Macquarie Fields, New South Wales

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Macquarie Fields is not Macquarie Links or Macquarie Park.

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Macquarie Fields is a suburb with a diverse community located in the south-western suburbs of Sydney, in Campbelltown. It was named after Governor Macquarie.

[edit] History

James Meehan is known as the local pioneer of Macquarie Fields. Sent to Sydney in 1789 as a convict involved in the Irish Rebellion, he became a free man in 1805. Five years later, he became Surveyor-General.

Around 1810, Governor Macquarie allocated to him 2020 acres, known as Macquarie Field, in what is now the modern Macquarie Fields. After retiring in 1822, he became a farmer, and grew wheat, barley, maize, vegetables, an orchard and grazed livestock.

After his death in 1826, his son, Thomas Meehan, inherited the large property. Thomas Meehan married Mary Ann Tress, a girl from the Southern Highlands town of Appin, NSW. However, they were financially unfit for the large asset and, as a result, he lost rights to the property, which he sold to Samuel Terry.

Thomas Meehan became a Postmaster in Campbelltown. After falling ill, he committed suicide in 1835. Samuel Terry died in 1838, leaving the property to Martha Terry, his daughter. Macquarie Fields House, an icon in the suburb, was built in the following years.

The House was used as a school in the 1860s until Martha Terry died in 1877. The House and the western segment of the estate were sold to the Ashcroft family. The rest was put up for sale in 1881.

Thomas Saywell bought 1558 acres of the eastern part from the Hosking Trust, hoping to reap profits. This turned out to be a poor investment, and all that was left in his name was Saywell Road, now a major road in Macquarie Fields.

In 1883, William E.H Phillips purchased a large segment of Saywell's land and drew up plans for an elaborate mini-city, Glenwood. However, for the time-being, the estate grew to nothing more than a few homes in the bush. On the contrary, he did have success with Macquarie Fields Train Station, which opened in 1888.

His profits ended in 1892 and he went to prison over fraud. Only in 1900, did Glenwood start expanding. From then on, it was owned by Campbelltown City Council.

Many roads have been named after famous figures, including Victoria Road (Queen Victoria), Parliament Road (after Federation) and Church Street (after a baptist church).

The suburb grew, and a town centre was estblished. This originally consisted of a delicatessen, a bakery and a butcher, but has now extended into an Internet Cafe, a Pizza Shop and a Chinese Restaurant.

The area since then has become more diverse, with many more cultures being introduced. Private-sector housing grew in the area, and spread north across the suburb.

A High School was established in 1981 as a temporary facility. However, due to growing enrolments in Ingleburn and James Meehan High Schools, it became permanent in 1985.

[edit] Macquarie Fields Now

Macquarie Fields was the location of riots in 2005.

Macquarie Fields of today consists of three distinct socio-economic communities:

There is the retreating public housing. A lot of the public housing has been offered up for private sale.
There is a dominant private sector which covers most of the suburb now. These houses range from $150,000-$500,000.
There is also a high-security housing estate based around an international standard golf course. This was built on top of remaining farmland in the area.

The suburb is a 40 minute drive from Sydney CBD, a 40 minute drive to the beach, and is surrounded by bushland. Swimming pools, tennis courts, a school, a gym and various sporting fields are some of the facilities available.