Macdonaldtown was previously a suburb in

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 ...

. The suburb was incorporated

Erskineville Erskineville (previously known as Macdonaldtown) is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located 6 kilometres south west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, ...

and Newtown. All that remains of Macdonaldtown's legacy is Macdonaldtown railway station. Macdonaldtown was 4 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 ...

, adjacent to the suburbs of Newtown,

Eveleigh Eveleigh is an inner southern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Eveleigh is located about 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. ...

and

. Macdonaldtown is informally part of the region of the

Inner West The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River) ...

History

The suburb of Macdonaldtown was named for Stephen Macdonald, who owned property in the south of the area. It was advertised with the name "Macdonald Town". The whole suburb of Macdonald was incorporated as a local government area in 1872 and was renamed as Erskineville in 1893. The area was renamed after the local Reverend George's "Erskine's villa" because they wanted the blue-collar town to have a nice, "virtuous" name and it would drive property prices up in the tough, working class area. The area of Macdonaldtown/Erskineville was established as a residential and farming area in the early 19th century. Nicholas Devine, the first principal superintendent of convicts called his property Burren Farm, after a region of County Clare in his native Ireland. Burren Farm would later become parts of Macdonaldtown (now

) and Newtown . Devine Street is named after Nicholas Devine and Burren Street is named after his farm. The streets around the early Macdonaldtown subdivision are named after relations of the Macdonald family - Amy, Flora, Eve, Coulson and Rochford. Knight Street is named for Henry Knight, one of the earliest brickmakers in the district and the first mayor of Macdonaldtown. The area was first incorporated on 23 May 1872, with the name of the "Municipal District of Macdonald Town" (but was variously known as the "Borough of Macdonald Town" or the "Municipality of Macdonaldtown"). On 19 July 1872, the first council, consisting of six aldermen in one electorate, was elected (Charles Brandling Henderson, Henry Knight, James Bryan, Alexander Swanson, William Irwin and James Heighington), with Henry Knight elected as the first mayor at the first meeting on 23 July 1872. In 1893 Macdonaldtown was renamed as Erskineville, when the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wa ...

passed the "''Borough of Erskineville Naming Act, 1893''", effecting the municipal name change. In the late nineteenth century, the inhabitants were originally market gardeners, though brick making and tanning also became dominant industries. The Victorian cottages and small rows of Victorian terraces that dominate the built form of the suburb were the homes of the workers in these industries, which explains their smallness: a four-metre wide terrace is large by Erskineville standards.

Notable residents

•

John and Sarah Makin John Sidney Makin (14 February 1845 – 15 August 1893) and Sarah Jane Makin (20 December 1845 – 13 September 1918) were Australian 'baby farming, baby farmers' who were convicted in New South Wales for the murder of infant Horace Murray. The c ...

also known as the Hatpin Murderers were ' baby farmers' who in 1892 were convicted of murder after bodies of infants were found buried in the yard of their Macdonaldtown home

References

Sources

*''The Book of Sydney Suburbs'', Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia

External links

Macdonaldtown

Geographical Names Board of New South Wales The Geographical Names Board of New South Wales, a statutory authority A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or stat ...

Sydney localities {{Sydney-geo-stub