CROYDON, NEW SOUTH WALES

'Croydon' is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Croydon is located 11 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district. Croydon is split between the two local government areas of Burwood Council and the Municipality of Ashfield.
Nestled between the commercial centres of Ashfield and Burwood, Croydon is a quiet village-like suburb with mostly detached housing built in the early part of the 20th century in what is known as Federation or California Bungalow styles. The suburb is bounded by Parramatta Road to the north, Iron Cove Creek to the east, Arthur Street to the south and a number of different streets to the west. To the north are Kings and Canada Bays on the closest reach of the Parramatta River, to the northwest is Concord Hospital and the Olympic Games complex at Homebush Bay. To the south is Canterbury Racecourse.

Contents

History

Aboriginal settlement

Early British Settlement

Population Growth

Commercial Area

Transport

Schools

Parks

Landmarks

Population

Demographics

Notable Residents

Politics

References

External links

History

Aboriginal settlement

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area now known as Croydon was home to the Wangal clan of the Dharug people. Their territory was believed to be centred on Concord and stretched east to the swampland of Long Cove Creek. The land was heavily wooded at the time with tall eucalypts, blackbutts and turpentines covering the higher ground and mangroves, swamp oaks and swamp mahoganies in the lower swampy ground of Iron Cove Creek. The diet of the Wangal was primarily fish so they spent most of their time living near the shores of the Parramatta River and fishing in canoes. The land away from the river shores provided fruits, berries and edible plants as well as possums and kangaroos, which were killed both for food and their skins.^[1]
The arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 had a devastating effect on the local people, mainly from the introduction of smallpox, to which the indigenous people had no resistance. The disease spread quickly so that many indigenous people died of this white man's disease without ever having seen a white man. The Wangal certainly got to see the white men. One of their leaders, Bennelong, even befriended the first governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip, and was taken by him to England.^[2]
After establishing the colony at Sydney Cove in early 1788, Phillip ordered that a second settlement be established at Rose Hill (now called Parramatta) later that same year to increase the prospects of establishing successful farms. Within a year or so, a land route had been established between the two settlements, cutting through the territory of the Cadigal, Wangal and Burramattagal along the way. This rough track later became the main artery of the expanding Greater Sydney and, as the northern boundary of what is now Croydon, dictated early British settlement in the area.

Early British Settlement

Governor Phillip showed great reluctance to grant large amounts of land to his colonists, restricting land grants to the towns and people actively planning to farm the land. After his return to England in 1792, acting governor Major Francis Grose and his successor Captain William Paterson pursued the opposite policy granting large swathes of land to their friends prior to the arrival of the second official governor John Hunter in 1795.^[3]
The first land grant in the Croydon area was to Captain John Townson in April 1793 who received 100 acres on Parramatta Rd stretching west from Iron Cove Creek and south to what is now Queen St. Further grants were made in 1794 to: Private J Eades (25ac on Parramatta Rd to the west of Townson's holding); James Brackenrig (30ac on the other side of Eades's land); Augustus Alt, the first surveyor-general of NSW, (100ac stretching south from Townson's land to roughly what is now Thomas St); and Sarah Nelson (15ac west of the southern corner of Alt's land in the area now known as Malvern Hill). Alt was the first to take up residence on his land, naming it Hermitage Farm. However, his house was burnt down by a group of indigenous people (possibly led by Pemulwuy) in 1797 and he didn't return to Croydon, establishing himself in neighbouring Ashfield.^[3][2]
For the next 60 years or so, development in the area was slow with the forests gradually being cleared for orchards and grazing land. The area was a haunt of bushrangers in the 1820s with two major thoroughfares, Parramatta Road to the north and Liverpool Road to the south providing regular opportunities for holdups.
In 1855, the Sydney-Parramatta railway was built through the area which led to a housing boom around the stations at Ashfield and Burwood. This in turn led to local governments forming in the two areas with the land divided roughly equidistant between the two centres. In 1874 a new station was built on the boundary of the two areas and was named Five Dock after another settlement to the north. Because Five Dock was actually a long way north some confusion ensued and Ashfield Council renamed the station in 1876 to Croydon after the suburb in London. The suburb remains divided between the two neighbouring councils to this day.

