Abbotsford 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 ...

in the Inner West of

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 ...

. Abbotsford is 10 kilometres 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 Canada Bay. Abbotsford sits on the

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

between Abbotsford Bay and Hen and Chicken Bay, on the Parramatta River.

History

Abbotsford took its name from Abbotsford House, owned by Sir Arthur Renwick. He named his property after

Abbotsford House Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825 ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, the residence of

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

ist and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

Aboriginal culture

Abbotsford was first known by its Aboriginal name Bigi Bigi. The

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

are the Wangal clan of the Eora Nation.

European settlement

The suburb was originally part of Five Dock Farm and when subdivided in 1837, was called Feltham. Sir Arthur Renwick, a doctor, philanthropist and politician built his home here in 1890 and called it Abbotsford House in honour of Sir Walter Scott's home. Renwick sold his property in 1903 to Albert Grace, and in 1918 it became the site of a

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

chocolate factory, with the house used initially for chocolate production and later as their administrative offices. The factory was closed in 1991, after which the area was redeveloped as the medium-density Abbotsford Cove housing complex. Australian poet

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period ...

did not die in Abbotsford house in 1922, as is sometimes claimed, but at the home of Mrs Isabella Byers at 437 Great North Road, recently demolished. Abbotsford House is now listed on the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...

Demographics

According to the of the population, there were 5,431 residents in Abbotsford. 66.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were Italy 5.7%, England 3.2% and China 2.8%. 68.6% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 8.2%, Mandarin 2.9%, Cantonese 2.3% and Greek 1.8%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were

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 ...

37.9%, No Religion 29.7% and

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 ...

8.1%.

Transport

Transit Systems Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group. History ...

bus route 438 operates from Abbotsford ferry wharf to

Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.

. Abbotsford ferry wharf is served by Parramatta River ferry services. Electric trams operated to Abbotsford until their replacement by buses in 1954.D. Keenan: ''Tramways of Sydney''. Transit Press 1979

Commercial area

Abbotsford has a small group of shops on Great North Road.

Education

Abbotsford Public School is a local primary school at 350 Great North Road.

Landmarks

File:Abbotsford Public School.JPG, Abbotsford Public School File:Abbotsford Day Care Centre.JPG, Victorian cottage used as Day Care Centre File:Abbotsford Presbyterian Church.JPG, Abbotsford Presbyterian Church File:Abbotsford Cove.JPG, Abbotsford Cove

Sport and recreation

Abbotsford Sailing Club and Sydney Rowing Club sit on the Parramatta River, at the end of Great North Road. Abbotsford houses the rowing sheds for Sydney Boys High School,

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

and Abbotsford Rowing Club.

Notable residents

David Hicks David Matthew Hicks (born 7 August 1975) is an Australian who attended al-Qaeda's Al Farouq training camp in Afghanistan. Hicks traveled to Pakistan after converting to Islam to learn more about the faith, eventually leading to his time in th ...

* Reg Latta *

* Lewy Pattinson * Sir Arthur Renwick * Julie Roberts(current mayor)and Chris Young(First Gentleman) * Justin(deputy mayor) and Lana Bosilkovski

References

{{Authority control Suburbs of Sydney City of Canada Bay