRD PLANET/ Peoples, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

I believe that the Light Horse Interchange on the M7/M4 (Sydney Australia) was named after the Light Horsemen, and that they also fashion Emu feathers on their hats to distinguish them from other units. If anyone has information relating to this could they please provide a link.

History!!