Toongabbie, New South Wales
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| Toongabbie Sydney, New South Wales |
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| Population: | 12,800 | ||||||||||||
| Established: | 1792 | ||||||||||||
| Postcode: | 2146 | ||||||||||||
| Location: |
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| LGA: | City of Parramatta City of Blacktown City of Holroyd |
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| State District: | Toongabbie | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | Parramatta | ||||||||||||
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Toongabbie is a suburb in Sydney, Australia, and is noted for being the third settlement set up after the British occupation of Australia in 1788, although the site of the settlement is actually in the separate suburb of Old Toongabbie. Toongabbie is situated approximately 26 kilometres (16 miles) west of the central business district of Sydney. The name is derived from an aboriginal word.
The suburb is known colloquially as Toonie and often by residents, self-deprecatingly as Toonga Bay.
Although Toongabbie is relatively densely settled, in recent years programs of bushland regeneration, pollution control and remedial works to local waterways have seen a surprising return by several rare wildlife species. The main waterway is Greystanes or Girraween Creek which flows the length of the suburb from Fox Hills Golf Course in the south to join Blacktown Creek in the north. A fine footpath follows the Creek.
Toongabbie is split between three Local Government Areas - the area north-east of the Western Railway line is in the City of Parramatta; the area west of Greystanes or Girraween Creek and south-west of the railway is in the City of Blacktown; and the remaining part south of the railway is in the City of Holroyd.
Toongabbie's shopping precinct is located in Aurelia Street to the south of the railway line next to the station.
To the north across Old Windsor Road the next suburb is Winston Hills; to the east is Old Toongabbie; to the south-east, the next suburb (and railway station) is Pendle Hill; to the south is Girraween; to the south-west is Prospect; and to the west the next suburb (and railway station) is Seven Hills.
Old Toongabbie To the east of Toongabbie station is the small suburb known as Old Toongabbie, which includes the sites of the original colonial settlement. In the 1990s this area was reduced, with the part immediately north of Wentworthville, which is also known unofficially as the locality of Constitution Hill, being reclassified as Wentworthville. In 2006,Constitution Hill officially returned, but only as a small area between Bogalara Road and the Cumberland Highway.
Winston Hills The more northerly parts, north of Toongabbie Creek, became known as Winston Hills in the late 1960s; originally this was simply the name of a large housing development in the area, but a large section of what was once Old Toongabbie was officially renamed Winston Hills in the 1970s, a trend that has been echoed in many other areas of the western suburbs.
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[edit] History
Toongabbie was the third settlement by Europeans in Australia, originally founded as a Government Farm to grow food for the colony in April 1792. It was named in June 1792 after Governor Arthur Phillip asked the local Aborigines what they called the place. The name Toongabbie has been reported as meaning "place by the water" or "meeting by the water". After eleven years, the government farm was closed and the land was given as grants to settlers and convicts who have done their time.
Toongabbie is especially noteworthy in Australian history as the site of an Irish rebellion, known as the Castle Hill rebellion or the second Battle of Vinegar Hill. On 5 March 1804, Irish convicts — including political prisoners transported for participating in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 — seized control of the area before being crushed by the military authorities. Many of the participants in the rebellion were summarily executed.
In 1860, the railway was extended to Blacktown but it took 20 years before any arrangements were made for trains to stop at Toongabbie. The first school in Toongabbie - Toongabbie Public School, opened on the 3rd of May 1886. By April 1911, the school closed due to low enrolments. The school reopened February the next year and has stayed open ever since. The first bank in Toongabbie, The Commonwealth Bank, opened in 1957. Toongabbie was connected to electricity in the mid-1920s and to gas and to sewerage in the mid-1960s. The biggest increase in population occurred after World War II.
A sizable area west of the shopping centre, which had previously been farmland and orchards, was subdivided into a housing development called "The Old Roman Estate"; several streets in the area have Roman names, including Marcia St, Lavinia St, Portia St, Lucretia Rd and Portico Parade.
The shopping precinct for many years included a small suburban cinema, the "Rocket", located opposite the railway line, next to the overhead road bridge. It operated from sometime between the wars until the early 1970s, when it was closed and demolished and replaced by a row of shops.
A small shopping centre and supermarket, the Piccadilly Centre, was built in the 1960s in the area bounded by the Toongabbie Hotel the Catholic Church. This operated until ca. 2004 when the shopping centre and surrounding properties were purchased by a developer. A major new development planned for the site will reportedly include new shops and substantial multi-story residential complex.
Toongabbie is also home to Gabbie Stadium, home of the Blacktown Demons Soccer Club who were formally participants in the highest football league in Australia in the mid to late 1980s. The Demons now play in the NSW Vodafone Premier League. Notable former Blacktown players include Ned Zelic and one time Manchester United Goal Keeper Mark Bosnich.
[edit] Transport
Toongabbie railway station is on the Western line of the CityRail network. The station opened in 1880[citation needed]. To the west, the next station on the line is Seven Hills and to the east Pendle Hill.
Toongabbie is also served by private buses with connections to Blacktown via Blacktown Road, Seven Hills via the Prospect Highway, Sydney, and both Parramatta and Westmead via the Great Western Highway.
[edit] References
- Toongabbie, The Third Settlement, John Goode, The third settlement bicentennial committee, 1988, Published in Australia, ISBN 0-7316-2169-7.
[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 Parramatta | Western Sydney | Hills District | Sydney |
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Camellia | Chester Hill | Clyde | Dundas | Dundas Valley | Eastwood | Epping | Ermington | Granville | Guildford East | Harris Park | Kingsdene | Model Farms | Northmead | Oatlands | Old Toongabbie | Parramatta | North Parramatta | Pendle Hill | Rosehill | Rydalmere | South Granville | Telopea | Toongabbie | Winston Hills | Wentworthville | Westmead | |
| List of Sydney suburbs |
| Suburbs of the City of Blacktown | Western Sydney | Hills District | Sydney |
|---|
| Acacia Gardens | Arndell Park | Bidwill | Blackett | Blacktown | Colebee | Dean Park | Dharruk | Doonside | Eastern Creek | Emerton | Glendenning | Glenwood | Hassall Grove | Hebersham | Huntingwood | Kellyville Ridge | Kings Langley | Kings Park | Lalor Park | Lethbridge Park | Marayong | Marsden Park | Minchinbury | Mount Druitt | Oakhurst | Newbury | Parklea | Plumpton | Prospect | Quakers Hill | Riverstone | Rooty Hill | Rouse Hill | Schofields | Seven Hills | Shalvey | Shanes Park | Stanhope Gardens | The Ponds | Toongabbie | Tregear | Vineyard | Whalan | Willmot | Woodcroft |
| List of Sydney suburbs |
