Elderslie 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 ...

of the Macarthur Region 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 ...

in Camden Council. In addition, it is located on the east side of the

Nepean River The Nepean River (Darug language, Darug: Yandhai), is a Perennial stream, major perennial river, located in the south-west and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Nepean River, and, continuing by its downstream name, the Hawkesbury ...

. It has a small local shop, high school, primary school, skateboard park, netball courts, cricket, Australian Football (AFL) oval, Rugby League oval, a BMX track and a historic house, John Oxley Cottage, which was built in the 1890s and converted into the Camden Visitors' centre in 1989. It was named after explorer

John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an English List of explorers, explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps bes ...

who held an early grant of land in the area.

History

The area now known as Elderslie was probably originally home to the

Tharawal people The Tharawal people and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people, identified by the Yuin language. Traditionally, they lived as hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans with ties of kinship, scattered along the coasta ...

, based in the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

region, although the

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

-based

Darug people The Dharug or Darug people, are a nation of Aboriginal Australian clans, who share ties of kinship, country and culture. In pre-colonial times, they lived as hunters in the region of current day Sydney. The Darug speak one of two dialects o ...

and the Southern Highlands-based

Gandangara people The Gandangara people, also spelled Gundungara, Gandangarra, Gundungurra and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Their traditional lands include present day Goulburn, Wollondilly Sh ...

were also known to have inhabited the greater Camden area. Very early relations with British settlers were cordial but as farmers started clearing and fencing the land affecting food resources in the area, clashes between the groups arose until 1816 when a number of indigenous people were massacred and the remainder retreated from direct conflict with the settlers. In

1795 Events January–June * January – Central England records its coldest ever month, in the CET records dating back to 1659. * January 14 – The University of North Carolina opens to students at Chapel Hill, becoming the ...

, a group of lost cattle was discovered in the area, earning it the name Cowpastures. In

1805 After thirteen years the First French Empire abolished the French Republican Calendar in favour of the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 11 – The Michigan Territory is created. * February 7 – King Anouvong become ...

, a small hut was built at Elderslie near the ford on the

to house two constables assigned to keep an eye on the cattle. This was the first house built by British settlers in the Camden region. Later the same year, wool pioneer John Macarthur was granted 5,000 acres (20 km²) at Cowpastures. After the land was cleared, it was used for farming for most of the next 200 years until Sydney's suburban sprawl reached the town of Camden and modern suburbs like Elderslie were subdivided into housing blocks. Elderslie Post Office opened on 1 January 1839 and closed on 30 April 1841 when it was replaced by the nearby Camden office. It reopened on 1 August 1876 and closed in 1969.

People

Demographics

At the 2021 census, there were 7,878 residents in Elderslie. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.7% of the population. The most common ancestries in Elderslie were Australian 41.2%, English 41.0%, Scottish 10.7%, Irish 10.5%, and Italian 5.5%. 83.1% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 3.4%. 89.1% of people spoke only English at home. The top responses for religious affiliation were No Religion 33.2%, Catholic 27.7%, and Anglican 19.8%.

Governance

Elderslie lies in the south ward of Camden Council, currently (March 2021) represented by Russell Zammit, Eva Campbell and Paul Farrow. It sits within the state electorate of Camden, represented by

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

's Sally Quinnell, and the federal electorate of Hume, represented by the Liberal Party's Angus Taylor.

References

External links

* CC-By-SA">Creative_Commons_license.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Creative Commons license">CC-By-SA/nowiki> {{Sydney Camden suburbs Towns in the Macarthur (New South Wales) Camden Council (New South Wales)