Dobroyd Head
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Dobroyd Head is a point or headland in the
Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the ...
local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
, in the suburb of
Balgowlah Heights, New South Wales Balgowlah Heights is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 11 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government area of Northern Beaches Co ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. It is part of the
Sydney Harbour National Park The Sydney Harbour National Park is an List of national parks of Australia, Australian national park comprising parts of Port Jackson, Sydney and its foreshores and various islands. The national park lies in New South Wales and was created progr ...
, which contains examples of ecosystems at risk such as coastal heath. Tania Park is located to the immediate north-east, and contains the 2MWM 90.3 transmitter. There is a lookout sited on the headland named after Arabanoo, the first Aboriginal man to live among European settlers who was captured in Manly Cove in 1788.


History

In January 1788 Captain
Arthur Phillip Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first Governor of New South Wales, governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Royal Hospital School, Gree ...
noted Aboriginal people living in caves at what is now Wellings Reserve, Balgowlah Heights, and there are a number of Aboriginal sites recorded in the area, including a
midden A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...
at Reef Beach, which was partly eroded by a storm in May 1974, when human remains were exposed. What is now Dobroyd Head was originally named "Dobroyd Point" (which is now the name of a locality in Haberfield in the
Inner West The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River) ...
) by
Simeon Lord Simeon Lord ( – 29 January 1840) was a pioneer merchant and a magistrate in Australia. He became a prominent trader in Sydney, buying and selling ship cargoes. Despite being an emancipist Lord was made a magistrate by Governor Lachlan Macqua ...
(1771–1840), a landowner in the district in the early 19th century.
Dobroyd Castle Dobroyd Castle is an important historic building above the town of Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England. It was built for John Fielden, local Cotton mill, mill owner and son of John Fielden, Honest John Fielden the Social Reformer and MP.Hargreave ...
, its namesake, was the home of his mother, Ann Fielden, prior to her marriage in 1764. On his death in 1840, he gifted the land to the Crown, with a stipulation that the name must be kept. In 1871, the Secretary for Lands, Bowie Wilson, set aside the area of 100 hectares comprising the Dobroyd headland as a defence reserve, but excluded all privately owned lands, such as Reef Beach, Forty Baskets Beach, Grotto Point, Castle Rock and Clontarf. On 14 August 1874, prominent surveyor and hydrographer, Commander John Thomas Ewing Gowlland was drowned in an accident off the headland. In August 1963 the Manly, Warringah and Pittwater Historical Society unveiled a plaque at Dobroyd Head commemorating him. In 1914, the government steamer, '' SS Kate'', was struck and sunk by the Manly ferry '' Bellubera'' off the headland. The Dobroyd Scenic Drive, funded by the council, was opened in 1938 by Manly mayor Percy Nolan. Between 1923 and 1963, various small cabins and shacks were built around Crater Cove on the headland, they were for use as weekenders and retreats and remained occupied until the 1980s. Various subdivisions for the development of Balgowlah Heights occurred throughout the next 80 years until in 1959–1960, when
Manly Council Manly Council was a local government area on the northern beaches region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, first incorporated in 1877. On 12 May 2016, the Minister for Local Government announced that Manly Council would be subsumed into th ...
learned that land near Cutler Road and Tabalum Road was to be subdivided and objected to any development and sale of land below Cutler Road. This movement to preserve the lands of Dobroyd Head for public recreation was led by alderman Frank Preacher, and on 17 October 1960, Lands Minister
Jack Renshaw John Brophy Renshaw (8 August 190928 July 1987) was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of New South Wales from 30 April 1964 to 13 May 1965. He was the first New South Wales Premier born in the 20th century. Early life Jack Rensh ...
met representatives of Manly Council on the site. Renshaw later approved the removal of these lands from the sale of land and transferred responsibility for its preservation to Manly council. In 1975, responsibilities changed again when the area was proclaimed as part of the
Sydney Harbour National Park The Sydney Harbour National Park is an List of national parks of Australia, Australian national park comprising parts of Port Jackson, Sydney and its foreshores and various islands. The national park lies in New South Wales and was created progr ...
. A 2015 article in the ''
Manly Daily The ''Manly Daily'' is an Australian community newspaper, covering the Northern Beaches region of Sydney. The paper is one of News Corp Australia's community newspapers in New South Wales. It was delivered free to homes and businesses on Wedne ...
'' later revealed that Manly Council had voted in June 1997 to erect a plaque to honour Renshaw, alderman Preacher and Manly Council's role in the preservation of the headland, but no action has since been taken to carry it out.


References


External links


Arabanoo lookout at Dobroyd Head - Sydney Harbour National Park
{{Sydney Manly suburbs Sydney Harbour Headlands of New South Wales Sydney Harbour National Park