Hurstville 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 Southern Sydney,

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 ...

. It is south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of 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

Georges River Council Georges River Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the St George (Sydney), St George region of Sydney located south of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, in New South Wales, Australia. The ...

. The suburb is predominantly Asian Australian in character, with 63% of the population of Asian origin, among the highest in the country. Sometimes described as "Sydney's Real

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

", an estimated 37% of residents are immigrants from mainland China.

History

The name Hurstville is derived from the English ' hurst', meaning 'a wooded eminence', and ' ville', meaning 'town'.

Aboriginal culture

Although it is unknown when they first settled in the Hurstville area, the first inhabitants were

Indigenous Australian 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 History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

s. At the time of the arrival of the

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

, the Indigenous Australians residing in the area were of the Eora tribe, whose numbers spanned along 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 ...

, from

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...

to present-day

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

European settlement

The first sustained contact between members of the

While Governor Philip explored the south side of the Georges River around Como, King with a party of one other officer and three marines in a six-oared rowboat aimed for the highest point they could see on the north side, probably at Lugarno, and landed at a place they named Lance Point. Although first contact with the Indigenous Australians led to a small altercation where a spear was thrown and a shot fired, later in the day when the party rowed up Lime Kiln Bay towards present day Mortdale they were greeted in a friendly manner by both men and women, and what could only be described as Australia's first picnic took place as food and drink were shared between the two peoples. After a long summer afternoon of mutual contact and conviviality the British sailors rowed back to their ship moored at Botany Bay. The land of the Hurstville region was granted by the government of the new

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

to two men: Captain John Townson and his brother Robert Townson in 1808. Captain John Townson was granted of land which is now occupied by the suburb of Hurstville and part of Bexley. Robert Townson was granted the land which is now occupied by

Penshurst Penshurst is a historic village and civil parishes in England, civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Weald, Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, Kent, River Eden, within the Seveno ...

, Mortdale and parts of Peakhurst. In the same year, in the area now known as Riverwood land grants were made to Jane Trotter, Mary Shepley, Charles Doudall, and James Ryan. Later in 1816 another land grant in the same area was given to Mary Redman. In 1809, Captain John Townson was granted an additional in the area now occupied by

Kingsgrove Kingsgrove is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Kingsgrove is south-west of the Sydney central business district and lies across the Local government in Australia, local government areas of the City of Canterbury-Banksto ...

and

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

. The Townson brothers were not happy with the land that they were given because it was not suitable for the farming of sheep for wool and it is likely that the brothers never occupied their land. In 1812, a wealthy merchant named Simeon Lord bought the land of Captain John Townson and named it ''Lord's Forest''. When Lord died, the land became the property of John Rose Holden and James Holt of the Bank of NSW.

Sproule family

''Gladwyn'' is an historic,

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

house at 96 Queens Road. It was built in 1893 by John Sproule, a local builder and alderman of Hurstville Council, who had acquired the land two years previously. It changed hands many times and was known as ''Gladwyn'' by 1906. Hurstville Council eventually acquired the house in 1986. It has been restored and adapted for commercial use, as well as serving as the base for the Hurstville Archival Research and Local Studies Centre. It is heritage-listed at state and local level. In 1895, Ann Sproule bought land on the opposite side of Queens Road from the Winn brothers of

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

. John Sproule then built ''Yarra-Mundi'' in 1897, and lived there until 1904. The house then changed hands a number of times over the years. In 1981 it was acquired by the Danebank Church of England School for Girls. The school later sold the house in 2003 and it was subsequently adapted for commercial use. It is heritage-listed.

Development

SLNSW 31762 Food Fair 274 Forest Road Hurstville taken for LJ Hooker Ltd

A dam with a roadway on top was constructed on the Cooks River at Tempe in 1839. In 1843, the road that was to become known as Forest Road was extended from the dam to a hand-winched punt in Lugarno. On the other side of the river, the road continued all the way to

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

; however, it was only suitable for travellers on horseback. The new road opened up the Hurstville region and created a settlement at Bottle Forest, now known as Heathcote. In 1850, the Lord Forest estate was purchased by Michael Gannon (1800–61), who subdivided it into small farms along what is now Croydon Road and three larger farms that were purchased by Dent, Peake, and Ibbotson. The area became known as Gannon's Forest. The land originally granted to Robert Townson was purchased by John Connell in 1830 and, following his death in 1849, the estate was inherited by his grandsons, Elias Pearson Laycock and John Connell Laycock. The Gannon's Forest post office opened in 1881. The local school was named "Hurstville" by School Inspector MacIntyre when it was established in 1876. When the railway station opened on 15 October 1884, it took the name Hurstville, from the school. Hurstville municipality was incorporated in 1887 and, in 1988, Hurstville was declared a city. The Centenary Bakery on Forest Road is a historic building that has been preserved and once housed a museum. The St George Regional Museum is now located in another historic building in MacMahon Street. The Hurstville train crash on 3 August 1920 resulted in five people killed and fifty injured. It involved the collision of two steam trains, one arriving from Central Railway Station, which plunged into the back of the other, which was stationary at Hurstville railway station, bound for

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

. Hurstville's residential developments are a mixture of low-density housing, medium-density flats, and high-density apartment buildings.

