30 August 1870 | NSW State Archives

#OnThisDay 30 August 1870 the Intercolonial Exhibition of General Industries and Arts opened in Sydney. It was held at the Exhibition Building at Prince Alfred Park in Surry Hills and was a preparatory display for the International Exhibition in London in the following year. The NSW Agricultural Society organised the Exhibition to mark the centenary of Captain Cook's landing at Botany Bay. All the Australian states and New Zealand were invited to submit a display.

Prince Alfred Park was the first park to be laid out in connection with a major Exhibition and a number of the design elements from the 1870 plan still exist, such as the Moreton Bay fig trees along the boundaries.

Source: The Dictionary of Sydney. Intercolonial Exhibition 1870

See the Colonial Secretary's Special Bundles NRS 906 [4/784.2], available to view at the Western Sydney Records Centre.

Image sourced from The National Archives UK Flickr page: CO 1069/599 This image is part of the Colonial Office photographic collection held at The National Archives.