Holsworthy, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Holsworthy is a suburb
in south-western
Sydney
, in the state of New South Wales
, Australia
. Holsworthy is located 31 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district
, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool
and partly in the Sutherland Shire
.
Holsworthy is most notable for a large Australian Army
reserve, Holsworthy Barracks
, where training exercises are frequently carried out. The reserve is adjacent to Heathcote Road, which connects to Bankstown
, Liverpool
, Lucas Heights
, Engadine
and Heathcote
. Signs on the perimeter warn potential trespassers of the use of laser guided and conventional gunfire.
The residential area is located north of the railway station. Anzac Village
is a locality in the northern part of the suburb and the adjacent suburb of Wattle Grove
. A new development called 'Mornington' has been built in the fields between Wattle Grove and Holsworthy railway station. Development stage one has been completed, with stage two under construction. A shopping centre will also be built in this area.
, England
, where Governor Lachlan Macquarie
married Elizabeth Campbell
, on 3 November 1807. It was originally spelt as Holdsworthy until after World War II, when the 'd' was dropped.
Originally the land belonged to the Tharawal people
but following the arrival of the First Fleet
, indigenous people were pushed back from their traditional lands in the area surrounding Sydney. In 1795, explorers George Bass
and Matthew Flinders
explored the Georges River
and in 1798, grants of land for farming were made in the area. The soil was good and crops of corn
, wheat
and vegetables were soon being harvested.
However, tensions developed with the Tharawal. In 1801, Governor King ordered soldiers to fire on the aborigines to keep them from settler's properties. By 1815, Governor Macquarie
declared a state of open warfare against aborigines in the Georges River area and forbade them carrying weapons within a mile of any British settlement. Ultimately, the British prevailed.
A settlement named Eckersley was established in 1835 on what is now military land. By the 1880s a number of vineyards were established in the area. The land was acquired by the army in 1913. During World War I
it was home to a large interment camp for civilians of German
or Austro-Hungarian background, the camp absorbed prisoners from the famed Torrens Island Concentration Camp in 1915. The modern village of Holsworthy evolved after World War II
to the north, with the barracks to the south. The streets are named with a military theme, such as Tarakan, Bardia, Wewak, Lae, Brunei, Finschhafen, Madang, Gona, Anzac, Light Horse, Infantry, Cavalry, Sabre, Gunners Row and Trooper Row. In Anzac Village, Australian Generals are remembered with Birdwood, Monash, Bridges and Blamey.
The Holsworthy bushland retains many indigenous sites and has been referred to as "Sydney's Kakadu". There are more than 500 significant Tharawal sites in the area including campsites, tool making sites and rock art
. The art is mostly engravings of hands, boomerangs, animals, birds and fish.
undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
, Holsworthy had a population of 4361. There were a high number of families with children (65%) and the average age of Holsworthy residents (27) was ten years younger than the national average. Not surprisingly, defence
was the major industry of employment, covering 21% of the suburb's residents. The average family income ($1522 per week) was substantially higher than the national average ($1171). The majority of residents were Australian-born (74.1%), with the highest proportion of residents born overseas from India
4.7%, Philippines
2.8%, New Zealand
2.2%, England
1.9% and Fiji
1.9%.
St Christophers Catholic Church at Holsworthy also services the Holsworthy and Wattle Grove area.
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
in south-western
South-western Sydney
South-western Sydney is a general term which is used to describe the metropolitan area in south-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Greater Western Sydney area....
Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, in the state of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Holsworthy is located 31 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...
, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool
City of Liverpool, New South Wales
The City of Liverpool is a Local Government Area to the southwest of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.-History:It is one of the oldest urban settlements in Australia, founded in 1810 as an agricultural centre by Governor Lachlan Macquarie...
and partly in the Sutherland Shire
Sutherland Shire
The Sutherland Shire is a Local Government Area in the Southern Sydney region of Sydney, Australia. Geographically, it is the area to the south of Botany Bay and the Georges River...
