Port Hacking, New South Wales

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Port Hacking is a small suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 26km south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire.

Port Hacking is surrounded by the suburbs of Caringbah, Lilli Pilli and Dolans Bay. It is located on the north shore of the Port Hacking estuary.

The villages of Maianbar and Bundeena are located on the opposite bank of Port Hacking.

[edit] History

Port Hacking was named after Henry Hacking (1750-1831), a quartermaster on Governor Phillip’s HMS Sirius, part of the First Fleet. Hacking became a skilled, adventurous bushman, who led many hunting expeditions to supplement meat rations for Australia’s first settlers. He was amongst the party that found the lost government cattle at Cowpastures in 1795.

He discovered the Port Hacking River during one of his hunts and later was named after him by Matthew Flinders and George Bass when they explored there in late March, early April 1796. The northern headland at Cronulla is called Bass and Flinders Point.

Thomas Holt (1811-88) owned most of the land that stretched from Sutherland to Cronulla, including land here. In 1840, parish maps also showed that 20 acres of land on this point were owned by Francis Mitchell. In 1858 Mary and Andrew Webster paid 108 pounds and 15 shillings plus a yearly peppercorn quit rent for their land in this area. The Websters sold their land to Dominick Dolan in 1863.