I think that I have liked Carousels and Merry Go Rounds since mum first put me on one on Clacton Pier when I was around four or five years old.
However, as far as I can remember I’ve never ridden on a carousel horse because I always feel a little uncomfortable about climbing onto and balancing on a horse when it is moving because of my fear of falling.
I read that the difference between a carousel and a merry-go-round is that a merry-go-round has a variety of animals and vehicles while a true carousel has only horses. Most people seem to use the terms interchangeably though.
There are a few carousels still operating in Australia. I have seen a few of them but not all. I hope to rectify that one day. I love the colourful horses, the artwork on the carousel itself and I especially like the ones that are still steam-driven. Sometimes the operator will also have a steam-powered organ as well. The following photos are mine except where credited otherwise.
Tasmania.
Hobart is the home of “The Gallopers” a carousel built in 1882 in Norfolk, England and brought to Australia in 1990 virtually as a wreck. It was restored in Kingston, Tasmania and I first made its acquaintance on the Hobart waterfront where it was a regular visitor to summer events. It spends most of its time now at the Botanical Gardens but I was able to photograph it on the waterfront recently during the Tall Ships Festival. The portraits on the upper part of the carousel are of famous people including Australian Prime Ministers. I must say that it gave me a bit of a turn to encounter Paul Keating as well as Malcolm Fraser and Robert Menzies to mention a few.
New South Wales
Sydney has two carousels that I know of. One is at Luna Park on the harbour. I haven’t been to Luna Park for 25 years so I don’t know if the carousel they have now is the same one as they had then as the video I found shows installation of a new carousel and there is nothing about history.
The other one is at Darling Harbour and I saw and rode on it last year when my sister and I were on holiday. As we are too old and fat to climb on to carousel horses we got into a car which was much more convenient for taking pictures. We laughed when we heard the music being played. The Wiggles “Big Red Car” and my sister commented that it was a good thing that her movie camera was not recording sound. Well the laugh was on us. It was!
This carousel is another English built one. The steam engine was built in 1892 and the horses date back to around 1885. They were carved by the company of G & J Lines and Co. of London. I think this is the same company that went on to become Lines Bros. the famous toy making company.
The carousel came to Australia in 1894 and travelled around to country agricultural shows all over New South Wales. It was at the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, was a permanent part of the fun fair at Manly and made its home at The Rocks for a while. Now it is owned by the NSW Government. It has been at Darling Harbour since 1988.
South Australia
Semaphore is the home of another historic carousel which I saw many times during the time I lived in South Australia. This carousel is believed to be the largest operating carousel in Australia with 40 horses. Apparently 36 is the more usual number. The carousel recently celebrated its 75th anniversary.
Victoria
Melbourne has a carousel at Luna Park which has just celebrated its centenary. It has spent 90 of its 100 years at Luna Park, before that it was in Sydney. The carousel is an American made one from the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve seen this carousel.
An hour away from Melbourne Geelong also has a carousel on the waterfront. This is one I still have to visit.
Western Australia
Perth Zoo is the home of another vintage carousel. It has been there since 1947 and originally had 20 horses and 2 boats but in 1968 the boats were removed and replaced by 4 more horses. This carousel is the only known working one in Western Australia and another one on my list to visit.
Queensland
The only carousel I have read about in Queensland is one known as The Grand Carousel which has been a permanent feature of the Brisbane Exhibition or “Ekka” as they say up there.
Australian Capital Territory
Canberra has a carousel too and I’m rather cross that we ran out of time to see it when we were there a few years ago. I will try to get back there one day as there are a lot of other things I want to see in Canberra. This one has both horses and elephants so technically it is a merry go round. It was installed on the St Kilda esplanade near Melbourne in 1914 and has been in Petrie Plaza, Canberra since 1974. It was designed and built in Victoria but the animals were imported from Germany and the poles came from Scotland.
Links:
These are some of the sites I found information on
http://carousels.org/psp/SydneyDarlingHarbour/
http://carousels.org/australian.html#
http://www.equusart.com/PTC30_100.htm
http://www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au/visit/carousel/
http://www.fairgroundfollies.com/index.html
http://www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/frequentlyaskedquestions/Place_Stories/carousel
http://www.ljmaywatchwords.com/107744583
Related articles
- Where Have The Carousel Animals Gone? (presurfer.blogspot.com)
Hi From Pete (Semaphore Carousel South Australia) facebook Page check this out https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.632207053502074.1073741846.159433010779483&type=3
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Hi Pete, looks interesting. I’ll go and have a read.