Economy

Hurstville is the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

of the

area. It is a large, multiethnic suburb with a multitude of commercial buildings and high-rise residential buildings dominating the skyline. The commercial area is centred on the main street, Forest Road, on the northern side of Hurstville railway station. Forest Road is the main shopping street which features branches of many retail shops as well as numerous banks (

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

, ANZ,

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank Limited (abbreviated NAB, branded and stylised as nab) is one of the four largest Banking in Australia, financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "Big Four (banking), The Big Four") in terms of mar ...

Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, also known as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, it acquired the Commerc ...

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

Bank of China The Bank of China (BOC; ; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Banco da China'') is a state-owned Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, Beijing, China. It is one of ...

) and other financial institutions. The commercial developments also extend to surrounding streets concentrated from Queens Road to The Avenue and on the southern side of Hurstville Railway station, around Ormonde Parade. The commercial developments extend further along Forest Road, west towards

and east towards Bexley.

Retail and shopping

Hurstville has two major shopping centres, Westfield Hurstville and Hurstville Central. There are also a few smaller shopping centres such as Hurstville Times Plaza, East Quarter, Metro Centre, Hurstville City Centre and Union Arcade.

Restaurants and cafes

Hurstville has a wide variety of restaurants and cafes and is known as a major dining destination in the St George area of Sydney. There are a large number of Chinese (including

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

), Japanese and Vietnamese restaurants and eateries.

Other

The administrative offices of the

are located in the Hurstville Civic Centre in MacMahon Street. This street also features a number of historic buildings such as the Friendly Pharmacy, old Fire Station, Ritz Hotel and Hurstville Museum & Gallery (formerly known as the St George Regional Museum), which houses the cake decorating collection formerly held at the Australian Cakes and Sugar Art Museum. Hurstville City Library is located nearby on Queens Road.

Culture

The St Clair Recording Studio operated for about a year from December 1965 to December 1966 and recorded the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

among other musicians.

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

played at the Hurstville Civic Centre (Marana Hall/Rivoli Hall) on eight occasions between 1974 and 1977. A karaoke place opened in 2011 near the Meridian Hotel, the first ever one in Hurstville. The Hurstville Museum & Gallery focuses on local history, art, and culture. According to the museum's website, it "is home to high quality exhibitions, a diverse range of public programs and a collection of approximately 5,000 objects and artworks from the local area."

Transport

Hurstville railway station is a major station on the T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line of the Sydney Trains network and the South Coast Line on the

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a regional train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and into Australian Capital Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland and South Australia ...

network. All Suburban and Intercity trains stop at Hurstville. Hurstville is 20 minutes from Sydney Central railway station on the express service. Hurstville is a major bus interchange with bus services departing from Forest Road and Ormonde Parade. Hurstville is also serviced by St George Community Transport, a HACC funded transport service for the Frail Aged, people with disability and their carers.

Churches

St George's Hurstville Anglican Church
* St Michael's Roman Catholic Church * Hurstville Presbyterian Church * Hurstville Church of Christ * Hurstville Uniting Church * Hurstville Seventh-day Adventist Church * Hurstville Assemblies of God * Salvation Army * Church of the Living God File:(1)St Georges Anglican Church Hurstville-1.jpg, St George's Hurstville Anglican Church File:Hurstville Uniting Church-1.jpg, Hurstville Uniting Church File:Hurstville Church 1.JPG, Hurstville Presbyterian Church File:Hurstville Church 2.JPG, Church of Christ File:Hurstville Church 3.JPG, Hurstville Baptist Church

Schools

Hurstville Adventist School
* Hurstville Boys High School
Hurstville Public School

Hurstville South Public School
* Danebank Anglican Girls School * Hurstville Grove Infants School * Beverly Hills Public School and St George Christian School. * Sydney Technical High School, Bethany College and St. Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School – all located just over the border in Bexley. File:Hurstville Public School.JPG, Hurstville Public School File:Bethany College Bexley 3.JPG, Bethany College File:Sydney Technical High School 3.jpg, Sydney Technical High School File:(1)Danebank Girls School.jpg, Danebank Girls' School

