North Narrabeen in 1911 - Panoramas taken for West's Lakeside Estate
While doing some research in the digitised records provided online by the National Archives of Australia these three panoramas popped up, and are listed, via their original file names as:
1: Panoramic Photograph of Narrabeen and Collaroi Beach from West's Lakeside Estate.:
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2: Panoramic Photograph of View of Narrabeen Lakes from West's Lakeside Estate:
3: Panoramic Photograph of View of Narrabeen Lakes from West's Lakeside Estate:
These photos were taken and sections and put together by the 'Exchange Studios of 49 Pitt Street'. The same firm also took panoramas of Manly during this era. The first panoramic photographs were created in the 1840s by assembling multiple images into single scenes. By 1898, specialised panoramic cameras such as the Al-Vista were being mass produced in America.
The renowned American panoramic photographer Mervin Vaniman visited Australia in 1903–04, further popularising the artform. Australian photographers including Robert Henry Ward and William Charles Farran, and Augustus George Sands recognised potential commercial opportunities. They applied for artistic copyright then exhibited and sold souvenir booklets and large-format prints of their work.
They worked successfully for years before dissolving their partnership:
WARD & FARRAN (Robert Henry Ward & William Charles Farran, trading.as), Exchange Studios, 49 Pitt-st., Sydney—Reported partnership dissolved as from September 24. Wm. Chas. Farran & Peter Volkert Payeris continue under the name of .“The Exchange Studios. ” (October 24 1921). BUSINESS CHANGES, ETC, Dun's gazette for New South Wales Retrieved June 8, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-779841052
They show not much had changed between the above and when this photo was taken form around the same aspect:
View from Collaroy of Narrabeen, circa 1888, courtesy State Library of Victoria. The house on the far right looks like it is near Obed West's cottage (circa 1884)- the middle house is the heritage listed “Lemville” Circa 1860 - and the third is the original site of the Narrabeen Hotel, where “Setai” can be seen.
West's Lakeside Estate refers to the land holdings of the West family here.
Obed West was born December 4 1807 in Pitt Street, Sydney, in a house on the eastern bank of the Tank Stream between what is now Martin Place and King Street. He was the son of convict parents, Thomas West (1773-1858) and Mary Rugg (circa 1769-1865).
In 1810 West's father obtained Barcom Glen, a 75-acre (30 ha) property above Rushcutter's Bay, to construct and operate a water mill for milling flour and West lived there from that date until his death in 1891. In 1836, his father conveyed the property to him on condition that he not sell, alienate or dispose of any of it, except by leases not exceeding 19 years. The land, at the edge of the inner Sydney suburb of Paddington, therefore remained largely undeveloped at least until 1910. It was said that the property remained, at West's death, "an oasis of verdant green and spreading forest trees in a wilderness of terraced houses". The family home at Barcom Glen was demolished in 1912.
In 1831 he married Jane Margaret Lindsey (1811-1875) at St James’ Church, Sydney, with whom he had 14 children! Those children are listed by descendants as:
Sarah J Blackwood; Mary Ann Wilcox; Rebecca Elizabeth West; Thomas John West; Obediah West; Jane Margaret Dobson - Haynes; Naomi Cooper; Louisa Jane Alcorn; Caroline Amelia Iredale; Edward Augustus Sydney West; Emily Matilda McLauchlan; Margaret Lucy Marriott; Clara Mary Elizabeth West and Arthur Owen West.
He was a businessman and milled flour with his father's watermill - the first of its type for grinding flour in Sydney. He also bred cattle in the Camden district, and carried on a dairy business and grew fruit at Barcom Glen.
Obed West (1807-1891) bought land in North Narrabeen in 1881 and 1883, during the first land sales of the acres from Collaroy to Narrabeen Lagoon. His son, Thomas John West, would become President of what was called the Narrabeen Progress Association, a position he held until he passed away in 1906. T J West was also an Alderman (current day term is 'Councillor') on the City and Paddington Councils of his era.
