Macquarie Towns or the Five Macquarie Towns is the collective term for the towns of Castlereagh

Castlereagh, New South Wales

Castlereagh is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Castlereagh is located 67 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.-History:The suburb is one of the...

, Pitt Town

Pitt Town, New South Wales

Pitt Town is a historic town and suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Pitt Town is located 59 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury....

, Richmond

Richmond, New South Wales

Richmond is a town in New South Wales, north-west of Sydney, in the Local Government Area of the City of Hawkesbury. It is located at a latitude of 33° 35' 54" South and a longitude of 150°45' 04" east, 19 metres above sea level on the alluvial Hawkesbury River flats, at the foot of the Blue...

, Wilberforce

Wilberforce, New South Wales

Wilberforce is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury. It is just beyond the outer suburbs of north-west Sydney and lies on the western bank of the Hawkesbury River.-History:...

 and Windsor

Windsor, New South Wales

Windsor is a town in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Windsor is located in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury. It sits on the Hawkesbury River, on the north-western outskirts of the Sydney metropolitan area. At the 2006 census, Windsor had a population of...

, all located on and around the Hawkesbury River

Hawkesbury River

The Hawkesbury River, also known as Deerubbun, is one of the major rivers of the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its tributaries virtually encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney.-Geography:-Course:...

 in 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.

All five towns were established in December 1810 by Governor of New South Wales 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...

. Macquarie established the towns on higher ground following serious flooding of the Hawkesbury River the previous year. This was important as the area provided the fledgling colony of New South Wales with half its annual grain requirements.

External links

• Extract from Macquarie's diary detailing his establishment and naming of the five towns.