England, and building was costly if much imported material was used.[1] In 1820 there were 1,084 houses in Sydney, thirty-one of which belonged to the Government. Sixty-eight were built of stone and 259 of brick, but they were not of an imposing appearance.[2] The situation of the town, however, was so lovely that under any circumstances its appearance must have been attractive.
At this time more than half the population of the Colony lived in the town, 12,079 men, women and children being housed in 1,084 buildings.[3] Such a population was wholly disproportionate to the rest of the settlement, and sufficient employment could not be found for its inhabitants. Riley, speaking of the condition of things in 1817 or 1818, said that there were at least a hundred convicts and a majority of the ticket-of-leave men who could find nothing to do,[4] and this number must have greatly increased by 1821. It was not possible that there could in so young a settlement be enough work to employ so large a city population. There were, according to Riley, six or eight people who would have been called merchants in England, and a considerable number of traders, but how many he did not say.[5] At least the civil and military officers were no longer ostensibly amongst that number. After a long fight Macquarie had succeeded in putting an end to their open trading operations. At the end of 1810 he had begun by writing to O'Connell, who was in command of the 73rd regiment, pointing out that his instructions both from the Secretary of State and the Commander-in-Chief forbade his officers to carry on commercial, agricultural, cattle or grazing speculations, "as being derogatory to the character of any officer, subversive to military discipline and contrary to the customs of the army". But having heard that certain officers had been engaged in such enterprises, he requested O'Connell to inform them publicly that these practices must not continue, and that if such facts came to his notice in
- ↑ Riley, C. on G., 1819.
- ↑ Appendix, Bigge's Reports. R.O., MS.
- ↑ The population includes the people in the surrounding districts, and the houses are probably those within the town limits only. The barracks is, of course, counted as one building and so is the gaol. But nevertheless there seems a great number of people in excess of the houses. Probably there were some huts not included in the Return.
- ↑ Riley, C. on G., 1819.
- ↑ Ibid.
