Samson's Cottage is a historic building in Sydney, Australia. It was built for William Cormack and built from 1883, and over the years, it has housed a Chinese laundry, an art gallery and an antique shop. It is located at 75–75.5 George Street in the inner city suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area. The property is owned by Property NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 May 2002.
History In 1790 this parcel of land was part of the proposed second stage of Sydney Hospital. William Balmain was granted a lease which included this lot, and by 1807 he had released the property to the Government. By March 1837 William Carr and George John Rogers were trustees of the property and in October 1838 Sir George Gipps granted the land to Carr and Rogers.
In February 1839 Frederic Wright Unwin became the owner of the property and on 21 June 1843 conveyed lot 7 of the subdivision of Lots 1 & 2 of Section 85 to William Samson, a stevedore. Samson completed the erection of a two-storey house to the rear of the lot in 1844. The three roomed house was constructed of stone and brick walls and the roof was clad in shingles. In 1853 Samson erected a single storey shop containing three rooms to George Street frontage. The shop walls were constructed out of "Wood and Brick" and the roof was shingled. The Cottage of William and Martha Samson was considered "large" by the rating assessors in 1858.
In 1882 Martha Samson sold Lot 7 to William Cope and Cunningham Archibald Atchison and in the year they conveyed the Cottage and shop to Alexander William Cormack, importer, of Snails Bay near Sydney. Tenants of the shop until 1882 (when it was demolished) were fruiterers and grocers. In 1882-83 the shop to George Street was pulled down and during 1883 Cormack erected a three-storey building containing two shops to George Street and lodging rooms over. The walls were constructed in brick and the roof clad with iron. The premises was divided into two tenements, each with nine rooms and were numbered 75 and 75.5. The tenants of the shops until 1900 (till they were resumed by the Government) were tobacconists, hairdresser, confectioner and bootmaker.SCRA 1979: KL/07
Archaeology notes: Lease to William BalmainAR033-035; AR037; AR044-045; AR145; AR149 by 1800. Lease to William Gaudry,AR033-035; AR037; AR044 January 1810. Granted as Lot 2, Section 85 to William Carr and G. J. Rogers,AR033-035; AR037; AR044; AR126 solicitors, as trustees for James Shepherd, Richard Wood, Nathaniel Dermot, James Webber and Edmund Pontifex, assignees of estate of John Plummer and William Wilson, formerly Fenchurch Street, London, merchants and bankrupts. George Street frontage not developed until 1883.
Samson's Cottage wall remains
In 1916, 75.5 George Street was leased as a household to Hong On Jang, a shipping provider (Sand's Directory). It is assumed that he was recognised to have elite social status of a merchant, perhaps similar but not to the extent of Quong Tart.Lydon 1991: 97 As a shipping provider, he was linked between the source of supply and visiting ships and would have interacted with the European community. Jane Lydon notes the coincidence that Hong On Jang as a shipping provider (1916 - 1924) coincides with the operating years of the Australian-China Mail Steamship.Lydon 1991: 75
Hong On Jang also offered board to his countrymen on his premises, first at his Harrington Street residency between 1904–11 and later on George Street from 1916 - 24. He was involved with the S.S Courtfield incident where on Christmas Day, 1908, the Collector of Customs sent a telegram to the Melbourne Head Office regarding eight Chinese stowaways found on the S.S Courtfield. The ship had arrived in Sydney from Hong Kong and through an interpreter, they were able to extract the information that these men were from rural Southern China and had arranged through a stranger in Hong Kong to come to Australia. The stowaways claimed that they did not know who was to meet them in Sydney but letters found on board were addressed to Hong On Jang in George Street asking him to house them until they could be sent further inland Sydney to their relatives. To resolve this incident, Chinese merchants of Sydney rallied together and raised 100pounds to send the men back on the first ship to China. This incident obviously did not tarnish Hong On Jang's reputation as other shipping companies (1910: Eastern and Australian Steamship Co. Ltd.; 1911 Norddeutscher Lloyd, P.P. Lohmann and Co., General Agents; 1911 Gibbs Bright and Co.) made requests to the Collector of Customs to allow Chinese passengers on their ships to board in Harrington Street temporarily before sailing to their final destination.Lydon 1999: 84 - 85
An archaeological excavation of the rear yard of 75.5 George Street was conducted by Lydon in 1990 and objects recovered demonstrate that there was a period of Chinese occupation in the early 20th century. Lydon later wrote that while the archaeological record of Chinese occupation in Sydney is limited, she singles out 75.5 George Street as the exception.Lydon 1999: 91 - 92 Her investigation shows that the boarders lived in a shed in the yard of 75.5 George Street. A large amount of Chinese ceramics (mainly storage vessels and also celadon rice bowls, stone ware "ginger-jars" and a stoneware 'sand-pot') were recovered and Lydon noted that majority of the Chinese ware was not intended for a foreign market.Lydon 1991: 60 - 63; Lydon 1999:97 - 99 European ceramics were also recovered along with a large amount of glass alcohol bottles and thirty-eight small glass vials with their necks snapped off. The glass vials have the Chinese characters "Tung Kwan Kok" printed on their bases and are assumed to be the maker's mark. These small vials were once thought to hold opium but are now believed to have held medicinal products. Since opium was banned in 1901 and was often used in patent painkillers and medicinal tinctures, it is suggested that addicts may have had resorted to opium-based products.Lydon 1991: 65; Lydon 1999: 100 - 101 Dolly Bonnet, who grew up in The Rocks during the 1920s, recalls that Chinese men would smoke opium in Kendall Lane, however, no artefacts associated with opium smoking such as opium pipes were recovered from 75.5 George Street.Iacono 1991; Lydon 1991: 65
