Sylvania, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Sylvania is a suburb
, in southern
Sydney
, in the state of New South Wales
, Australia
. Sylvania is located 22 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district
in the Sutherland Shire
.
Sylvania is mostly residential but also contains areas of native bushland and some commercial developments on the Princes Highway
and Port Hacking Road. Sylvania Heights
is a locality in the western part of the suburb. Sylvania Waters
and Kangaroo Point
are officially part of Sylvania and share the same postcode (2224).
'Sutherland House' no longer stands (only its gate posts survive), but there are a number of heritage-listed buildings in the suburb. They include the original St Mark's timber church (now Sylvania Public School Library); a timber residence in Evelyn Street associated with the Holt Estate; 'Glenn Robin', built by William Glenn Wade on land he acquired in 1949 and completed in 1954; and 'Green Gables' built by Sidney and Clarisse Bayer between 1946 and 1952 on Kangaroo Point.*http://www.doryanthes.info/pdf/GreenGables.pdf
In 1913 the 3 hectare area bounded by Florida Street, Harrow Street, Mowbray Street and Illawarra Road (now the Princes Highway) was known as the Swastika Estate.
Much of the land of Sylvania Waters was 'reclaimed' from Gwawley Bay, effectively destroying the highly integrated mangrove flora of the bay. Sylvania Waters Estate was developed by L.J.Hooker in the 1960s; land offered had water frontages with boating facilities. Streets were named after Australian rivers to emphasise the association with water, such as Shoalhaven
, Tweed
, Murrumbidgee
, Hawkesbury
and Barwon
. The suburb has been identified as an area that is particularly vulnerable to inundation, should predictions of climate change
, global warming
and rising sea levels prove correct.
Southgate Shopping Centre
is located on the corner of the Princes Highway and Port Hacking Road. It contains two supermarkets Coles and Woolworths
, a Kmart
discount department store, many specialty shops including a Post office, a bowling alley, a gymnasium, fast food restaurants and a pub. A small group of shops and restaurants is located on Princes Highway
near the foot of Tom Uglys Bridge
. Another group of shops is located further west along the Princes Highway at Sylvania Heights, which includes Sylvania Heights Plaza.
crosses the Georges River
over the Tom Uglys Bridge
at Horse Rock Point and links Sylvania north to Blakehurst
, in the St George
area. The suburb is serviced by buses owned by the French-owned Veolia Transport
company.
Census
of Population, there were 9,496 people usually resident in Sylvania (excluding Sylvania Waters, population 2,963 and Kangaroo Point, population 572 ). 72.1% stated they were Australian-born. Of those born overseas, the percentages were as follows: United Kingdom 4.2%, New Zealand 1.97% and Greece 1.8%. English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 68.8% of residents and the most common other languages spoken were Greek 6.7%, Arabic 2.7% and Cantonese 2.4%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were Catholic
27.9%, Anglican 25.0% and Orthodox
11.5%.
In June 2009 the population was 9,499.
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...
. Sylvania is located 22 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...
in the Sutherland Shire
Sutherland Shire
The Sutherland Shire is a Local Government Area in the Southern Sydney region of Sydney, Australia. Geographically, it is the area to the south of Botany Bay and the Georges River...
.
Sylvania is mostly residential but also contains areas of native bushland and some commercial developments on the Princes Highway
Princes Highway
The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....
and Port Hacking Road. Sylvania Heights
Sylvania Heights, New South Wales
Sylvania Heights is a locality in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sylvania Heights is located in the north-western part of the suburb of Sylvania....
is a locality in the western part of the suburb. Sylvania Waters
Sylvania Waters, New South Wales
Sylvania Waters is a suburb, in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sylvania Waters is located 21 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Sutherland Shire....
and Kangaroo Point
Kangaroo Point
Kangaroo Point can be either:* Kangaroo Point, New South Wales - a suburb in Sutherland Shire, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia* Kangaroo Point, Hornsby, New South Wales - a suburb in Hornsby Shire, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
are officially part of Sylvania and share the same postcode (2224).
