By Cathy Jones
Joseph Hyde Potts was granted land in 1841 from a Crown Land grant. The land measured 256 acres (103 hectares). Potts was first secretary of the Bank of New South Wales (later Westpac Bank) and a prominent landowner in Sydney, owning land on which suburbs such as Potts Point and Potts Hill are built. Part of Rookwood Cemetery is located on Potts ‘Hyde Park’ Estate. The Potts land at Homebush was bounded at north by the railway (built 1855), at east by the 1806 Fleming land grant (later Underwood Estate and now suburb of Homebush West) and at south Barker Road, the dividing boundary of the Potts and 1841 Newton land grants.
Subdivision for residential development commenced in the parts of Strathfield (1867 Redmire Estate) and Homebush (1878 Underwood Estate) and Homebush West (1882 Underwood Estate). However, the Potts Estate land lay undeveloped for many years due to legal restrictions over use of land. Joseph Hyde Potts transferred his ownership of this land to his mother-in-law Mary Ann Bates, mother of his wife Emma, more than likely to raise money to finance his other interests. Mary Ann Bates died in 1860 and left her land in trust, granting her daughter and son-in-law life interest and occupancy of the estate. Joseph Hyde Potts died in 1865. Bates’ trust was devised to keep the estate in-tact for the benefit of her grandchildren, after the death of her daughter. However, Bates did not foresee that her daughter would live to old age and the trustees were not granted the ability to sell or mortgage the estate. Over the next twenty years the land remained unimproved and the estate, though rich in assets, headed towards insolvency.
The family’s only avenue was to petition the NSW Parliament and thus legislation, entitled the ‘Bates Estate Act 1881’ was enacted to permit the Trustees to sell, lease or mortgage the estate. Under the authority of the Bates Estate Act 1881, the trustees commenced subdivision. However, due to these circumstances, most of the Potts Estate missed the first and second periods of residential development in Strathfield and Homebush. Most of the development on the Potts land occurred after the 1920s.
Many of the streets on the Potts land reflect its history, particularly members of the family. Bates Street is named after Mary Anne Bates. Fraser Street is named after Donald Fraser, son-in-law of Joseph Hyde Potts. Francis Street is named for a member of the Bates family.