Population Growth

The first developments were on the northern side of the station around Edwin and Elizabeth Streets. Anthony Hordern built his grand home 'Shubra Hall' in 1869 while many of the shops along Edwin Street North were built in the 1880s. Many houses in the areas surrounding Edwin Street North and Elizabeth St are also of the Victorian style popular in the 1880s and 90s.^[6]
The southern side of Croydon remained largely undeveloped until the early 20th century. The Malvern Hill Estate was subdivided in 1909 and designed as a model suburb like Haberfield with wide tree-lined streets and houses built in the then-modern Federation style (a variation of Arts and crafts). Part of the development was the Strand shopping strip, which has survived intact to this day and is now heritage listed in its entirety.
Since World War I, little has changed in Croydon generally. While there have been some blocks of flats built in that time, they account for only around 10% of dwellings in Croydon and many of them are art deco blocks from the 1930s which fit in with the general heritage feel of the area

Commercial Area

Croydon has a small shopping strip on The Strand, close to Croydon railway station. A number of small businesses, restaurants and cafes are located here. Croydon was the site of the Western Suburbs Hospital which closed in the 1990s and has been replaced with an aged care facility and community health centre.

Transport

Croydon railway station is located on the Inner West line of the City Rail network. As a rule, express trains don't stop at Croydon with most services being all-stops between the city and Lidcombe with some services continuing on from there to Liverpool or Bankstown.
Six bus services pass through Croydon:

★ The 409 travels down Parramatta Rd between Burwood and Ashfield

★ The 461 also travels down Parramatta Rd between Burwood and the city

★ The 480 & 483 travel down Liverpool Rd between Strathfield and the city

★ The 492 & 499 travel from Drummoyne to Burwood via Queen St, Croydon. They then travel through the southern part of Croydon with the 492 continuing on to Rockdale and the 499 continuing to Hurstville
Croydon is sandwiched between two major roads: Parramatta Road and the Hume Highway (also called Liverpool Rd). Within Croydon itself, there is only one road bridge (Meta St bridge) over the railway line connecting the north and south parts of the suburb.

Schools

A drawcard of Croydon is its four well-established and highly regarded schools.^[7]
;Private

★ Holy Innocents Catholic Primary School, a Catholic, co-educational primary school established in 1924.

★ Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney (P.L.C Sydney), a Presbyterian, P-12, day and boarding school for girls' established in 1888.
;Public

★ Burwood Girls High School, a secondary school for girls' established in 1929.

★ Croydon Public School, a primary co-educational school established in 1884.

Parks

★ Centenary Park

★ Blair Park

Landmarks

The Malvern Hill area of Croydon was designed as a model suburb in 1906 by surveyors Atchison and Schleiser. Like the nearby Appian Way area in Burwood and the 'garden suburb' Haberfield, the aim of the development was to have modern houses on large blocks of land with wide streets. Most of the houses are California Bungalows or similar Federation-era designs. The Malvern Hill Uniting Church was designed by Alfred Newman. Just east of Malvern Hill, in the Ashfield Council part of the suburb, is the grand Gads Hill Villa built by former Ashfield mayor Daniel Holborow and the nearby St James Anglican Church.

Population

Demographics

2006 Census Croydon Croydon[8] Sydney[9] Australia Population 9,646 4,119,190 19,855,288 Median age 38 35 37 Median weekly income $478 $518 $466 Born in Australia 53% 60% 71% Catholics 39% 29% 26%

According to the 2006 census, Croydon had a population of almost 10,000 people. It did not have the same level of high density housing found in its neighbours Ashfield and Burwood. Around two thirds of dwellings were separate houses with 18% apartments and 13% terraces, semis or townhouses. The average age of people in the suburb was slightly older (38) than the rest of Sydney and a higher percentage of people owned their homes outright (37%) than those paying them off (27%). Average loan repayments ($1900 per month) were much higher than the national figure ($1300).^[8]
Croydon still retains many of the characteristics of the broader Inner West region of Sydney, including a high proportion of residents born overseas. Around 53% of residents were born in Australia with 7.1% born in China, 5.5% in Italy, 2.3% in Lebanon, 2.2% in South Korea and 2.0% in Greece. There was a very high percentage of people professing to be Catholics (39%). People with no religion (15%) and Anglicans (11%) are less common than in Australia generally while Eastern Orthodox (7%) and Buddhism (4%) are more common.