Obed also became well-known for sharing his insights into early Sydney in local newspapers as he became older, and because people wanted to know more about what happened here before they were born.
TO THE EDITOR. OF THE HERALD.
Sir,-I read with a great deal of satisfaction the letter in your columns from Mr. James Norton, in which he directs attention to the wholesale and increasing destruction of our native plants and flowers through the medium of these shows. I deplore with him the rapid extirpation of our beautiful wild flowers, ferns, and indigenous plants in the districts adjacent to Sydney, and think that the show craze is assuming such proportions that it should be restrained. The floral wealth of our bush is disappearing rapidly enough in other ways without the extravagant appropriation that is made from it every year for these displays. We have not merely to consider the flowers and plants taken away, but it is the quantity, ruthlessly destroyed by the collectors, who care not what damage they do provided they can make up their dray loads.
I have had experience of this on my property at Lake Narrabeen, which I purposely purchased to preserve the beautiful cabbage-trees, ferns, and lilly-pilly trees upon it; and much as I admire the object for which the exhibitions are held, I cannot refrain from expressing the opinion that they are doing a deal of harm in the direction pointed out by Mr. Norton. The interval between the shows is far too short, and the contributions levied upon our native plants far too exacting. In a short time the beauty of the bush and gullies around Sydney and Pittwater, so much appreciated by strangers for their profuse adornment of native flowers and ferns, will be gone, and I think it behoves those profess a love for our indigenous plants to see that the present wanton destruction is stayed. The mischief is rapidly growing; the example set by Manly Beach is being followed by others, and this month we are having the bush and the gullies ransacked in every direction to supply the shows at North Shore and Kogarah, in addition to the one at Manly. I hope Mr. Norton's protest will have the effect of directing the attention of the promoters of these exhibitions to the injury they are, I believe unwittingly, doing to the beauty spots around their own and other localities near Sydney.
OBED WEST.
Barcom Glen. TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD. (1885, September 28). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28364152
Mount Ramsay Estate subdivision, near Narrabeen, L88— Mr Obed West, sen, ; lot 8, section G, ... SALES OF PROPERTY. (1883, December 22). The Sydney Daily Telegraph (NSW : 1879 -1883), p. 7. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239272826
THE LATE MR. OBED WEST.
The Late Mr. Obed West.
Year by year the roll of colonists who knew Sydney when it was an unimportant and insignificant town is becoming briefer, and amongst those who could carry their recollections back to the early part of the present century there was, perhaps, no person in the colony who could give a more interesting and stirring account of the struggles of the early settlers than the subject of our sketch, who passed peacefully away to his rest, at his residence in Darlinghurst, on Monday week last. He was born in Pitt- street, Sydney, in the year 1807, on the banks of the Old Tank stream, and during his lifetime saw the erection of most of the old public and other buildings which graced the old colonial days. The Blue Mountains had not been crossed in his day, and the colonists were prohibited from proceeding further inland than Penrith on the west, and the Cowpasture River at Camden on the south ; all beyond was practically a terra incognita, so that he had seen the whole of these great colonies explored and opened up beyond the limits referred to. As marking the progress of the colony, he mentions in some of his reminiscences that he recollected the time when Governor Macquarie used to pitch a tent on the Race Course (Hyde Park), and give out to the residents orders for grants of town allotments, and some of these he has since seen become some of the most valuable in Sydney. When given they could be purchased in some cases for the sum of £1 10s and £2 each.
He had seen the Ti Tree and the Black Butt give way to stately houses and well kept streets, and it was only such as he who could fully realise the change that had taken place in Sydney in the space of a lifetime. He was a robust type of man, standing six feet high, and a perfect type of the hardy old pioneers.
His father was engaged for some time as superintendent of the Government gangs employed at Lane Cove, and when this establishment was broken up he turned his attention to milling. In the first year of Macquarie's Governorship, he was granted the Barcom Glen estate, which runs from the waters of Rushcutter's Bay to the main South Head-road, Paddington, for the purpose of establishing a water-mill to grind wheat. This mill was the first erected in Australia.
