Leisure
Sport played an important part in the life of 19th-century Australia. Early settlers made do with rudimentary boxing bouts, or dog-fighting, but these informal, often brutal events gradually gave way to more organised and ‘respectable’ pastimes.

Edward Winstanley (1820–1849)
Jorrocks the celebrated Australian racehorse 1848
watercolour; 20.2 x 29.2 cm
nla.pic-an5598074
Governor Macquarie agreed to the first horse racing carnival being held at Hyde Park in 1810, and the races quickly became popular social occasions. Jorrocks was one of the 19th century’s most famous racehorses, his plucky career endearing him to the colonial press.

Samuel Thomas Gill (1818–1880)
The first cricket match between New South Wales and Victoria, played in the Sydney
Domain in January, 1857
watercolour; 30.8 x 49.4 cm
nla.pic-an2376907
Cricket was a sport first played by officers on regimental grounds, but quickly became a source of great colonial rivalry. S.T. Gill’s view of a match played at the Governor’s Domain in Sydney in 1857 is a scene that would be recognisable today, with its seating for spectators and the provision of refreshments.

Nicholas Caire (1837–1918)
The Melbourne Bicycle Club 1878?
albumen photograph; 13.3 x 18.3 cm
nla.pic-an5117501
Sailing and two forms of football were popular, and cycling, a fashionable European pastime, also had its followers.

Samuel White Sweet (1825–1886)
Adelaide Arcade 1885
albumen photograph; 15.5 x 21.5 cm
nla.pic-an6730307
The wealth created by the goldrushes transformed Australia’s cities. Luxury goods were imported, and citizens enjoyed the art of promenading. Shoppers wanted to keep their shoes clean, and tiled arcades were developed to showcase the sale of goods. The Royal Arcades in Melbourne and Sydney symbolised the wealth of those great cities. In South Australia, Captain Sweet photographed the Adelaide Arcade, lit by gas and electric lamps.

Samuel White Sweet (1825–1886)
Palm House B.G. c.1885
albumen photograph; 20 x 14.5 cm
nla.pic-an20886593-94
When they weren’t shopping, city-dwellers could attend the theatre or visit museums, libraries or the botanical gardens, where at great expense foreign species were being cultivated.

T.G. Moyle
George Ward’s Queensland Hotel, Roma, 1887
watercolour, pencil, pen and ink; irregular image
18.4 x 29.7 cm
nla.pic-vn3083683
Out of the cities, hunting and bush race meetings were popular, and hotels or taverns were important centres of social life.
