Old Guildford is a suburb

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...

 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...

. Old Guildford is located 24 kilometres 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 Fairfield

City of Fairfield

The City of Fairfield is a Local Government Area in the south-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.- Suburbs in the local government area :Suburbs in the City of Fairfield are:* Abbotsbury* Bonnyrigg* Bonnyrigg Heights* Bossley Park...

 and is part of the Greater Western Sydney

Greater Western Sydney

Greater Western Sydney is a term used to describe the western region of the metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia. The University of Western Sydney defines Greater Western Sydney as comprising 14 local government areas...

 region.

Aboriginal culture

Prior to colonisation, the Dharug people lived in small groups across the Cumberland Plain, including in the area which is now the Woodville Ward. The Bidjigal clan lived around the area which is now Guildford.

European settlement

Lieutenant Samuel North was granted 640 acres (2.6 km²) here on 1837 and named his property Guildford, as he had ties with the Earl of Guildford. Although the name of the property changed to Orchardleigh in 1843 when it was sold by North, the name Guildford stuck to the region and the small hamlet which developed in the area around Woodville Road. In 1869 a school had opened and a church was built in the 1880s.

In 1876, a railway station was built on the line some distance to the north of the village and named Guildford because it was the closest settlement to the station. The settlement that grew up around the railway station became larger than the original village and ultimately took over the name Guildford

Guildford, New South Wales

Guildford is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Guildford is located 25 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Holroyd and the City of Parramatta...

 with the former settlement becoming known as Old Guildford.

Population

According to the 2006 Australian Census, Old Guildford had a population of 2272 people with a very substantial Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 speaking population (38%). The majority of the suburb's residents were Australian born with the next most common place of birth being Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 (13%) followed by Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 (3.6%), China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 (2.3%) and Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

(1.6%). Old Guildford had a higher than average number of families with children (56%) and the average family income of $966 per week was slightly less than the national average ($1171).

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