The City of Hawkesbury is a

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 ...

that is located on the far northwest fringe of the

Greater Sydney Greater Sydney is the most populous metropolitan area in Australia and Oceania. Located in the state of New South Wales, it encompasses the City of Sydney (the state capital), its neighbouring local government areas and surrounding regions. I ...

area in

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 ...

. The local government area is located in the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains regions. Hawkesbury City is named after the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River (Dharug language, Dharug: Dyarubbin) is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle ...

. Major suburbs in the City of Hawkesbury are Windsor,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

and

Pitt Town Pitt Town is a historic town and suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Pitt Town is 59 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the ...

. It is a member council of the Hawkesbury River County Council. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of the City of Hawkesbury is Cr. Les Sheather, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

associated with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Suburbs and localities in the local government area

Suburbs and localities in the City of Hawkesbury are:

History

The original inhabitants of the Hawkesbury district were the

Darug 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 ...

tribe of Aboriginals, also spelt as Dharug or Daruk. The river, which they called Derrubbin, was a focal point as a source of food and transport. The Darug people used the river to farm for fish, eels, water birds, and mussels. They also used the river as a mode of transport in bark canoes. It was first settled by

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

ans in 1794 in a bid to acquire

arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

to feed the increasing population of the

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer ...

at Sydney. In April 1794,

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Francis Grose Francis Grose (before 11June 173112May 1791) was an England, English antiquary, drawing, draughtsman, and lexicographer. He produced ''A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' (1785) and ''A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local ...

submitted plans for the first 22 farms on the Hawkesbury River in the present

Bottoms area. In June 1795, Lieutenant Governor William Paterson deployed troops to engage with Aboriginals inhabiting land along the Hawkesbury River. By 1811 Governor

Lachlan Macquarie Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Lachlan Macquarie, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (; ; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Gove ...

established the five '' Macquarie Towns'' in the area. They are Windsor, Richmond, Castlereagh, Wilberforce and Pitt Town. Many of the early 19th century buildings still survive today. Ebenezer has the oldest surviving church and school building in Australia. Windsor District Council was formed in 1843 and disbanded in 1846. In 1871 the Borough Council of Windsor was founded and the Richmond Borough Council followed in 1872. The two councils amalgamated in 1949 to become the Municipality of Windsor. Colo Shire Council was established in 1906 and joined Windsor Municipal Council from 1 January 1981 to become Hawkesbury Shire Council. On 1 July 1989, Hawkesbury became a City. On its creation in 1981, Hawkesbury was largely rural, but urban expansion within Sydney has since transformed the southern part of the area into dormitory suburbs. The northern part of the local government area still contains some farmlands and

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 ...

land.

Demographics

At the 2021 Census, there were people in the Hawkesbury local government area. Of these, 49.8% were male and 50.2% were female.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups, w ...

made up 4.8% of the population, which was 1.6% above the national average. The

median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

age of people in the City of Hawkesbury was 39 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 19.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.6% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 49.3% were married and 12.4% were either divorced or separated. Population in the City of Hawkesbury between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census decreased by 0.54%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 2.96%. Between the 2011 and 2016 Census, population increased by a further 1.04%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, population growth in Hawkesbury local government area was significantly lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the City of Hawkesbury has been consistently marginally higher than the national average. At the 2021 Census, the proportion of residents in the Hawkesbury local government area who stated their

ancestry An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

or English amounted to 80.8%, representing an increase from 62% in 2011. Many people from the Hawkesbury identified as having a

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 ...

(26.0%) or

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 ...

(19.3%)

religious affiliation Religious identity is a specific type of identity formation. Particularly, it is the sense of group membership to a religion and the importance of this group membership as it pertains to one's self-concept. Religious identity is not necessarily the ...

in 2021.

Council

Current composition and election method

Hawkesbury City Council is composed of twelve

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s elected proportionally as one entire

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The

is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows: Australia Hawkesbury Council 2016

The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election, is:

Election results

2021

Mayors

References

External links

Hawkesbury City Council - Home
{{DEFAULTSORT:City of Hawkesbury Hawkesbury Hawkesbury Hawkesbury