Raby ( ;) 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 ...

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 ...

55 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 ...

, 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 Campbelltown. It is part of the

Macarthur MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to: Arts and media * INSS MacArthur, a fictional starship featured in the science fiction novel ''The Mote in God's Eye'' * ''MacArthur'' (1977 film), a movie biography of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur * ' ...

region.

History

Raby took its name from Raby Road. In 1976, the

Geographical Names Board of New South Wales The Geographical Names Board of New South Wales, a statutory authority A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or stat ...

approved the name 'Raby', using the justification that the new suburb was to be located off Raby Road, which for more than 150 years had trailed across the hills linking the old Riley family property to Campbelltown.

European settlement

Alexander Riley (1778–1833) was a merchant and pastoralist who in 1809 was granted on the corner of Bringelly and Cowpasture Roads. He called his estate Raby in honour of his mother, who had been Miss Margaret Raby. Apparently "Raby" had also been the name of a family property in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He used his new Australian farm for

sheep breeding Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat (lamb and mutton), milk (sheep's milk), and fiber (wool). They also yield sheepskin an ...

, and also introduced the first cashmere goats into the colony. As a suburb of Campbelltown, Raby began to be developed as private subdivisions in the late 1970s. In 1978, the City of Campbelltown Council decided to use "airplanes of the world" as its theme to name the new streets being created. The first land releases were located between three roads named in honour of famous fighter planes –

Mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticate ...

Drive, Sopwith Avenue and

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

Drive. By the early 1990s, most of the suburb had been completed, although a few pockets were still being released. As late as March 1992, Council was allocating additional street names such as

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

Place and Skyfarmer Place on the site of the old Heathfield Public School which is adjacent to the Raby Shopping Complex. This was not only the name of a farm which stood on the site in the 1970s, but was also the name of the Landcom estate that saw the creation of nearby streets.

Landmarks

The old Bunbury-Curran Creek has now been developed as

Raby Sports Complex Raby may refer to: Places Australia * Raby, Catherine Field, a heritage-listed house in Catherine Field, a suburb in south-western Sydney, New South Wales * Raby, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales * Raby Bay, a bay within Mor ...

, used by

Campbelltown-Camden District Cricket Club Campbelltown-Camden District Cricket Club (also known as the Ghosts) is a cricket club in New South Wales, Australia. History The club was formed in 1985 and won its first title (the first grade limited overs crown) in 1986-87. Since then, it ...

as its home ground in the

Sydney Grade Cricket NSW Premier Cricket, formerly and still commonly known as Sydney Grade Cricket is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia, and is highest level club cricket competition in the state of New South Wales The competition began in 1893 when ...

competition, and Sunderland Reserve (named after an adjoining road). An old farm dam has been retained as Lake Burrendah Reserve, which is Aboriginal for "place of the swan". Nearby Kooringa Reserve is derived from the Koori word for "sheoak." Blain Reserve notes an old family which had lived in the area since the 1800s.

Schools

The first school in the suburb was Heathfield Public School, which was named after a local farm owned by the Blain family. Heathfield Public School stood in demountable classrooms to the west of the modern site of Raby shopping centre, off Hurricane Drive. This temporary school closed in 1986, when Robert Townson Public School opened to replace it. The original site of Heathfield Public School was subdivided for residential housing developments. Robert Townson Public School opened in 1986 under Principal Lyle Whan. Robert Townson High School opened in 1987, is a comprehensive co-educational high school serving the needs of students from the surrounding areas of St Andrews, Kearns and Varroville. Both Robert Townson Public School and Robert Townson High School take their name from a local pioneer. Mount Carmel High School, is a local Catholic school situated on a large area of land at the foot of the neighbouring suburb of

Varroville Varroville is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Varroville is located 46 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Camp ...

and adjacent to Mount Carmel Catholic Parish.

Demographics

From the : * Population: 5,943 * Australian Born: 69.3% * Main Overseas Birthplace:

2.5%,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

2.1%,

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

1.8% * Main Religions:

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

28.9%, No Religion 23.0%,

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

13.5%,

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

8.7%

References

External links

History of Varroville

History of Raby

Campbelltown City Council community profile

Robert Townson Public School Web Site
{{Sydney Campbelltown suburbs Suburbs of Sydney City of Campbelltown (New South Wales)