Leichhardt - Municipality of Leichhardt

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About Leichhardt - Municipality of Leichhardt

Consists of Glebe, Rozelle, Annandale, Lilyfield and Balmain

Leichhardt suburb itself gives the municipality its name as the centre of Sydney’s Italian community with some of the best Italian restaurants in Sydney clustered on Norton Street.

During its heyday, Balmain had such residents as Prime Minister Billy Hughes and the father of federation, Henry Parkes. It later became a worker class suburb. One of its most famous sons, Sir John Kerr, was the son of a Balmain Boilermaker. Another famous daughter of this suburb is swimmer Dawn Fraser, who has a hotel near the pool named after her in Balmain. Other Balmain citizens’ today include a number of writers ranging from David Williamson to cookery Margaret Fulton, as well as a number of architects and university lecturers.

Annandale takes its name from Annan, the birthplace in Scotland of George Johnston who was granted land between 1793 and 1799 that took in the present suburb of Annandale as well as the area between Parramatta Road and Stanmore Station.

Balmain gets its name from a grant made by Governor Hunter in 1800 to William Balmain, a surgeon in the First Fleet who had become Sydney’s principal surgeon. Apart from conferring his name upon the district, Dr Balmain’s connection with it was slight. In 1801, fifteen months later after receiving the grant, he sold it for the token sum of five shillings to his friend John Gilchrist and returned to England. Balmain’s main street is named after Governor Darling who was governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831.

Birchgrove, the northernmost finger of Balmain, was a 1796 grant to a private in the New South Wales Corps, George Whitfield, who established an orange orchard. In 1810 it was sold to John Birch, paymaster to Governor Macquarie’s newly-arrived 73rd regiment. The new owner renamed the orchard as Birch Grove and built Birch Grove House. Disappointedly it was demolished in 1969, it was one of the oldest houses in Australia.

Glebe means an area of land devoted to the maintenance of an incumbent of the church. The present suburb’s name dates from 1789 when Governor Phillip set aside the land for church purposes.

Leichhardt was name by Walter Beams who bought land in the area and called it after his old friend and ill-fated German-born explorer, Ludwig Leichhardt (1813 – 1848) who disappeared without a trace while on a journey across Australia. The area had previously been known as Piperston because of the grant made to Captain Piper and Ensign Hugh Pipe in 1811.

Rozelle obtained its name from the innermost portion of White Bay, known in the mid 1800’s as Rozella Bay because of the abundance of parrots.

Sydney and Suburbs - A History & Description
Author - Brian & Barbara Kennedy - 1982



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Seen in <a href=http://www.flickr.com/groups/leichhardtmunicipality/> Leichhardt Municipality Group. </a>

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It would be great if you can add this to <a href=http://www.flickr.com/groups/leichhardtmunicipality/> Leichhardt Municipality Group. </a> and invite others with similar captures







Some interesting shots added to the Leichhardt Pool thus far
Thanks all for adding as this pool continues to grow.
Aldo


IRON COVE BRIDGEby MiniCooperS1275



RED + BLUE + SILVER by textual refuse



RAISING BAZ, I by Newtown grafiti



St Mary’s Hall c1851 by Balmain Heritage