Mortdale 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 ...

located in

southern Sydney Southern Sydney, also commonly referred to as the Southern suburbs, is the southern metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Southern Sydney is a title for the regions and neighbourhoods which fall dire ...

, 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. Mortdale is located 20 kilometres south 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 ...

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. Mortdale is situated 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 ...

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 ...

. Mortdale extends south to Lime Kiln Bay, on 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 ...

Mortdale Heights Mortdale is a suburb located in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mortdale is located 20 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Mortdale is situated in the local ...

is a locality in the western corner of the suburb.

History

Mortdale has been known in the past as Mort's Road, Mort's Hill, Mort's Crossing, Mort's Township and Mort Dale. The suburb was named after Sydney industrialist

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort Thomas Sutcliffe Mort (23 December 18169 May 1878) was an Australian industrialist who improved the refrigeration of meat. He was renowned for speculation in the local sheep, pastoral industry as well as industrial activities such as his Ice-W ...

(1816–1878), who was famous for pioneering the refrigeration of shipping meat and the construction of

Mort's Dock Mort's Dock is a former dry dock, slipway, and shipyard in Balmain, New South Wales, Australia. It was the first dry dock in Australia, opening for business in 1855 and closing more than a century later in 1959. The site is now parkland. Histor ...

, Balmain. Thomas Mort purchased the land from Robert Townson (1763–1827), who had been granted land in the Hurstville area with his brother John Townson. A small farming community started when the land around Mort's Road was subdivided into seventeen farms. The Hurstville Steam Brick Company (better known as Judds Brickworks) was established in 1884 by William George Judd. The large brick-making chimneys were easily seen from around the district. The first residences were built opposite the Brickworks in 1885. The railway was extended through the district around the same time. The railway divided two of the main farms, Kemp's orange orchard and Parkes's farm near Victoria Avenue, and these were subdivided for housing by 1894. The official title for the suburb was set as Mortdale when the railway station opened with that name on 20 March 1897. The school opened in January 1889, and the post office and grocery store opened in November. Mortdale became a popular residential suburb in 1920s for soldiers returning from

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1921, there was a movement for Mortdale to split from Hurstville and form a separate municipality. An official 1923 inquiry into the proposed Municipality of Mortdale decided against the change, despite the separation movement having the law behind them. At the same time there was also a push to have the name of Mortdale changed due to its similarity with the suburb of Mortlake and the association with its literal translation from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

('Valley of the Dead'). Suggestions by various groups over several years included: Leyton, Montrose, Morella, Kingrose and Boronia. A final list approved by the Department of Lands were: Carruthers, Princemead, Wyargine, and Storrieville, but the matter was never resolved.

Commercial area

Mortdale consists mainly of residential dwellings with some commercial and industrial developments in the north-west corner. The main shopping centre is located on Morts Road and Pitt Street, near

Mortdale railway station Mortdale railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Illawarra line, serving the Georges River Council suburb of Mortdale. It is served by Sydney Trains' T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line services. History Mortdale ...

. Commercial and industrial developments are located along Boundary Road. A number of streets near the commercial area are named after notable streets in the Sydney CBD; These include: George Street,

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.

Pitt Street Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sect ...

Macquarie Place The Macquarie Place Park, also known as the Macquarie Place Precinct, is a heritage-listed small triangular urban park located in the Sydney central business district in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Th ...

and

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...

. This is the only group of Sydney-wide streets named as such. File:Mortdale Fire Station.jpg, Mortdale Fire Station File:Mortdale Hotel.jpg, Mortdale Hotel File:Mortdale Masonic.JPG, Woronora Lodge, Mortdale Masonic Centre (now demolished)

Transport

is on the

Illawarra railway line The South Coast Railway (also known as the Illawarra railway or the South Coast line) is a Commuter rail, passenger and Rail freight transport, freight railway line from Sydney to Wollongong and Bomaderry, New South Wales, Bomaderry in New So ...

of the

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the brand name and operator of Railways in Sydney, suburban and intercity train services in and around Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The metropolitan part of the network is a hybrid urban rail, urban-suburban r ...

network. Mortdale is a 30min (approx) train journey from the city. Mortdale sits on the T4 trainline, which may help to avoid delays as this line is separate from the rest of the network.

U-Go Mobility U-Go Mobility is a bus company in Sydney, Australia, that operates services in Region 10, which serves South Western Sydney, and Sutherland Shire. It is a 50:50 joint venture between UGL and Go-Ahead Group. History On 22 December 2022, U-Go Mo ...

services 944, 945 and 955 run throughout the week, with limited services on weekends.

Churches

* Christ Church Anglican * Mortdale Uniting Church * Mortdale Oatley Baptist Church * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) * Hurstville District

Christadelphian The Christadelphians () are a restorationist and nontrinitarian (Biblical Unitarian) Christian denomination. The name means 'brothers and sisters in Christ',"The Christadelphians, or brethren in Christ ... The very name 'Christadelphian' was co ...

