Kearns 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 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, in the state of New South Wales,

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57 kilometres south-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 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 City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region.

History

Kearns was named after a local farmer, William Kearns, who owned a large property in the area during the 1800s. He gained notoriety for a court case in 1824 where a neighbour sued him for getting his 14-year-old daughter pregnant. During the case, Kearns was defended by William Charles Wentworth a young Lawyer at the time, Wentworth had evidence proving the neighbour was a man who lied about other matters so not a person to be trusted. Kearns had to pay a far lesser amount than the neighbour had wanted. William and his new wife Elizabeth went on to bring up the little girl from the former relationship the child adored her father. Kearns's land was originally owned by the Tharawal people until they were dispossessed by British settlers in the 1820s. They first named the land River Hill but by 1828 it had been renamed Epping Forest by Kearns. By purchasing neighbouring land grants, he expanded his property to and established a thriving

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

farm and orchard. After his death in 1880, the property stayed within the family until 1978. In 1975, Campbelltown Council began planning a major development in the area and chose the name Kearns for the suburb since Epping Forest would have caused confusion with the suburb of Epping elsewhere in Sydney. Streets were named after famous rivers of the world such as Mississippi, Danube and Yangtze and the first residents moved in in 1985. Not long after, a primary school was established in 1992.

Heritage listings

Kearns has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Mississippi Crescent: Epping Forest, Kearns

People

According to the 2016 census from the

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments ...

, Kearns had a population of 2,745 which could be best described as young families on better than average incomes. The average age was 33 compared to the national average of 38 and the median family income was $2,115 per week compared with a national median of $1,734. 57.9% of the population were families with children and almost the entire suburb (95%) was detached housing. 76.3% of people were born in Australia and 79.1% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic at 4.0%. The most common responses for religion were Catholic 35.6%, No Religion 19.7%, Anglican 18.0% and Islam 6.3%.

References

Suburbs of Sydney City of Campbelltown (New South Wales) {{Sydney-geo-stub