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ROBERT COOPER
In 1813 convict Robert
Cooper was transported in the Earl
Spencer. He had been caught smuggling items such as raw silk and
ostrich feathers into England. Unwisely Cooper had tucked away his
savings deep inside two of the London inns which he owned. After 5
years in the colony he was granted a conditional pardon and started a
shop, He advertised himself as being 'in George
Street, opposite the Burial Ground'.
He formed a business association with his namesake, Daniel
Cooper, also a convict but no relation, and another emancipist
merchant, Solomon Levey. Robert, was known as "Big Cooper", because
of his enormous size, Daniel was called "Little Cooper" around town.
The three men bought a small vessel and started trading to Van
Diemen's Land.
Robert Cooper
was granted an auctioneer's licence and by 1829 his business
activities included flour milling, bread making, cedar cutting and
cloth weaving, and distilling 'Cooper's Best Gin'. From the proceeds
he built one of the finest houses in Paddington, 'Juniper Hall', and when he died in 1857 he was
both prosperous and respected.
JAMES OATLEY
Almost next door to Robert
Cooper's shop in George Street, was
the shop owned by James Oatley. James was a talented clock and
watchmaker. He had convicted at Southhampton, England, in 1814 for
reasons unknown. The following year he arrived in New South Wales in
a convict transport and six moths later his wife followed him as a
free settler. The government authorities, as was a usual practice,
assigned James into the care of his wife, with whom he set up his
shop.
Governor Macquarie, impressed with his work, appointed him
'Keeper of the Town Clock'. He commissioned Oatley to build a clock
for the convict barracks near Hyde Park. By 1821 Oatley had received
his pardon and he was granted land in the Hurstville district. He
called his property 'Snugsborough' and died there in 1839. The Sydney
suburb of Oatley is named after him.
THOMAS BARKER AND JOHN DICKSON
Aboard the same ship as Robert
Cooper, the 'Earl Spencer', but on the other side
of the social fence, was Thomas Barker, then only 14. He was
apprenticed to his guardian, John Dickson, an Engineer.
John Dickson had brought with him his tools of the trade, and a
steam engine. Governor Macquarie welcomed him and granted land in the
town of Sydney for his steam engine and an estate in the country at
Camden.
Dickson set up his steam engine as a mill on the shores of
Darling Harbour. Mainly grinding grain, by 1821 Dickson had
established a brewery and a soap and candle factory next door.
Meanwhile young Thomas Barker had branched out on his own after
completing his apprenticeship. With a partner he built a windmill on
the hills where Kings Cross is today. An advertisement appeared in
the Sydney Herald of 1831:
"Thomas Baker is now enabled to supply Vessels fitting for
long voyages with BISCUIT of a very superior description, at the
lowest Price, with a liberal Credit,"
In some of the drawings and paintings of the era, Barker's
windmill can be seen on the hill, as can Juniper
Hall in Paddington.
Barker was given land grants and was so successful in his
commercial enterprise that he could afford to retire in 1834.
THE SOLOMON BROTHERS
Solomon Levey arrived in Sydney on the "Marquis of Wellington"
in 1815. He had been found guilty of being an accessory in the theft
of '90 pounds of tea and chest' - which he had vigorously denied.
Granted a ticket-of-leave after his arrival in the colony, Levey
began hawking goods around the streets of Sydney. Soon he had
sufficient funds to buy a block of land and build a store. Levey
became a ship owner (in partnership with Robert
Cooper and Daniel Cooper), and
agent, owned a rope factory and had land grants in the country. He
married the daughter of a wealthy emancipist who provided a handsome
dowry. After a few short years the marriage failed and, to his
credit, 'Honest Sol' returned the dowry to her family.
One of the increasing number of free settlers seeking their
fortune in the colony, was Sol's young brother, 23 year old Barnett
Levey. He arrived in 1821, the first Jewish free settler. Having set
himself up as a merchant, he was well establish by 1925. In that year
he married, built a house, received his auctioneer's licence and
opened a shop in George Street, close to the shop owned by Robert Cooper. His stock covered a wide range
of goods and he also started the colony's first lending library.
One of Barnett Solomon's grandest projects was the Colchester
Warehouse, built behind his store in 1826. It was the tallest
building in town and on top was huge windmill for grinding corn, The
Sydney Gazette newspaper called it 'a frightfully lofty temple
with 'a whirlabout-thing-umebob on top'. It was a eyesore on the
skyline and Governor Darling strongly disapproved as Barnett had not
bothered to apply for permission to build it. Then he decided to
build a theatre behind the warehouse, the front of which he converted
to the 'Royal Hotel'.
But Governor Darling refused a licence for the theatre, fearing
that the morals of the population were at risk. He also ordered the
'thing-umebob' be pulled down. Barnett then retained barrister
William Charles Wentworth to write a brazen letter to the governor
inviting legal action, stating that the government owned windmill in
another part of town was just as ugly, so it too should be pulled
down. Barnett lost all hope of getting his licence from Governor
Darling. However his successor, Governor Bourke, was more amenable.
The Theatre Royal, Australia's first playhouse was opened in 1833
behind the hotel. This first Theatre Royal was doomed from the very
start. Barnett had trouble paying his bills, worn out he died in
1837, aged only 39, leaving his widow and children in poverty.
