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The Dictionary of Sydney
Grellis, Alison

Grellis, Alison

Author

Alison Grellis is a local studies librarian and council archivist

Allawah as Author

Beverley Park as Author

Blakehurst as Author

Carss Park as Author

Oatley as Author

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Allawah

Built on Gameygal country, Allawah was named after the railway went through in 1925, but developed on farmland granted to the Townson brothers in the early colonial period. The suburb prospered in the interwar period, providing many homes for new migrants from Britain.

Beverley Park

Part of the traditional country of the Kameygal people, the area that became Beverley Park ran into the wetlands of Kogarah Bay, and was used for market gardening for many years, as it was prone to flooding. It was reclaimed, drained and subdivided after 1937, using funds designed for unemployment relief.

Blakehurst

Gameygal country until Europeans arrived, the area that became Blakehurst was part of huge grants given to the Townson brothers before 1810, and exploited for timber, charcoal, lime and soda, before farming began. As roads and transport improved in the mid-nineteenth century, settlement moved south. Chinese market gardeners farmed land in Blakehurst, and shipbuilding took place along the waterfront. The township grew fast in the early twentieth century, becoming a residential suburb.

Carss Park

Built on the land of the Gameygal clan, Carss Park is named for William Carss, the first of the early landowners to actually live on his property, who moved there in the 1860s. By 1917 when the Carss farm was left to the Sydney Sailor's Home, the area was mostly small mixed farms, with bushland and orchards. Public protest prevented the land being sold completely for development, and a portion was set aside for Carss Bush Park.

Oatley

Rich camping grounds for the Kameygal people lined the river where Oatley was later built on the land granted to James Oatley, a convict clockmaker. Fishermen, oyster farmers and railway workers settled in the early subdivision after 1881, but it was not till the 1900s that Oatley developed a proper village with station, school of arts, church and post office. Relief schemes during the 1930s Depression provided improved roads and parks, and full suburban development took place from the 1960s.