History of Suburbs

CAMPERDOWN was named in 1806 by Governor William Bligh, who was granted in  an estate there of 97.1 ha (240 acres).  Bligh was decorated for his role in the British naval victory against the Dutch at the Battle of Camperdown (Kamperduin) in 1797.  Kamperduin, literally the Dunes of Kamp, is the name of a north Holland village, near the North Sea.

Camperdown was a separate municipality from 1862 to 1908.

Camperdown Cemetery, established in 1848, is one of the oldest European burial sites in New South Wales.  The first interment was Sir Maurice O"Connell, son in law of Governor Bligh.   The vault also contains the remains of his grandson, Richard Murray O'Connell.
 

DULWICH HILL was named after the London suburb of Dulwich.  Earlier names were Wardell's Bush and Wardell's Hill, after the extensive estate of Dr Robert Wardell.  Parts of what is now Dulwich Hill were referred to until about 1911 as Fern Hill.

The last extensive subdivision of land in the Marrickville LGA occurred in 1928 at Dulwich Hill.  This was the Abergeldie Estate, property of Sir Hugh Dixson, tobacco tycoon and philanthropist.  The subdivision comprised 153 allotments with the auctioneer selling all of the allotments on the one day with the sale finishing by candlelight.
 

ENMORE was named after Enmore House, built in 1835 by Captain Sylvester Browne, a master mariner with the East India Company.  Browne named his house after the West Indian estate of a business associate, the head of James Cavan & Co, which in turn took its name from a London suburb.  Browne's son wrote several Australian classics, including Robbery Under Arms, under the name of Rolf Boldrewood.

Enmore House was the home of the  Josephson family from 1842 to its demolition in 1883.  After his death his son Joshua Frey Josephson lived there until 1883.  Joshua Frey Josephson had four sons and nine daughters from three marriages.  One son, Joshua Percy Josephson was Mayor of Marrickville in 1901.  Five streets are named after five daughters - Clara, Laura, Marian, Pearl and Sarah.
 

LEWISHAM was named in 1834 after the estate of Joshua Frey Josephson, businessman and judge and also owner of Enmore House.  He named it after the London Borough of Lewisham, which means Leofsa's village or manor.

Lewisham is notable in railway history.  It was the termination point for the first train journey in the NSW colony in 1855, although the railway station was not built until 1885.  The whipple truss bridge over Long Cove Creek was constructed 1885-1886 featuring North American technology developed by Squire Whipple. It is probably the most significant railway bridge site in  Australia, certainly in NSW. It has the unique distinction of 4 different types of bridges from different eras. The Institution of Engineers Australia designated the Viaduct in 1994 as an historic engineering marker.
 

MARRICKVILLE was named after the estate of Thomas Chalder, whose estate of 24.3 ha (60 acres) was subdivided on 24 February 1855.  It was known as Marrick, after his native North Yorkshire village.  The estate centred on the intersection of Victoria Road and Chapel Street.  William Dean, the publican of the Marrick Hotel, in Illawarra Road (now the site of the Henson Park Hotel) is credited with adding the ville to Marrick.

Marrickville became a Municipality on 6 November 1861.

The Aboriginal name for most of the present day LGA was Bullanaming.

The  Winged Victory figure on the WW1 war memorial, outside of Marrickville Town Hall, is the largest known bronze casting on a memorial in Australia.  The Winged Victory stands at over 4 metres.
 

NEWTOWN derived its name from a store opened by John Webster, which stood on the site of the Oxford Hotel in King Street.  Webster named his store the New Town Store to distinquish it from the established settlements at Camperdown, cooks River and O'Connell Town.  The name Newtown was recorded as early as 1832.

By the late 19^th century King Street had become one of the largest suburban retail shopping centres which competed with the CBD.

Newtown Rugby League Footbal Club was the first rugby league club in Australia, formed at a public meeting in Newtown Town Hall on 8 January 1908.

Newtown was a separate municipality from 1862 to 1949.
 

PETERSHAM was named by Lieutenant-Governor, Major Francis Grose after his native village on the Thames, near Richmond, England.  Petersham was one of the earliest settlements in the colony.  Facing a severe food shortage Grose in October 1793 ordered a timber yard 200 feet square formed, nine huts for labouring convicts built and 60 acres of government ground cleared of timber, twenty of which was sown with Indian corn.

Petersham was a separate municipality from 1871 to 1949.

The prominent water tower was built in 1916 over the old water reservoir. Petersham Reservoir, No.89, was commissioned in 1888, and  has the historical distinction of being the first of the new reservoirs to be constructed upon the commencement of the  Upper Nepean Scheme in 1888.
 

ST PETERS was named by its association with St Peters Anglican Church, which was consecrated in 1838.  It has been claimed that St Peters Anglican Church was the first church built in Australia using non convict labour.

St Peters was described in the 1840s as one of the most fashionable and aristocratic suburbs of Sydney.  In the 1870s it was an important brickmaking centre.

St Peters was a separate municipality from 1871 to 1949.  The town hall in Unwins Bridge Road was built in 1927.
 

STANMORE was named by a prosperous saddler, John Jones.  He purchased land in 1835 where Newington College now stands and called it the Stanmore Estate.  James named it after his Middlesex birthplace, a north London suburb.  The current suburb of Stanmore is larger than the original estate and includes the area originally known as Kingston.

The first Norfolk pines on the Australian mainland were planted along the line of Percival Road, leading to Parramatta Road by Lt Colonel George Johnston.  He was the  owner of Annandale House , built in 1799 on the hill between Macaulay and Albany Roads, Stanmore.  It was from here where Johnston marched with his troops to Castle Hill on 5 March 1804 to quell the convict revolt and where he rode on 26 January 1808 to arrest Governor Bligh during the Rum Rebellion.
 

SYDENHAM was named after the London suburb of Sydenham, part of the Borough of Lewisham.  In the 1890s Sydenham was the industrial hub of the area.  Factories included Sydney Steel Company, Australian Woollen Mills, Malleable Castings, Marrickville Margarine and Fowler's Potteries.

Sydenham Railway Station opened on 15 October 1884 with the name Marrickville. Sydenham is an important location in the suburban railway system as a major junction station and retains buildings from the early period of railway construction.
 

TEMPE was named after the home of Alexander Brodie Spark, which was built in 1835 on the southern bank of Cooks River.  Spark named his house after the beautiful Vale of Tempe, beneath Mount Olympus in Greece.

The railway station opened in 1884 and Tempe became a popular resort with large crowds attracted to Cooks River for swimming and boating. 

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