Hurstville, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
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 southern
Southern Sydney
This article refers to an area the same as a combination of St George and SutherlandSouthern Sydney is a general term which is used to describe the southern metropolitan area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia....
Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, 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...
. Hurstville is located 16 kilometres south 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...
and is part of the St George
St George, New South Wales
St George Area is an unofficial name applied to a group of southern suburbs in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The area includes all the suburbs in the local government areas of the City of Hurstville, the City of Rockdale and the Municipality of Kogarah...
area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Hurstville
City of Hurstville
The City of Hurstville is a Local Government Area in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The city centre is located 17km SSW of the Sydney central business district and west of Botany Bay....
.
Hurstville has become a central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
for the southern
Southern Sydney
This article refers to an area the same as a combination of St George and SutherlandSouthern Sydney is a general term which is used to describe the southern metropolitan area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia....
suburbs of Sydney. It is a large, multi-cultural suburb with its development of commercial buildings and high-rise residential buildings dominating the skyline. Hurstville's residential developments are a mixture of low density housing, medium density flats and high density apartment buildings. As a commercial centre, it features branches of many banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and retail shops.
History
Hurstville comes from the words 'hurst' meaning wooded eminence and 'ville' meaning town.Aboriginal culture
The first inhabitants in the Hurstville area were Australian Aborigines. It is unknown when Aborigines first settled the Hurstville region. At the time of the arrival of the First FleetFirst Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
the Aborigines living in Hurstville were part of the Eora
Eora
The Eora are the Aboriginal people of the Sydney area, south to the Georges River, north to the Hawkesbury River, and west to Parramatta. The indigenous people used this word to describe where they came from to the British. "Eora" was then used by the British to refer to those Aboriginal people...
tribe which stretched along the Georges River
Georges River
The Georges River is a waterway in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It rises to the south-west of Sydney near the coal mining town of Appin, and then flows north past Campbelltown, roughly parallel to the Main South Railway...
from Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
to present day Liverpool.
European settlement
The land of the Hurstville region was granted by the government of the new colonyColony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
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...
to two men; Captain John Townson and his brother Robert Townson in 1808. Captain John Townson was granted 1950 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s (7.9 km²) of land which is now occupied by the suburb of Hurstville and part of Bexley
Bexley, New South Wales
Bexley is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bexley is located 14 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Rockdale and is part of the St George area.-History:...
. Robert Townson was granted the land which is now occupied by Penshurst
Penshurst, New South Wales
Penshurst is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Penshurst is located 17 km south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Penshurst lies across the local government areas of the City of Hurstville and Municipality of...
, Mortdale
Mortdale, New South Wales
Mortdale is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mortdale is located 20 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Mortdale lies across the local government areas of the City of Hurstville and Municipality of...
and parts of Peakhurst
Peakhurst, New South Wales
Peakhurst is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Peakhurst is located 21 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Peakhurst is in the local government area of the City of Hurstville. Peakhurst is colloquially...
. In the same year, in the area now known as Riverwood
Riverwood, New South Wales
Riverwood is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Riverwood is located 18 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area...
land grants were made to Jane Trotter, Mary Shepley, Charles Doudall, and James Ryan. Later in 1816 another land grant in the same area was given to Mary Redman.
In 1809, Captain John Townson was granted an additional 250 acres (1 km²) in the area now occupied by Kingsgrove
Kingsgrove, New South Wales
Kingsgrove is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kingsgrove is located 13 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Rockdale, the City of Hurstville and the City of Canterbury...
and Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, New South Wales
Beverly Hills is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Beverly Hills is located 17 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Beverly Hills lies across two local government areas, the City of Hurstville and the...
. The Townson brothers were not happy with the land that they were given because it was not suitable for the farming of sheep for wool and it is likely that the brothers never occupied their land. In 1812, a wealthy merchant named Simeon Lord
Simeon Lord
Simeon Lord was a pioneer merchant and a magistrate in Australia. He became a prominent trader in Sydney, buying and selling ship cargoes. Despite being an emancipist Lord was made a magistrate by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, and he became a frequent guest at government house. His business...
bought the land of Captain John Townson and named it Lord's Forest. When Simeon Lord died the land became the property of John Rose Holden and James Holt of the Bank of NSW.
Development
A dam with a roadway on top was constructed on the Cooks RiverCooks River
The Cooks River is a 23 kilometre long urban waterway of south-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia emptying into Botany Bay. The course of the river has been altered to accommodate various developments along its shore...
at Tempe
Tempe, New South Wales
Tempe is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tempe is located 9 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Marrickville Council....
in 1839. In 1843 the road which was to become known as Forest Road was extended from the dam to a hand winched punt in Lugarno
Lugarno, New South Wales
Lugarno is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lugarno is located 23 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Hurstville and is part of the St George area....
