The Unwin's Stores are heritage-listed shops and formerly a residence located at 77–85 George Street in the inner city Sydney suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1843 to 1846 for Frederick Wright Unwin. It is also known as Unwins. 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 Frederic Wright Unwin constructed this building between 1843-46. Each tenement of three stories contained dwelling, kitchen and shop. The land on which Unwin's stores now stands was originally part of Sydney's first hospital and gardens. The site of 77 George Street was originally granted to William Carr and George John Rogers by Sir George Gipps in 1838. Land occupied by 79–85 George Street had been granted to John Piper in June 1828 by the Governor of the Colony.
Pre-1869 occupants were Raphael (clothier and outfitter), Nom Hing & Co. (merchants), Sun Kung Wor (merchants); 1869 – "Brecknock Arms" hotel; 1881 – 'Steam Packet Hotel'; 1889 – "Pacific Hotel". 79 George Street: 1855 – the 'American Hotel'; 1860 – doctors surgery, surgeons Frederick McKeller, Egan Myles, George Hamilton and William Shaw; 1879–98 – Tin War & Co., importers, managed by Tin War and Chin Fook. 81 George Street: 1857 – hairdressers and boarding house; 1867–74 – the "Steam Tug and Manly Beach Steamers" office; 1880 – 'Plimsoll Hotel'; 1887 – "Phoenix Hotel". 83 George Street: 1855 – Brockstein & Cohen, watchmakers, jewellers, opticians; 1871–82 – tenants included Mark Burge and Neil Quinn, bootmakers, and the pawnbroker, Duffey; 1887–95 – Post & Telegraph Office (C. L. Tucker, postmaster); 1895–1910 – restaurant managed by Mrs M. A. Dutton. 85 George Street: 1855 – Theodore Matthews, nautical instrument maker; 1861–76 – George Costin, hairdresser and tobacconist; 1876–1900 – tenants included an oilskin maker, outfitter, bootmaker, importers, Sun Yee Lee & Co. and Gee Ick, and restaurateurs F. P. Warner and Mrs E. Archdeacon.
The earliest Chinese tenants to lease one of the buildings of the Unwin's Stores were Chinese merchants, Nom, Hing & Co (1861–63); Nom, Woh & Co (1864–66) and Sun Kung Wor (1867–68) who all leased 81 George Street (equivalent to present day 77 George Street).
The next Chinese occupant was Tin War & Co. who leased 79 George Street from 1877 to 1897. In the Sands Directory, they are recorded as "Tin War & Co., merchants" (1877–82) and as "Tin War and Chin Fook, store keepers" (1883–97). The manager of Tin War & Co., Jasper Ung Quoy, was questioned at the Royal Commission into Chinese Gambling and Immorality. (Gambling Commission: 103ff.) A self-proclaimed respectable businessman, Ung Quoy, had been living in Australia up to 21 years and was the secretary of the Chinese society, Pow on Tong. He claimed to be against gambling and 15 years prior to the Commission's inquiry, he was elected by other respectable businessmen to investigate Chinese gambling in Sydney. However, Quong Tart's clansmen halted his investigations. When questioned about his business, Ung Quoy informed the Commission that Tin War & Co. were importers and acted as agents for the shipping firm E. And A. Company. Tin War & Co. also sold opium without a licence, even though it was illegal for Chinese to sell or import opium. Ung Quoy claimed that all the custom collectors and police knew about it and that Tin War only sold the item in bulk. When questioned whether Tin War & Co. conducted any gambling within its cellar, Ung Quoy responded: ' What do you ask me that for? I am as good as a European'Gambling Commission: 106 and denied any gambling activity when asked again.
Other Chinese businesses also leased buildings of the Unwin's Stores while Tin War & Co. operated at 79 George Street for 20 years. Sun, Yee, Lee & Co. leased 85 George Street from 1882 to 1886, except in 1884 when they occupied 83 George Street and 85 George Street was leased to Yee Sung Loong & Co. for one year. Gee Ick & Co., importers, leased 85 George Street from 1888 to 1895 and also opened other branches in Wexford Street, Campbell Street and Hay Street.
From 1898 to 1905, there are no listed Chinese occupants in the Unwin's Stores. In 1906, 83 George Street was leased for two years to On War Jang, grocers, and in 1909 the same store was leased to Ping Fong & Co., grocers. In 1913, King Nam Jang, grocers, leased 85 George Street. King Nam Jang was started by Lo King Nam, who as a 16-year-old migrant arrived in NSW from South-east China in 1877. Under the name of Young Cumines, he was one of the earliest successful applicants for naturalisation in 1882, supported by his employers, the Cumines family. His adopted European surname is a family name still used by his descendants today. In the 1880s, Lo King Nam moved to The Rocks and established a providoring business and guesthouse.Lydon 1991: 17; SMH 2002; 30 He raised seven children in The Rocks and at least one of his grandchildren was born in 85 George Street. Lo King Nam returned to China in 1921 and died there in 1939.
