Leumeah, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Leumeah
city = Sydney
state = nsw

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caption = Campbelltown Stadium, Leumeah
lga = City of Campbelltown
postcode = 2560
pop = 8661 (2006)
est = 1887
area =
propval =
stategov = Campbelltown
fedgov = Macarthur
near-nw = Woodbine
near-n = Minto
near-ne = Minto Heights
near-w = Woodbine
near-e = Kentlyn
near-sw = Campbelltown
near-s = Campbelltown
near-se = Ruse
dist1 = 52
dir1 = south-west
location1= Sydney Leumeah is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Leumeah is located 52 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown. It lies directly north of the suburb of Campbelltown.

History

The name Leumeah recognises both early settler John Warby, who called his farm "Leumeah", and the Tharawal people who originally inhabited the area. It means "Here I rest" and comes from the Tharawal language. Clans of the Tharawal roamed over a wide area from Botany Bay to the Shoalhaven River and inland to Campbelltown. They lived a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle, eating local foods (bush tucker) such as kangaroo, fish, yams and berries. They made primitive tools out of stones, bones and shells to help them build bark shelters, canoes and possum-skin clothing. [cite web | url= http://www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au/default.asp?iDocID=2116&iNavCatID=322&iSubCatID=1380 | title=History of Leumeah| publisher=Campbelltown City Council| accessdate=2007-12-23] [Liston, C: "Campbelltown: The Bicentennial History", Allen & Unwin, 1988: p.1-2.]

John Warby was a convict explorer transported to Sydney on the "Pitt" in February 1792. In 1802, he was given the job of protecting the cattle roaming free in the Cowpastures area, as the area south west of Sydney was then known. He befriended the Tharawals and learnt some of their language. In 1816, he was granted convert|260|acre|km2 at what is now Leumeah where he built his house, a barn and stables. The barn still stands as part of the Colonial Motor Inn. [cite web | url= http://www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au/default.asp?iDocID=2116&iNavCatID=322&iSubCatID=1380 | title=History of Leumeah| publisher=Campbelltown City Council| accessdate=2007-12-23]

In 1887, a railway station was built in the area. Originally, it was named Holly Lea after the property of a local politician but local opposition swiftly got the name changed to Leumeah. In 1926, a substantial amount of land was released as a sub-division although the Great Depression deferred substantial growth in the area until after World War II. Subdivision continued throughout the 1950s and 1960s and in 1969, the suburb was formally named Leumeah. [cite web | url= http://www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au/default.asp?iDocID=2116&iNavCatID=322&iSubCatID=1380 | title=History of Leumeah| publisher=Campbelltown City Council| accessdate=2007-12-23]

The streets of Leumeah are named after famous dams, lakes of NSW, explorers and pioneer farmers. Continuing the theme from the suburb's own naming, Campbelltown Stadium, home of the Wests Tigers rugby league team, was originally called Orana Park after an aboriginal word for "welcome". [cite web | url= http://www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au/default.asp?iDocID=2116&iNavCatID=322&iSubCatID=1380 | title=History of Leumeah| publisher=Campbelltown City Council| accessdate=2007-12-23]

Commercial Area

Leumeah shopping centre has an IGA supermarket, Australia Post and many local shops within walking distance of Leumeah Train Station which is located on O'Sullivan Road.

Transport

Leumeah railway station is serviced by the South, Cumberland and East Hills lines of the City Rail network.

chools

* Leumeah Public School
* Leumeah High School

Population

In the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics census, Leumeah had a population of 8,661 people which could almost be described as a microcosm of Australian society with most key statistics such as plasce of birth, average age and income similar to the national averages. The suburb was more religious than the country as a whole with greater numbers of Roman Catholics (29%), Anglicans (26%) and Muslims (4%) and fewer non-religious people (11%) than the national figures. There were a number of small groups of people from non-English speaking backgrounds including Arabic (3%), Filipino (1%), Hindi (1%), Samoan (1%) and Spanish (1%). Most families were couples with children (46%) although there was a slightly higher than average number of single families (22%).Census 2001 AUS|id=SSC11581|name=Leumeah (State Suburb)|accessdate=2007-12-23|quick=on]

port

Campbelltown Stadium (formerly known as Orana Park) in Leumeah is one of the three home grounds of the Wests Tigers NRL team.

References

External links

* [http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/placemarks/637943-Campbelltown.kmz Google Earth KMZ File of Campbelltown(Download)]
* [http://www.leumeah-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/ Leumeah High School]
* [http://www.campbelltown.nsw.gov.au Campbelltown City Council]