Blakehurst is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

southern Sydney Southern Sydney is the southern metropolitan area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Southern Sydney includes the suburbs in the local government areas of Georges River Council and part of Bayside Council (collectively known ...

, in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

18 kilometres south of the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

, in the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

of the

Georges River Council Georges River Council is a local government area located in the St George region of Sydney located south of the CBD, in New South Wales, Australia. The Council was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merger of the Kogarah City Council and Hurstvi ...

. It is part of the

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

area. Blakehurst is connected to Sylvania, in the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...

, to the south, by

Tom Uglys Bridge Tom Uglys Bridge are two road bridges, completed in 1929 and 1987, that carry the Princes Highway across the Georges River in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The bridges link the St George area at Blakehurst to the ...

over the

Georges River The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, located to the south and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river travels for approximately in a north and then easterly ...

. Tom Uglys Point is the southernmost part. The eastern border runs along Kogarah Bay and the western border runs along Kyle Bay.

History

Blakehurst was named after William Blake, road assessor and postmaster for

Cooks River The Cooks River, a semi-mature tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, is a tributary of Botany Bay, located in south-eastern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The course of the long urban waterway has been altered to accommodate various deve ...

in 1863. Blake ran a small farm in this area that was originally part of a land grant of to Robert Townson in 1808. A punt was established in 1864 at Tom Uglys Point or Punt Point. A few tales have been told about the origin of the name possibly being mispronunciation by local Aborigines of the names of two locals, Tom Huxley or Tom Woguly. However, it is now believed that it was named after an Aboriginal man from the south coast called 'Towwaa' or Toweiry', who later lived and died at the point. His nickname was Tom Ugly.Eora: Mapping Aboriginal Sydney (1770–1850) Tom Uglys Bridge was originally known as Georges River Bridge when it first opened in 1929. The second crossing at this location was opened in 1987.

Heritage listings

Blakehurst has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 9 Stuart Crescent:

Thurlow House Thurlow House is a heritage-listed residence at 9 Stuart Crescent, Blakehurst in the Georges River Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Harry Seidler and built from 1953 to 1954. It was added to the Ne ...

Commercial area

A small shopping strip is located on the

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

near the intersection with King Georges Road. Commercial developments also extend north along these two main roads. A bus service runs between

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges Riv ...

and Miranda via Blakehurst and Sylvania. Tom Uglys Point features a couple of small reserves, fishing spots, a marina, seafood restaurants and a number of take-away seafood shops.

Schools

There are both public and catholic schools in Blakehurst. Mater Dei Primary School is a Catholic-run primary school.

Blakehurst High School Blakehurst High School is a Education in Australia#Government schools, Government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Comprehensive school, comprehensive and specialist secondary school, secondary day school with speciality in languages, locat ...

, Blakehust Public School and Bald Face Public School are public schools.

Sport and recreation

Blakehurst has many sporting teams including the

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team, The Blakehurst Blues. Past famous players and locals include ex-Wallaby star Phil Kearns and current Waikato forward Toby Lind. Kogarah Bay Sailing Club and marina is located on Princes Highway.

Population

According to the 2016 census, there were 6,219 people usually resident in Blakehurst. 64.4% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China 8.2%, Greece 2.5%, Hong Kong 2.2% and Lebanon 1.9%. 51.6% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Greek 12.4%, Mandarin 7.7%, Cantonese 7.7%, Arabic 4.9% and Macedonian 1.9%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were Catholic 22.5%, Eastern Orthodox 21.1%, No Religion 19.3% and Anglican 10.3%.

References

External links

* C-By-SA {{Sydney Georges River Council suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Georges River Council