The well-known business created by Lo King Nam provided fresh food and supplies to ships that were trading between Australia and China.Lydon 1991: 17 It was a business that involved the whole family and they became well known in the Rocks. Dolly Bonnette, a resident in The Rocks since the 1920s, remembers the proprietors as "Mr and Mrs King" and they were a store that served only to a Chinese clientele. She claimed to often visit the back of the store in Kendall Lane to play with their daughters and their sons would assist the customers.Iacono 1991
Dolly also recalls that King Nam Jang provided temporary accommodation for "Anybody that had nowhere to go... or that they were drunk or anything... a shilling a bed for the night". She also mentions that at King Nam Jang, they housed newly arrived Chinese men (only men according to Dolly) until they could be sent further inlands to their relatives and usually to work in the market gardens. The men who stayed for a night or for a while longer would walk around the back to Kendall Lane in order to access their accommodation in the basement via ladders. Lydon describes the alterations as 'The basements were closed in and outbuildings were constructed in the rear yards to provide more space'Lydon 1999: 73 Lydon suggests that the act of enclosing themselves and "manipulation of their environment" was response against white hostility that judged their lifestyle and customs and attempted to assimilate them into European society.
Workers of King Nam Jang also had occasional interaction with the Australian government. They were often used as interpreters by the Department of Immigration and during World War II; the NSW Government paid the Cumines family to house Chinese refugees from New Guinea at King Nam Jang.Fitzgerald 1996: 44, 138 However, they were not always seen in a positive light. During World War I, King Nam Jang was suspected of harbouring deserters and stowaways.Fitzgerald 1996: 138 In 1924, Dick King, manager of King Nam Jang, was involved in a suspicious incident of custom officers rivalry. Senior Boarding Officer L.L. Clifford suspended Inspector Donohoe from duty because a packet of electrotype was apparently recovered from one of Donohoe's drawers. In Clifford's report to his superiors, he claimed that the packet read "Lam Kee Macao Opium" and that it was addressed to "King, Nam, Jang, 85 George Street, North". Clifford insinuated in his report that Donohoe and King were conspiring to smuggle opium into the country. However a recent translation of the Chinese Characters on the packet indicate that "opium" is not mentioned at all. King Nam Jang was in business for nearly 90 years when it first began in 1913. Lo King Nam's descendants are involved and well known within the Australian Chinese community. Henry Cumines, Lo King Nam's grandson, was born in 85 George Street in 1921 and would help out in the store.Smith 1990: 14 - 15 He went on to become a successful businessman and ran an export company in the Pacific Islands. Henry died in 2002.
Kong Chong, owner of a Chinese laundry, leased 81 George Street in 1917. The business was listed to the end of the Sand's Directory except in 1923 where Abraham Chernow, a second hand dealer, was listed as the occupant.
Archaeological History 77–79 – Lease to William BalmainAR033-036; AR044-045; AR145; AR149 by 1800. Lease to William Gaudry,AR033-036; AR044 January 1810. Granted as Lot 2, Section 85 to William Carr and G. J. Rogers,AR033-036; 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. Archaeological History 81–85 – Grounds of original Sydney Hospital. Also included Surgeon's quarters nearby.AR039; AR045; AR057-058; AR061-070; AR073-074; AR078-079; AR084-085; AR126; AR129; AR131-132; AR149 Granted to John PiperAR039; AR045; AR126 as 184 rods on 4 June 1828.
Description Unwin's Stores comprise a row of sandstone commercial buildings, originally with residences over, fronting George Street. These five sandstone buildings, originally built as shops and dwellings, were erected by Frederic Wright Unwin between 1843 and 1846. They were constructed during a depression in the Colony's economy, in the decade prior to the discovery of gold. Thus, their architectural style reflects not only the prevailing style, Colonial Georgian, but also the relative austerity of the area during this period.See also: 4500096
Style: Georgian; Storeys: Three plus basement; Facade: Sandstone; Roof Cladding: Corrugated iron (Coachhouse [south section]: slate roof); Shingles (originally); Floor Frame: Timber (hardwood).
Archaeology notes: Three storey sandstone warehouse and shops, 1844–1845. Part of the neighbouring warehouse, 1853–1854, on Kendall Lane. Vestiges of former buildings in courtyard, below level of Kendall Lane.; Built By: 1840s
Condition
As at 3 May 2001, Archaeology Assessment Condition: Partly disturbed. Assessment Basis: Basements under building on George Street. Level of courtyard below Kendall Lane, but surviving vestiges of former buildings. Although not a comprehensive archaeological excavation, the monitoring identified the site as having a high archaeological potential; particularly in the form of rubbish pits in the rear yards. Refurbishment works in the Coach House required a watching brief for ground disturbance. The Excavation Director was Damaris Bairstow. Simultaneously Carl Doring was commissioned to conduct an industrial archaeological study of the machinery still in situ. Investigation: Archaeological Excavation, Industrial Study.
Archaeology Assessment Condition: Partly disturbed. Assessment Basis: Basements under buildings on George Street. Investigation: Watching brief. Archaeology partly disturbed.
Modifications and dates No. 81: .
Heritage listing As at 1 April 2011, the Unwin's Stores 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.