Landmarks

* Hurstville Civic Centre, Hurstville Entertainment Centre, Hurstville City Library, St George Regional Museum, Park Plaza Apartments File:Hurstville Chemist.JPG, Friendly Pharmacy, MacMahon Street File:Centennial Bakery Building in Hurstville.jpg, Centenary Bakery, Forest Road File:Hurst7.JPG, Old Fire Station, MacMahon Street File:Hurstville Meridian Hotel.JPG, Meridian Hotel File:St George Regional Museum.JPG, Hurstville City Museum & Gallery File:Hurstville Ritz.JPG, Hurstville Ritz Hotel, Forest Road File:Hurstville Entertainment Centre.JPG, Hurstville Entertainment Centre File:Hurstville building 1.JPG, former State Bank building, Hurstville File:(1)Lorne The Avenue Hurstville.jpg, ''Lorne,'' The Avenue File:(1)Waikouaiti The Avenue Hurstville.jpg, Terraced housing on The Avenue

Parks

* Kempt Field, Woodville Park, Hurstville Park, Thorpe Park, Doyle Gardens. File:Hurst3.JPG, Woodville Park File:Hurstville Oval 5.jpg, Hurstville Oval

Population

Demographics

The first European settlers in the area were mostly of British and Irish ancestry. From the late 1960s, Hurstville, like many surrounding areas, became home to migrants from all around the world. The first wave of migrants included

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

and

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

who began moving south from Sydney's inner-city suburbs. They were followed by more European migrants, including many from the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. From the 1990s, the Chinese community within Hurstville has grown considerably. Much of this was related to significant migration from Hong Kong during the 1990s and migration from mainland China during the 2000s. Many local businesses are operated by people of Chinese background, the interests of which are advanced by the St. George Asian Business Association. Hurstville is a hub for Asian groceries, food and services. According to the , there were 31,162 residents in Hurstville. 28.1% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China 28.6%, Nepal 15.8%, Hong Kong 3.6%, Indonesia 1.8% and Philippines 1.7%. 18.4% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 26.1%, Cantonese 16.2%, Nepali 15.4%, Arabic 2.6% and Greek 2.1%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 38.6%, Hinduism 15.5%, Catholic 11.2%, Buddhism 8.5% and Not stated 6.2%. The most common ancestries in Hurstville were Chinese 47.1%, Nepalese 15.6%, English 7.4%, Australian 5.7% and Greek 2.9%.

Notable residents

* Cecil Abbott AO, QPM – Commissioner of the New South Wales Police (1981–1984) * Ronald Ernest Aitchison – physicist *Arthur Samuel Allen (1894–1959) – army officer and accountant, audit clerk in NSW Government Railways * Ezekiel Baker – politician * Roy Bossi (1894–1964) – rugby league player * Jack Brabham (1926–2014) – three-time

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

World Champion motor racerWikipedia * Jayden Brailey – rugby league player playing for the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

* Matthew Dufty – rugby league player playing for the

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

*Ambrose George Enticknap (1894–1976) – orchardist and politician Australian Dictionary of Biography * Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin – writer * Neville Hayes – swimmer * Arthur Justice (1902–1977) – rugby league player, coach, and administrator * Thomas John Ley (1880–1947) – politician and murderer * Jack Lindwall – rugby league player for

* Ray Lindwall – test cricketer, also played rugby league for

; younger brother of Jack *

Craig Nicholls Craig Robert Nicholls (born 31 August 1977) is an Australian musician, best known as the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the Australian alternative rock band The Vines (band), The Vines, of which he is the sole continuous member. Earl ...

– musician *Eris Michael O'Brien (1895–1974) – Catholic archbishop and Australian historian * Kerry O'Keeffe – test cricketer and sportscaster * Kurtis Patterson – test cricketer * Riley Price – rugby league player playing for the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

*Gordon Stanley Reid (1923–1989) – parliamentary official, political scientist and governor *

Ken Rosewall Kenneth Robert Rosewall (born 2 November 1934) is an Australian former World number one male tennis player rankings, world No. 1 professional tennis player. Rosewall won 147 singles titles, including 23 majors: a record 15 Major professional te ...

– tennis player * Michael Rush – champion sculler, spent his last years farming a Hurstville small-holding.

References

External links

Georges River Council website

St George & Sutherland Shire Leader
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurstville, New South Wales Suburbs of Sydney 1887 establishments in Australia