Sixty Years in Manly, An Interview with Mr E. Badmington of Whistler Street, Manly The Sun 29 October, 1916.

The Sun (Sydney, NSW), Sunday 29 October 1916, p.2

“SIXTY YEARS IN MANLY”

RETURN FARE THREE SHILLINGS
EARLY TREE-PLANTING

To have known Manly for sixty years is almost to have known it for the greater part of its history. Mr. E. Badmington, of Whistler-street, Manly, came to the village on August 20, 1856, and has been there ever since. Now, at 88, his vigorous figure is one of the best known in the municipality. Any day one may see him, accompanied by his jealously watchful dog, stepping stoutly along the streets he has seen grow out of ti-tree scrub. His memory, too, is excellent, and he recounts easily incidents and changes of bygone days.

“I have one regret,” he says, “and that is I did not keep a diary of the early times here. Just a few lines in a book at the end of each day would not have taken much time, and yet what a pleasure they would have been to me now. I do not feel up to the task of sitting down to write those notes now, and many points have slipped my memory.”

And what interest would in those days attach themselves to these few lines? Only the few of our pioneers thought that this work was important enough to be recorded. Now much that would have been of historical interest is lost in the limbo of the past.

FOUR TRIPS A DAY

“When I arrived in Manly, in the September previous to the wreck of the Dunbar, there were only about 12 families living in Manly proper,” continued Mr. Badmington.

   “The Pier Hotel was on its present site, and was a creditable structure of eight rooms in all. There were only three cottages on The Corso. Two others nearby were nearly built. The wharf was a less pretentious affair then than now. Its length was about 60ft., and it was no more than 12ft. wide. There was a sharp pinch, now done away with, as you left it for The Corso. From the wharf, halfway along The Corso, ran the first piece of macadamised road formed in Manly.

Compared with the present-day service the passenger ferry traffic was meagre.

“There were no business people in Manly in those days. A few visitors and picnickers provided the main freight for the ferries. The fare was three shillings return, and the journey down took over an hour. The early boats were the ‘Fame,’ the ‘Pelican,’ the ‘Black Swan,’ and the ‘Victoria.’ The first three were later seen in the Parramatta River…”

THE KANGAROO

   “The huge ill-shapen stone Kangaroo still stands on the hill. It was put up in 1857 — 59 years ago. A contracting mason named Youler erected the effigy at the order of Mr. Henry Gilbert Smith. The idea was to attract visitors to Manly, and to induce them to climb the hill and admire the Pacific view. The hill was well supplied with paths, and was a favourite haunt for picnickers.

Mr. Gilbert Smith did a great deal for early Manly. Most of the older trees were planted at his order. Under his direction the people began planting trees in 1857 or 1858, and continued to do so for many years before the council undertook the work.

Mr. Badmington had the privilege of belonging to the congregation presided over by the Rev. Alexander Dowie before the mantle of Elijah settled on that gentleman’s shoulders. After leaving Manly Dowie went to Newton, and then to America and fame — or, at all events, notoriety. During his pastorate at Manly Mr. Badmington was organist at the Congregational Church, which is the oldest in Manly.

   “A few days after the Dunbar was wrecked we found a gentleman and his daughter were washed ashore near where the surf baths are,” he recalls. “I covered their bodies with a sail until the Government officials took charge of them. For some time after the disaster tons of wreckage of all description was washed in by the tide and wind, and strewn along the harbour beach. All sorts of curios were there, but broken candles were most in evidence.

The goods traffic of Manly did not in the early days use the ferry wharf, but was taken through the Fairlight paddock, now thickly built upon, and handled there.”

Transcribed 15/2/26 

THE DISCREPANCY: YOULER vs PICKERING

1916 eyewitness (via Mr Badmington, arrived 1856) says:

• “A contracting mason named Youler erected the effigy”
• At the order of Henry Gilbert Smith
• Date: 1857

Government heritage records claim:

• Sculptor: Pickering (likely stonemason William Pickering — commonly attributed in later secondary sources)

This gives us:

🧠 A 1916 primary oral-history source
vs
📑 Later heritage attribution (likely based on archival documentation or assumption)

Key historical questions:

• Is Youler documented elsewhere in Manly records?
• Was Pickering a known mason working under Smith at the time?
• Could Youler have been the apprentice under Pickering?
• Is “Youler” a spelling error (Yowler? Youlden? Euler?) from oral recollection?
• Could Badmington have misremembered 59 years later?

Your comments are welcome.