Thomas Sutcliff Mort, Sydney, Guide du visiteur et quoi faire à proximité

The Thomas Sutcliff Mort statue stands in Macquarie Place, a small park beside Bridge Street in the heart of Sydney. It honours Thomas Sutcliffe Mort (1816 to 1878), a wool auctioneer and businessman remembered as an early champion of refrigeration in Australia. It is a quick, free stop that fits neatly into a walk around the oldest part of the city.

The story behind it

Mort was born in England and came to Sydney as a young man in the late 1830s. He made his name in the wool trade, where his auction firm helped organise the selling of Australian wool, and he became one of the colony's best-known businessmen. He also backed industry, including the shipbuilding and engineering works at Mort's Dock in Balmain.

He is best remembered for his interest in refrigeration. He supported experiments in cooling and freezing meat, with the idea that food could one day be carried over long distances without spoiling. The statue in Macquarie Place reflects the esteem in which Sydney held him as a figure of commerce and invention in the 19th century.

What to look for

• The bronze figure of Mort on its stone pedestal, which gives the monument a quiet, formal presence among the park's trees.
• The pedestal itself, where you can read the name of the man being honoured before you move on.
• The Macquarie Place Obelisk close by, a sandstone landmark from the early colony that makes a good companion to the statue.
• The contrast between the leafy little park and the office towers rising around it, a good spot for a photo of old and new Sydney together.

Tips for your visit

• Allow about ten to fifteen minutes for the statue and the park, longer if you want to sit in the shade and read the surrounding monuments.
• It is an outdoor public space, so you can see it from the street without going inside anywhere. Check current conditions if you plan a visit around an event or works.
• Morning or late afternoon light is gentler for photographs, and the park is usually calmer outside the weekday lunch hour.
• Circular Quay and the harbour are a short walk away, so it pairs easily with the waterfront and the historic streets of The Rocks.

See it on a quest

You can reach the statue on foot as one stop on The Oz Escape in Sydney, a self-guided quest with a Wizard of Oz theme. The app guides you from place to place, tells you about each one as you arrive, and sets a puzzle based on what is in front of you, so you look closely at the statue instead of walking past it. Start whenever you like, with no guide and no group to join. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.