Sydney identified as location for earliest film

While available images showed mainly the Exhibition Building there was nothing conclusive. However, recently, Tony Martin-Jones found an image of Cleveland Street taken from Prince Alfred Park and — voila! — a perfect match. The NFSA's Sally Jackson visited Prince Alfred Park and although the park has changed substantially, the skyline in the film still exists. She says it was an emotional moment standing on the spot where the film was made. The NFSA thanks must Mark and to Tony for their generosity in sharing their knowledge with us. The image in question is from the City of Sydney Archives and is a Christmas-New Year postcard of Cleveland Street between Pitt and Regent Streets.

The knowledge that the film was shot in Sydney has implications for the thinking on the date it was made. Previously thought to have pre-dated Melbourne Cup 1896 by just a few days to take the title as Australia’s earliest recorded moving image, this is now not certain.

But this is not the end of the story as it’s now possible to identify the rollerskater. Preliminary research indicates there were two skating rinks near Prince Alfred Park: the Elite Skating Rink on Elizabeth Street and the Redfern Palace Skating Rink at 185 Cleveland Street, corner of Walker Street. However, it is not clear if either was operating in 1896, the last mention found of each being 1890 and 1895 respectively. Skaters known to be working around this time were Fred Norris, Harry Williams, Harry Steele, Professor Bass, Professor Taylor and AG Agincourt. As Prince Alfred Park had no skating rink of its own, the person in the footage may have been practising their act or perhaps entertaining patrons visiting the Exhibition Buildings.

If the rollerskater is someone in your family or if you can shed any light on his identity, please let us know.