arose at this time and many clubs were formed including rowing, swimming, bowling and cricket. Institutes such as the Balmain Literary Institute, the Balmain Working Men's Institute and Balmain School of Arts were also established. The lots between Peacock Point and Darling Street and Weston Street which had been laid out in 1836 had a number of owners. Immediately adjacent to Illoura Reserve was 2-8 Weston Street which was purchased in 1840 by shipwright John Bell and on which he built a stone wharf and shipwright's yard. Bell died in 1847 and the shipwright's yard was run by his sons until 1883 when it was sold to J. Fenwick and Co. The southern end of the peninsula is named after Captain John Jenkins Peacock who purchased the land in 1836. Peacock was the son of a convict and started his days as a farmer with a grant of 250 acres on the Hawkesbury. In 1834 he moved to Market Wharf after a time trading between the Hawkesbury River and Sydney. Peacock was a merchant and owner of ships: he owned the barque Sir William Wallace and other vessels and he traded in New Zealand where he bought wharves and land, he also had land on the Parramatta River and in the Hunter Valley. He was a licensee of the Dundee Arms in Gloucester Street, Sydney in 1840 and in 1842 he was appointed a director of the Union Assurance Co. He was an Alderman on City of Sydney Council from 1842 to 1843. In 1836 Peacock purchased four acres of the first sub-division of Balmain, opposite his Miller's Point wharf. By the 1840s it became evident he had spread his business empire too thin and by September 1843 he was facing insolvency. He sold off his 38 Balmain lots in 1841. The 1888 map of Peacock Point shows that there had been land reclamation and a large amount of building construction by this time. The natural shore line is indicated on the map set well back from the reclaimed land edge in all but two locations, the largest of which is opposite William Street. By 1943 the whole foreshore of the site had all been reshaped and extended out into the bay. 1943 aerial photography clearly indicates that the maritime industrial use of the site continued well into the 20th century. Ships can be seen tied up to wharfs, one