Matraville, New South Wales
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| Matraville Sydney, New South Wales |
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 Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park |
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| Postcode: | 2036 | ||||||||||||
| Location: | 11 km (7 mi) south-east of Sydney CBD | ||||||||||||
| LGA: | City of Randwick | ||||||||||||
| State District: | Maroubra | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | Kingsford Smith | ||||||||||||
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Matraville is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Matraville is located 11 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick.
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[edit] History
Matraville was originally reserved for the Church and Schools Corporation with income generated intended to support clergy and teachers. The school was established in 1904, thanks to the efforts of John Rowland Dacey, the state member for Botany, who had nearby suburb of Daceyville named after him. The school was originally known as Cross Roads but Dacey suggested that the name Matra would be more appropriate in honour of Mario Matra was a midshipman on the voyage by Captain James Cook to Botany Bay in 1770. Matra was born in New York, but later settled in England. Cook wrote his name as Magra, as this was the spelling Matra used early in his life. Matra had walked over the area with Cook and his close friend, botanist Joseph Banks. Matra had also proposed to the British government that it establish a colony at Botany Bay in 1783, which he envisaged could be a place that American loyalists couls also settle. Dacey's suggestion was accepted by the Department of Education and the school and suburb became Matraville.
The land at Matraville reverted to the crown in 1917 and was allocated for a settlement for soldiers returning from World War I. The Voluntary Workers Association was formed to build homes for soldiers and their families. The first cottage at the settlement was completed in 1919 and the residential area became known as Matraville Soldiers Garden Village.
Matraville was split between Randwick and Botany Councils. When problems arose from the division in 1961, Botany Council decided to rename its portion Gilmore, to honour Australian poet Dame Mary Gilmore (1864-1962). After the post masters general office pointed out that there already was a Gilmore, New South Wales, the council chose Hillsdale to honour Patrick Darcy Hills, who was the New South Wales minister for local government. It was a controversial choice since most residents believed that a name should have been chosen that reflected Australia's history.
Soldiers Settlement School is surrounded by roads commemorating the battlefields of World War One. These include Amiens, Ypres, Pozieres, Beauchamp, Menin, Flanders, Amiens, Bullecourt, Bapaume, Hamel, Armentieres inter alia. Other streets in the area are named after rivers, Torrens, Franklin, Namoi, Hunter, Clarence and also early Australian explorers, Cunningham, Blaxland, Lawson and Oxley.
[edit] Commercial Areas
Matraville is a suburb with a mixture of residential, commercial and industrial uses. A small shopping centre is located on Bunnerong Road. There are three chemists, a newly refurbished fire station, a Post Office, which has moved from its older, more stylish premises, a medical centre, a diving shop, a veterinarian surgery and two petrol stations. There are also take away food shops, among them the famous 'House of Pie' pie shop which has received numerous awards. Matraville is also home to one of the last bastions of traditional Chinese market gardens.
Matraville was once home to a coal fired power plant, which was demolished in the 1980s to make way for further Port Botany expansion and a State Transit Authority bus depot, which provides services from the peninsula to the city. The only remaining part of the Bunnerong power station is called 'the Sucko', due to the 'sucking' inlet valve for water to cool the power plant. It is a popular swimming spot. Matraville also houses the Australian paper recycling mills along Botany Road.
[edit] Landmarks
Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park [1] sits along the southern border of the suburb and incorporates Botany Cemetery, Eastern Suburbs Crematorium and Pioneer Park. The Malabar Riding school is located on Wassel Street near the Chinese gardens. Matraville is also home to its own local RSL club, incorporating a bowling Club as well.
[edit] Churches
Matraville is home to St Agnes Catholic Church, Matraville Baptist Church and East Sydney Community Christian Church [2]. Matraville also has a large Jehovah's Witness congregation with a Kingdom Hall.
[edit] Schools
There are three primary schools and Matraville Sports High School. Soldiers Settlement School previously had a separate Infants and Primary School which are now combined into one larger school following the acquisition of park land at Finucane Crescent. The first dux of Matraville High School in 1964, was Robert Carr who later went on to become the Premier of New South Wales. Another Dux was Aaron Ross in 1992 who went on to resurrect the WC Penfold Stationery Stores after the bad times in the 1990s and early into the 21st Century.
[edit] Culture
Matraville once had a drive-in theatre until the 1980s when it was sold, and then demolished to make way for medium density housing commission homes and private dwellings. Matraville drive-in was used to film the horror movie Dead End Drive-In.
Matraville also hosts a very large Christmas lights decoration in the areas around Flanders Avenue, Knowles Avenue, Franklin Street and Clarence Street.
[edit] References
- The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8
- ^ http://www.esmp.net.au/ Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park
- ^ East Sydney Community Christian Church
[edit] External links
- Matraville, New South Wales is at coordinates Coordinates:
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