At 2 p.m. on Thursday, October 7, 1819, Governor Lachlan Macquarie laid a foundation stone for a new building on the edge of the unkempt open space, partly used as a racetrack, upon which the Governor had grandiloquently conferred the aspirational title Hyde Park.[1] In accordance with the practice of the time, the stone bore no inscription as to the intended use of the building. That was fortunate. The building, designed by the convict architect Francis Greenway, was proclaimed on that day to be a courthouse. In fact, the building, with slightly modified plans, primarily above the level of the…