History
The traditional owners of Sylvania are the Dharawal Aboriginal people and their archaeological heritage is evident in a number of registered middens, burial and art sites in rockshelters on the Georges River. After European settlement, this land was acquired by John Connell Laycock as a Crown grant. Thomas Holt (after whom Holt Road is named), a prominent landowner, financier and politician, acquired it a few years later as part of the Holt-Sutherland Estate, some 13000 acres (52.6 km²). The name of the suburb clearly relates to its original wooded vegetation (‘sylvan’ which means wooded or inhabiting the woods). The native vegetation of the suburb is now fast disappearing, as a result of increased development. Thomas Holt built Sutherland House on the foreshore of Gwawley Bay in 1818, on the eastern side of Sylvania. He established the Sutherland Estate Company in 1881 and a village grew here, with a post office opening in 1883. The school opened in 1884 but closed in 1891 and was not reopened until 1925. Sylvania Heights Public School opened in 1955.'Sutherland House' no longer stands (only its gate posts survive), but there are a number of heritage-listed buildings in the suburb. They include the original St Mark's timber church (now Sylvania Public School Library); a timber residence in Evelyn Street associated with the Holt Estate; 'Glenn Robin', built by William Glenn Wade on land he acquired in 1949 and completed in 1954; and 'Green Gables' built by Sidney and Clarisse Bayer between 1946 and 1952 on Kangaroo Point.*http://www.doryanthes.info/pdf/GreenGables.pdf
In 1913 the 3 hectare area bounded by Florida Street, Harrow Street, Mowbray Street and Illawarra Road (now the Princes Highway) was known as the Swastika Estate.
Much of the land of Sylvania Waters was 'reclaimed' from Gwawley Bay, effectively destroying the highly integrated mangrove flora of the bay. Sylvania Waters Estate was developed by L.J.Hooker in the 1960s; land offered had water frontages with boating facilities. Streets were named after Australian rivers to emphasise the association with water, such as Shoalhaven
Shoalhaven River
The Shoalhaven River is a river rising from the Southern Tablelands and flowing into the ocean near Nowra on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia.- History :...
, Tweed
Tweed River (New South Wales)
The Tweed River is a short river in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. Its drainage basin consists mostly of the erosion caldera of the Tweed Volcano, a huge extinct volcano of which Mount Warning is the volcanic plug...
, Murrumbidgee
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
, Hawkesbury
Hawkesbury River
The Hawkesbury River, also known as Deerubbun, is one of the major rivers of the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its tributaries virtually encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney.-Geography:-Course:...
and Barwon
Barwon River (New South Wales)
The Barwon River flows through New South Wales, virtually as a continuation of the Macintyre River / Border Rivers system, before joining with the Culgoa River to form the Darling River...
. The suburb has been identified as an area that is particularly vulnerable to inundation, should predictions of climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
and rising sea levels prove correct.
Commercial area
Southgate, Sylvania
Southgate is a shopping centre in the Sydney suburb of Sylvania, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.-Stores:Southgate has a variety of shops and services including supermarkets, a discount department store, delicatessen, bakery, liquor shop, butcher, seafood shop, clothing shops, surf shop,...
is located on the corner of the Princes Highway and Port Hacking Road. It contains two supermarkets Coles and Woolworths
Woolworths (supermarkets)
Woolworths is the largest supermarket chain in Australia, owned by Woolworths Limited.-History:Woolworths Limited was founded in 1924, with the first store opening up in Sydney's Imperial Arcade.-2008 rebranding:...
, a Kmart
Kmart Australia
Kmart Australia Limited is a discount department store chain owned by Wesfarmers. It operates 172 stores in Australia and 15 in New Zealand, with its head office located in Mulgrave, Victoria. Wesfarmers uses the Kmart name under licence from Sears Holdings Corporation.-History:Kmart Australia...
discount department store, many specialty shops including a Post office, a bowling alley, a gymnasium, fast food restaurants and a pub. A small group of shops and restaurants is located on Princes Highway
Princes Highway
The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....
near the foot of Tom Uglys Bridge
Tom Uglys Bridge
Tom Uglys Bridge is one of three major road crossings of the Georges River in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It consists of two separate bridges that carry the Princes Highway, linking the St George area at Blakehurst to the Sutherland Shire at Sylvania.- Origin of the name :Tom Uglys...
