Sans Souci, New South Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sans Souci is a southern Sydney suburb in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 17 km south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area.
Sans Souci lies across two local government areas, the City of Rockdale and the Municipality of Kogarah. Its postcode is 2219.
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[edit] Location
Sans Souci sits on the western shore of Botany Bay. Lady Robinson Beach and Cook Park run along the eastern border. Kogarah Bay runs along the western border. Sans Souci is connected to Taren Point, in the Sutherland Shire, to the south, by the Captain Cook Bridge over the Georges River.
[edit] Commercial Area
Sans Souci is mostly residential. A shopping strip is located on Rocky Point Road, near the intersection of Sandringham St, including the Sans Souci Shopping Village, fast food outlets and the post office. Another small group of shops is located at the intersection of Clareville Avenue and Russell Avenue, on the border with Dolls Point and Sandringham. It includes Sans Souci Library, Dolls Point petrol station, grocery shop, liquor shop, chemist, hairdresser, take-away shops and a café called Kali Orexi. Sans Souci also features two primary schools- Sans Souci Public and St Finbars.
[edit] History
Sans Souci is a French term meaning ‘without care’, in other words, ‘no worries’. The area between Cooks River and Georges River was originally known as Seven Mile Beach. It was changed to Lady Robinson’s Beach in 1874 to honour the wife of Governor Sir Hercules Robinson. Cook Park is named after Samuel Cook who advocated it as a public pleasure area.
Catherine Cooper was given a 100 acre grant in the area in 1830, where she and husband, Robert Cooper Junior built a home. The Coopers later operated a distillery there and the land was known as Charlotte Point and then Rocky Point.
Sans Souci took its name from a grand house built on Rocky Point Road on land bought in 1853, by Thomas Holt (1811-1888), a wood merchant and politician, for his German wife. It was named after Sanssouci in Potsdam, Germany, the summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. However, Holt thought that the area was too isolated so he built another house at Marrickville, overlooking the Cooks River, which he called The Warren. He bred rabbits for hunting and kept exotic animals, including an alpaca on this property. In the 1860s, Holt sold his Sans Souci property to William Rust, who turned it into a popular hotel, despite its isolation.
A steam tram operated between Sans Souci and Kogarah in the 1890s which allowed people to enjoy bathing, boating and fishing. In 1937, a silent electric trolley bus was introduced, until 1959 that ran from Rockdale to Kogarah, Sans Souci and Dolls Point.
[edit] Landmarks
- Lady Robinson Beach, Rocky Point, St Kilda Point, Captain Cook Bridge
- Cook Park, Sans Souci Park, Bona Park, Kendall Street Reserve
- Sans Souci Primary School, St Finbars Catholic School, Sans Souci Library
- St Finbars Catholic Church, St Andrews Anglican Church, Sans Souci Baptist Church
- St George Sailing Club, St George Motor Boat Club, Botany Bay Yacht Club
[edit] Notable residents
- Michelle Ford - 800m freestyle champion at the1980 Summer Olympics. She grew up in the suburb.
- Kostya Tszyu - Boxer and two time world junior welterweight champion.
[edit] References
- The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8
[edit] External links
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- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
| Suburbs and localities within the City of Rockdale | St George | Sydney |
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Arncliffe | Banksia | Bardwell Park | Bardwell Valley | Bexley | Bexley North | Brighton-Le-Sands | Dolls Point | Kingsgrove | Kogarah | Kyeemagh | Monterey | Ramsgate | Ramsgate Beach | Rockdale | Sandringham | Sans Souci | Sydney International Airport | Turrella | Wolli Creek |
| List of Sydney suburbs |