Mr. Obed West went to reside there with his father in 1810, and he continued to live there up till the day of his decease. He, however, pursued for a time the business of cattle-raising and farming in the Camden district, in conjunction with his place at Barcom Glen. He was a keen sportsman in his early days, and won the first gold medal given for rifle shooting in the colony. The old house and grounds have been kept almost intact, and form one of the prettiest residential spots about Sydney. Mr. West preserved his faculties wholly unimpaired up to the last, and has left behind him a large number of descendants who now mourn the loss of a good and kindly progenitor. The Late Mr. Obed West. (1891, September 5). The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), p. 526. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162175303
ALDERMAN THOMAS J. WEST.
PADDINGTON.
Alderman Thomas J. West, a freetrade candidate for Paddington, was born In the Paddington electorate. His father, Mr. Obed West, whose writings on old colonial history are well known, was a resident of Paddington from 1810 until his death.
The subject of the sketch received his early education at the private academy of Mr. T. W. Cape, and completed his studies under Mr. T. L. Dodd. He was engaged for a time in pastoral and agricultural pursuits in the northern districts of the colony, and is a warm advocate of the simplification of the land laws, to enable people of limited means to go upon the soil. He has had an honorable career in municipal politics, and is a good business man. ALDERMAN THOMAS J. WEST. (1894, June 30). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 9. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236148707
Thomas John West was an Alderman of the Borough of Paddington before joining the Sydney Council. He was Mayor of Paddington from 1897 to 1899. West was Alderman for Bligh Ward from 7 December 1900 until his death in May 1906. He was a member and vice-chairman of the Health and By-Laws Committee, 1904-06, the Works Committee, 1901-06, the Labour Advisory Committee in 1901, the Staff and Labour Committee, 1902-03, the Health and Recreations Committee in 1903 and the Electric Lighting Committee, 1905-06. Thomas inherited Barcom Glen at Darlinghurst after his father passed away in 1891.
In 1862, Thomas John West married Sarah Jane Alcorn (1833-1907) at Patrick’s Plains. Children of the union were:
WEST EDITH M12958/1864 THOMAS J SARAH J PATRICKS PLAINS
WEST EDWARD T13554/1865 THOMAS J SARAH J PATRICKS PLAIN
WEST ADA B19118/1869 THOMAS J SARAH J WARIALDA
A few insights from his years as President of the Narrabeen Progress Association:
THE LAKE DISTRICTS OF PITT-WATER AND NARRABEEN.
A PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT.
There are many parts of Sydney and its suburbs better known to most people than the charming district comprising Narrabeen, Pittwater, Newport. etc.. which stretches away to the north-west of Manly, skirting the ocean on one side, and extending on the other to the picturesque reaches of the Hawkesbury. Yet there is no more delightful and bracing spot among the many pleasure resorts of the metropolis. At a first glance it seems difficult to understand why there should be this ignorance, especially in view of the nearness of the district to Sydney. In all probability it is owing lo the fact that the harbor divides the district from Sydney proper, and that thousands who visit Manly each year regard that pleasant watering-place as being in that direction the ''Land's End" of the colony. But the residents are now bestirring themselves to impress the claims of their district for larger share of consideration In the expenditure of Government money on local improvements, and also for the construction of a tramway to open up the district from Manly, If not all the way from Sydney, via the Spit. The difficulty of taking the line the on the distance is the cost of a bridge across Middle Harbor, but it is believed that a line could be constructed from Manly which would pay well within a very short time of completion, as far as Narrabeen, if not even to Pittwater.
