Parramatta Park 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 ...

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

in the

Cairns Region The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , Parramatta Park had a population of 3,621 people.

Geography

Parramatta Park is the suburb immediately west of Cairns City (the Cairns central business district). The northern part of the suburb is residential. The southern part of the suburb has a number of schools, the Cairns Showgrounds,

Barlow Park Barlow Park is a multi-sports facility and stadium in Parramatta Park, Cairns, Queensland, Australia. The Park is home of the Northern Pride RLFC offices, Cairns District Rugby Union, Cairns and District Athletics Association, Australian Spor ...

(a multi-sports facility and stadium) and an industrial precinct.

History

Parramatta Park is situated in the Yidinji traditional Aboriginal country. The origin of the suburb name is from the suburb of

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

in the

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 ...

metropolitan area 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 ...

with a possible derivation from a hotel situated locally during the late nineteenth century. On 26 July 1884 auctioneer John McNamara offered the Walkerville Estate as the first suburb of Cairns, consisting of 400 lots, predominantly of . The estate was promoted as being close to the terminus of the Herberton railway line and as a "paradise of health". To attract buyers from

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

, there was the inducement of a free return trip to Cairns for buyers of 10 lots.

Parramatta State School Parramatta State School is a public co-educational primary school located in the Cairns suburb of Paramatta Park, Queensland, Australia. It is administered by the Department of Education, with an enrolment of 443 students and a teaching staff of ...

was opened on 24 January 1927. St Joseph's Primary School opened on 1 July 1927 by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

. Mercy Sisters were part of the teaching staff of the school until 2015. On Sunday 15 April 1928

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

John Heavey John Alphonsus Heavey (1868–1948) was a Roman Catholic bishop in Queensland, Australia. He was the Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Cairns. Early life Heavey was born on 13 November 1868 in Roundwood, County ...

officially opened the new Catholic church and school building. St Augustine's College opened on 9 February 1930 by the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute of Religious brother, brothers. In 1817, Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from Fr ...

. On 17 June 1932, the Cairns City Council asked unemployed vagrants living in Parramatta Park, to leave the grounds for the duration of the Cairns show. They refused to go and by July 1932 the town's people were getting frantic and angry because they could not set up for the show. On 17 July 1932 police were called in to forcibly remove the men from the park, many towns people also took part in the hostilities and a riot broke out. A number of people were injured and the majority of the vagrants were "run out of town". The Parramatta Park parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns was established in 1946.

Demographics

In the , Parramatta Park had a population of 3,508 people. In the , Parramatta Park had a population of 3,621 people.

Heritage listings

There is one heritage-listed site in Parramatta Park: * Grove Street Pensioners' Cottages, 28D Grove Street

Education

is a government primary (Early Childhood to Year 6) school for boys and girls at 122 Mulgrave Road (). In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 379 students with 46 teachers (39 full-time equivalent) and 40 non-teaching staff (24 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 316 students with 46 teachers (39 full-time equivalent) and 34 non-teaching staff (20 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program. St Joseph's School is a Catholic primary (Preparatory to Year 6) school for boys and girls at 13 Loeven Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 389 students with 28 teachers (23 full-time equivalent) and 19 non-teaching staff (12 full-time equivalent). St Augustine's College is a Catholic secondary (7–12) school for boys at 251 Draper Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 748 students with 64 teachers (61 full-time equivalent) and 36 non-teaching staff (31 full-time equivalent). Boarding facilities are available. There is no government secondary school in Parramatta Park. The nearest government secondary school is Cairns State High School in neighbouring Cairns North to the north-east.

Amenities

St Joseph's Catholic Church is on the corner of Draper and Loeven Streets (). Services are also held in the chapel of St Augustine's College and at Trinity Chapel in Mercy Place aged care facility (formerly Bethlehem Home) in Gatton Street, Westcourt. These are within the Parramatta Park Parish of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns is located in the state of Queensland, Australia. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. The diocese was erected as a vicariate apostolic in 1877 and was elevated to a diocese in 1941. It ...

. The Cairns Showground is at the corner of Severin Street and Mulgrave Road ().

References

Attribution

This article contains material fro
From the vault – Parramatta Park Riot, Cairns 1932

State of Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

(

Queensland Police Service The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto ...

) 2020, released under CC-BY-2.5 licence
archived
1 December 2020).

External links

* {{Cairns Region