By Independent Councillor, Nathan Tilbury & Vice President of the Hornsby Shire Historical Society
In May this year, the Hornsby Shire Historical Society received a letter from a Mrs Gladys Stewart offering a very large oil painting that was painted by her late Father-in-law, Bruce Stewart, in 1987. The framed artwork is four metres in length, a metre high and took many months for Bruce to complete.
The painting depicts the second Hawkesbury River railway bridge being built in the early 1940s and shows one of the spans being floated across the river, where it would be prepared to be lowered into position with the falling tide.
Before becoming a talented artist, Bruce Stewart was a carpenter working on the construction of the bridge project. He lived on Dangar Island with his family and rowed a small boat across to his work every morning.
After the bridge’s construction was completed the Stewart family continued to live on Dangar Island and Bruce was instrumental in the island’s residential development.
He constructed many buildings, including the island’s shop and also served as an early Dangar Island RFS Brigade Captain.
In 1988, Bruce Stewart donated his iconic painting to the State Rail Authority as a Bicentennial gift. It was initially hung in their boardroom, before being relocated to Central railway station and publicly displayed.
Around 2000, the painting went into storage during a refurbishment. It was rediscovered by a Sydney Trains Heritage team and underwent some conservation restoration, before being gifted back to the Stewart family in 2020.
Since then, the painting has hung in Stewart family home in Western Australian. They recently decided to once again offer this magnificent painting for display in a more public location.
While the Historical Society were keen to accept it, they had nowhere to display it.
The Stewart family generously paid for the painting to be professionally transported to Hornsby with a suitable location found in the Hornsby Council chambers building and it is now displayed on the wall of the ground floor hallway.
If you visit the Hornsby Chambers building it is well worth taking the time to have a look at this impressive oil painting that depicts a significant time in our local history.
