The People’s Place – A Talk by Max Solling

For nearly 70 years (1880–1948) Glebe Town Hall in St Johns Road was the administrative centre of the Glebe Municipal Council and served many purposes for the community. It was a social venue for weddings, dances, concerts, balls, live theatre and children’s theatre. Many of these activities were fundraisers for local causes.

It was a meeting place for local associations such as the Glebe Labor Electoral League, the Glebe Benevolent Society, the Abattoirs Removal League, the Glebe Branch of the Womanhood Suffrage League, the Glebe Vigilance Association (which kept an eye on the condition of local cesspits). Others who met in the Glebe Town Hall include Masonic lodges, district clubs such the Glebe Pigeon Racing Club, the Glebe Amateur Dramatic Club, the Glebe Musical Society and sporting clubs including bowls, cricket, rugby union, swimming and rowing. In 1908, the first Rugby League Club in Australia was formed here. It was a venue for boxing tournaments and election campaigns.

It was the place for public meetings, lectures and debates about big issues of the day such as federation, prohibition, conscription, workers’ rights, the founding of the Labor Party and local issues such as the forced closure of much-loved pubs and the future of tin hare (greyhound) racing. In 1894 Edmund Barton, our first Prime Minister, gave a public lecture in the Glebe Town Hall about federation and the meaning of a federal constitution; Billy Hughes opened his campaign for re-election in 1910 at the Glebe Town Hall.

It was a recruitment centre for soldiers enlisting in World War 1 and in 1916 the first site in Glebe to commemorate the service of local residents in this war.

During the Great Depression a soup kitchen was set up in the Town Hall to combat widespread hunger. It was the scene for many heated meetings, rallies and protests about forced evictions, food distribution, eligibility for the dole itself and for the federally funded ‘work for the dole’ scheme. It was an immunisation centre for children against diphtheria in the 1950s.

In 1981, 700 people packed into the Town Hall to protest about the federal government’s proposal to sell the Glebe Estate. Tom Uren and Lionel Bowen spoke against the proposal at this meeting. Gay Solidarity held meetings and dances at the Glebe Town Hall.

Today, Glebe Town Hall stands beautifully restored thanks to the City of Sydney but it is a venue for hire now rather than a hub for community life. Join us to admire the building and hear more about its history.