Greenwich, New South Wales

History

The suburb's name is derived from its namesake Greenwich, by the banks of the Thames in London. Parramatta River had been known as the 'Thames of the Antipodes' and other nearby suburbs were also named after Thames localities of Putney, Woolwich and Henley.

The Cammeraygal clan of the Guringai people were the first inhabitants of the Greenwich area, and lived along the foreshores of the harbour, hunting in the hinterland and trading with other clans.

The first known occasion when a European went to the area was in 1788, when Lieutenant Henry Ball passed through the area while returning from a trip to the Middle Harbour area. Land grants began in 1794 and industries developed in the area during the 1830s.

Aboriginal people were still present in the 1820s, but disease and displacement had driven them out by the 1860s.

Early land grants were made to Samuel Lightfoot, a convict, in 1794, and William Gore, public servant, in 1813. Gore built a road from his farm at Artarmon to Gore Cove, which was the beginning of Greenwich Road.

In the 1830s George Green and his father Amaziah bought land in Greenwich, with access to the harbour, and along with others began a shipbuilding industry on the foreshore. When Green subdivided his land in 1840, the name 'Greenwich' was mentioned for the first time.

Greenwich House—a two-storey Georgian home made from sandstone blocks—was built on the 20-acre (8.1 ha) estate of George Green in 1836 and still stands on the corner of George and St Lawrence Streets. The house was eventually sold, by the mortgage holders, to Gother Kerr Mann in the early 1850s, and remained in that family until 1949.

The eastern tip of Greenwich is called Manns Point, after Gother Kerr Mann (1809-1899). Mann was the first Chief Commissioner for Railways, the Superintendent of convicts at Cockatoo Island and the builder of Fitzroy Dock.

By the early 1880s Greenwich Point already had a post office, general store, and school, with around 16 houses. Upper Greenwich took longer to develop, with most of the area still virgin bush. But with the improvement in north shore roads, and increasing subdivision in upper Greenwich, some grander houses were built near River Road, and new estates were subdivided as Greenwich became a commuter suburb.

Between the 1880s and the 1940s a number of successful dairies operated in Greenwich, run by the Anderson, Hogan, Mather and Clarke families. The milk from Anderson's was delivered by boat along the Lane Cove River and to the residents of Cockatoo Island. Hogan's dairy at Chisholm Street had 300 cows by the time it closed in 1928. Clarke's dairy was on the site of the current golf course.

Light industry was set up along the foreshores of Greenwich, including Shipbuilding, brickmaking, quarrying, and the Patent Asphaltum Company which refined bitumen and manufactured building materials. The Shell Transport and Trading Company opened a terminal at Gore Bay in 1901, importing and distributing petroleum products. It grew over time to include the sites of the Patent Asphaltum works, and several wharves, as well as the shale oil refining works of John Fell & Co. By the late 1930s, over 500 workers were employed at the Shell site.

Education

Greenwich Public School is a local primary school with two separate campuses located 1.5 kilometres apart. It was opened in 1876 as a provisional school, after repeated petitions from residents, and became a public school in 1880, with a new building and site in Mitchell Street in 1881. In 1909 the school moved to the site of the current infants school in Greenwich Road, and the primary school moved to Kingslangley Road in 1950. The children of John Howard, the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, attended the school.

Transport

Greenwich ferry wharf provides access to the Inner Harbour ferry services, with ferry services to Circular Quay. A bus service from Greenwich Point runs to McMahons Point, Lane Cove and St Leonards (Route 265). The closest train stations are at Wollstonecraft and St Leonards.

Sport and recreation

The Greenwich Village Games are held every four years and feature numerous sports and competitions held mainly at Bob Campbell Oval (Gore Creek Oval) and Lane Cove Aquatic Centre. Greenwich Sports Club, which was founded in 1936, organises football (soccer) for men, women and children and netball for girls. There are 2 sailing clubs as well. One is situated at the mouth of the Lane Cove River and the other off Greenwich Point

Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 5,178 residents in Greenwich. The majority of people were born in Australia, with the top other countries of birth being England, New Zealand and China. About one fifth of people spoke a language other than English at home and the most common languages spoken were Mandarin, Cantonese and Spanish. The top responses for religious affiliation were No Religion 28.3%, Catholic 24.7% and Anglican 21.2%.

Greenwich's population has a median weekly household income of $2,358, compared with $1,234 in Australia. The most common types of occupation for employed persons were Professionals (44.6%), Managers (17.8%), and Clerical and Administrative Workers (13.0%). 70% of the suburb's occupied private dwellings were family households, 24.1% were lone person households and 6.0% were group households.

Notable residents

Religion

The Catholic Church maintains Mary Help of Christians Chapel and the adjacent Clancy Terrace retirement village, and there are Anglican, Presbyterian and LDS Churches.

Politics

Greenwich falls within the Federal Parliament electoral division of North Sydney, currently represented by Joe Hockey, a member of the Liberal Party. Hockey has held the seat since the 1996 federal election and is currently the Shadow Treasurer.

For NSW state elections, Greenwich is in the electorate of Lane Cove, presently held by Anthony Roberts, a member of the Liberal Party, who has held the seat since the 2003 state election.