The Union Bond Store is a heritage-listed former warehouse, bond store and Westpac bank branch and museum located at 47 George Street in the inner city Sydney suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia.

[1] The story of European occupation in the vicinity of the subject property began with the lease of land on the western foreshores of Sydney Cove to Captain Henry Waterhouse c. 1799.

Charles Grimes's Plan of Sydney, prepared in 1800, shows three parcels of land held by Waterhouse on the foreshore near present-day Campbell's Cove.

[1] The Lot 1, on the western side of George Street, was officially granted to Campbell on 16 October 1834 by Governor Richard Bourke.

On a personal note, Campbell was spending less time in Sydney following the death of his wife in 1833, and was increasingly living at his property Duntroon, near Canberra.

A plan at the Mitchell Library dated to June 1841 shows the street and side elevations of a warehouse building designed by John Bibb for Martyn & Combes, ideally symmetrical to the existing subject property.

Bibb is also speculated to be the architect for Merchants House at 43 George Street, to the north of the subject property (built in 1848).

Edward Row & Co. manufactured drugs and remedies onsite but was also a wholesale distributor of pharmaceutical products to NSW and Queensland.

Much of the land and many of the houses, shops, pubs and warehouses in The Rocks, including the subject property, were resumed by the NSW Government in the early 1900s.

In April 1966, Craig, Mostyn & Co Pty Ltd sublet the premises to P. Heath, Baggage, Shipping and Forwarding Agent, as stores and offices.

[1] Although there is speculation that 47 George Street was restored in the late 1960s for use as offices, this is not evident on the Maritime Services Board (MSB) tenancy cards.

The ground floor of the warehouse building was converted for use as a banking chamber including reproduction Victorian timber counters and wall panelling.

The rear addition addressing Atherden Street was demolished and replaced with existing double storey building to accommodate the Westpac Museum.

The building is of three stories and three bays wide, the otherwise severe facade relieved by a pedimented gable with a circular ventilator, horizontal string courses and deeply recessed windows of varying heights.

[1] The Union Bond Store at 47 George Street, The Rocks is important at a State level because it demonstrates Sydney's early to mid nineteenth century mercantile character associated with the nearby Circular Quay which was then Australia's principal port.

The commercial warehouse use can still be seen in its: The Union Bond Store forms part of the historic mid nineteenth century group (43-49 George Street) which also includes: This group is important at a State level for its demonstration of how Sydney merchants in the mid-nineteenth century lived adjacent to their warehouses within a short distance of the port, in a similar manner to European mercantile practice from at least Renaissance times.

[1] The building's refined Victorian Regency style is noteworthy, particularly as most other warehouses built around this time (1840s) tended to be more utilitarian in character.

From the time of its construction in 1841, until it was resumed by the State Government at the beginning of the twentieth century, the ownership of the subject property remained with the prominent NSW building and merchant families Martyn and Combes.

From 1875 to c. 1921 the longest term tenant at these premises were Edward Row & Co. who used the buildings as factories and warehousing for their pharmaceutical business (and it is possible that they also used the adjacent Merchants House as a residence during their tenancy).

The archaeological potential of grounds at 6-8 Atherden Street is limited by the 1985 demolition of the adjacent former factory (built late c. 1880s) and the subsequent excavations to construct the Westpac Bank Museum.

[1] The Union Bond Store at 47 George Street, The Rocks is important at a State level because it demonstrates Sydney's early to mid nineteenth century mercantile character associated with the nearby Circular Quay which was then Australia's principal port.

The building (individually and as part of this group) demonstrates how merchants in the mid-nineteenth century lived adjacent to their warehouses within a short distance of the port, in a similar manner to European mercantile practice from at least Renaissance times.

The relatively fine architectural detailing of the group (including the demolished matching warehouse which stood immediately across Atherden Street) demonstrates the prosperity which merchant companies were experiencing at the time.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

The Union Bond Store is of State significance as a fine example of a Victorian Regency warehouse building designed by the notable architect John Bibb.

The Union Bond Store is also important for its ability to contribute to the technical history of warehousing in mid-nineteenth century NSW.

The archaeological material on the site of 6-8 Atherden Street is limited by the 1985 demolition of the adjacent former factory (built in the late 1880s) and the subsequent excavations to construct the Westpac Bank Museum.

The Union Bond Store is a rare example of a single bay warehouse in remarkable condition from this early nineteenth century period.

The Union Bond Store is an intact representative example of a mid nineteenth century commercial warehouse building.

[1] This Wikipedia article was originally based on Union Bond Store (former), Westpac Bank, entry number 1612 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 14 October 2018.