.
Holsworthy is most notable for a large Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
reserve, Holsworthy Barracks
Holsworthy Barracks
Holsworthy Barracks is located in the outer south-western Sydney suburb of Holsworthy. It is part of the Holsworthy military reserve, which has been a training area and artillery range for the Australian Army since World War I. Following World War II it became a major base for the permanent...
, where training exercises are frequently carried out. The reserve is adjacent to Heathcote Road, which connects to Bankstown
Bankstown, New South Wales
Bankstown is a suburb of south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bankstown is located 20 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Bankstown.-History:Prior to European...
, Liverpool
Liverpool, New South Wales
Liverpool is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Liverpool is located 32 km south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Liverpool...
, Lucas Heights
Lucas Heights, New South Wales
Lucas Heights is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lucas Heights is located 31 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire....
, Engadine
Engadine, New South Wales
Engadine is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Engadine is located south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire...
and Heathcote
Heathcote, New South Wales
Heathcote is a suburb, in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Heathcote is located 36 km south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire....
. Signs on the perimeter warn potential trespassers of the use of laser guided and conventional gunfire.
The residential area is located north of the railway station. Anzac Village
Anzac Village, New South Wales
Anzac Village is a locality in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.According to Geoscience Australia and the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales databases, it is not a separate suburb. It is part of the suburb of Holsworthy and Wattle Grove. It has also been...
is a locality in the northern part of the suburb and the adjacent suburb of Wattle Grove
Wattle Grove, New South Wales
Wattle Grove is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wattle Grove is located 30 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Liverpool....
. A new development called 'Mornington' has been built in the fields between Wattle Grove and Holsworthy railway station. Development stage one has been completed, with stage two under construction. A shopping centre will also be built in this area.
History
The area was named after Holsworthy, DevonHolsworthy, Devon
Holsworthy is a market town in the north west of Devon, England. It is situated near the county border with Cornwall, and is 9 miles from the coastal resort of Bude. It is on the intersection of the A388 and A3072 roads, and lies on the River Deer, a tributary of the Tamar...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where Governor Lachlan Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...
married Elizabeth Campbell
Elizabeth Macquarie
Elizabeth Macquarie was the second wife of Lachlan Macquarie who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. She played a significant role in the establishment of the colony and is recognised in the naming of numerous Australian landmarks including Mrs Macquarie's Chair, Campbelltown...
, on 3 November 1807. It was originally spelt as Holdsworthy until after World War II, when the 'd' was dropped.
Originally the land belonged to the Tharawal people
Tharawal people
The Tharawal people were the Aboriginal inhabitants of southern Sydney and the Illawarra region in 1788, when the first European colonists arrived. The Tharawal people lived in the areas from south side of Botany Bay, around Port Hacking to north of the Shoalhaven River and inland to Campbelltown...
but following the arrival of the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
, indigenous people were pushed back from their traditional lands in the area surrounding Sydney. In 1795, explorers George Bass
George Bass
George Bass was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia.-Early years:He was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George Bass, and a local beauty named Sarah Nee Newman. His father died in 1777 when Bass was 6...
and Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
explored the Georges River
Georges River
The Georges River is a waterway in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It rises to the south-west of Sydney near the coal mining town of Appin, and then flows north past Campbelltown, roughly parallel to the Main South Railway...
and in 1798, grants of land for farming were made in the area. The soil was good and crops of corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
and vegetables were soon being harvested.
However, tensions developed with the Tharawal. In 1801, Governor King ordered soldiers to fire on the aborigines to keep them from settler's properties. By 1815, Governor Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...
declared a state of open warfare against aborigines in the Georges River area and forbade them carrying weapons within a mile of any British settlement. Ultimately, the British prevailed.