On Saturday evening last the various Progress Committees of the district foregathered at a banquet held in the Narrabeen Hotel for the purpose of ventilating their views on the subject, and by way of Initiating a combined movement on the part of these districts to advance their common interests. There were over 40 gentlemen present, including Mr. T. J. West (Mayor of Paddington), who occupied the chair, the Rev. A. G. Stoddart, Mr. Passau (Mayor of Manly), Mr. D. C. M'Lachlan, Mr. J. Taylor, Mr. John Woods (of Manly), Mr. Iredale, and the chairmen of the Narrabeen, Newport, and Pittwater Progress Committees. An excellent spread was provided, and a lengthy list of toasts having been honored, the larger property-owners present, as well as several influential visitors, pledged themselves to do all in their power to secure improved means of communication with the district, and a working committee was formed to take the matter in hand. THE LAKE DISTRICTS OF PITTWATER AND NARRABEEN. (1898, March 30). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238375681
Narrabeen.
From A Correspondent.
The annual meeting of the Narrabeen Progress Association was held on Saturday, December 9th, in the Association Room. The chair was occupied during the earlier part of the meeting by the President, Alderman T. J. West. The reports showed that the Association was still in active work, and the membership keeping up, for although the loss of three members had been sustained during the year three others had joined. The general finance was good, and after all expenses had been met a credit balance remained in the treasurer's hands of £3/12/11. The election of officers resulted as follows;—President, Alderman J. T. West ; Vice-Presidents, Messrs. Gordon and Larkin ; Secretary, Mr. George Powell; Treasurer, Mr. F. W. Loder; Executive Committee, J. Russell. A. O. West, Whiting, Hinchcliflf, and R. Marshall.
The Association is fully alive to the fact that very shortly a momentous change will be taking place, viz;.. the creation of a Shire Council, and recognise the desirability of closely watching the trend of events.
On Saturday evening a very pleasing entertainment was given by the scholars in the Public School, Narrabeen, under the direction of the teacher, Mr. J. McDonald, assisted by friends, the programme consisted of part songs, duets, recitations, dumb bell exercise and wanddrill, all of which were performed in a very creditable manner. The president of the N. P. A., Alderman T. J. West, occupied the chair. The event was inaugurated for the purpose of raising funds to purchase prizes to be distributed amongst the pupils on breaking up for Christmas holidays. A very pleasant evening was concluded with a vote of thanks to the Chairman, and the singing of the National Anthem. Miss McDonald presided at the piano in a very efficient manner. Narrabeen. (1905, December 16). Mosman, Neutral and Middle Harbour Resident (NSW : 1904 - 1907, 1916 - 1919), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article252191375
He died at his Paddington home on May 4th 1906, aged 70, survived by his wife, son and two daughters - a list of those who paid tribute at his funeral service lists others associated with Narrabeen subdivisions and their roads developments among his chief mourners:
ALDERMAN WEST'S ILLNESS.
The health of Alderman T. J. West, of the City and Paddington Councils, who resides at 'Barcom Glen,' Glen View-street, Paddington, is occasioning his friends considerable anxiety just now. He has been suffering from an internal complaint for some time past, and a few weeks ago his medical attendants. Drs. Crago and Rennie, ordered him to New Zealand to see it the change would effect an improvement. He returned to Sydney 'much worse than when he set out, and has since been confined to his bed. To-day his condition was extremely critical, but as the day advanced he rallied, and showed a slight improvement. ALDERMAN WEST'S ILLNESS. (1906, April 19). Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article114320951
ALDERMAN WEST'S FUNERAL.
A REPRESENTATIVE ATTENDANCE.
There was a large and representative attendance at the funeral of the Iate Alderman T. J. West, which took place from his late residence, "Barcom Glen." Glenview-street, Paddington, yesterday morning.
The late Mr. West had for a number of years been associated with the City and Paddington councils, and at the time of his death was a member of both bodies. He was held In the highest esteem by his fellow-representatives, most of whom were in the funeral procession. A short service was held at "Barcom Glen" by Rev. E. C. Beck, of St. John's Darlinghurst, prior to the cortege leaving tor St. Jude's Cemetery. Randwick, where the remains were laid to rest.
