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East Ryde is a
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
of
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
in the state of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Australia. It is in the
Northern Sydney Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney's north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Syd ...
region and is located 12 kilometers north-west 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 ...
, 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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
of the
City of Ryde The City of Ryde is a Local government areas of New South Wales, local government area in the Northern Sydney region, in New South Wales, Australia. It was first established as the Municipal District of Ryde in 1870, became a municipality in 190 ...
. East Ryde sits on the western bank of the
Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river winds through a bushland valley and joins Parramatt ...
. East Ryde shares the postcode of 2113 with the adjacent suburb of
North Ryde North Ryde is a suburb located in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. North Ryde is located 15 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Ryde. One of ...
, though it does not have a post office of its own.


Location

East Ryde is a relatively small, quiet suburb surrounded by bushland and water on all but one side. The majority of East Ryde is located on top of a ridge, formerly a council rubbish tip, a locality known as the Dress Circle Estate, which was developed by Hooker Rex and opened in 1960. The areas of East Ryde that are at the banks of the
Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river winds through a bushland valley and joins Parramatt ...
overlook the
mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...
wetlands and are characterised by large, modern homes (mainly along Pittwater Road).


Aboriginal culture

The whole area between the
Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...
and
Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river winds through a bushland valley and joins Parramatt ...
s was originally known by its Aboriginal name
Wallumatta Wallumatta was the original name given to the Ryde-Hunters Hill area of Northern Sydney, Australia. Prior to the time that the area was known as Kissing Point, Wallumatta was the formal title and was named in honour of the area's native inhabitan ...
. Contact with the first white settlement's bridgehead into Australia quickly devastated much of the population through epidemics of smallpox and other diseases. Their descendants live on, though their language, social system, way of life and traditions are mostly lost. The Aboriginal name survives in a local reserve, the
Wallumatta Nature Reserve Wallumatta Nature Reserve, also called the Macquarie Hospital Bushland, is a nature reserve bushland area, surrounded by the residential suburb of East Ryde, in suburban Sydney, Australia. Once part of the Field of Mars of 1804, the reserve is ...
, located at the corner of Twin and Cressy roads. Very few remnants of
Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean in ...
still exist. The most substantial undisturbed area is the Wallumatta Nature Reserve in North Ryde, which is owned and managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. This small and critically endangered reserve, also known as the Macquarie Hospital Bushland, is one of the last remnants of the remaining 0.5% (as at 2007) of original and
endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...
turpentine-ironbark forests on
Wianamatta shale The Wianamatta Group is a geological feature of the Sydney Basin, New South Wales, Australia that directly overlies the older (but still Triassic in age) Hawkesbury sandstone and generally comprise fine grained sedimentary rocks such as shales an ...
soil in Sydney. See
Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean in ...
.


