Skip to main content

Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
Meader, Chrys

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Meader, Chrys

Author

Chrys Meader was the Marrickville Historian at Marrickville Council until 2011.

Dulwich Hill as Author

Enmore as Author

Lewisham as Author

Marrickville as Author

Stanmore as Author

Sydenham as Author

Search

Browse

Browse
- Artefacts
- Buildings
- Events
- Natural Features
- Organisations
- People
- Places
- Structures
- Entries
- Multimedia
- Subjects
- Roles
- Contributors

Footer

Home
About
Copyright
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

Dulwich Hill

Traditionally owned by the Cadigal people, the land that became Dulwich Hill was granted to early colonists Thomas Moore and James Bloodworth in the 1790s. Later owned by Robert Wardell, it was known as Wardell's Bush. By the 1860s Chinese market gardens and orchards, as well as small brickworks and potteries dotted the landscape. Subdivision took place in the 1900s after the railway and electric trams came through, and residential density has continued to rise with the building of units for the suburb's diverse population.

Enmore

Enmore's traditional owners were the Cadigal people. Convicts who became millionaires, retired sea captains, merchants, judges, bushrangers and rock music have all contributed to Enmore's colourful history.

Lewisham

Cadigal country until large grants were given to settlers in the early colony, Lewisham remained timbered and rural until the mid-nineteenth century. Its Catholic church, cemetery and hospital dominated one side of the suburb, and were the site of an air crash in 1946 when two staff were killed.

Marrickville

Once the site of a vast swampland, Marrickville became a significant industrial area in the nineteenth century. Today, the industry has largely gone but its multicultural legacy still flourishes in this inner west suburb.

Stanmore

Cadigal people walked the ridge line, which later became Stanmore Road, before the Europeans arrived. The land was granted to officers of the New South Wales Corps in 1792, and became farms, orchards and grazing land. Subdivided in the 1880s and 1890s, Stanmore developed around the railway station with Victorian villas and Federation houses. In the twentieth century, the suburb's fortunes declined, but by the 1970s gentrification was beginning to change Stanmore again.

Sydenham

Part of the rich lands of the Cadigal people, Sydenham was late to develop because of the Gumbramorra Swamp which covered most of the western part. It grew into a thriving industrial and workers' suburb with a few large villas, but was gutted in the late twentieth century by the effects of aircraft noise from Sydney Airport. The demolition of 152 houses created Sydenham Green, a large park.