page_title: Manly, New South Wales
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Manly, New South Wales / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The beach in Manly Cove - historic photo (item PXB 417/238 in the SLNSW)
context_page_description: Manly is a beach-side suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is currently one of the three administrative centres of the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Manly has a long-standing reputation as a tourist destination, owing to its attractive setting on the Pacific Ocean and easy accessibility by ferry.
context_section_description: Manly was named by Captain Arthur Phillip for the indigenous people living there, stating that "their confidence and manly behaviour made me give the name of Manly Cove to this place". These men were of the Kay-ye-my clan (of the Guringai people). While scouting for fresh water in the area, Phillip encountered members of the clan, and after a misunderstanding he was speared in the shoulder by one of the clan; to his lasting credit, the progressively-minded  Phillip ordered his men not to retaliate. In Capt. Tench's words,
  The Aboriginal men were feasting on a whale at Manly Cove and were seen by Captain Nepean, Mr White, Nanbaree & a party of men who had travelled to Manly Cove to walk to Broken Bay. Bennelong and Colebee spoke to them and Bennelong asked for Governor Phillip. Captain Nepean sent the Boatswain back to Governor Phillip at South Head. The Aboriginal men cut large chunks of whale off and put them in the boat for Governor Phillip. The military party then proceeded on their walk to Broken Bay.
  When Governor Phillips party arrived to see the Aboriginal men they held friendly conversation with Bennelong and Colebee for over half an hour. Later an older Aboriginal man appeared with a spear. Captain Tench remarked that he was seemingly a stranger and little acquainted with Bennelong and Colebee. The Governor moved towards this man and the man became agitated. Governor Phillip threw down his dirk to appease the man crying out confidently. The spear was thrown and Governor Phillip was hit in the shoulder. All was in confusion, there were calls to bring the muskets, Bennelong and Colebee disappeared and Governor Phillip could not make it to the ship because of the length of spear sticking from his shoulder and dragging on the ground. The muskets were brought to shore but only one would fire. The spear was finally broken and all hastened to Port Jackson.
  Manly had been envisaged as a seaside resort by Henry Gilbert Smith in the 1850s.  In 1853 Smith acquired two large parcels of land (which had been granted to John Thompson in 1842 and John Crane Parker in 1837).
  Initially John had chartered a paddle steamer to Manly and other vessels visited on an ad hoc "excursion" basis.  Smith built a wharf on the harbour-side of Manly, which was completed in October 1855 and eventually acquired an interest in steamers himself. as part of developing more regular services to Manly to assist his sub-division property sales.
  By 1873, Smith had sold the lease to the wharf and his share of the steamers to the operators of the ferries and eventually ownership passed to the once famous Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company. It was the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company which coined the expression about Manly being "Seven miles from Sydney and a thousand miles from care" to promote its ferry service. The Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company played an important part in Manly's development. It built several attractions including a large ocean pool and bathing pavilion, the Manly Fun Pier. In 1972 the company was sold to Brambles Limited and in 1974 to the Government of New South Wales and it is now part of Sydney Ferries.
  In March 1885, as the New South Wales Contingent was about to depart for the Sudan, a letter was addressed to Premier William Bede Dalley containing a cheque for £25 for the Patriotic Fund 'with my best wishes from a little boy at Manly'. It was Australia's first overseas military adventure, and the "Little Boy from Manly: became a symbol either of patriotism or, among opponents of the adventure, of mindless chauvinism. especially due to a cartoon by Livingston Hopkins of The Bulletin.
  During the 19th and early 20th century Manly was one of Australia's most popular seaside holiday resorts. Manly Beach is said to be the place where the restriction on daylight sea bathing was first challenged in Australia.  In October 1902 William Gocher, clad in a neck to knee costume, swam at midday after announcing his intention to do so in the newspaper he had established (Manly and North Sydney News). After being ignored by auth
caption: Manly Cove including the ferry terminal
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "1936", "Image ImageLength": "1288", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL", "Image StripOffsets": "86771", "Image StripByteCounts": "645206", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Picasa", "Image DateTime": "2013:03:12 23:33:05", "Image Artist": "Picasa", "Image ExifOffset": "280", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5724", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6651", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/50", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:09:29 17:02:25", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:09:29 17:02:25", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "92469/16384", "EXIF ApertureValue": "97349/32768", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "100", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3602", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2367", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "3906", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "2602", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5576", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "3888000/877", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "432000/97", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "162", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "aebcc7630eaab3ecd6fb2ab6d51921a3"}