. Another group of shops is located further west along the Princes Highway at Sylvania Heights, which includes Sylvania Heights Plaza.
Transport
The Princes HighwayPrinces Highway
The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....
crosses 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...
over the Tom Uglys Bridge
Tom Uglys Bridge
Tom Uglys Bridge is one of three major road crossings of the Georges River in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It consists of two separate bridges that carry the Princes Highway, linking the St George area at Blakehurst to the Sutherland Shire at Sylvania.- Origin of the name :Tom Uglys...
at Horse Rock Point and links Sylvania north to Blakehurst
Blakehurst, New South Wales
Blakehurst is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blakehurst is located 18 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Kogarah and is part of the St George area.Blakehurst is connected to...
, 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. The suburb is serviced by buses owned by the French-owned Veolia Transport
Veolia Transport
Veolia Transport is the international transport services division of the French-based multinational company Veolia Environnement...
company.
Churches
- Our Lady of the Way Catholic Church
- St Michael's Orthodox Church
- Sylvania Anglican Church
- Sylvania Uniting Church.
Population
According to the 2006 Australian Bureau of StatisticsAustralian 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 9,496 people usually resident in Sylvania (excluding Sylvania Waters, population 2,963 and Kangaroo Point, population 572 ). 72.1% stated they were Australian-born. Of those born overseas, the percentages were as follows: United Kingdom 4.2%, New Zealand 1.97% and Greece 1.8%. English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 68.8% of residents and the most common other languages spoken were Greek 6.7%, Arabic 2.7% and Cantonese 2.4%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were 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...
27.9%, Anglican 25.0% and 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,...
11.5%.
In June 2009 the population was 9,499.
Notable residents
- Anthony Choi aka Bing Lee (Chinese: 并力电器) died 1987, founder of the Bing LeeBing LeeBing Lee is an Australian retailing company, a chain of superstores specializing in consumer electronics, computer and telecommunication goods. Bing Lee is the largest privately-held electrical retail business in New South Wales with 41 stores and a turnover of about $490 million...
retailing company - Edward DuykerEdward DuykerEdward Duyker is an Australian historian and author born in Melbourne, Victoria, to a father from the Netherlands and a mother from Mauritius...
Historian and author - Jim Russell, cartoonist
- Dudley SimpsonDudley SimpsonDudley Simpson is an Australian television composer who is best known for his work on Doctor Who.Prior to leaving Australia, Simpson composed for the Borovansky Ballet Company, forerunner to the Australian Ballet. Among his early television work was the music for Moonstrike...
Composer and conductor - Glenn StevensGlenn StevensGlenn Robert Stevens is an Australian economist and the current Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.-Early life and education:...
Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia - Angus YoungAngus YoungAngus McKinnon Young is a Scottish-born Australian musician, and the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of the rock and roll band AC/DC. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with other members of AC/DC in 2003 and is known for his energetic performances,...
- AC/DCAC/DCAC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
Guitarist - Sonny Bill WilliamsSonny Bill WilliamsSonny William 'Sonny Bill' Williams is a New Zealand rugby union player and former rugby league player. He is only the second person to represent New Zealand in rugby union after first playing for the country in rugby league. In rugby union he usually plays as a centre...
Rugby League/Rugby Union Player - Reni MaituaReni MaituaReni Maitua is an Australian professional rugby league footballer with the Parramatta Eels of the NRL. An Australian international representative player, he previously played for the Bulldogs RLFC, with whom he won the 2004 premiership...
Rugby League Footballer
Further reading
- Audet, S. et al. Sylvania Back Then: Aspects of Local History, Sylvania High School, Sylvania, 1985.
- Bursill, L., Jacobs, M., Lennis, D. Timbery-Beller, B., & Ryan, M. Dharawal: The Story of the Dharawal Speaking People of Southern Sydney, Privately Published, 2007?, ISBN 978 0 646 48013 8
- Salt, D. F., Gateway to the South: An Intimate Insight into the Origins of the Sutherland Shire: First Stop—Sylvania!, privately published, 1987.