When Waverley waged war on Sydney City Council

by Peter McCallum

In its 150 year history, Waverley Council has managed, just occasionally, to enliven its normally prosaic proceedings.

Only very recently, The Bondi View reported that in assisting some of its citizenry against what is seen as the draconian act of another authority, Waverley Council has been delighted to find its elected councillors from all three parties supported by placard-waving shopkeepers and residents on Bondi Road raising a ruckus against the Saturday afternoon clearway. The enemy on this occasion was (and remains) the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA).

But those skirmishes are mild compared to the first occasion when Waverley went to war against another arm of government.

Council’s Local Studies Librarian, Kimberly O’Sullivan-Steward, broke the news of this long forgotten war in her revelations to Waverley’s Historical Society at her sesqui-centenary address.

Waverley Council was less than a decade old when local residents who found, on September 30, 1868 that their walking track across the area’s water catchment (now Queens Park) had been blocked overnight by a three rail fence erected by workers from the older Sydney City Council.

Waverley’s Town Clerk, William Mortimer, quickly issued a call to arms. Just as their successors did in Bondi Road weeks ago, Waverley’s residents came forward in ample numbers, and their aldermen began their tradition of providing strong moral support in the field.

Kimberly related: “As the opposing bodies faced each other across the obstacles, a considerable crowd gathered to watch and join in the heated debate. Rallied by Mayor David Fletcher, five horses and carts were put into position to block the fence-building activities of the City of Sydney workers. At about 4 pm a general attack was made by the 24-strong force of men from the City, brandishing pick-handles and similar weapons. The police were powerless to halt the fight that raged. Waverley’s womenfolk took a practical part in the melee and many a hefty wallop landed on the heads of the combatants, delivered with gusto by the strong arms of the fair amazons.”

Cowed and beaten, the City forces beat their retreat. Among the injured was a horse: a mare owned by Waverley supporter John Egan. He successfully sued the Sydney City Council and won damages amounting to £19/9/0, quite a sum for the time.

The horse-loving jury of four apparently included £10 for the pain and suffering of the horse. This would have kept Egan’s equine friend in apples for some time.

Perhaps there’s a lesson in all this for the RTA!

Waverley Historical Society’s talks are free to the public at Club Bondi Junction, cnr Gray Street and Bronte Road. The next session, on Monday, March 9, will be Ros Collins”Alva’s Boy – Growing up in Bondi” (the story behind the book) and on Monday, April 6 Emma Grahame will discuss the developing online historical resource, “A Dictionary of Sydney”.