A settlement named Eckersley was established in 1835 on what is now military land. By the 1880s a number of vineyards were established in the area. The land was acquired by the army in 1913. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
it was home to a large interment camp for civilians of German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
or Austro-Hungarian background, the camp absorbed prisoners from the famed Torrens Island Concentration Camp in 1915. The modern village of Holsworthy evolved after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to the north, with the barracks to the south. The streets are named with a military theme, such as Tarakan, Bardia, Wewak, Lae, Brunei, Finschhafen, Madang, Gona, Anzac, Light Horse, Infantry, Cavalry, Sabre, Gunners Row and Trooper Row. In Anzac Village, Australian Generals are remembered with Birdwood, Monash, Bridges and Blamey.
The Holsworthy bushland retains many indigenous sites and has been referred to as "Sydney's Kakadu". There are more than 500 significant Tharawal sites in the area including campsites, tool making sites and rock art
Rock art
Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...
. The art is mostly engravings of hands, boomerangs, animals, birds and fish.
Climate
Holsworthy has an oceanic climate, with warm summers and cool to mild winters, with precipitation spread throughout the year. Thunderstorms are common in the summer months, and provide most of the precipitation in that season. Winters are pleasantly cool and sunny, although east coast lows can bring large amounts of rainfall. Snow has never occurred, although frost is a fairly common occurrence in winter. Spring and autumn are transition seasons. Being inland from the coast, and away from Sydney City, Holsworthy receives up to 500mm (20 in) less precipitation than coastal areas, just 25 km (15.5 mi) away.Population
According to the 2006 censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
, Holsworthy had a population of 4361. There were a high number of families with children (65%) and the average age of Holsworthy residents (27) was ten years younger than the national average. Not surprisingly, defence
Defense (military)
Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
was the major industry of employment, covering 21% of the suburb's residents. The average family income ($1522 per week) was substantially higher than the national average ($1171). The majority of residents were Australian-born (74.1%), with the highest proportion of residents born overseas from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
4.7%, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
2.8%, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
2.2%, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
1.9% and Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
1.9%.
Transport
- Holsworthy railway stationHolsworthy railway station, Sydney-Transport links:Veolia Transport runs three routes to and from Holsworthy railway station:*Route 901 - to Liverpool*Route 902 - to Liverpool*Route 902X - Voyager Point, Pleasure Point and Sandy Point-Neighbouring stations:...
is on the City Rail East Hills line. The railway station was opened in 1987 when the East Hills line was extended to GlenfieldGlenfield, New South WalesGlenfield is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Glenfield is located 40 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Campbelltown and the City of Liverpool...
and CampbelltownCampbelltown, New South WalesCampbelltown is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campbelltown is located 51 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Campbelltown.- History :Campbelltown...
.
Pop culture
- The Black BalloonThe Black Balloon (film)The Black Balloon is a 2008 Australian|British AFI award-winning dramedy feature film which stars Toni Collette, Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford, Erik Thomson, Gemma Ward as well as a cast of newcomers. It is directed by first time feature film director, Elissa Down.The film was released in Australian...
, a film starring Toni ColletteToni ColletteAntonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish....
, Gemma WardGemma WardGemma Louise Ward is an Australian fashion model turned actress.-Early life:Gemma Ward was born on 3 November 1987 in Perth, Western Australia, the second of four children of Gary Ward, a doctor, and Claire, a nurse. She has an older sister, Sophie , and younger twin brothers, Oscar and Henry...
, Erik ThomsonErik ThomsonErik Thomson is an actor known for playing Hades in the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Dr. Mitch Stevens in All Saints and Dave Rafter in Packed to the Rafters...
and Luke FordLuke FordLuke Ford is an American writer, blogger, and former pornography gossip columnist known for his disclosures and traditionalist Jewish religious views.-Personal:Ford moved to California in 1977...
, was filmed in Holsworthy.
Churches
A congregation of Lifegate Community Church (Holsworthy & Wattle Grove) meets weekly in the Wattle Grove Primary Public School Hall on Cressbrook Drive (Holsworthy Church on google maps).St Christophers Catholic Church at Holsworthy also services the Holsworthy and Wattle Grove area.