History

The entire area was once turpentine-ironbark forest. The area that is now East Ryde was originally known as the 'North Ryde Dress Circle Estate', as it was part of North Ryde before forging its own identity as a suburb. East Ryde is bounded by Cressy Road, Coxs Road, the
Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river winds through a bushland valley and joins Parramatt ...
, Strangers Creek and Buffalo Creek. It was originally part of the
Field of Mars Common The Field of Mars Reserve is a protected nature reserve located on the northern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The 50 Hectare (123.5 acres) reserve is a remnant of bushland situated between the Lane Cove and Par ...
. This was an area set aside by Governor King in 1804 for breeding stock owned by the early settlers whose allotments were inadequate to sustain their sheep and cattle. Because of its size and rugged character however, the common became infamous as a haven for escaped convicts and robbers. As early as 1856 there were proposals to sell the Field of Mars Common to raise finance for much needed infrastructure, but it was not until 1874 that the Field of Mars Common Resumption Act was passed in the New South Wales parliament. The first land sale of the new subdivision was held in September 1885 and included lots around Kittys Creek and today's East Ryde, though at this time East Ryde did not have a distinctive suburb name – it was part of
North Ryde North Ryde is a suburb located in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. North Ryde is located 15 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Ryde. One of ...
. An early proposal to link the released land to other parts of Sydney involved a tramway to the Field of Mars. In 1884 it was proposed that the tram would run through Balmain and
Gladesville Gladesville is a suburb in the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Gladesville is located 10 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Ryde a ...
, crossing Strangers Creek where a bridge would be built. The tramway would traverse the common on its eastern side, probably along Pittwater Road, and then proceed north. More than 16 years later, on the same day as the opening of the De Burghs Bridge across the Lane Cove River, the Minister for Works proceeded to Gladesville to turn the first sod of the Field of Mars tramway – a tramway that was never built. In 1925 the finance committee of the New South Wales government approved the construction of a railway line between Eastwood and St Leonards. Housing developments appeared along the proposed route. One of these was on a hill near a proposed station at the eastern corner of today's Macquarie Hospital grounds. Because of its elevated position it was called the Dress Circle Estate. This estate was roughly two-thirds of the modern suburb of East Ryde. The 1926 subdivision plan clearly shows the influence that the promised railway had on this development. In larger typeface than 'The Dress Circle Estate' are the words 'Eastwood–St Leonards New railway' - "60 choice elevated lots overlooking the beautiful Lane Cove River... close to a proposed station on the new electric railway from Eastwood to St Leonards". There were two roads indicated – Twin Road and Mary Avenue. There was confidence that the railway would go ahead because it had been a passed by the State Parliamentary Works Committee. In 1929 the estate was extended with an addition called The Hill Top Estate. However, in the same year the government cancelled the proposed railway. Development of the estate ceased after only one house had been built.Dictionary of Sydney - East Ryde
2008
Hooker Rex retained the original name of the Dress Circle Estate and named the streets according to a theatrical theme. Some of the greatest Australian stars of stage and screen are commemorated in the street names of East Ryde. Personalities commemorated include opera singers June Bronhill, Ronald Dowd and
Dame Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early twentieth century, and was the f ...
(Melba Avenue was formerly an extension of Twin Road); actors
Diane Cilento Elizabeth Diane Cilento (2 April 1932 – 6 October 2011) was an Australian actress. She is best known for her film roles in '' Tom Jones'' (1963), which earned her an Academy Award nomination, '' Hombre'' (1967) and '' The Wicker Man'' (1973). ...
,
Peter Finch Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 191614 January 1977) was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio. Born in London, he emigrated to Australia at the age of ten and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudevi ...
,
Cecil Kellaway Cecil Lauriston Kellaway (22 August 1890 – 28 February 1973) was a South African character actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice, for '' The Luck of the Irish'' (1948) and ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' ...
,
John McCallum John McCallum (born 9 April 1950) is a Canadian politician, economist, diplomat and former university professor. A former Liberal Member of Parliament ( MP), McCallum was the Canadian Ambassador to China from 2017 to 2019. He was asked for ...
,
Michael Pate Michael Pate Order of Australia, OAM (born Edward John Pate; 26 February 1920 – 1 September 2008) was an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer, who also worked prolifically as a supporting actor in Hollywood films and Ameri ...
and Madge Elliott; comedians Kitty Bluett,
Roy Rene Roy Rene (pron. ''reen''; born Henry van der Sluys, 15 February 189122 November 1954) was an Australian comedian and vaudevillian. As the bawdy character Mo McCackie, Rene was one of the most well-known and successful Australian comedians of th ...
and
Gladys Moncrieff Gladys Lillian Moncrieff (13 April 1892 – 8 February 1976) was an Australian singer who was so successful in musical theatre and recordings that she became known as 'Australia's Queen of Song' and 'Our Glad'. Life and career Early years M ...
; songwriter, entertainer and radio broadcasting pioneer Jack Lumsdaine; author and playwright
Steele Rudd Steele Rudd was the pen name of Arthur Hoey Davis (14 November 1868 – 11 October 1935) an Australian author, best known for his short story collection ''On Our Selection''. In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, Rudd was named one of the ...
; and Peggy Sager, prima ballerina. Heard Street (original name of Rene Street) was named after Henry Heard, a settler in 1858 and an alderman on the first Ryde Council in 1871. Mary Avenue (now Elliott Avenue) was named after Henry's wife, Mary Jane Heard. Twin Road (formerly Bridge Road, extended into today's Moncrieff Drive and Melba Drive) was named after Henry and Mary's twin daughters Laura and Mabel, who were born in 1873. On 1 October 1960 the Mayor of Ryde, Alderman ELS Hall, unveiled a drinking fountain and plaque in the reserve outside the shopping centre, commemorating the successful development of 500 home sites and the construction of 250 modern homes on the Dress Circle Estate. Following the increase in the area's population, Ryde East Public School opened in 1961. In 1970 another 20 home sites were created when Finch Avenue was extended into rezoned crown land between Moncrieff Drive and Stranger's Creek. Covenants controlled the type and quality of houses on the estate. The blocks were only one-sixth of an acre (650 square metres) instead of one-quarter of an acre (1,000 square metres). These were big enough for single dwellings, the only type allowed under the covenant, rather than multiple dwellings. A group of residents, in July 2006 unsuccessfully campaigned to have the suburb name changed to increase the area's housing prices. Suggestions included Bel Air, Melba, Dress Circle, Boronia Heights, Bennelong and
Wallumatta Wallumatta was the original name given to the Ryde-Hunters Hill area of Northern Sydney, Australia. Prior to the time that the area was known as Kissing Point, Wallumatta was the formal title and was named in honour of the area's native inhabitan ...
. The motion was ultimately defeated at a public meeting, with approximately 75% of East Ryde residents present voting to keep the suburb's present name.


