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Rydalmere Sydney, New South Wales | |||||||||||||||
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The Family Inn, Victoria Road | |||||||||||||||
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Population | 6,642 (2016 census) [1] | ||||||||||||||
• Density | 3,243.3/km2 (8,400.2/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Established | 1856 | ||||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 2116 [2] | ||||||||||||||
Elevation | 12 m (39 ft) | ||||||||||||||
Area | 2.0479 km2 (0.8 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Location | 21 km (13 mi) west of Sydney CBD | ||||||||||||||
LGA(s) | City of Parramatta | ||||||||||||||
County | Cumberland | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Parramatta | ||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | Parramatta | ||||||||||||||
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Rydalmere (formerly Field of Mars) is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rydalmere is approximately 21 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. Rydalmere is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.
The earliest grant in the area was to Phillip Schaeffer who settled in 1791.[ citation needed ] The district comprising modern day Rydalmere, Ermington and Dundas was initially called "The Ponds" because of such natural features occurring above Subiaco Creek. Shortly after Schaeffer's, further grants were given to several emancipists, eight marines and two crew of HMS Sirius, on the northern bank of the Parramatta River at Rydalmere and Ermington. By about 1800 "The Ponds" became known as "Field of Mars", presumably because of Mars being the god of war, and the military men that received land grants there. The parish of Field of Mars spread more or less from Parramatta to West Ryde and up to Carlingford and Eastwood. Later on to the north of this area along the Lane Cove River, a Field of Mars Common of 5,000 acres was established.[ citation needed ] Today's Field of Mars reserve and cemetery are remnants of this common.
The Darug is the clan name for the indigenous people of the area. The Darug fashioned tools and spears for hunting native animals and collected wild berries and flora as a valuable source of vitamins. The Darug had a close relationship with the river, from which they caught fish, eels, and other food. Their stable bark canoes often carried a small fire in the middle – built on a mound of soil to allow them to cook their catch fresh. 'Firebrand farming' was also practised in the region.[ citation needed ]
Soon after Governor Phillip's arrival with the First Fleet of convicts from England in 1788, Parramatta was developed as a farming settlement to feed the new English colony. This led to the immediate and tragic displacement of local Aborigines from the land they had lived off for thousands of years.
The introduction of foreign diseases was the most debilitating trend – and many of the Barramatagal clan disappeared in the smallpox epidemic during early European settlement. However against the odds others survived and their descendants live in the region to this day. In the early 19th century, more positive developments occurred and the region became a meeting place for tribes from surrounding regions. An annual feast was held by Governor Macquarie to encourage Aboriginal people to leave their children at a local school, but this focus later shifted to Blacktown area. [4]
Phillip Shaeffers 'Vineyard' grant of 140 acres was followed in 1792 with grants adjoining on the north bank of Parramatta River. These were to ex soldiers and the settlement was called 'Field of Mars'. The grants at modern day Rydalmere were to James Manning, John Carver, John Seymour, William Reid and a second to Phillip Schaeffer. These lots were all 80 acres except for Alexander Mcdonald whose grant at modern Ermington was 130 acres because he was a married man. [5]
The first Roman Catholic archbishop of Sydney in Australia, John Bede Polding, had been taught by the nuns of Stanbrook Abbey in England as a little boy. In 1849, he appealed to the abbey to provide nuns for a Benedictine monastery that he was founding on the 600 acres of Hannibal Macarthur's old Vineyard Estate which he had purchased. This was to be named Subiaco after the Italian location where St Benedict, the founder of the Benedictines, had begun monastic life. In response, Dame Magdalen le Clerc was sent to join Sister Scholastica Gregory from Princethorpe Priory, and the two founded what is now Jamberoo Abbey. This left Subiaco in 1957, after the urban development of the locality had become oppressive to the nuns. [6]
Rydalmere was named by Thomas O'Neill when he purchased much of the acreage of the Vineyard Estate not occupied by the nunnery, after it was put up for sale through the trustees by the Sydney Roman Catholic diocese in 1877. Despite the myth surrounding O’Neill coming from England’s Cumbrian Lake District, he was born in Tipperary, Ireland in 1830, and accompanied his parents to Australia as a young lad, where he finished his education. [7]
He left for the Californian goldfields in 1849 and returned in 1851, the venture being quite profitable for him. He entered business with much energy and a strong drive which along with sound commercial instincts allowed him to retire a very wealthy man in 1877. [8] Another myth is that O'Neill purchased the Vineyard estate as a speculator in order to quickly sell it and make a healthy profit.[ citation needed ] After the purchase, he established his "Fairmount Estate" which covered a considerable portion of Rydalmere, the boundaries more or less extending from Park Road (formerly Wharf St) to Spurway Street, the southern boundary being the Parramatta river, and the northern boundary being Subiaco Creek (formerly Bishop’s Creek). It was an orchard and pasture property.[ citation needed ]
"Fairmount" the family home he built, was said to be a very beautiful residence, and splendid views were to be had from its tower. It has long since disappeared and was thought to have been located near Victoria Road and Gammell Street. The property sales and sub-divisions only occurred slowly, and appear to be a result of either being required for the advancement of the suburb, or the estate being divided over time by roads being established i.e. Victoria Road in 1886, rather than being sold off for a profit.[ citation needed ]
Thomas O'Neill died on 13 March 1890 at Fairmount aged 59. His funeral service was held in St Mary's Cathedral, and he was buried in Waverley cemetery. He was said to have been a most amiable man, held in high regard by all that knew him. His was deeply involved in not only Irish and Catholic affairs, but public affairs in general. His charity spanned many years with his support of St Vincent's Hospital, The Good Samaritan Refuge and The Benevolent Asylum being on-going. His purse was never closed to charity. His final act before his illness was to donate the land and money to help the establishment of the Catholic church and school at Rydalmere. [9]
He still owned most of his Rydalmere property at the time of his death. Fairmount was later sold by the family and remained an orchard with a few building lots sold. It was not until after World War II, when the Housing Commission acquired it for public housing, that it was fully developed.