The chief mourners were Messrs. E. T. West (son). E. A. S. West, O. West. and A. West (brothers). H. W. Ellis, and F. W. Loder (sons-in-law). L. P. Iredale, E. Marriott, and D. McLachlan, Commonwealth Public Service Commissioner (brothers-in-law). H. W. Ellis (grandson), A. Alcorn, E. Alcorn. W. West, Percy Iredale, Arthur McLachlan, Leslie Iredale, Percy Alton, Harry Blackwood, Ernest Blackwood, H. G. Iredale and Arthur Blackwood (nephews), F. A. Coghlan (Chief Clerk, Chief Secretary's Department).
The City Council was represented by the Lord Mayor (Alderman Allen Taylor), the Town Clerk (Mr. T. H. Nesbitt). Aldermen Thomas Hughes, T. H. Barlow, T. Henley, M.L.A., G. Perry, T. H. Kelly, Fitzgerald, E. Lindsay Thompson, Evan Jones, Laurence, A. Kelly, English, M'lvor. Meagher, Henson, J. G. Griffin; Mr. W. G. Laytou (deputy' Town Clerk), Mr. P. S. Dawson (City Solicitor), Dr. W. G. Armstrong (City Healthy Officer). Mr. T. Rooke (Electrical Engineer), Mr. R. H. Broderick (City Building Surveyor), Mr. W. M. Gordon (City Surveyor). the Lord Mayor's orderly (Mr. Carrick). The Paddington Council was represented by Aldermen Denis Brown (Mayor), Gusbell, Yarroll, Meacle, Dillon, H.H. Laurence, Howard, Mr A Vlaloux (council clerk), Mr. George Davidson (engineer), Mr. A. D. Carmichael (municipal inspector).
Included among the general public were Dr. W. H. Crago, Messrs. E. C. V. Broughton, M.L.A., C. W. Oakes, M.L.A.. J. A Brodie, C. Campbell, J. Robinson. C. Henderson, T. TenIan. M. Teulan, T. Dillon, A. Sloman, W. H. Robinson, A. Wells, A. H. Brown, W. Brown, W. Hornsby, C. Limbert, J. Spencer, T. Ridley, V. A. Spence, D. Brown, J. Brown, J. Alford, C. Smart, Alex. Martin, A. Walker, D. Hickey, J. Lane Mullins, R. M. McC. Anderson, P. M'Mahon, M. Maloney, J. S. Alexander; and the members of the Narrabeen Progress Association.
In addition to wreaths by the family and relatives of deceased, floral tributes were sent by the following; The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, Lord Mayor and aldermen of the City Council, Mayor and alderman of Paddington, official staff of the Paddington Council, Narrabeen Progress Association, Paddington Cricket Club, Eastern Suburbs Football Club. Albion-street Public School,- Mr. John Robinson, Mr.' and Mrs. M'Lean, Mr. J. Alford, Messrs. Alford and Orwell and Phillips, Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Oakes. Mr. A. B. Love, Mr. and Mrs. Wells, Mr. and Mrs R. D. Meagher, Mr, and Mrs. Jones and family, Mr. A. Martin. Misses Leslie and Davis; Mr. and Mrs. A. Carpenter, Mr. and Mrs. Buck, Mr, and Mrs. H. Curtis.
At St. Jude's Church Rev. E. C. Beck conducted a funeral service and also at the grave site. . At last night's meeting of the Paddington Council It was decided to forward a message of condolence to the widow and family of the deceased. The resolution was moved by Aldermen Walker and George, and supported by the Mayor and the other aldermen present, all of whom paid high tribute to their late comrade's worth. The council then adjourned for a week without transacting any business. ALDERMAN WEST'S FUNERAL. (1906, May 8). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236843342
The West family clearly held on to some of their North Narrabeen land - this article tells us:
Mr. Ramsay held the country for many years, and eventually saw It pass into the hands of Mr. John Wetherill, who at one time had a big drapery shop in Pitt Street, somewhere near the Strand. At that time much of the land was subdivided under the name of the Mount Ramsay Estate. Messrs. Richardson and Wrench held the first sale of the property on October 28, 1881. It was at that sale that Mr. Obed West, of Barcom Glen, Paddington, purchased a section on the Pittwater Road, Goodwin, M'Tier, and Park Streets fronts.
