Point Piper was named after Captain John Piper a Scottish-born military officer (not a bag-piper), who arrived in the colony in 1792 and built a mansion on the point after being granted a land by the Governor in 1816 . After a review of Piper’s performance as head of the Customs Department showed that he had mismanaged funds (although he was not actually accused of being corrupt), Piper attempted to drown himself in Sydney Harbour. He subsequently sold his holdings at Point Piper and other choice waterfront suburbs beforeheading to the country.
In 1834, Piper’s former residence was leased by Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes (a newly arrived Collector of Customs for New South Wales and a Crown appointee to the colony’s Legislative Council) and his family who resided at the Point Piper House until 1844, when they moved to “Wotonga” on Kirribilli Point. Wotonga now forms part of Admiralty House. Unfortunately, Point Piper House was torn down in the 1850s and the site redeveloped. Bugger. These people know their real estate. Thanks to Wikipedia for those titbits of info…
Photos are a bit all over the place as we kinda ranged from one side of the Point to another as the whole suburb is called Point Piper.