. On the other side of the river the road continued all the way to Wollongong
Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...
, however it was only suitable for travellers on horseback. The new road opened up the Hurstville region and created a settlement at Bottle Forest, now known as Heathcote
Heathcote, New South Wales
Heathcote is a suburb, in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Heathcote is located 36 km south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire....
.
In 1850 the Lord Forest estate was purchased by Michael Gannon (1800–61) who subdivided it into small farms along what is now Croydon Road and three larger farms purchased by Dent, Peake and Ibbotson. The area became known as Gannons Forest. The land originally granted to Robert Townson was purchased by John Connell in 1830, and following his death in 1849 the estate was inherited by his grandsons Elias Pearson Laycock and John Connell Laycock.
The Gannons Forest post office opened in 1881. The local school was named 'Hurstville' by School Inspector MacIntyre when it was established in 1876. When the railway station opened on 15 October 1884, it took the name Hurstville, from the school. Hurstville municipality was incorporated in 1887. Hurstville was declared a city in 1988. The Centennery Bakery on Forest Road is a historic building that has been preserved and once housed a museum. The St George Regional Museum is now located in another historic building in MacMahon Street.
The Hurstville train crash on 3 August 1920 resulted in five people killed and fifty injured. It involved the collision of two steam trains, one arriving from Central plunged into the back of the other bound that was stationary at Hurstville railway station, bound for Sutherland
Sutherland, New South Wales
Sutherland is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the Sutherland Shire....
.
Commercial area
Hurstville's commercial area is centred around the main street, Forest Road, on the northern side of Hurstville Railway station. The commercial developments also extend to surrounding streets concentrated from Queens Road to The Avenue and on the southern side of Hurstville Railway station, around Ormonde Parade. The commercial developments extend further along Forest Road, west towards PenshurstPenshurst, New South Wales
Penshurst is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Penshurst is located 17 km south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Penshurst lies across the local government areas of the City of Hurstville and Municipality of...
and east towards Bexley
Bexley, New South Wales
Bexley is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bexley is located 14 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Rockdale and is part of the St George area.-History:...
.
Westfield Hurstville
Westfield Hurstville
Westfield Hurstville is a Westfield shopping centre in the southern suburb of Hurstville in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia at . Westfield Hurstville is the largest shopping centre in the St George area. It was officially opened in October 1978 by NSW Premier Neville Wran with 120 stores...
is the largest shopping centre in the St George
St George, New South Wales
St George Area is an unofficial name applied to a group of southern suburbs in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The area includes all the suburbs in the local government areas of the City of Hurstville, the City of Rockdale and the Municipality of Kogarah...
area. It is built over three blocks and stretches from Forest Road over Crofts Street, Park Avenue to The Avenue. Hurstville Central (formerly the 'Hurstville SupaCentre') is a small shopping centre on top of Hurstville Railway station, which has recently undergone total refurbishment. It links Forest Road with Ormonde Parade.
The administrative offices of the City of Hurstville
City of Hurstville
The City of Hurstville is a Local Government Area in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The city centre is located 17km SSW of the Sydney central business district and west of Botany Bay....
are located in the Hurstville Civic Centre in MacMahon Street. This street also features a number of historic buildings such as the Friendly Pharmacy, old Fire Station, Ritz Hotel and the St George Regional Museum, which houses the cake decorating collection formerly held at the Australian Cakes and Sugar Art Museum. Hurstville City Library is located nearby on Queens Road.
Arts and culture
The St Clair Recording Studio operated for about a year from December 1965 to December 1966 and recorded the Bee Gees among other musicians. AC/DC played at the Hurstville Civic Centre in 1977.A karaoke place opened in 2011 near the Meridian Hotel, the first ever one in Hurstville.
Transport
Hurstville railway station is a major station on the Illawarra line of the City Rail network. All suburban and most interurban trains stop at Hurstville. Hurstville is 20 minutes from Sydney Central railway stationCentral railway station, Sydney
Central Railway Station, the largest railway station in Australia, is at the southern end of the Sydney CBD. It services almost all the lines on the CityRail network, and is the major terminus for interurban and interstate rail services...
on the express service. Hurstville is a major bus interchange with bus services departing from Forest Road and Ormonde Parade.
Churches
- St Georges Anglican Church, St Michaels Catholic Church, Hurstville Presbyterian Church, Hurstville Church of Christ, Hurstville Uniting Church, Hurstville Seventh-day Adventist ChurchSeventh-day Adventist ChurchThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
, Hurstville Assemblies of God, Salvation Army, Church of the Living God.
