Old Guildford is a suburb of Sydney, 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 28 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the

City of Fairfield The Fairfield City Council is a local government area in the west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was first incorporated as the "Municipal District of Smithfield and Fairfield" on 8 December 1888, and the cou ...

. It is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

History

Old Guildford and Guildford were named after the Earl of Guildford.

Aboriginal culture

Prior to colonization, the

Dharug people The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much ...

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 here in 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 with the former settlement becoming known as Old Guildford.

Population

According to the , Old Guildford had a population of 2,663 people with a very substantial

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

speaking population (46.2%). The majority of the suburb's residents were Australian born with the next most common place of birth being

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

(13.1%) followed by

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

(2.4%), China (2.1%),

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

(1.9%) and Syria (1.7%). Top ancestries were Lebanese (35.1%), Australian (11.8%), English (6.8%), Chinese (4.9%) and Syrian (2.9%). The most common responses for religion were Islam 45.9%,

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

20.9%, Not stated 7.9%, No Religion 6.1% and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

4.7%. Islam was the largest religious group reported overall (49.8%). Old Guildford had a higher than average number of families with children (58%) and the average family income of $1,035 per week was significantly less than the national average ($1,481).

References

{{Sydney Fairfield suburbs Suburbs of Sydney City of Fairfield