Sheep bones along with a handful of pig, rabbit and cattle bones were also found from this period. Fish bones dominate the faunal assemblage including snapper, bream and wirrah cod and with the recovery of the "sand-pot", which was used for cooking rice as well as braising and making stews, it can be suggested that the traditional Chinese diet of fish and rice was upheld in 75.5 George Street, with the occasional supplement of meat. "Sand-pots" have rarely been found in an archaeological context outside of China. Its single presence at 75.5 George Street has led Lydon to also suggest that the custom of sharing food in order to create bonds between the Chinese were upheld in Hong On Jang's household.Lydon 1991: 59 , 60; Lydon 1999: 97, 99
Hong On Jang (or Que On Jang, who is listed as the occupant in the 1923 - 24 Sands Directory) ended his lease of 75.5 George Street in 1924. The building was then leased out to European tenants.
In 1944, 75 George Street was utilised as a Chinese laundry and residence. Dolly Bonnet recalls the laundry drying out the back of Kendall Lane.Iacono 1991 According to the SCA Tenancy CardsSAO 11/3374 and SCA property files, the tenant between 1946–47 was Soo Tim. The business along with the fittings was sold to Henry James in 1947. It is unknown whether Henry James was European or of Chinese descent but the painted sign "Chinese Laundry" remained on the windows,Johnson 2006: pers. comm. James was open for business until 1974. George Auchinachie, an antique dealer, was the next occupant in 1975 and he operated under the name of "Chinese Laundry Antiques".
Description No 75-75.5 George Street is a pair of late Victorian shops having ornate well scaled stuccoed facades with projecting cornice and parapet above. A small pediment with the date 1883 rises above the parapet between the two facades. Pilasters decorated with columns, Corinthian capitals and cornices rise to the full height of the façade separating them from the two adjacent buildings and dividing the two shops.Croker 1976 Style: Victorian; Storeys: 3 plus Basement; Roof Cladding: Iron; Floor Frame: Timber
Archaeology Notes: Building on George Street, 1883. Vestige of earlier building on Kendall Lane, brick side walls at first floor level. Wall remains () incorporated into new building in 1992.; Built By: 1840s
Condition
As at 23 July 1999, good – extensive amount of fabric of exceptional/considerable significance.
Archaeology Assessment Condition: partly disturbed. Assessment Basis: basements to building on George Street. Otherwise surviving vestiges of former buildings. Deposits probably survive between buildings. Investigation: Full excavation of cottage High degree of integrity. Archaeology partly disturbed.
Modifications and dates 1997 (75.5) 1998 (75)
Heritage listing As at 31 March 2011, this pair of Victorian shops and site are of State heritage significance for their historical and scientific cultural values. The site and building are also of State heritage significance for their contribution to The Rocks area which is of State Heritage significance in its own right.
The buildings are located in an area which has been continuously settled since the arrival of Europeans in Australia, and the site has been more or less in continuous use as shops with attached residences/lodgings since its construction in the Victorian Period. It has been added to an 1840s building and contains elements of the 1840s which had been intended for an earlier building. It therefore illustrates the historic process of urban development and, in this particular case, of non-development due to economic circumstances in the 1840s. It demonstrates how early settlers of modest means were able to acquire land and develop it gradually prior to the economic boom of the late 1850s. Its bipartite division demonstrates a closer settlement and development of the land and together with Samson's Cottage wall remains illustrates the development of Sydney at ever higher densities. The loss of the rear yards to public use has destroyed evidence of its former residential use. This increasing public pedestrianisation of formerly private areas both lessens the site's significance and increases the importance of maintaining what little of the site is left.
Its façade is well-modelled on Victorian mannerist façade which is an important, rare mannerist contribution to the streetscape of George Street North.
It is an important component of George Street North and complements the buildings of different periods in the immediate vicinity.
The method of construction, especially the manner in which the 1880s building has made use of the 1840s building to its south for support, illustrates the techniques of construction of the period. As the site has been in almost continuous use by Europeans for two centuries the ground under the building yield archaeological evidence of the land's earlier occupation.
Samsons Cottage should also be considered to have high Chinese cultural value and significance due to its utilisation as a boarding house by Hong On Jang during the early 20th century. Hong On Jang provided accommodation to Chinese sojourners and passer-throughs.