Foundations of the early Agricultural Society

The formation of the original Agricultural Society of NSW, in 1822, was closely linked with the early colony's struggle for survival. Continuing food shortages prompted a group of leading and responsible citizens, who aimed to improve farming practises, to import better species of livestock and grain and to develop new techniques suited to an environment quite different from their past experience.

They recognised that their survival was dependent upon assisting the European settlers to farm more successfully in the harsh Australian environment.

The inaugural meeting of the Society was held on 5 July 1822, at the premises of James Robertson of George Street, Sydney.

It was attended by such noteable figures as John Macarthur, Alexander Berry and Edward Wollstonecraft. Sir John Jamison was elected as President and William Cox as a Vice-President.

The group imported breeding stock, seeds, machinery and textbooks from Europe. They also encouraged rural excellence by establishing an annual contest and exposition, which included demonstrations of the latest agricultural equipment from Europe. This was the forerunner to the event we know today as the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

The first Show, 'Parramatta Fair' was held in Parramatta in 1823. Sydney's population at the time was only 30,000. The first ever prize, a silver tankard, was awarded to Jonas Bradley for a tobacco plant. In 1826 the Society altered its name to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of NSW.

From its early beginnings the embryonic Society struggled to survive. Plagued by the 1828/1829 drought, the colony then experienced a Depression in the 1830's, which put severe stress on the farmers. The Agricultural Society was forced to cease holding the Show in 1834. The Society sold its experimental farm that same year, then ceased to exist by 1836.

In its wake, smaller farmers' clubs and agricultural and pastoral societies were formed throughout the colony. In the interim years, leading newspapers ran articles urging the re-establishment of a larger unified body.

Cumberland Agricultural Society


Two decades passed before a new body, which had claims to represent the whole colony. Originally known as the Cumberland Agricultural Society, founded in Parramatta in 1857. Amongst the people at the inaugural meeting was Robert Jamison, son of the RAS founding President, Sir John Jamison. The new Society drew the support from many of those involved of the earlier Society or its descendants.

The new Society held its first annual exhibition on J.H. Atkinson's land at Collingwood, Liverpool.

In 1859, it changed its name to the Agricultural Society of NSW to reflect the intended scope of its interests and membership. Trustees for the Society were granted six hectares of land in the Parramatta Domain and the first exhibition and ploughing match was held on the new grounds in 1860.

Office bearers of this period were appointed including a President, ten Vice-Presidents and a Committee of 50 Members. From the 1860s, the Society had a paid secretariat. Later, in 1884, a director, Frederick Webster, was employed to oversee the day-to-day management of the Society. He was the first in a series of directors and chief executive officers who have served the RAS with skill and dedication.

In 1868, the Society was granted six hectares of land and moved the Showground to Cleveland paddocks in Sydney, later known as Prince Alfred Park. The first Show, then known as the Metropolitan Intercolonial Exhibition, was held on the new premises in 1859. The Show continued to grow quite rapidly each year and by 1880 new premises were required.

In 1881 the Society leased some cheap land, Moore Park, formerly part of the Sydney Common. Moore Park, a sandy, swampy 404 hectare tract of public land, had been used for grazing cattle goats and pigs and generally regarded as a wasteland. Like today's Homebush Bay site, it required major rehabilitation before a Show could be held. The first Show at Moore Park was conducted in 1882, from 10 to 15 April, the first to be held during the Easter break.

In 1891, Queen Victoria granted royal status to the Agricultural Society of NSW, and the title of Royal Easter Show was adopted.

The area, now known as Homebush Bay, was once thick bush, extensive tidal wetlands, and was home to Aboriginal people. Early European settlers on the first Fleet discovered the area within days of the arrival in 1788. This historical fact was recorded by Captain John Hunter and was known as The Flats. The area has had a chequered history from that date on. It has been occupied by farms, a salt-boiling works, a racetrack, an abattoir and saleyards, an asylum, a brickworks, a school and a prison.

Originally the area was split into two major land grants. These two farming estates became the property of John Blaxland and D'Arcy Wentworth. Blaxland named his acreage "Newington" and Wentworth called his estate "Home Bush". It is interesting that "Home Bush" over the period of time would become the suburb of Homebush and be chosen as the new site for the Sydney Showground in 1998. Indeed coincidental that the Showground would return to one of the founding sites of Australian agriculture.

Beginnings of Regional Societies

During the life of the first agricultural society, settlement moved north to the Hunter Valley, west beyond Bathurst and south-west in the direction of Goulburn. By 1829, much of the best land in the Nineteen Counties - a region stretching along the coast from the Manning River to Moruya and inland for some 240 kilometres - was already occupied.

In 1821 the County of Cumberland contained 93% of the population of NSW, 84% of the colony's cattle and 71 % of sheep, and 97% of the area under cultivation. By 1828 the situation changed substantially as other areas had grown in importance. The County then only carried 69% of the population, 26% of cattle, 11% of sheep and 69% of arable land. Hence it was during this period that regional societies became established.

Excerpts taken from: 'The Grand Parade. A History of the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales'. Author: Brian H. Fletcher