Campbells Bond Stores
Location: Hickson Road, Circular Quay West
The handsome sandstone bond stores on Campbells Cove were built by the sons of pioneer merchant Robert Campbell to house the tea, coffee, sugar, spirits and cloth their family business imported from India. Campbell Snr. began trade with the colony in 1798, taking up residence in 1800 and leading the way for free enterprise in Sydney.
Originally a two storey structure comprising of 11 bays, the first 5 bays were completed in 1842, the rest were built two at a time in 1858, 1861. The top storey was added in 1890 along with a new brick bay at the northern end by its new owner, the State Government. Ten of the original bays survive today along with the brick addition, and house a number of shops, galleries and restaurants. The most southern bay was demolished in 1958 to make way for the northern access ramp to the Overseas Passenger Terminal.
Attached to one of the walls is the remain of an hydraulic whip, a device fitted in 1890 to enable goods to be raised to the upper levels at great speed. It was powered by high pressure water pumped through pipes from a pumping station at Darling Harbour.
The first use by the colonials of the land on which the stores were built appears to have been to graze sheep on the shores of Campbell's Cove. The land was then leased to Henry Waterhouse, commander of the Reliance, in 1794. Two years later he went to the Cape of Good Hope and brought back a flock of sheep from Spain, which were the first merinos to arrive in New South Wales.
Robert Campbell (1769–1846) was a merchant and politician in Sydney. He was a member of the first New South Wales Legislative Council. Campbell, a suburb of Canberra was named in his honour.
In 1805 and 1806, Campbell and his family travelled to England. During this time his brother-in-law John Palmer acted as his agent. After the arrival of Governor William Bligh in August 1806, Campbell's high character led to him being appointed treasurer to the public funds, naval officer and collector of taxes. There being no bank at Sydney in 1807, the gaol and orphan funds were deposited with Campbell & Co. on its undertaking to pay interest at five per cent.
Campbell built Australia's first shipbuilding yards in 1807, at the site that is now the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Kirribilli.
With food supplies of the colony under threat following the Hawkesbury floods in 1806, Campbell's ship, the Sydney , was chartered by Governor King, and on 14 April 1806, proceeded to Calcutta to return with 400 tons of rice or wheat. Unfortunately, the ship was wrecked on a reef off the coast of New Guinea, but no lives wore lost. In compensation he was granted £3,000, 4,000 acres (16 km2) of land and 710 sheep. In 1825, James Ainslie established a sheep station called Pialligo for Campbell in the area where Canberra is now situated. In 1846, Robert renamed the property Duntroon after his ancestral Duntrune Castle, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. In later years Campbell provided half the cost of the church of St John the Baptist in its original form.