Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2021C01223:front:0:p89
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2021C01223
Segment Type: other
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Character Range: 263231–265953

members of the legal profession.  Mrs Lucy Weir ran a boarding house on the southern side of Starkeys' Factory from 1904 to 1912 and the Georgian town house, formerly St James' Parsonage, located on the southern side of St Stephen's Church was later used as the offices of Starkey's Limited.

By the 1920s several three and four storey office buildings had been erected at the southern end of Phillip Street, close to St James' Court, to accommodate members of Sydney's legal profession.

11.3.3        The Construction of Martin Place
Martin Place commenced as a narrow lane called Moore Street which ran between George Street and Pitt Street and was widened into a substantial thoroughfare as part of the setting for the General Post Office in 1891. The proposal to extend the new street through to Macquarie Street was first mooted at this time but the depression of the 1890s intervened.  In January 1921, Moore Street was renamed Martin Place.

The decision to proceed with the extension of Martin Place was finally implemented by the State Government in 1923 and it was agreed to acquire and sell land on either side of the extension to pay for the new street.  In January 1926 the resumptions were gazetted but the affected properties were leased back to the existing tenants until sufficient funds were available for the works.

Figure 52 – Diagram showing the areas resumed by the Council of the City of Sydney in the 1920s to facilitate the eastern extension of Martin Place.  The site purchased for the RBA in 1957 is shown shaded.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 28 June 1923, p.12

In 1926 the Municipal Council of Sydney purchased a number of properties in Macquarie and Phillip Streets in anticipation of the extension of Martin Place east to Macquarie Street[52].  These properties included those which would later be demolished for the building of the Reserve Bank head office building.

Funding cuts and altered traffic flow proposals hampered progress on the Martin Place extension for some years.  Works commenced in June 1934 when Martin Place was extended from Castlereagh Street to Elizabeth Street and the final extension to Macquarie Street was opened in April 1935.

Much discussion had taken place as to the form and function of the space created by the extension of Martin Place.  It was finally concluded that the extension would accommodate the types of businesses seeking prestigious city centre addresses and would not only transform that part of Sydney but boost real estate values and the Council's rate returns.  The Town Planning Association wrote in December 1932 that the significance of Martin Place as a "show street" be recognised, that all street corners be splayed or rounded and