Notable Residents

★ Augustus Alt (1731-1815), first surveyor-general of NSW.

★ Margaret Chandler (1934-1963), who died in the infamous Bogle-Chandler case, lived in Croydon with her husband Geoffrey.^[11]

★ Shopping magnate Anthony Hordern (1819-1876) built and lived at Shubra Hall, now part of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney

★ The fictitious poet Ern Malley (1918-1943) purportedly lived in Dalmar St, Croydon.^[12]

★ Sarah Nelson, first settler in the Burwood Council area.

★ Sir Bertram Stevens (1889-1973) was premier of NSW from 1932 to 1939.

Politics

Voting in Croydon since 2000 Elections Fed01[13] NSW03[14] Fed04[15] NSW07[16] Two Party Preferred Results   Labor 61% nr 59% 68%   Liberal 39% nr 41% 32% First Preference Results   Labor 51% 53% 47% 53%   Liberal 35% 29% 37% 28%   Greens 4% 11% 10% 12%   Democrats 5% 2% 1% 2%   Unity Party 2% 4% nc 3%   Christian Democrats nc nc 3% 3%

Croydon has recently been entirely within the federal electoral division of Lowe and the NSW state electoral division of Electoral district of Strathfield. However, following the recent federal electoral redistribution, the part of Croydon within Ashfield Council has been moved into the federal electoral division of Grayndler held by Anthony Albanese.
From a political point of view, Grayndler is considered a safe Labor seat while Lowe is more marginal, having changed hands a number of times in recent years. Currently it is held by Labor's John Murphy. The previous member Paul Zammit was elected as a Liberal member but quit the party after a change in government policy increased the amount of aircraft noise over the electorate. He unsuccessfully tried to retain the seat as an independent.
The state seat of Strathfield is also considered marginal. It was held by the Liberals until a redistribution in 1999 saw Labor's Paul Whelan grab it. The seat is currently held by Virginia Judge, also a Labor member.
The Croydon area by itself is considered a fairly safe Labor area. The table to the right shows that when you just look at the polling booths in the suburb of Croydon, Labor has consistently returned around 60% of the two-party preferred vote even when the first preference votes have fluctuated. The Greens vote, while not as large as in other parts of the inner-west has been steadily increasing in recent years.

References

★ ''The Book of Sydney Suburbs'', Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8

★ ''Speed the Plough - Ashfield 1788-1988'', by Sheena & Robert Coupe, published by Ashfield Municipal Council, 1988 ISBN 0 9595234 1 3

★ ''Harvest of the Years - Burwood 1794-1974'', by Eric Dunlop
1. Coupe, S&R: ''Speed the Plough'', page 9-20. Ashfield Municipal Council, 1988 ISBN 0 9595234 1 3
2. "How it all began"
3. Coupe, S&R: ''Speed the Plough'', page 22-26. Ashfield Municipal Council, 1988 ISBN 0 9595234 1 3
4. Coupe, S&R: ''Speed the Plough'', page 22-26. Ashfield Municipal Council, 1988 ISBN 0 9595234 1 3
5. "How it all began"
6. "Edwin Street North Conservation Area"
7.
8. "2006 Census QuickStats : Croydon (State Suburb)"
9. "2006 Census QuickStats : Sydney (Statistical Division)"
10. "2006 Census QuickStats : Croydon (State Suburb)"
11. "Sex, drugs and a murder mystery"
12. "History happened here - Ern Malley and 40 Dalmar St, Croydon"
13. "Federal Election 2001 - Polling Booth Results (Lowe)"
14. "NSW Election 2003 - Polling Booth Results (Strathfield)"
15. "Federal Election 2004 - Polling Booth Results (Lowe)"
16. "NSW Election 2007 - Polling Booth Results (Strathfield)"

External links

★ Croydon Public School website

★ Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney website

★ Burwood Girls' High School website