O'Neill had owned an estate named Rydalmere, which he had sold years before buying the vineyard estate and must have liked the name which he reused. Exactly where his first Rydalmere property was located is not known. [10]
Rydal Water is a lake in The English Lake District which gains its name from the nearby village of Rydal, and “Mere” is an Old English word meaning "lake", or "body of water". [11]
Rydalmere has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Rydalmere railway station was located on the former Carlingford line of the Sydney Trains network, which closed on 5 January 2020 for conversion to light rail. [13] The next station to the south was Camellia and to the north was Dundas. A conversion of the Camellia to Carlingford section of the Carlingford railway line to light rail was announced in 2015 as part of the Parramatta Light Rail project. [14] Though originally to run entirely to the south of the Parramatta River, a redesigned second branch of the light rail was announced in 2017. Beginning at Sydney Olympic Park, the line will pass through Rydalmere before joining up with the Carlingford branch at Camellia. If the Camellia option is chosen, a new bridge across the river would be constructed between the two suburbs. [15] [16]
Rydalmere ferry wharf is on Parramatta River and is served by Sydney Ferries's Parramatta River services from Parramatta to Circular Quay. RiverCat catamaran type ferries work the Parramatta River route due to shallow waters, particularly during low tides.
There are five bus routes operated by Busways' Ryde Bus Depot that service the area:
Victoria Road (A40) is a major route connecting Parramatta with Anzac Bridge and passes through Rydalmere. Silverwater Road is part of the A6 arterial route between Cumberland Highway at Carlingford and Princes Highway at Heathcote. It intersects with Victoria Road at a flyover interchange on the eastern edge of Rydalmere and crosses the Parramatta River over Silverwater Bridge.
Rydalmere currently consists of residential and commercial developments. The western side of Rydalmere is commercial consisting primarily of light manufacturing industry and service industries. The eastern side is mainly residential.
In 1886, Thomas O’Neill advertised land on the "Rydalmere" estate. The subdivision was divided into residential blocks, and was bounded by Victoria and Park Roads, and included Pine, Wattle and Myrtle Streets. The sale was hardly a success, though the corner block of Victoria & Park was sold, with building probably commencing that year, and the hotel license being obtained to allow the opening of the "Rydalmere Family Hotel". O’Neill donated the neighbouring land to the Catholic Church and school, while the rest of that subdivision appears to have been purchased by Frederick Randall, the Postmaster. It was known as Randall’s Estate and sold some 30 years later.[ citation needed ]
The Rydalmere Hotel has a long if interrupted history. Henry Atkins was the first Licensee, but only held it for a short time before transferring the license to Henry Jenkins in March 1887. [22] Mr. Jenkins wasted no time advertising his hotel in the SMH, with the Saturday 26 March edition extolling the virtues to "City Gentleman and Families" of the "comfort and moderate charges at the RYDALMERE FAMILY HOTEL, which is in every sense a country hotel". Disaster struck when Sydney was hit by a storm with gale force winds on Friday 23 September 1892, resulting in the hotel being blown down. [23]
There was even greater excitement in the district on 9 September 1907, when Constable Howard, senior officer of the Dundas district described how he passed through the scrub near the Rydalmere Hotel shortly after mid-day.[ citation needed ] He inspected the hotel, where everything appeared ok, but then he heard noises and talk coming from the Catholic Church next-door, indicating illegal drinking taking place. Waiting at the door, he attempted to detain a person as they were leaving, but was dragged into the building where he received a fearful beating and kicking from four men. He drew his revolver and fired, wounding a man. The four men arrested were Thomas Millane (the wounded Licensee of the Rydalmere Hotel), Michael Millane (his brother), Michael Murphy (caretaker of the church) and George Workman.[ citation needed ]
The hotel continued trading with a somewhat dubious reputation and ever changing Licensees until 1929, when it was forced to close due to its license being transferred to a Campsie hotel. In 1949 Millers applied to re-license the Rydalmere hotel by transferring the license of the New Langham Hotel in York Street. The Rydalmere Family Hotel was renovated, and additions made to it, so that it was ready for its official opening on 31 December 1949. [24] It is an unusual design, with the double storey section on the eastern side possibly being the original 1892 building, built after the storm. It had a striking appearance of off white, with the lower section having light blue glazed tiles with black tile trim – a cool colour scheme, which on hot days beckons its customers, and very different to the brown tiles of most pubs at the time.
