Ashcroft is a suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

 in South-western Sydney

South-western Sydney

South-western Sydney is a general term which is used to describe the metropolitan area in south-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Greater Western Sydney area....

, in the state of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Ashcroft is located 35 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district

Sydney central business district

The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...

, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool

City of Liverpool, New South Wales

The City of Liverpool is a Local Government Area to the southwest of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.-History:It is one of the oldest urban settlements in Australia, founded in 1810 as an agricultural centre by Governor Lachlan Macquarie...

.

History

The suburb was formed as part of the Housing Commission's Green Valley development. It was named Ashcroft after the pioneering family in the district that gave the land for the site of this development. The Ashcroft family was active in establishing meat wholesaling and retailing activities at the Homebush

Homebush, New South Wales

Homebush is an inner western suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Homebush is located 15 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield. Homebush West and Homebush Bay are separate suburbs...

 abattoir. E.J. Ashcroft was a butcher at Liverpool

Liverpool, New South Wales

Liverpool is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Liverpool is located 32 km south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Liverpool...

 in the 1890s. Although named earlier, Ashcroft was officially gazetted on 7 April 1972.

Notable residents

• Childhood home of Mark Latham
  Mark Latham
  Mark William Latham , an author and former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005....
  
  , former leader of the Australian Labor Party
  Australian Labor Party
  The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
  
  .
• Joseph Gatehau, finalist on the 2006 series of Australian Idol
  Australian Idol
  Australian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive...
  
  .
• X-Factor
  The X Factor (Australia season 2)
  The X Factor is an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent. The 2010 season premiered on 30 August 2010 and was won by Altiyan Childs on 22 November 2010. Ronan Keating emerged as the winning mentor of the series...
  
  finalists Mahogany
  Mahogany
  The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
  
   (9th contestants eliminated) attended Ashcroft High School.
• Brad Fittler
  Brad Fittler
  Bradley Scott "Freddie" Fittler AM is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. The current coach of NSW City team in the City vs. Country clash, he coached in the NRL for the Sydney Roosters between 2007 and 2009. As a player, Fittler captained both New South Wales...
  
   - a Rugby League great, a former Ashcroft resident and also attended Ashcroft High School.
• Jason Taylor
  Jason Taylor
  Jason Taylor may refer to:*Jason Taylor , Australian rules footballer*Jason Taylor , Australian rugby league footballer and coach...
  
   - former Nrl player and former coach of the South Sydney Rabbitohs,a former Ashcroft resident and also attended Ashcroft High School.
• Ben Te'o - Nrl player with Brisbane Broncos, and attended Ashcroft High School

Notable events

Ashcroft High School were the first co-educational school to win the Amco Shield (now called the Arrive Alive Cup). They won the Amco Shield in 1977 and again in 1985. In 1976, Ashcroft became the first City school to win the University Shield for 31 years and went on to win it again in 1977 and 1985.