Reginald James Bartley (3 February 1899 – 16 January 1982) was a businessman, company director and Lord Mayor of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Life

Born in

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

, New South Wales on 3 February 1899, Bartley was the son of Henry and Annie P Bartley of Forbes. In 1929 he was admitted to the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Portrait of Alderman Reginald James Bartley, Lord Mayor of Sydney (1943-1944, 1946-1948)

Portrait of Alderman Reginald James Bartley, Lord Mayor of Sydney (1943-1944, 1946-1948)

Bartley was Lord Mayor of

in 1943–1944 and 1946–1948. He was succeeded by Ernest Charles O'Dea. A

Civic Reform Association The Civic Reform Association, variously known as the Civic Reform Movement and the Citizens' Reform Association, was an Australian non-aligned ratepayers' organisation that was formed by approximately seventy people at the Sydney Town Hall on 20 ...

member, Bartley was attacked by a member of the

Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian political party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been i ...

over a proposal to demolish "Maramonah", a mansion in central Sydney, inhabited by 600

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

s, in order to lay out a park. Bartley's plan was eventually taken up, and the site of the mansion is Fitzroy Gardens in King's Cross. Bartley later said that he regretted the incident had become one between "communists and lawful authority". In March 1946 Bartley was instrumental in moving to demolish the

Sydney Mint The Sydney Mint in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, is the oldest surviving public building in the Sydney central business district. Built between 1811 and 1816 as the southern wing of the Sydney Hospital, it was then known as the ''Rum Hospi ...

and the Hyde Park Barracks, stating that they should "make way for modern structures". Bartley died at Bellevue Hill on 16 January 1982.

Legacy

Bartley's service to the City of Sydney is commemorated by the naming of Reg Bartley Oval at

Rushcutters Bay Rushcutters Bay is a harbourside Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government ar ...

, Reg Bartley XI Cricket Club and Bartley Street, Chippendale. The City of Sydney Florence Bartley Library was named in honour of Bartley's wife and Lady Mayoress Florence.

Bibliography

References

Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney 1899 births 1982 deaths Civic Reform Association politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Councillors of Sydney County Council {{Australia-mayor-stub