During the 1970s, the colour changed, as did the name, to The Family Inn and it became one of Sydney's leading live music venues.[ citation needed ]
The shopping centre is located on both sides of Victoria Road at the intersection with Park Road. The northern side was constructed in 1959 and is typical of the era. The original shops consisted of Strange's Four Square Food Store, Davy's Pharmacy, McLeay's Hardware, Lorna Beauty Salon, Bambino Children's & Baby Wear, Rydalmere Fish Supply, Rydalmere Milk Bar and Pat Howard Barber & Tobacconist. [25] A weatherboard Post Office building originally stood near the footpath on Victoria Road, but was relocated back near the bank adjacent to the shops in the early 60s.
Rydalmere lost the beautiful Subiaco in 1961; it was formerly the home of Hannibal Macarthur, owner of the Vineyard Estate. Factories had surrounded the property. Rheem acquired and demolished the property in order to extend its factory. The house itself was a great loss, but the convent grounds had become a time capsule and still included Hannibal Macarthur’s original garden and Phillip Schaeffer's earlier house "Vineyard" c. 1791.
In contrast and a kilometre or so downstream, International Combustion Australia (ICA) had acquired the old Truganini Park property in 1953, in order to erect its new factory on the corner of South Street and Park Road. The old homestead "Truganini" was still in good condition, so ICA preserved it by building their new factory around it, and using it as office space. The factory was sold and demolished and is now a factory unit complex but Truganini is still there thanks to 60 years of careful maintenance by ICA. Although it is a private business premises, its exterior can be viewed during business hours by interested people.
Another sad loss was the old original brick school building on Victoria Road, a typical 2-room country schoolhouse of the period. The Minister for Public Instruction opened it with much ceremony on 14 December 1890. On completion of these duties, the official party hurriedly made their way across the road in order to perform a similar duty for the opening of the Rydalmere School of Arts. The old school building had been used as the school library for many years and suffered damage from a fire out of school hours. Being the 1960s, it would be reasonable to suggest that demolition rather than preservation was the first thought that entered the mind of the bureaucrat making the decision. Thankfully the "Masters House" built at the same time as the school, and located next-door still exists. It is now a private dwelling.
Although the Ermington-Rydalmere local Council was absorbed into Parramatta Council in 1948, the old Town Hall (which was the former School of Arts with a new facade attached) managed to survive until 1963 before it was demolished. Erected in 1889, it was a hall with a classical style façade and stood near the footpath, facing Victoria Road. A little further up the footpath on the eastern side, stood the old wooden "temporary" Post Office. It was demolished about 1962 along with the old neighbouring Fire Station. Across the road on the south east side of Park Road, near the corner of Victoria Road stood the old horse trough. It was removed about the same time.
At the 2016 census, Rydalmere recorded a population of 6,642. Of these: [1]
In the Australian Parliament, Rydalmere falls within the Division of Parramatta, currently represented by Andrew Charlton, [29] a member of the Australian Labor Party.Charlton was elected at the 2022 Australian federal election.
In the New South Wales Parliament, Rydalmere falls within the Parramatta electorate, currently represented by Geoff Lee, [30] a member of the Liberal Party. Lee was elected to NSW Parliament at the 2011 state election.
Rydalmere falls within the Elizabeth Macarthur Ward of the City of Parramatta local government area. [31]
Carlingford is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Carlingford is 22 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of City of Parramatta. Carlingford sits at the meeting point of Northern Sydney and Western Sydney sitting on both sides of Pennant Hills Road which generally acts as a divider of the two regions. While being part of City of Parramatta, it is sometimes referred to as being part of the Hills District.
