Full description
Vaucluse Park was established under the terms of the Public Works Act, 1900 when an area of land measuring 22 acres 3 roods 10 4/5 perches was proposed to be resumed or purchased for the purpose of creating a Public Recreation Ground. (1) Cost of the park was not to exceed twenty thousand pounds. The land was acquired over a twelve-month period and a new reserve to be known as Vaucluse Park was gazetted on 24 August 1911. (2) On a portion of Vaucluse Park stands the home of William Charles Wentworth, explorer, scholar and statesman. The house and its grounds have attracted many visitors over the years. (3)On 24 August 1911 a Trust was appointed to administer Vaucluse Park and comprised Niels Rasmus Wilson Nielsen MLA (Secretary for Lands), Colonel James William Macarthur Onslow MLA, Frank Lock, Thomas Mitchell Shakespeare, Ernest Macartney de Burgh, William Duncan, and William Albert Notting. (4)
Nielsen Park was established through the resumption of the Greycliffe Estate. The Greycliffe Estate had been developed by a daughter of WC Wentworth and her husband John Reeve. The land measuring 51 acres 1 rood was resumed on 21 August 1911 for the purpose of creating a public reserve. The land was renamed Nielsen Park in honour of NRW Nielsen MLA, Secretary for Lands under whose authority the Foreshore Resumption Scheme was created on 20 July 1911. (5)
On 1 May 1912 a Trust was appointed to administer Nielsen Park and comprised the same trustees as had been appointed in 1911 for Vaucluse Park. (6)
On 31 August 1915 land at Shark Beach comprising 3 roods 32 1/2 perches, which had been dedicated as a public park on 28 July 1915, was gazetted as an addition to Nielsen Park. (7)
On 19 April 1950 the trustees of Nielsen Park and Vaucluse Park were combined into a single Nielsen-Vaucluse Park Trust. The existing trustees of both Vaucluse Park and Neilsen Park were re-appointed as trustees of Nielsen-Vaucluse Park. The trustees at this time were: George Godwin Nicholls, Harold James Halbert, James Anthony Kelly, Sydney Henry Wilson, Walter Patrick McGrath, Wallace Charles Wurth CG LLB and Eric Stanislaus Miller KC. (8)
In 1967 Nielsen Park was considered one of the best patronised parks for its size in the State. Facilities included four pavilions capable of seating 700 persons, thirty-one summerhouses, thirty-three tables and a sharkproof enclosure with a diving tower and pontoon for the use of swimmers. (9)
Control of the Vaucluse House Historic Site, comprising an area of 19 acres 0 roods 38 4/5 perches, was held by the Trustees of the Nielsen-Vaucluse Park Trust. They were re-appointed under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1967 from 1 October 1967 as the Trustees of Vaucluse House Historic Site. (9)
The Nielsen Park Trust reported to the Minister for Lands in 1968 after the formation of the Vaucluse House Historic Site Trust. The Trustees in 1968 were: GAC Kiernan, H Yelland, ES Miller, JA Kelly, JR Barrett, P Lusher, GJ Crouch and RN Walker. The same trustees operated as the Vaucluse House Historic Site Trust in 1969. (10) On 24 December 1970 an area of 2 acres 1 rood 8 perches at Nielsen Park was added to the Vaucluse House Historic Site. (11)
Both Vaucluse Park and Neilsen Park subsequently became part of the Sydney Harbour National Park. The Vaucluse House Historic Site Trust continued to function until 30 June 1980. The body corporate 'Trustees of Vaucluse House Historic Site' was dissolved by the National National Parks and Wildlife (Vaucluse House) Amendment Act 1980 (Act No.96, 1980) which vested the property in the Historic Houses Trust. (12)
Reference
Nielsen Park Conservation Management Plan (Final Draft) 18 April 2005. David Sheedy Architects Pty Ltd (Heritage Assessment) Graham Brooks & Associates Pty Ltd (Conservation Policies) Taylor Brammer Landscape Architects Pty Ltd (Landscape Policies). National Parks & Wildlife Service website http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Nielsen_Park_SHNP_mgmtplan_draft 2.0 Historical Analysis (cited 18 January 2008).
Endnotes
(1) New South Wales Government Gazette (No.107), 6 July 1910, p.3726.
(2) ibid. (No.112), 24 August 1911, p.4660.
(3) NRS 10753, Annual reports, Report to the Ministe for Lands by the Trustees of Nielsen-Vaucluse Park Trust for the year ended 30th June 1967 [12/1621.3].
(4) op.cit. (No.112), 24 August 1911, p.4614.
(5) Nielsen Park Conservation Management Plan (Final Draft), 18 April 2005, p.6.
(6) New South Wales Government Gazette (No.62), 1 May 1912, p.2711.
(7) ibid. (No.161), 1 September 1915, p.5193.
(8) ibid. (No.72), 5 May 1950, p.1202; Nielsen Park Conservation Management Plan (Final Draft), 18 April 2005, p.20.
(9) loc. cit. note 3.
(10) New South Wales Government Gazette (No.103), 22 September 1967, p.3445; ibid. (No.108), 6 October 1967, p.3672; National Parks and Wildlife Act 1967(Act No.35, 1967), s.18 and Third Schedule.
(10) NRS 10753, Annual reports, Report to the Minister for Lands by the Trustees of Nielsen Park Trust for the year ended 30th June 1968; ibid., Annual Report to the Minister for Lands of the Trustees of Vaucluse House Historic Site for the year ended 30th June 1969 [12/1621.3]
(11) New South Wales Government Gazette (No.163), 24 December 1970, pp.5186-5187.
(12) Historic Houses Trust website http://www.hht.net.au/museums/vaucluse_house/main (cited 21 January 2008); Department of Environment and Climate Change website http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/parks.nsf/parkContent/N0039?OpenDocument&ParkKey=N0039&Type=xo (cited 21 January 2008); National Parks and Wildlife Service, Annual Report 1981, p.11 in NSW Parliamentary Papers. First Session 1981-82 Vol.III p.1326; National Parks and Wildlife (Vaucluse House) Amendment Act 1980 (Act No.96, 1980) s.4.
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