Wedderburn 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 ...

. Wedderburn is located 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 ...

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 and is part of the Macarthur region. Wedderburn is the only Campbelltown suburb on the right bank of the

Georges River The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated Ria, drowned valley estuary, that is located in Sydney, Australia. The Georges River is located south and south-west from the Sydney central business district, w ...

. A steep gorge and heavy bush gives Wedderburn the atmosphere of a small country town rather than the suburban norm. 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 Wedderburn Airstrip is an unlicensed private airfield located in Wedderburn, New South Wales, an outer rural suburb of Sydney, Australia. The airfield caters to recreational aircraft owners and pilots, all of whom are members of the New South ...

, 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 and settlers from European backgrounds did not 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 tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

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 did not 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 A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

.Liston, C: ''Campbelltown: The Bicentennial History'', Allen & Unwin, 1988: pp. 1–2.

Notable residents

* Gracius Joseph Broinowski (1837–1913), a Polish-born artist and

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

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 in 1997 and the Sulman Prize in 2000. * Elisabeth Cummings (1934–), prominent artist.

References

Suburbs of Sydney Towns in the Macarthur (New South Wales) City of Campbelltown (New South Wales) {{Sydney-geo-stub