North Willoughby 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 ...

on the

Lower North Shore In Australia, Lower North Shore refers to the affluent northern suburbs of Sydney adjoining Sydney Harbour. The three bodies of water that surround the Lower North Shore are Lane Cove River on its western border, Sydney Harbour on its south side, ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

9 kilometres north 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 Willoughby The City of Willoughby is a Local government in Australia, local government area on the North Shore (Sydney), Lower North Shore of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located north of the Sydney central business d ...

. Willoughby and

Willoughby East Willoughby East is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Willoughby East is located 9 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willo ...

are separate suburbs.

History

North Willoughby was possibly named by Surveyor-General

Sir Thomas Mitchell Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (15 June 1792 – 5 October 1855), often called Major Mitchell, was a Scottish surveyor and explorer of Southeastern Australia. He was born in Scotland and served in the British Army during the Peninsular War. I ...

after

James Willoughby Gordon General Sir James Willoughby Gordon, 1st Baronet (21 October 1772 – 4 January 1851) was a general officer in the British Army. He notably served as most long-standing Quartermaster-General to the Forces, holding the position for some 40 years. ...

, who served as general officer of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. North Willoughby Post Office opened on 1 September 1871 and closed in 1891.

Commercial areas

A small group of shops and cafes is located on Penshurst Street and includes the Willoughby Hotel, a local landmark building. The hotel was established in 1899 and was described as "one of the finest buildings in the northern suburbs". It was almost demolished in 1940, but survived and had a major restoration in 1988. Another landmark is Rosewall, a two-storey home in the Georgian style, made of sandstone. It was built in the 1880s for the Forsyth family, who ran tanneries in the area. The nearby Rosewall and Forsyth Streets are named after the house and family. The High Street Markets in High Street include various local shops including Harris Farm Markets, cafes, takeaway food and restaurants.

Population

In the 2021 Census, 4,161 people were in North Willoughby. 61.4% of whom were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China 6.0%, England 3.4%, and Hong Kong 2.6%. About 64.4% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 7.1%, Cantonese 5.3%, and Armenian 2.5%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 37.0%, Catholic 27.6% and Anglican 11.8%.

Churches

St John's Anglican Church St Thomas' Church

References

Suburbs of Sydney North Shore (Sydney) {{Sydney-geo-stub