The Justice and Police Museum is a heritage-listed former water police station, offices and courthouse and now justice and police museum located at 4–8 Phillip Street on the corner of Albert Street, in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Edmund Blacket, Alexander Dawson and James Barnet and built from 1854 to 1886. It is also known as Police Station & Law Courts (former) and Traffic Court. The property is owned by the Department of Communities and Justice.
History
Pre 1856 In 1851 the Governor General approved the Colonial Architect's plan for a new Water Police Office. By November the site had been chosen. In 1853 work began on quarrying the sandstone at Bennelong Point for the Water Police Office but work was delayed because of high prices and a labour shortage caused by the gold rushes. A sum of £4,000 was allocated in 1854 for the construction of the Water Police Station on Phillip Street to the south of the Water Police Office. The new Water Police Office on the eastern side of Circular Quay was completed. The building, designed by Edmund Blacket, consisted of a main court and four adjoining offices. In April the buildings were occupied by the Water Police Magistrate, Hutchinson Hothersal Brown, and court staff consisting of a Clerk of Petty Sessions and a second clerk. Cases heard in the court related to the workings of the Harbour Regulations Act and the Act for Establishing a Water Police. In May permission was granted for the Steam Navigation and Pilot Boards to take possession of one room. The Water Police moved from Cadman's Wharf to the Water Police Station located in Phillip Street to the south of the Water Police Office. It was designed by Colonial Architect Alexander Dawson and construction commenced in 1857. The building consisted of a ground floor with Charge Room, adjoining offices, cells to the rear, a kitchen, store room and exercise yard. Upstairs was a barracks providing accommodation for four water policemen and their families. It also contained a kitchen and wash house. The original police station design was based on stations at Darlinghurst, Newtown and Balmain. The building was intended to accommodate six cells and a lock-up keeper. However, due to financial constraints and delays caused by labour shortages during the Gold Rush period, the station was completed as a modest two-storey building. The second court, designed by Colonial Architect James Barnet, was completed during this period. It consisted of a court room and two Magistrates Offices at the rear. While it functioned as a Summons Court hearing cases of petty crime, the Blacket Court became a Charge Court. This period witnessed a growth of police and court operations. The buildings were affected by a number of alterations and additions caused by changes to the nature of the courts and the business they attracted. In 1913 the Water Police who lived at the station were removed to their new accommodation on the north-western side of the Quay at Dawes Point, providing two locations for their activities. The station became known as the Phillip Street Police Station from this time although it was still often referred to as the Water Police Station. The activities of the station were incorporated more fully into the Metropolitan Policing District, becoming the head station for Number 4 Division by 1933. It seems that the Water Police held the two locations at least until this time, when the split between the metropolitan (essentially foot) duties associated with the Station and the Water Patrol had become more definite. However, the adjacent court continued to be referred to as the Water Bench until late 1940. In 1917 the Police Traffic Branch moved into offices at the Water Police Court and remained there until 1924. In 1918 the Water Police Court closed for alterations and was reopened in 1924. By 1924 special arrangements had been made for hearing traffic offences in the Water Police Court in addition to those concerning shipping, military trainees and children. From 1926 the courts became known as Traffic Courts 1 and 2 for hearing all traffic and parking offences in the Sydney district. They also continued to hear cases relevant to shipping and cases arising from Water Police activity. The courts were vacated by court staff, providing valuable space for the police in the adjoining station in late 1979.
Court functions, 1890–1924 1890s – Licensing Court 1917–1924 – Traffic Office 1918 – Fair Rents Court 1919–1933 – Small Debts Court 1924–1980 – Traffic Court Other occupants of Water Police Courts, 1890–1918 1890–1933 – Clerk of petty Sessions and Chamber Magistrate 1890–1897 – Stipendiary Magistrate 1890–1918 – Chief Clerk 1890–1904 – Accountant 1890–1902 – Clerks 1891–1902 – Bailiff of the Small Debts Court 1894–1902 – Messenger 1914–1918 – Chief Industrial Magistrate The site is run by Sydney Living Museums (formerly the Historic Houses Trust of NSW) as a Police & Justice museum. The Friends of the Historic Houses Trust have been responsible for fundraising through interpretive tours and events to acquire the Neville]Locker collection of convict artefacts for Hyde Park Barracks and the Police & Justice Museum.
Description The Justice and Police Museum comprises two main elements, the Museum Buildings and the Museum Collection.
The museum buildings These are two 19th-century courthouses and a police station built on the corner of Phillip and Albert Streets at the eastern end of Circular Quay for use by the Sydney Water Police, the Water Police Magistrate and the metropolitan police.
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