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Hope you enjoy
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Sydney has 5 Carousels (if you know of this place that has 3 http://www.fairgroundfollies.com/carousel.php ) the one from Luna Park is here & they have a Brand New one (made by Rundells) at The Easter Royal Show time Sydney has 7 a double Decker & a old Steam one. want to know more call me Pete on 0430878257
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There is a carousel at SeaWorld south of Brisbane too. 🙂 I love the old ones. Great post.
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I didn’t know about that one. I’d love to see them all! Thanks for dropping by.
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Hi, Henry Robert Carter had a steam riding gallery that travelled (probably to country shows). All of his children were born in various towns in Northern New South Wales and South East Queensland between 1899 and 1906 (Brisbane, Ballina, Beaudesert). He died in Ballina – see Trove paste below – in 1907 so the children were between 1 and 8 years old.
His youngest daughter was my mother-in-law and I knew the surviving children (all deceased now of HR and his wife Elizabeth Jane nee Adams).
The grandchildren of that line are mostly still alive including my husband, his siblings and a large line of 1st cousins who in their 70-80’s so I am trying to find some more background information for them as HR Carter died in 1907 and his wife in 1908 so my mother-in-law and her siblings were raised by various relatives and they had no family background other than their parents had a “travelling sideshow”. If you find anything relevant, it would be very warmly welcomed. See post from the Grafton Examiner below. Thank you for your blog – the family will be interested.
Cheers
Fran
Clarence and Richmond Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1889 – 1915) Saturday 2 March 1907
A sad death took place at Nurse Fitz- henry’s private hospital in Ballina on Sunday, when Mr. H. P. Carter, proprietor of
the steam riding gallery, passed away. The deceased, who was a native of Wynnum, (Q.), 34 years of age, leaves a wife and
young family in Ballina. (note- Should be H R Carter)
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/61432940
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Hi Fran, thanks for the interesting story and the link. If I see anything about them I’ll post it and I’m sure any other interested bloggers will too. If you are on Facebook this link might interest you.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carousels-in-South-Australia-and-Beyond/159433010779483
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Thanks- I am on FB so will have a look.
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Hi Fran, it looks like we are connected! My paternal grandmother Olive Apelt nee Carter was one of the children orphaned after their father Harold died, and then their mother too, not long afterwards. I have recently become interested in finding out more. I would love to hear more about which of Olive’s siblings you are connected to.
Best, Rachel Apelt
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[…] were both happy to see that “The Gallopers” carousel was there and we treated ourselves to a ride on it. We often ride carousels when we see […]
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[…] You can read a post I wrote about carousels a couple of years ago here […]
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Love them too
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Hi Tas. Hope you don’t mind abbreviation of name… by the tie I scroll down to comment I forget spelling. Lovely images. Your prose shares the understanding of English that reminds me of a lot of British books I read… so delightfully phrased. Maybe you heard of a writer named Max Hennessey… writes about 18th/19th century sailing adventures… many bigger-than-life Australian plots. Your carousel pics marvelous. It looks to me like Australia in general is a fascinating place. My in-laws went to Tasmania on a cruise, but I suspect they missed discovering the flavor of your place. I asked what Tasmanians ate for breakfast. They didn’t know because they ate on the ship and then went ashore. Sigh.
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Hi Nat, thank you for the compliments. I really enjoyed researching and writing this post. I can’t take credit for all the photos as the only ones I took were the ones of “The Gallopers” in Hobart. Sadly, since I wrote this I believe the carousel has been sold. I have no idea where it is now. I miss seeing it on the waterfront every summer but now I no longer live near Hobart anyway.
I enjoy cruising. I’ve been twice but you usually only get a day in each port which is not long enough to really get more than a taste of the place you are visiting. Most people do what your in-laws did and eat on board. That’s not entirely their fault though because when a ship arrives in a port it has to clear quarantine before passengers can disembark and that usually takes an hour so it makes sense to get breakfast before you go off for a day exploring. I think that Tasmanians eat a variety of different things for breakfast. I personally favour raisin toast but I have cereal, porridge and eggs for a change. As I was born in England I have fond memories of bacon and eggs, perhaps with some fried tomato or baked beans for Sunday breakfast. It’s nice and filling.
I haven’t heard of Max Hennessy but I might have to check him out.
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