Dictionary of Sydney
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  5. Mortlake

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Mortlake

Suburb

Western residential suburb on the southern bank of the Parramatta River, named after the district on the River Thames in England. It developed around the large gasworks built on the river by the Australian Gas Light Company.

-33.83443903296, 151.10425149171

Property
Administered by
City of Canada Bay Council
Part of
Canada Bay local government area
Type
Suburb

Mortlake

CC BY-SA 2.0
by
Gregory Blaxell
,
2008

Bennelong's clan, the Wangal, were traditional owners of the area that became Mortlake, but dispossessed when the land was granted to settlers in 1795. By the 1880s, the suburb was dominated by the AGL gasworks, and the railway, coal loading and other infrastructure necessary to support it. When the works closed in 1990 and were redeveloped as Breakfast Point, Mortlake was reduced in size. As other industries move away the area is likely to be redeveloped.

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