Crows Nest - suburb of North Sydney

Crows Nest - from the North Sydney Historical Society

Situated approximately 3km up the Pacific Highway from the northern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the suburb of Crows Nest derives its name from Crows Nest Farm Cottage built in 1820 by Edward Wollstonecraft. A cousin of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley who in 1818 had written the novel Frankenstein. He was a wealthy bachelor when he died in 1832 aged forty-nine. Edward's sister Elizabeth inherited the property and after she died in 1845 it passed to her husband Alexander Berry. On his death what was by then known as The Crows Nest Estate was left to his cousin Sir John Hay.

Sir John and Lady Hay took up residence in Crows Nest House which had been built earlier for the Berrys and after Lady Hay died in 1929 it was demolished to make way for what was popularly known as Lady Hay School, later to become North Sydney Demonstration School. Fortunately the entrance gates to Crows Nest House were left standing and still front the Pacific Highway today.

In the 1880s there was an urban land boom and Crows Nest had great potential for development, especially by 1893 when it became possible to either catch a train from St Leonards,