Welcome, potential buyer. Shake the sand off, sir. It’s the 1920s, and Australia is going full steam ahead. Owing to the surveyor, property developer and visionary, HFH, otherwise known as Henry Ferdinand Halloran, you’ve arrived at a destination of note. Tanilba Bay Estates with low deposits and easy terms. In these post-war days, HLH, property developer extraordinaire, is out to impress. And who doesn’t want to get out of the city and into paradise? A big fan of the Garden City movement and the healthy lifestyle, from Avoca in Sydney, through to Nelson Bay. Henry’s fingerprints are up the eastern seaboard. But God’s very own Tanilba Bay is surely a standout. With parklands aplenty, wide streets, and Port Stephens, a world city, just across the Bay, you’d better have your chequebook ready, madam. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get going.
Credits & Contributors
The project was undertaken for the Port Stephens Family History Society, 2026
Produced by Dr Hamish Sewell, Soundtrails
Research and recording Roynn Cragg, Port Stephens Family History Society
Original Music by Mal Webb and Kylie Morrigan
Voices heard Alice Garner and Ian Bliss
Welcome to Country by Leigh Ridgeway, Murrook Cultural Centre, Chairperson Worimi Land Council
Funding from Port Stephens Council, Vibrant Spaces Grant
Works cited:
Halloran, Laurence. An Imaginative Speculator. Henry F Halloran. 1869-1953, Sydney, 1992
Fraser, Yvonne, Henry F Halloran in Port Stephens the legacy commissioned for the Port Stephens Family History Society, 2002
Henry F Halloran, “Districting or Zoning of Cities and Towns”, Second Australian Town Planning Conference and Exhibition. pp. 163–170. Brisbane, Queensland, from 30 July to 6 August 1918.
Lithographs provided by the Jervis Bay Maritime Museum
German experience in Australia during WW1: The Damaged Road to Multiculturalism. The Conversation. April 22, 2015: https://theconversation.com
Gaudion, D. Heritage & History of Tanilba House. Commissioned by Port Stephens Family History Society, 2019
All photos provided by the Port Stephens Family Historic Society Incorporated
For further information go to: The Port Stephen’s Family History Society