Hurstville, New South Wales

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


caption = Memorial Square, Forest Road, Hurstville
lga = City of Hurstville
postcode = 2220
est = 1887
pop = 23,331 (2006) Census 2006 AUS | id = SSC11497 | name = Hurstville (State Suburb) | quick = on | accessdate = 2008-02-28]
area = 4.2
propval = [http://www.domain.com.au/public/suburbprofile.aspx?mode=%20$257,000&searchterm=hurstville $610,000] (2008)
stategov = Kogarah, Oatley
fedgov = Watson, Barton
near-nw = Beverly Hills
near-n = Kingsgrove
near-ne = Bexley
near-w = Penshurst
near-e = Carlton
near-sw = Hurstville Grove
near-s = South Hurstville
near-se = Allawah
dist1 = 16
dir1 = south
location1= Sydney CBD

Hurstville is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Hurstville is located 16 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Hurstville.

Hurstville has become a central business district for the southern suburbs of Sydney. It is a large, multi-cultural city with its development of commercial buildings and high-rise residential buildings dominating the skyline. Hurstville's residential developments are a mixture of low density housing, medium density flats and high density apartment buildings. As a commercial centre, it features branches of many banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and retail shops. Forest Road features many restaurants, particularly Chinese cuisine, as well as a number of cafes and pubs.

History

Hurstville comes from the words 'hurst' meaning wooded eminence and 'ville' meaning town. [ [http://www.hurstville.nsw.gov.au/PageZone_AboutHurstville.asp?z=3&c=252&p=651 City of Hurstville - History of Hurstville] ]

Aboriginal Culture

The first inhabitants in the Hurstville area were Australian Aborigines. It is unknown when Aborigines first settled the Hurstville region. 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.

European Settlement

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) of land which is 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. In the same year, 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 1809, Captain John Townson was granted an additional 250 acres (1 km²) in the area now occupied by Kingsgrove and Beverly Hills. 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 and it is likely that the brothers never occupied their land. 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 (1800-61) who subdivided it into small farms along what is now Croydon Road and three larger farms purchased by Dent, Peake and Ibbotson. The area became known as Gannons Forest. 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.

The Gannons Forest post office opened in 1881. The local school was named 'Hurstville' by School Inspector MacIntyre when it was established in 1876. When the railway station opened in the 15th October 1884, it took the name Hurstville, from the school. Hurstville municipality was incorporated in 1887. Hurstville was declared a city in 1988. The Centennery Bakery on Forest Road is a historic building that has been preserved and once housed a museum. The St George Regional Museum is now located in another historic building in MacMahon Street.

The Hurstville train crash on the 3rd August 1920 resulted in five people killed and fifty injured. It involved the collision of two steam trains, one arriving from Central plunged into the back of the other bound that was stationary at Hurstville railway station, bound for Sutherland. [ "The Book of Sydney Suburbs", Compiled by Frances Pollon, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8, page 130]

Commercial Area

Hurstville's commercial area is centred around the main street, Forest Road, on the northern side of Hurstville Railway station. The commercial developments also extend to surrounding streets concentrated from Queens Road to The Avenue and on the southern side of Hurstville Railway station, around Ormonde Parade. The commercial developments extend further along Forest Road, west towards Penshurst and east towards Bexley.
Westfield Hurstville is the largest shopping centre in the St George area. It is built over three blocks and stretches from Forest Road over Crofts Street, Park Avenue to The Avenue. Hurstville Central (formerly the 'Hurstville SupaCentre') is a small shopping centre on top of Hurstville Railway station, which has recently undergone total refurbishment. It links Forest Road with Ormonde Parade.

The administrative offices of the City of Hurstville are located in the Hurstville Civic Centre in MacMahon Street. This street also features a number of historic buildings such as the Friendly Pharmacy, old Fire Station, Ritz Hotel and the St George Regional Museum, which houses the cake decorating collection formerly held at the Australian Cakes and Sugar Art Museum. Hurstville City Library is located nearby on Queens Road.

Transport

Hurstville railway station is a major station on the Illawarra line of the City Rail network. All suburban and most interurban trains stop at Hurstville. Hurstville is 20 minutes from Sydney Central railway station on the express service. Hurstville is a major bus interchange with bus services departing from Forest Road and Ormonde Parade.

Churches

* St Georges Anglican Church, St Michaels Catholic Church, [http://www.hurstvillepresbyterian.org/ Hurstville Presbyterian Church] , [http://www.hurstvillecofc.org.au/ Hurstville Church of Christ] , Hurstville Uniting Church, Hurstville Seventh-day Adventist Church, Hurstville Assemblies of God, Salvation Army.

chools

* Hurstville Boys High School, Hurstville Public School, Danebank Anglican Girls School, Bethany College, Beverly Hills Public School and St George Christian School. Sydney Technical High School is located just over the border in Bexley.

Hospitals

Hurstville Community Hospital is a private hospital located in the suburb. Hurstville Community Hospital is currently owned by the Little Company of Mary Healthcare, and marketed as "Calvary Health Care Sydney, Hurstville Community", although in October 2007, the LCM sold the hospital to a consortium of local surgeons. The hospital has maternity and surgical services. [ [http://www.lcmhealthcare.org.au/servicesmap.php?page=/servicesmappages/Hurstville LCM Healthcare] . Accessed 11 October, 2007] .

Landmarks

* Hurstville Civic Centre, Hurstville Entertainment Centre, Hurstville City Library, St George Regional Museum.

Parks

* Kempt Field, Woodville Park, Hurstville Park, Thorpe Park, Doyle Gardens.

Population

Demographics

The first European settlers in the area were mostly of British and Irish ancestry. From the late 1960s, Hurstville like many surrounding areas became home to migrants from all around the world. The first wave of migrants included Greeks and Italians who began moving south from Sydney's inner-city suburbs. They were followed by more European migrants including many from the former Yugoslavia, such as Macedonia. From the 1990s, the Chinese community within Hurstville has grown considerably. Much of this was related to significant migration from Hong Kong during the 1990s. Many local businesses are operated by people of Chinese background, the interests of which are advanced by the St. George Asian Business Association. Hurstville is a hub for Asian groceries, food and services.

According to the 2006 census, the population of Hurstville was 23,331, of which 65.7% were overseas-born. In 2006, Hurstville had a Chinese plurality: 42.1% of the population were of Chinese ancestry, 12.4% of Australian ancestry, 10.5% of English ancestry and 35% of other or undeclared ancestry. The most common language spoken at home was English (26.7%), followed by Mandarin (21.1%), Cantonese (20.5%), Arabic (4.3%) and Greek (4.1%) although an influx of immigrants from mainland China and Hong Kong is rapidly increasing the number of people speaking Mandarin and Cantonese.. Now the population if approx. 25664.

Notable residents

* Sir Jack Brabham - Three-time Formula One World Champion, was born in Hurstville in 1926.
* Neville Hayes - Dual Olympic silver medallist in swimming, was born in the suburb in 1943.
* Craig Nicholls - The lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock group The Vines. Born August 31, 1977.

References

* [http://www.hurstville.nsw.gov.au/PageZone_Museum.asp?z=11&c=276&p=632 St George Regional Museum]
* [http://www.hurstville.nsw.gov.au/ City of Hurstville website]

External links

* [http://www.hurstville.nsw.gov.au/PageZone_AboutHurstville.asp?z=3&c=252&p=651 City of Hurstville - History of Hurstville]