French community

The prestige and influence of the woolbuyers continued to expand in the 20th century. Families such as the Playousts, the Lamérands and the Paroissiens were among the first to settle in Australia, followed by the Dekyvères, the Flipos, the Decouvelaeres, the Droulers and many others.

French business activity centred around meeting places patronised by expatriates. The Paris House Restaurant in Philip Street was owned by Frenchman Gaston Liévain. Serving epicurean dishes accompanied by high quality local and imported wines, Lievain also catered large scale business and community events.

Members of the consular corps (the Boivin family), other expatriates (the Périers and the de Villentroys), and Francophiles in general, attended the various patriotic displays staged on Bastille Day and the cultural evenings, banquets and charity balls held throughout the year. Albert J. Perier was a French-Australian photographer who worked for Kodak and Harringtons in Sydney.

 > View photographs taken by Albert J. Perier from the 1890s to the 1950s