Lewisham, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Lewisham is a suburb
in the inner-west
of Sydney
, in the state of New South Wales
, Australia
. Lewisham is located 8 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district
, in the local government area of Marrickville Council
. The postcode is 2049. Lewisham is surrounded by the suburbs of Petersham
, Dulwich Hill
, Summer Hill
, Haberfield
and Leichhardt
.
. The estate was named it after the London
borough of Lewisham
, which means Leofsa's village or manor.
The original residents of the Lewisham area were the Cadigal
clan of the Darug
tribe. Artefacts found near the Cooks River
indicate at least 7,000 years of habitation in the local area. After the First Fleet
arrived in 1788, they set up camp in the middle of Cadigal territory. While the first governor Arthur Phillip
endeavoured to establish cordial relations with the Cadigals and their neighbours, the two groups were competing for the same food sources and tensions inevitably developed. In 1789, a smallpox
epidemic developed and wiped out the majority of the Cadigals. By 1809, all the land within Lewisham had been granted.
is on the Inner West line of the CityRail
network. This provides access to the city, the interchange station of Strathfield and the commercial centres of Burwood
and Newtown
.
Lewisham is notable in railway history as the termination point for the first train journey in the NSW colony in 1855, although the railway station was not built until 1885. The whipple truss bridge
over Long Cove Creek was constructed 1885-1886 featuring North American technology developed by Squire Whipple. It is probably the most significant railway bridge site in Australia, certainly in NSW. It has the unique distinction of four different types of bridges from different eras. Engineers Australia
designated the Viaduct in 1994 as an historic engineering marker.
The Metropolitan Goods railway line also runs through the suburb, passing beneath the bridge over Long Cove Creek. The line is currently disused, but it is to be utilised to extend the current light rail service
that runs from Central Station to Lilyfield through to Dulwich Hill. There will be two new stations serving Lewisham. These are - Lewisham West (adjacent to the former flour mill on the border with Summer Hill) and Taverners Hill
(near Parramatta Road). Access to the city will be quicker by train, but the light rail may be used for some cross-regional journeys. It will also interchange with Dulwich Hill railway station on the Bankstown Line.
The 413 bus service, between Campsie
and the city, cuts through the middle of Lewisham and provides an interchange with the railway station. Several bus services (461 - Burwood to the city, 480 & 483 - Strathfield to the city) run along Parramatta Rd. These will interchange with the Taverners Hill stop. The other bus corridor is along New Canterbury Rd. This is served by the 428/L28 from Canterbury
to the city via Newtown and the 444/445 from Campsie to Balmain
.
Primary School, is located on 5 Thomas Street, Lewisham and was founded in 1855 by the Australian Christian Brothers
. Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham
is located on 58 - 61 The Boulevarde. Lewisham Public School is located on 71 The Boulevarde Lewisham. Petersham Public School is on the border of Lewisham and Petersham
, Berne Education Centre and the Catholic Intensive English Centre are located on the site of the former Saint Thomas à Becket High School
.
Saint Thomas Becket's
Catholic
church is located in Thomas Street, the current priest is Fr. Michael Butler (1988–present). The Servants of Mary Help of Christians operates its Marian Centre from St Thomas Becket Primary School Hall.
Lewisham is also the home of the Maternal Heart of Mary Latin Mass Community, of which Fr Laurence Gresser FSSP is the Chaplain. The church is situated behind St Thomas Becket's, on Charles O'Neill Way.
, Lewisham had a population just under 3000. The character of its population was quite different to its near neighbours, not having a large number of residents born overseas. After Australia, the most common countries of birth were England
(3.5%), Portugal
(2.9%) and New Zealand (2.8%). There were also a reasonable number of Greek
speakers (3.9%), just topping Portuguese
(3.5%) as the second most common language in the area after English. The number of Indigenous Australians
(2.6%) was higher than the national average and also a significant local demographic.
The population is predominately young couples. In fact the number of couples without children (40%) exceeds the number of couples with children (38%), a marked contrast to the national figures. The number of people aged 21–54 is 52% well above the national average (44%) while the younger and older age groups were all lower than the national averages. There were also a substantial number of single person households (30%).
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 the inner-west
Inner West (Sydney)
The Inner West is a general term which is used to describe the metropolitan area directly to the west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia...
of 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...