Landmarks and Features


Great North Walk

During the 1980s, a long-distance walking trail from Sydney to Newcastle was created, known as the
Great North Walk The Great North Walk is a walking track which runs from Sydney to Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. The main track, in length, runs between the Obelisk in Macquarie Place in Sydney to Queens Wharf in Bicentennial Park in Newcastle and ...
. The trail partly follows the Lane Cove River and passes through East Ryde between Buffalo Creek and Magdala Park. Major features in this area are the mangrove communities at Buffalo Creek and Kittys Creek, where boardwalks have been constructed to allow walkers to walk easily through the mangroves. Buffalo Creek Reserve offers picnic facilities.


Schools

Ryde East Primary School
is located on Twin Road, with 350 students. The school features in
Ursula Dubosarsky Ursula Dubosarsky (born ''Ursula Coleman''; 1961 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults, whose work is characterised by a child's vision and comic voice of both clarity and ambigui ...
's book "Jerry", based on the death of an old horse that lived in a field opposite the school, and was greatly loved by the children. Dubosarsky had spent some months working in a building in the school grounds for the NSW School Magazine. "Jerry" is dedicated to Ryde East Public School.


Parks

Heatley Reserve, located in the East Ryde Shopping Centre complex, is named after Ernest William Heatley, the former owner and operator of the adjacent newsagency who was murdered in July 1983 by Gary James Boreland during an attempted robbery.The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 April 1984, p. 2. Brereton Park, bordered by Melba Drive, Bronhill Avenue and Pittwater Road, is named after
John Le Gay Brereton John Le Gay Brereton (2 September 1871 – 2 February 1933) was an Australian poet, critic and professor of English at the University of Sydney. He was the first president of the Fellowship of Australian Writers when it was formed in Sydney in ...
.


Waterways

*
Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river winds through a bushland valley and joins Parramatt ...
*Stranger's Creek *Kitty's Creek


Scout Halls

*1st East Ryde, John Miller Street (Ryde) *3rd North Ryde, Cressy Road


Population

According to the , there were 2,522 residents in East Ryde. 71.7% of people were born in Australia and 74.3% of people spoke only English at home. The most common ancestries were English 30.7%, Australian 30.4%, Irish 12.5%, Chinese 11.7% and Scottish 8.8%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 33.3%, Catholic 32.3% and Anglican 11.6%. The median weekly household income was $3,240, considerably higher than the national median of $1,746.


Notable residents

*former professional
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
footballer Steve RoachThe East Ballina digs of two rugby league greats is up for grabs
''
Domain Group Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (or simply Domain or Domain Group) is an Australian digital property portal and associated real-estate industry business. It is best known for its real-estate website domain.com.au, and also owns the brands commer ...
'' 18 February 2016
*former professional
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
footballer
Paul Sironen Paul Sironen (born 23 May 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of Finnish descent who was a prominent Second-row forward for the Balmain Tigers during the late 1980s, and early 1990s. He was part of the team tha ...
Image:EastRyde3.JPG, Kittys Creek, showing mangrove community Image:EastRyde4.JPG, Home influenced by California Bungalow style, Coxs Road Image:EastRyde5.JPG, Christian Reformed Church, Coxs Road, with interesting sign Image:EastRyde6.JPG, Weatherboard home, Cressy Road


References

{{Sydney Ryde suburbs Suburbs of Sydney City of Ryde