The A6 is a route designation of a major metropolitan arterial route through suburban Sydney, linking Cumberland Highway at Carlingford and Princes Highway at Heathcote, via Lidcombe and Bankstown. This name covers a few consecutive roads and is widely known to most drivers, but the entire allocation is also known – and signposted – by the names of its constituent parts: Marsden Road, Stewart Street, Kissing Point Road, Silverwater Road, St Hilliers Road, Boorea Street, Olympic Drive, Joseph Street, Rookwood Road, Stacey Street, Fairford Road, Davies Road, Alfords Point Road, New Illawarra Road and Heathcote Road.
Dundas is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Dundas is located 21 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta, and the electoral division of Bennelong. Dundas is a leafy green suburb, notably due to its centrepiece The Ponds Walk, which follows the Ponds Subiaco Creek. Dundas is part of the Northern Sydney and Greater Western Sydney regions.
Dundas railway station, originally Kissing Point Road railway station, is a heritage-listed former railway station in Sydney, Australia, that was open between 1896 and 2020 and was located on the Carlingford line, serving the suburb of Dundas.
Rydalmere railway station, originally Victoria Road railway station, was a railway station in Sydney, Australia that was open between 1896 and 2020. It was located on the Carlingford line and served the suburb of Rydalmere. At the time of closure, Rydalmere station was served by Sydney Trains T6 Carlingford line services.
The City of Parramatta, also known as Parramatta Council, is a local government area located to the west and north-west of Sydney CBD in the Greater Western Sydney region. Parramatta Council is situated between the City of Ryde and Cumberland, where the Cumberland Plain meets the Hornsby Plateau, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of the Sydney central business district, in New South Wales, Australia. The city occupies an area of 84 square kilometres (32 sq mi) spanning across suburbs in Greater Western Sydney including the Hills District, and a small section of Northern Sydney to the far north east of its area. According to the 2016 census, City of Parramatta had an estimated population of 226,149. The city houses the Parramatta central business district which is one of the key suburban employment destinations for the region of Greater Western Sydney.
Telopea is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Telopea is located 23 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. The suburb is bordered by Kissing Point Road to the south and Pennant Hills Road to the north.
Camellia is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Primarily industrial with no residential population, environmental remediation commenced in late 2015, with the suburb ear-marked as a major centre for future high density living.
Dundas Valley is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Dundas Valley is located 21 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. Dundas Valley is part of the Northern Sydney and Greater Western Sydney regions.
Ermington is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Ermington is located 19 kilometres West of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. Ermington lies on the northern bank of the Parramatta River.
Parramatta is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is currently held by Donna Davis of the Labor Party since the 2023 NSW state election.
Silverwater Bridge is a concrete box girder bridge that spans the Parramatta River west of the central business district in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge carries Silverwater Road (A6) over the river to link Silverwater in the south to Rydalmere and Ermington in the north.
Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney's north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sydney is divided into distinctive regions such as the North Shore, Northern Beaches and Forest District.
The Dundas Shamrocks Junior Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1964 as an attachment to St Patrick's Marist College Dundas' sports auxiliary for weekend rugby league within the Balmain Junior Rugby League competition. In the mid-1990s the school sports auxiliary ceased to exist and the club was rechristened the Dundas Shamrocks. The club has been a member of the Balmain Junior Rugby League since its inception in the 1960s and provides teams for age groups from under 6's to A-Grade.
Ponds/Subiaco Creek, a joint northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a creek north-west of Sydney Harbour, located in the Northern Suburbs region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Creek is also known as The Ponds and the Subiaco Creek respectively. It is followed by a walking track known as 'The Ponds Walk'.
Vineyard Creek, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a creek in Sydney, Australia.
The Carlingford railway line is a former heavy rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, which now largely forms part of the Parramatta Light Rail. It was opened from Clyde to Subiaco in January 1885, then by means of the construction of a bridge across the Parramatta River, to Carlingford in April 1896. It closed on 5 January 2020 with most of the line undergoing conversion to light rail, while a short section of the line was retained for use by Sydney Trains.
The Parramatta Light Rail is a 12-kilometre (7 mi) standard gauge light rail line currently under construction in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Balmain Tigers District Junior Rugby League is one of the oldest Junior Rugby league Competitions in Australia. It administers an affiliation of junior rugby league clubs in the inner west and inner north west of Sydney.
The Parramatta Valley cycleway is a 15-kilometre-long (9.3 mi) shared-use path for cyclists and pedestrians that is generally aligned with the Parramatta River in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The eastern terminus of the cycleway is at Morrison Bay Park in Ryde and heads west along dedicated bike paths, quiet streets and the river foreshore to its western terminus at Parramatta Park in Parramatta.