Four years later, Mr. John West, his son, built the Palm Cottage, which some of the residents still say was the old Reynolds home. A year or so later, Mr. Cyrus E. Fuller acquired the balance of the estate, and sold a lot of it at prices that ran from £10 to £14 a half-acre block. Beach frontages could be had 24 years ago at 10s per foot. Corner lots were offering at from 10s to 20s. During August, 1910, the Crown acquired the rights to the beach, and all the streets in the Mount Ramsay estate. Soon after that, Mr. Arthur Griffith came into the picture. He very quickly set the ball rolling. His trio of big actions altered the whole position. The tram lines were laid down as far as Collaroy, then the iron way was extended to the bridge terminus. Water was taken through to Narrabeen by means of wooden pipes, and the big Griffith Park reservation was acquired at a very low figure.
To complete the tramway, a 33ft. resumption was made from Collaroy corner to the lakeside terminus. That was another wise stroke. Mr. Griffith was more than likely the prime mover in that action. It did not matter to him how many of the old residents had their homes disturbed. Was not the old church cut clean in two for the benefit of the tramway? Yes, and when all the old church timbers were sold by auction, the brass bell and the carved stone font were also knocked down to the highest bidder. I lost the opportunity of a lifetime in not getting hold of those two sacred items. Just now the people of the village are very anxious to know where the bell and the font are in hiding. Can anyone tell me?
All I got at that sale was roof-iron, and long Oregon plates, which were worked into the small seaside home that overlooks much of the land where the earliest of the pleasure seekers spent their happy holiday hours. NARRABEEN (
1926, January 4).
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 6. Retrieved from
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245843909
FOR CITY GIRLS holiday home
MEMBERS of the City Girls Amateur Sports Association have completed negotiations for a week-end holiday house at Narrabeen. "Palm Cottage" is an ideal place for a holiday, with the ocean in front and the big lake at the back. The creeks, too, offer pleasure to those whose fancy turns to quiet, inland waters. Mr. T. West, who built "Palm Cottage," went to Narrabeen in 1884, and from almost the whole coastline chose the site because it provided such an unusual vista of the sea. The house will accommodate 12 girls for each week-end, and it will probably be used for holidays also.
PALM COTTAGE The house at Narrabeen which has been secured by the City Girls' Amateur Sports Association for a week-end resort. FOR CITY GIRLS (1926, March 1). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 13 (FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224055821
City Girls
New Holiday House At Narrabeen
PALM Cottage, one of the oldest houses In Narrabeen, Is to be the scene of many happy weekend parties for the City Girls' Amateur Sports Association. The cottage is large, and rambling, surrounded by wide verandahs, and stands on a hill, overlooking the ocean beach on one side and the Narrabeen Lakes on the other. It is an ideal place for large parties of club girls, the ample balcony space making It possible to accommodate unlimited numbers of camp stretchers for sleeping out, while a specially glassed-in portion will lend itself to the use of long, trestle dining-tables, to seat at least 20 girls.
The lawns surrounding the house are excellently suited for circles courts and basket-ball. Already a number of clubs affiliated to the C.G.A.S.A. have booked up week-ends well into the winter, for the colder weather will make no difference, as the charm of boating on the lakes and tramping into the woods surrounding them will afford sufficient interest as a substitute for the joys of surfing. Each girl, with a minimum number of eight, will be charged five shillings for a party. At present there is only accommodation for twelve, but, as the popularity of Palm Cottage grows, the association will be prepared to arrange for further accommodation. City Girls (1926, March 11). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), p. 4 (The Daily Telegraph Woman's Supplement). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245839929
It is likely the road on the southern side of the lagoon was first built due to the West family selling off their Narrabeen land, although its extension and climb up to Collaroy Plateau, along with the land at that end of the lagoon for the Veterans Village, was resumed in part, through the work of the then Warringah Shire Council, from the Wheeler family:
Plan of Subdivision.