. Lewisham is located 8 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 Marrickville Council
Marrickville Council
Marrickville Council is a Local Government Area situated in the Inner West region of Sydney, Australia.The area is bounded by Leichhardt to the north, the City of Sydney to the east and north-east, the City of Botany Bay to the south-east, Rockdale to the south, Canterbury to the west, and...
. The postcode is 2049. Lewisham is surrounded by the suburbs of Petersham
Petersham, New South Wales
Petersham is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Petersham is located 6 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Marrickville Council...
, Dulwich Hill
Dulwich Hill, New South Wales
Dulwich Hill is a residential suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Dulwich Hill is located 9 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Marrickville Council...
, Summer Hill
Summer Hill, New South Wales
Summer Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Summer Hill is located 8 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Ashfield....
, Haberfield
Haberfield, New South Wales
Haberfield is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Haberfield is located 9 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the Municipality of Ashfield....
and Leichhardt
Leichhardt, New South Wales
Leichhardt is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. Leichhardt is located 5 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt...
.
History
Lewisham took its name in 1834 from the estate of Joshua Frey Josephson, a German-born businessman who would later become mayor of SydneySydney
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...
. The estate was named it after the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
borough of Lewisham
Lewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, which means Leofsa's village or manor.
The original residents of the Lewisham area were the Cadigal
Cadigal
The Cadigal, also spelled as Gadigal, are a group of Aboriginal Australians who originally inhabited the area that they called 'Cadi', part of which later became known as the Marrickville Local Government Area of Sydney. Cadigal territory lies south of Port Jackson and stretches from South Head to...
clan of the Darug
Darug
Darug may refer to:*Darug people*Darug language*Dharruk, New South Wales...
tribe. Artefacts found near the Cooks River
Cooks River
The Cooks River is a 23 kilometre long urban waterway of south-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia emptying into Botany Bay. The course of the river has been altered to accommodate various developments along its shore...
indicate at least 7,000 years of habitation in the local area. After 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 ...
arrived in 1788, they set up camp in the middle of Cadigal territory. While the first governor Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
endeavoured to establish cordial relations with the Cadigals and their neighbours, the two groups were competing for the same food sources and tensions inevitably developed. In 1789, a smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemic developed and wiped out the majority of the Cadigals. By 1809, all the land within Lewisham had been granted.
Transport
Lewisham railway stationLewisham railway station, Sydney
-Transport links:Sydney Buses runs one route via Lewisham station:*Route 413 - east to King Street ferry wharf via Leichhardt, Annandale, Camperdown, University of Sydney, Railway Square, Town Hall, Wynyard; west to Campsie station via Ashbury...
is on the Inner West line of the CityRail
CityRail
CityRail is an operating brand of RailCorp, a corporation owned by the state government of New South Wales, Australia. It is responsible for providing commuter rail services, and some coach services, in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities of New South Wales. It is...
network. This provides access to the city, the interchange station of Strathfield and the commercial centres of Burwood
Burwood, New South Wales
Burwood is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Burwood is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of Burwood Council....
and Newtown
Newtown, New South Wales
Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Marrickville Council in the state of New South Wales, Australia....
.
Lewisham is notable in railway history as the termination point for the first train journey in the NSW colony in 1855, although the railway station was not built until 1885. The whipple truss bridge
Truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...
over Long Cove Creek was constructed 1885-1886 featuring North American technology developed by Squire Whipple. It is probably the most significant railway bridge site in Australia, certainly in NSW. It has the unique distinction of four different types of bridges from different eras. Engineers Australia
Engineers Australia
The Institution of Engineers Australia, often shortened to IEAust and trading as Engineers Australia, is a professional body and not-for-profit organisation dedicated to being the national forum for the advancement of the engineering field within Australia...
designated the Viaduct in 1994 as an historic engineering marker.
The Metropolitan Goods railway line also runs through the suburb, passing beneath the bridge over Long Cove Creek. The line is currently disused, but it is to be utilised to extend the current light rail service
Metro Light Rail
The Metro Light Rail is the only currently operating light rail line in Sydney. The line opened on 31 August 1997, mostly along the route of an unused goods railway line, to serve the redeveloped inner-city areas of Darling Harbour, Ultimo and Pyrmont, and was extended in 2000 to serve some of...
that runs from Central Station to Lilyfield through to Dulwich Hill. There will be two new stations serving Lewisham. These are - Lewisham West (adjacent to the former flour mill on the border with Summer Hill) and Taverners Hill
Taverners Hill MLR station
Taverners Hill MLR station is a planned light rail stop located adjacent to Parramatta Road at the border of the suburbs of Lewisham, Summer Hill, Haberfield and Leichhardt on the Metro Light Rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stop is planned for completion in 2012...
