NSWPort & river
Balmain
Deep water beside a rocky peninsula made Balmain Sydney’s ship-repair yard.
1800Peninsula granted to William Balmain
WHAT STARTED IT
The peninsula lies close to the city on deep, sheltered water, which suited ships needing fresh water, wharves and repairs. Surgeon William Balmain’s 550-acre grant of 1800 was carved up from 1836, and workers settled near the waterfront.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Australia’s first dry dock opened at Waterview Bay in 1855 and grew into Mort’s Dock, at one time the colony’s largest private firm. Shipyards, foundries and engineering works crowded the bays, and small workers’ cottages filled the slopes above them.
TURNING POINTS
1800Governor Hunter grants 550 acres on the peninsula to colonial surgeon William Balmain.
1836The Balmain grant is subdivided, and a surge of sales follows in the early 1840s.
1855The Waterview Bay dry dock opens, a year after the first pier stone was laid; it later becomes Mort’s Dock.
1860Balmain Municipal Council is formed.
1958Mort’s Dock closes on 12 November after more than a century of ship repair.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
An inner-west residential suburb of terraces and cottages, popular with professionals since industry waned from the 1960s. Mort Bay Park now covers the old dock site.