Why Sydney?

Viscount Thomas Townshend: It is thought that the Pulteney family renamed the gardens from Bath Vauxhall Gardens to Sydney Gardens Vauxhall, after Thomas Townshend, First Viscount Sydney (1733 - 1800) in an attempt to gain political favour.
  • Thomas Townshend was a British politician who was sitting in the House of Commons when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Sydney.
  • The cities of Sydney in Nova Scotia, Canada and Sydney, New South Wales, Australia were named in his honour in 1785 and 1788 respectively.
  • There is no evidence that Viscount Sydney ever visited Sydney Gardens.
Admiral Arthur Phillip: The Sydney Gardens connection with Sydney, Australia, became even stronger when the Admiral Arthur Phillip memorial was installed in Sydney Gardens in 2024.
  • Admiral Arthur Phillip was the first Governor of New South Wales and the founder of the modern nation of Australia. He set up the first penal colony in Australia in 1788.
  • He lived in Bath on his return from Australia ‘to take the waters’ as a cure for his failing health. In 1805, aged 67, he retired from the Royal Navy with the rank of Admiral of the Blue, and spent the rest of his life living in Bennett Street.
  • He is buried in St Nicholas Church, Bathampton and has a memorial plaque in Bath Abbey.