Hurstville is a Local Government Area within Sydney, Australia, and also a suburb within that area. Located 15 kilometres south of the central business district (CBD), it is a large part of the St. George region which contains the Hurstville, Kogarah, and Rockdale municipalities. Hurstville City Council manages and maintains the following surrounding suburbs: Penshurst, Mortdale, Peakhurst, Lugarno, Allawah, Carlton, South Hurstville and more.

In recent years Hurstville has expanded dramatically from a small suburb to large enterprising multi-cultural city and there has been development of several high rise apartment buildings. The Asian community within Hurstville has also grown considerably during this time.

History

First inhabitants

The first inhabitants of the Hurstville region were Australian Aborigines. It is unknown when Aborigines first settled the Hurstville region. Some estimates have put it as high as 100,000 years ago while others contend that it is as low as 10,000 years ago. At the time of the arrival of the first fleet the aborigines living in Hurstville were part of the Eora tribe which stretched along the Georges River from Botany Bay to present day Liverpool.

First European Settlers

The land of the Hurstville region was granted by the government of the new colony of New South Wales to two men; Captain John Townson and his brother Robert Townson in 1808. Captain John Townson was granted 1950 acres (7.9 km²) which was on the land now occupied by the suburb of Hurstville and part of Bexley. Robert Townson was granted the land which is now occupied by Penshurst , Mortdale and parts of Peakhurst . The next year Captain John Townson was granted an additional 250 acres (1 km²) in the area now occupied by Kingsgrove and Beverly Hills. However, the Townson brothers were not happy with the land that they were given because it was not suitable for the farming of sheep for wool. It is likely that the brothers never occupied their land.

In 1908 in the area now known as Riverwood land grants were made to Jane Trotter, Mary Shepley, Charles Doudall, and James Ryan. Later in 1816 another land grant in the same area was given to Mary Redman.

In 1812, a wealthy merchant named Simeon Lord bought the land of Captain John Townson and named it Lord's Forest. When Simeon Lord died the land became the property of John Rose Holden and James Holt of the Bank of NSW.

Development

A dam with a roadway on top was constructed on the Cooks River at Tempe in 1839. In 1843 the road which was to become known as Forest Road was extended from the dam to a hand winched punt in Lugarno . On the other side of the river the road continued all the way to Wollongong, however it was only suitable for travellers on horseback. The new road opened up the Hurstville region and created a settlement at Bottle Forest , now known as Heathcote.

In 1850 the Lord Forest estate was purchased by Michael Gannon who subdivided it into small farms along what is now Croydon Road and three larger farms purchased by Dent, Peake and Ibbotson.

The land originally granted to Robert Townson was purchased by John Connell in 1830, and following his death in 1849 the estate was inherited by his grandsons Elias Pearson Laycock and John Connell Laycock.

External links

• 2001 Census Information