Ecclesia * Mortdale Spiritual Church

Schools

* Mortdale Public School * Carinya Special School * Marist College Penshurst * Penshurst West Public School

Parks and Waterways

* Mortdale Memorial Park, Renown Park, Jubilee Park, Hurstville Golf Course, Mick Downes Reserve, Oatley Heights Park, Lime Kiln Bay Reserve, Olds Park, Edith Park, Beatty Street Reserve, Ruby Wing Reserve, Paddy Tyler Reserve, Milsop Place Reserve, Sunlea Avenue Reserve, Treloar Avenue Reserve, Walter Street Reserve, Nicol Murray Reserve, Lesley Crescent Reserve, MortdaleMemorialPark

, Lime Kiln Bay, Dairy Creek

Landmarks

* Historic Buildings - Mortdale Fire Station, Old Police Station, Mortdale Hotel,

, Mortdale RSL Club, Mortdale Bowling Club (demolished 2012), St George Masonic Club, Mortdale Scout Hall, Mortdale Senior Citizens Centre, Ellen Subway underpass. * Mortdale Memorial Park - Contains a perimeter of large

Small-leaved Fig ''Ficus obliqua'', commonly known as the small-leaved fig, is a tree in the family Moraceae, native to eastern Australia, New Guinea, eastern Indonesia to Sulawesi and islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Previously known for many years as ...

trees, a classical rotunda and a decorative War Memorial. The park is popular for picnics, weddings, and concerts.

Sport

* Hurstville Golf Course - 18-hole golf course * Ken Rosewall Tennis Centre - 8 tennis courts adjoining the golf course * Renown United Rugby League Club - play at Renown Park, Mortdale * Mortdale Heights Cricket Club - play at Oatley Park Oval * Hurstville Small Bore Range - rimfire shooting rifle range opposite the golf course * Beatty Street Reserve - Cricket Nets * Jubilee Park - netball court

Pop culture

Mortdale has been colloquially referred to as the "Valley of the Dead" or "Death Valley", due to the Latin ''mort'' ("death") and English ''dale'' ("valley"). In 1992, Su Cruickshank, published a book entitled 'Bring A Plate to The Mortdale Scout Hall - The Autobiography of a Fat Tart Complete with Recipes'.

Demographics

According to the , there were 10745 people usually resident in Mortdale, being 49.4% male and 50.6% female, median age 40 years. 34.9% stated they were born overseas, with the top countries of birth being China 7.7%, Nepal 2.3%, England 2.2% and Hong Kong 1.6%. English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 62.6% of residents, and the most common other languages spoken were Mandarin 8.1%, Cantonese 5.2%, Greek 2.9%, Macedonian 2.7%, and Nepali 2.4% . The most common responses for religious affiliation were no religion 32.1%,

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 ...

24.4%,

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 ...

11.2% and

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

8.0%, with religion not stated being 4.7%. Mortdale households consisted of 50.3% occupied by two-parent families, single parent families 12.9%, 35.2% by couples with no children at home, and 1.4% by others. 31.8% of households were purchasing their homes, 28.7% were renting, and 37.3% were owned outright (others not stated). There were 56.4% of these in separate houses, semi-detached 13.8%, and 29% in apartments. 41.0% had one vehicle, and 34.7% had 2.

Notable residents

Reg Gasnier Reginald William "Reg" Gasnier (12 May 1939 – 11 May 2014) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He played for the St. George Dragons from 1959 to 1967 and represented Australia in a then record 36 Tests and three World Cup g ...

- St George Rugby league footballer * J. H. Leonard - illustrator * Billy Smith - St George Rugby league footballer * Ruby Violet Payne-Scott (1912-1981) - physicist, radio astronomer and schoolteacher

Mortdale Heights

Mortdale Heights is a waterfront locality located between the Georges River and the western edge of the

of Mortdale in southern

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

, Australia. Mortdale Heights is located 20 kilometres south of the

in the

of the

. This small, elevated area is bounded on the south by Oatley Heights Park and Lime Kiln Bay, and on the west by Hurstville Golf Course. It is known for the unusual choice of its street names, as most begin with the letter "B" and have a Scottish heritage.

History

The name "Mortdale Heights" was in use by 1919, but there only scattered residences in the area. The estate was not fully subdivided for sale until 1924 when a subdivision of 300 allotments was made available. The area did not fully develop until shortly after World War II.

Culture

* A row of around 12 shops was built along Balmoral Road during the 1950s. Many of these have since been converted into residences * Beatty Street Reserve incorporates part of an old Quarry site (originally known as Hannon's Quarry) that was cleared by the Mortdale Heights Progress Association in 1954. A children's playground was built on the top section in 1955. Cricket nets were later installed in the quarry section. * The Girl Guides Hall is situated beside Beatty Street Reserve * The Mortdale Heights Cricket Club was founded in 1957 and is one of the oldest clubs participating in the Georges River St George District Cricket Association's competitions. Their home games are played at Oatley Park OvalMortdale Heights Cricket Club Website * Lime Kiln Bay Reserve, Oatley Heights Park, is a natural bushland area surrounding Lime Kiln Bay which extends into nearby Oatley Park

References

{{Sydney Georges River Council suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Populated places established in 1855 Georges River Council 1855 establishments in Australia