Looking Back History Feature: The Father of Bulli

Henry Fry’s general store, Bulli. The shop was located about opposite Hobart Street on the Princes Highway.

By MICK ROBERTS ©

Henry Fry: The Father of Bulli.

OFTEN referred to as the “Father of Bulli”, Henry Strange Fry can be credited with laying the foundations of a farming community that grew into a city.

The largely unsung pioneer, who tirelessly battled to improve the quality of life for those who called the northern Illawarra home, was born in Bath, England in 1829 before arriving in Sydney as a free settler in 1854 on board the Bangalore, with his aunt, Rhoda Wilmot Fry.

Twenty something, and ready to begin a new and exciting life in the young colony of New South Wales, he obtained work with the government as a carpenter and joiner, building railway stations between Sydney and Parramatta, supplementing his wage crafting elaborate show cases for Sydney jewellers.

Coal…