Archaeologists find cellars of former mayor’s home Edgeworth House in Parramatta CBD
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have unearthed the cellars of an old pioneer’s Parramatta home where NSW’s first vertical high school is now being built.
Parramatta
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ARCHAEOLOGISTS have unearthed the cellars of Edgeworth House, once home to Parramatta’s steam ferry transport pioneer.
Edgeworth House was built in 1848 with former Parramatta mayor James Byrnes called it home until the mid 1880s.
Now, it is a construction site for NSW’s first high rise high school Arthur Phillip High School and Parramatta Public School.
And it’s an ‘Aladdin’s cave’ of archaeological treasures, giving an insight into the nation’s colonial and Aboriginal histories.
Education Minister Rob Stokes said the discovery was a great insight into a period when Parramatta stood at the edge of western civilisation.
He said it was a wonderful coincidence the state’s ‘school of the future’ was being built on foundations producing many lessons from our nation’s past.
“The importance of an archaeological site containing Aboriginal, Georgian, and Victorian artefacts located altogether cannot be underestimated,” he said.
The site was convict barracks between 1819 and 1820 and later converted into a military house in the 1840s, then a medical facility before becoming a school in the 1930s.
Lead archaeologist Abi Cryerhall said it was one of the most exciting finds of recent times.
“Highly significant and rare, it’s an extremely valuable resource for Parramatta and Australia’s cultural heritage, as well as for future research,” she said.
The most recent discovery at the site adds to the early convict barracks and Aboriginal artefacts found there last May.
Finds include extensive remains of the barracks in sandstone and brick, Aboriginal stone artefacts, medical, trade and personal artefacts. This includes buttons, pins, children’s toys, coins, a bullet and other items believed to be associated with Mr Byrnes.
Experts will assess the potential for preserving the artefacts permanently on the site and the school project is set to be complete next year.
JAMES BYRNES
● Born in Edgeworthstown, Ireland in 1806
● Moved to NSW with his military family in 1809
● Did his carpentry apprenticeship
● Built and owned a textile mill and steam ferry on the Parramatta River in the 1840s
● Lived at Edgeworth House from 1850 to 1886
● Leading role in building the first Wesleyan Church in Parramatta
● Sunday school teacher at the Macquarie St church
● Member of the Legislative Assembly
● Parramatta’s second mayor (1862-1866)
● His youngest son Charles Byrnes went on to be Parramatta mayor on a number of occasions from the 1870s to 1895