Schools
- Hurstville Adventist School, Hurstville Boys High School, Hurstville Public School, Danebank Anglican Girls SchoolDanebankDanebank Anglican School for Girls is an independent, Anglican, day school for girls, located in Hurstville, a southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
, Bethany College, Beverly Hills Public School and St George Christian School. Sydney Technical High SchoolSydney Technical High SchoolSydney Technical High School is an academically selective, state-funded high school for boys in Bexley, a southern suburb of Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1911 as part of Sydney Technical College, the school was one of the six original New South Wales selective schools...
, Bethany CollegeBethany College (Sydney)Bethany College is a non-government Catholic high school for girls, located in Hurstville, a southern suburb in Sydney, New South Wales. In 2009 Bethany Junior and Senior Campuses amalgamated into one campus in Hurstville.-Facilities:...
and St. Mary's Star of the Sea are located just over the border in BexleyBexley, New South WalesBexley is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bexley is located 14 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Rockdale and is part of the St George area.-History:...
.
Landmarks
- Hurstville Civic Centre, Hurstville Entertainment Centre, Hurstville City Library, St George Regional Museum, Park Plaza Apartments
Demographics
The first European settlers in the area were mostly of British and Irish ancestry. From the late 1960s, Hurstville like many surrounding areas became home to migrants from all around the world. The first wave of migrants included GreeksGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Italians
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
who began moving south from Sydney's inner-city suburbs. They were followed by more European migrants including many from the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, such as Bosnians
Bosnians
Bosnians are people who reside in, or come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the modern state definition a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and...
and Macedonians
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
. From the 1990s, the Chinese community within Hurstville has grown considerably. Much of this was related to significant migration from Hong Kong during the 1990s. Many local businesses are operated by people of Chinese background, the interests of which are advanced by the St. George Asian Business Association. Hurstville is a hub for Asian groceries, food and services.
According to the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
Census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of Population, there were 23,226 people usually resident in Hurstville. 58.6 % stated they were born overseas with the top countries of birth being China 18.3%, Hong Kong 3.6% and New Zealand 2.1%. English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 26.7% of residents and the most common other languages spoken were Mandarin 21.1%, Cantonese 20.5%, Arabic 4.4% and Greek 4.1%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were No Religion
Irreligion
Irreligion is defined as an absence of religion or an indifference towards religion. Sometimes it may also be defined more narrowly as hostility towards religion. When characterized as hostility to religion, it includes antitheism, anticlericalism and antireligion. When characterized as...
(30.3%), Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
17.6%, Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
8.6% and Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
8.3%. The largest ancestry group was Chinese, reported by 42.1% of respondents, followed by Australian 12.4%, English 10.5% and other or undeclared ancestry 35%.
Notable residents
- Ronald Ernest AitchisonRonald Ernest AitchisonRonald Ernest Aitchison , was born in Hurstville, NSW, Australia on 29 December 1921. From 1942 to 1945 Ron worked as an engineer with the Amalgamated Wireless Valve Company on the design and production of klystrons and radar magnetrons, which were new devices important to the war effort...
- Physicist - Sir Jack BrabhamJack BrabhamSir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One champion in , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name....
- Three-time Formula OneFormula OneFormula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
World Champion motor racer - Stella Maria Sarah (Miles FranklinMiles FranklinStella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, known as Miles Franklin was an Australian writer and feminist who is best known for her novel My Brilliant Career, published in 1901...
) - Writer - Neville HayesNeville HayesNeville Hayes was an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1960s, who won two silver medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, in the 200m butterfly and the 4x100m medley relay....
- Swimmer - Thomas John LeyThomas John LeyThomas John Ley was an Australian politician who was convicted of murder in England. It is highly likely that he was also involved in the deaths of a number of people in Australia.-Early life:...
- Politician - Jack LindwallJack LindwallJack Lindwall was an Australian rugby league footballer of the 1930s and 40s. He is also the older brother of Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inaugural inductee and fellow rugby league player, Ray Lindwall....
- Rugby league player for St George - Ray LindwallRay LindwallRaymond Russell Lindwall MBE was a cricketer who represented Australia in 61 Tests from 1946 to 1960. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. He also played top-flight rugby league football with St...
- Australian Test cricketer, also played rugby league for St George. Younger brother of Jack - Craig NichollsCraig NichollsCraig Robert Nicholls, is the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the Australian alternative rock group The Vines. He formed the band in 1994 in Sydney, New South Wales...
- Musician