An owner of property submitted a plan of subdivision of an estate at Narrabeen to the Warringah Shire Council for approval. He proposed to allow a road around the waters of the Lake that would provide a beautiful parade, if the council would make some concession in return. Plan of Subdivision. (1911, October 20). The Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), p. 9. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article102900950
This notification about bringing some of the Wheeler land (paddocks) under the Real Property Act shows how the West family Narrbeen holdings were then held by a few family members:
No. 16,973. APPLICANT James Wheeler, Narrabeen. LAND : County Cumberland, parish Manly Cove, shire Warringah, 1 acre 1 rood 31 1/2 perches, 3 roods 18 perches, 1 acre 3 roods 1 perch, 3 acres 11 perches, 1 acre 3 roods 3 perches, 34 perches, 1 rood 30 1/2 perches, 35 perches, 2 roods 2 1/2 perches, 1 rood 30 1/2 perches, 2 roods 2 3/4 perches, and 2 acres 3 roods If perches, in Jenkins, Frazer, Ramsay, Stuart, Wetherill, Clarke, Mactier, Goodwin, Devitt, Lagoon, Wellington, and Park streets, and on Narrabeen Lagoon,—lots 22 to 28. section 8; lots 9, 16, 17, 18, section 11: lots 10 to 14 and 17. 18, 19, scction 12; lots 13 to 26, section 16; lots 12 to 15 and 18 to 21, section 19: part lot 14a, section 20: lots 3, 4, 7, 11, 12, 13, section 21: lots 12, 13. section 22: lots 5, 7, 8, section 26: part lot 2: and lots 3 to 8, section 42, Mount Ramsay Estate: and part 410 acres (portion 1,217 of parish) granted to John Ramsay: adjoining properties of J. Wheeler, R. Pfoeffer, C. A. S. Hayden, E. A. Powell, C. M. E. West, H. S. Haynes, E J. West, Mrs. E. M. Loader, A. E. Ellis, C. A. de Kantzow, D. McLean, A. O. West, H. H. Gordon, W. Pollard, W. S. Beale, W. A. Lipscombe, W. L. McFarlane, estate J. Langley, J. F. C. Goodridge, A. E. Dowling, W. Nicholls, T. H. Page, and G. L. Pring. NOTICE UNDER REAL PROPERTY ACT. (1911, August 30). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), p. 4711. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230685900
Narrabeen - West's Lake-Side Estate - The Esplanade, Government Rd, O'Keefe Ave, Wetherill St, Lindley Ave, Clarke St, Park St, Mactier St, Goodwin St, Devitt St, Robertson St, Narrabeen St, King St, Albert St, Waterloo St, Victoria St, Ocean St, 1911 - Item c050370013, courtesy the State Library of New South Wales.
view from same road beside the lagoon today
Below run sections from these panoramas so you can see the details - although the middle one was not available in a high enough resolution, the 1st and 3rd ones were - they allow you to see a place of trees looking north, and cleared fields looking east - but first, a from the ground images closer o the bridge, and one looking south during this same few decades:
Narrabeen 'road bridge' - postcard, from the collection of Josef Lebovic Gallery collection no. 1, courtesy National Museum of Australia - circa 1907 to 1913
Narrabeen, Star photo, circa 1900-1910. Item a116483h courtesy State Library of NSW
'View taken near Narrabeen on the road to La Corniche' - Sunday September 17th, 1911. Image No.: a3289060h from Allen family albums, courtesy State Library of NSW
Narrabeen lagoon, circa 1915, Item hall_34703h, courtesy State Library of NSW
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