Wedderburn is a
suburb of
Sydney, in the state of
New South Wales
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, 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. Wedderburn is located 57 kilometres south-west of the
Sydney central business district, in the
local government area of the
City of Campbelltown and is part of the
Macarthur region.
Wedderburn is the only Campbelltown suburb on the right bank of the
Georges River. The steep gorge and heavy bush, gives it a small country town atmosphere, rather than a suburb. The causeway on Wedderburn Road, which provides the main link to Campbelltown, is known to flood during heavy rain, increasing Wedderburn's isolation.
A small airport,
Wedderburn Airport operated by the New South Wales Sports Aircraft Club is located to the south of the suburb.
History
Wedderburn was originally home to the
Tharawal people
The Dharawal people, also spelt Tharawal and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people, identified by the Dharawal language. Traditionally, they lived as hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans with ties of kinship, ...
and settlers from European backgrounds didn't come to the area until the 1880s. In clearing the land, they established
orchard
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...
s which are still used today. The first Wedderburn Bridge was built in 1892 and a school and post office were established in 1896. Electricity didn't reach Wedderburn until 1952. Increasing environmental awareness has seen Campbelltown Council keen to protect the gorges around Wedderburn and O'Hare's Creek Gorge to the east is set to become a
national park.
[Liston, C: ''Campbelltown: The Bicentennial History'', Allen & Unwin, 1988: pp. 1–2.]
Notable residents
*
Gracius Joseph Broinowski
Gracius Joseph Broinowski (7 March 1837 – 11 April 1913) was a Polish-Australian artist and ornithologist. He was born at the village of Walichnowy in central Poland, the son of a landowner and military officer. He studied languages, cl ...
(1837-1913), a Polish-born artist and
ornithologist who published a six-volume book on the birds of Australia.
*Kevin O'Keefe OAM and Julie O'Keefe, entrepreneurs and philanthropists.
*Dr Ross Field
*Dr Lakshman Prasad, prominent medical practitioner in Campbelltown and philanthropist
*Kath Robinson, senior lecturer at The University of Sydney
*
David Fairbairn (artist) (1949 - ), artist and winner of the Dobell Drawing prize 1999 and the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize in 2002.
Artists from the
Widden Weddin group:
*
John Peart (1946-2013), artist and winner of the
Wynne Prize
The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...
in 1997 and the
Sulman Prize
The Sir John Sulman Prize is one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, having been established in 1936.
It is now held concurrently with the Archibald Prize, Australia's best-known art prize, and also with the Wynne Prize, at the Art Galler ...
in 2000.
*
Elisabeth Cummings (1934-), prominent artist.
References
Suburbs of Sydney
Towns in the Macarthur (New South Wales)
City of Campbelltown (New South Wales)
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