Cover image courtesy of Woollahra Libraries, a 1939 postcard of Canonbury from Darling Point Road
The Canonbury S. is one of those races that could have been named after anything, but in this instance, it is named after a grand old house on what is now Sydney’s most elite strip of real estate.
Canonbury, long demolished, was an expansive, flattering, Gothic-style mansion that sat on the coastal tip of Darling Point. To the north these days is Taronga Zoo, on the other side of the sparkling harbour, and to the west are the arches of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Even in 1904, when construction began on the Canonbury, it was prime real estate. In that year, the comedian and theatre owner Harry Rickards, a ‘gushing and good-natured’ Englishman, paid £5000 for the property, upon which the existing home, Lansdowne, was knocked down.
Theatre owner Harry Rickards | Image courtesy of the Dictionary of Sydney
The site itself owed its settled origins to the year 1833 when it was first granted to Thomas Holt, and thereafter it became a subdivision of the original Lindesay estate, which still stands today close by.
The earliest version of Canonbury, built by Rickards, was a reflection of the theatrical Englishman.
The house dominated the headland at Darling Point with its Gothic arches, stone and brick render facades and terraced gardens down to the waterfront. It had two boathouses and breathtaking views across the Harbour, and Rickards’ neighbours included the Consul for Russia, among other such wealthy swells.
Rickards lived opulently at Canonbury, but his heart was true. Each year he provided Christmas dinner to the city’s poor at Sydney Town Hall, often feeding up to 1000 people. His family continued the gesture until 1917.
In 1911, Harry Rickards died of apoplexy while in England, and he was returned to Sydney’s Waverley cemetery. His grand house remained in the family until 1919, after which the Australian Jockey Club (AJC) stepped in.
Those were the thick years of World War I, and the Club was throwing a lot of assistance into the war effort. It donated heavily to the Red Cross, Citizens War Chest Fun and Allies Day Fund, along with many other war-time causes.
Canonbury from the Harbour | Image courtesy of Woollahra libraries
The AJC paid £18,500 for the decorative Canonbury in 1919, immediately realigning it from an opulent home to a refuge for returned service folk. It was opened by the Governor, Sir Walter Davidson, in January 1920, its charter being a ‘home for those suffering from permanent or serious disabilities sustained while on active naval or military services’.
The AJC managed every rivet of Canonbury, from the staff to the accounts and building maintenance. It was a wildly expensive, wildly charitable effort that the Club remained committed to long after World War I.
By the middle of the ‘roaring 20s’, the focus of Canonbury shifted away from conflict, and it became the Australian Jockey Club War Memorial Convalescent Home for Children. It housed a lot of young patients through the 1938 polio epidemic, and it had a saltwater pool for physiotherapy and a small train that chugged around its spectacular gardens.
In 1941, amid nervousness about the Japanese invasion through the Harbour, the residents of Canonbury were moved to the central west of New South Wales, and the house was closed in 1942.
A later photograph of Canonbury in 1960 | Image courtesy of Woollahra Libraries
That was where the AJC’s involvement with the property ended, and Canonbury whiled away the next few decades avoiding ‘progress’ in the hands of the State Government. Its sale in 1970 for redevelopment was heavily opposed, so, in 1983, it was given to Woollahra Council.
Almost immediately, Canonbury was demolished until its grandness no longer dominated the coastline of Darling Point. These days it is McKell Park, one of the most popular and busiest spots for New Year’s Eve fireworks.
To honour its commitment to Canonbury, the AJC created the Canonbury S. in 1919, and the race was first run over five furlongs on the fourth and final day of the Club’s spring carnival, Saturday, October 11.
Its inaugural winner was Tressady Queen (Tressady {GB}), a Segenhoe Stud-bred full sister to the previous year’s Gimcrack S. winner Sue. Tressady Queen was a later winner of the Champagne S. at Randwick.
Later on, the Canonbury S. was restricted to colts and geldings as the Widden S. was introduced for the fillies. The race has been continually run ever since (excepting 1942 and 2007) in a faithful salute to a wonderful old AJC institution.