(near Parramatta Road). Access to the city will be quicker by train, but the light rail may be used for some cross-regional journeys. It will also interchange with Dulwich Hill railway station on the Bankstown Line.
The 413 bus service, between Campsie
Campsie, New South Wales
Campsie is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campsie is located 13 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, on the southern bank of the Cooks River. Campsie is the commercial and administrative centre of the City of...
and the city, cuts through the middle of Lewisham and provides an interchange with the railway station. Several bus services (461 - Burwood to the city, 480 & 483 - Strathfield to the city) run along Parramatta Rd. These will interchange with the Taverners Hill stop. The other bus corridor is along New Canterbury Rd. This is served by the 428/L28 from Canterbury
Canterbury, New South Wales
-Commercial area:Canterbury has a mixture of residential, commercial and industrial developments. Commercial developments are mostly situated on Canterbury Road and surrounding streets...
to the city via Newtown and the 444/445 from Campsie to Balmain
Balmain, New South Wales
Balmain is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located slightly west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....
.
Schools
Trinity Grammar School formerly Saint Thomas à BecketThomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
Primary School, is located on 5 Thomas Street, Lewisham and was founded in 1855 by the Australian Christian Brothers
Christian Brothers
Christian Brothers may refer to:* Congregation of Christian Brothers, a Catholic lay order founded at Waterford, Ireland in 1802 by the Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice...
. Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham
Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham
Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham , is a Roman Catholic, day school for boys, located in Lewisham, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
is located on 58 - 61 The Boulevarde. Lewisham Public School is located on 71 The Boulevarde Lewisham. Petersham Public School is on the border of Lewisham and Petersham
Petersham, New South Wales
Petersham is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Petersham is located 6 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Marrickville Council...
, Berne Education Centre and the Catholic Intensive English Centre are located on the site of the former Saint Thomas à Becket High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
.
Churches
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
church is located in Thomas Street, the current priest is Fr. Michael Butler (1988–present). The Servants of Mary Help of Christians operates its Marian Centre from St Thomas Becket Primary School Hall.
Lewisham is also the home of the Maternal Heart of Mary Latin Mass Community, of which Fr Laurence Gresser FSSP is the Chaplain. The church is situated behind St Thomas Becket's, on Charles O'Neill Way.
Population
Demographics
According to the 2001 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...
, Lewisham had a population just under 3000. The character of its population was quite different to its near neighbours, not having a large number of residents born overseas. After Australia, the most common countries of birth were 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...
(3.5%), Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
(2.9%) and New Zealand (2.8%). There were also a reasonable number of Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
speakers (3.9%), just topping Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
(3.5%) as the second most common language in the area after English. The number of Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
(2.6%) was higher than the national average and also a significant local demographic.
The population is predominately young couples. In fact the number of couples without children (40%) exceeds the number of couples with children (38%), a marked contrast to the national figures. The number of people aged 21–54 is 52% well above the national average (44%) while the younger and older age groups were all lower than the national averages. There were also a substantial number of single person households (30%).
Notable residents
- Clive CaldwellClive CaldwellGroup Captain Clive Robertson Caldwell DSO, DFC & Bar was the leading Australian air ace of World War II. He is officially credited with shooting down 28.5 enemy aircraft in over 300 operational sorties. In addition to his official score, he has been ascribed six probables and 15 damaged...
(1910–1994), World War IIWorld War IIWorld 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...
air ace - Les Haylen (1898–1977), author and politician, he was the local federal member of parliament from 1943-1963.
- John Shand (1897–1959), prominent Sydney barrister from the 1920s to the 1950s who took on a number of very high profile cases of the day.
- Mother Xavier (1870–1938) who was head of the Little Company of Mary (1899–1929) which ran Lewisham Hospital and helped make it one of the top hospitals in Sydney.
- Patrick Joseph HartiganPatrick Joseph HartiganMonsignor Patrick Joseph Hartigan was an Australian Roman Catholic priest, educator, author and poet.-Biography:...
, Australian bush poet, who wrote under the pseudonym "John O'Grady".