Strathnairn (

postcode A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

: 2615) is a suburb in the

Belconnen Belconnen () is a Lands administrative divisions of Australia#Australian Capital Territory, district in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. The district is subdivided into 27 divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. As at the , the ...

district of

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, located within the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

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 gazetted in 2016 as part of the West Belconnen / Parkwood cross-border development near the Australian Capital Territory and

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 ...

border. Strathnairn is located west of the suburb Holt. Land releases were made available as a joint project titled Ginninderry by the ACT Government's Suburban Land Agency and Riverview Developments. The development includes housing, retail and community infrastructure. Strathnairn is designated as a cat containment suburb.

Etymology

The origin of the suburb name is derived from the historical 1934 Strathnairn Homestead located in the suburb.

History

Strathnairn is situated in the

Ngunnawal The Ngunnawal people, also spelt Ngunawal, are an Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal people of southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. Language Ngunnawal–Gundungurra language, Ngunnawal and Gundungurr ...

traditional Aboriginal country. Aboriginal settlement of the Australian Capital Territory dates back over 20,000 years. Grinding grooves located on the Molonglo River to the south of Strathnairn provide evidence of Aboriginal use of the region pre-colonisatio

Members of the 'Canberra Tribe' continued to camp in the vicinity until the 1860s. The United Ngunnawal Elders Council are a community partner in development of the suburb and have noted the continuing spiritual and cultural importance of the Strathnairn landscape to Canberra's Aboriginal communit

Strathnairn was part of the original grazing property established in 1837 by Charles Sturt, Captain Charles Sturt and sold to Charles Campbell of Duntroon in 1838. Campbell named the property 'Belconnen' and it became incorporated into the larger Duntroon estate. Campbell built the Belconnen homestead as an outstation of Duntroon in around the 1850

Strathnairn Homestead

The main access route between

Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the Queanbeyan-Pale ...

Tumut Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...

and the Kiandra goldfields from the 1830s-1880s was via a historic roadway running through Strathnairn to Cusack's Crossing on the Murrumbidgee. The Belconnen property was partly resumed by the Commonwealth in 1913 for development of the

Federal Capital Territory A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...

, and was subsequently broken in several smaller leases. Following the

First World War 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 ...

, these were leased to returning soldier settlers. The property became known as Strathnairn in 1934 when it was first farmed by the Baird family, who constructed the Strathnairn homstead in the same year. The Baird family farmed the land until 1974. The homestead has been used as a community arts facility run by the Blue Folk Community Arts Association, and then the

ACT Government The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive branch of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of the party or coalition with the Con ...

, since 1977.

References

{{Belconnen Suburbs Suburbs of Canberra