History

Rocky Point

BY Tony Dawson
Manly Warringah & Pittwater Historical Society

Between Lovett Bay and Elvina Bay on Pittwater’s western shore is a short peninsula which terminates at Rocky Point. In 1842, William Oliver was granted 30 acres (12 ha) of land there, his holdings later increasing to 70 acres (28 ha) and occupying the entire peninsula. The Olivers made it their home cutting valuable timber and establishing an orchard. The grave of one of their children, Frederick, who was accidentally killed in 1867, is still there.

Subdivision of the land in 1914 created Flood’s Peninsula Estate, which went on sale on Anniversary Day (now Australia Day) 1915. Water to the estate was piped from a pool at the top or nearby Linda Falls – one of three waterfalls that Governor Phillip observed ‘falling from heights’ during his visit to Pittwater in March 1788. The water was stored in a large concrete tank erected on the highest point of the peninsula.

In the 1960s and early ’70s Juanita Nielsen, the Kings Cross anti-development campaigner, was a frequent visitor at ‘Trincomalee’, her father’s house on Rocky Point. Her last visit was in June 1975 – only days before she disappeared, presumed murdered. Her body has never been found.

Orange Grove at rocky point c1910
Credit: Photograph by Henry King, Tyrrell Collection, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney