Hornsby North Shore

What Your Suburb Means

In Lifestyle & Getaways by Robert C. Johnston0 Comments

Have you ever wondered about the name of the park or reserve where every day you walk your dog, or go for a run, or drive past on the way to work? And do you know the origin or meaning of the suburb in which you live?

Well we have compiled a brief selection of place names in Local Living’s distribution area to shed light on who the two Turners were and the reason why Henry was so loyal.

Gordon
Named after Sir James Willoughby Gordon who was Quartermaster-General of the Horse Guards in London at the time the First Fleet set sail in 1787.

McIntosh Street is named after Robert McIntosh, one of Gordon’s pioneers.

The Geary Gang of bushrangers had a bush hideout in a cave which is in the valley now known as Gordon Creek.

Killara
An Aboriginal word meaning “permanent” or “always there”, although some say it could also have an Irish derivation.

Fiddens Wharf Road is named for the former gunsmith Joseph Fiddens, who originally arrived as a convict in the colony in 1801. Later he was granted land in the area and became a boatman transporting timber.

Lindfield
Pioneer Francis List was born in Lindfield, England and named his property Lindfield – “lime-tree field”. It was situated near the North Shore railway station which now bears the same name.

Lady Game Drive was named for the wife of Sir Phillip Game (NSW Governor from 1930-1935).

Two Turners Reserve is not related to Ethel Turner of Seven Little Australians fame, but rather for former Mayor Robert Turner and former State Member Harry Turner.

Pymble
Named after Robert Pymble (1788-1861). He was a silk weaver who arrived from England in 1821. In 1823 he received a grant of 600 acres in the area as a reward for capturing a bushranger.

Telegraph Road was named such because it sat on the route of the original telegraph line that ran from Parramatta to the coast.

Roseville
Orchardist George Wilson lived in a beautiful stone cottage called Rose Villa in the mid-1800s. To make way for the 1890 North Shore railway line his cottage was demolished but the station and suburb took the name Roseville.

Loyal Henry Park is named after William Henry, a former private in the Royal Marines who served in the Napoleonic Wars. After being transported as a convict in 1801 he came to know and admire Governor Bligh who granted him 1000 acres in the area and a government job. Upon Bligh’s forced removal during the Rum Rebellion, William Henry was bribed to betray Governor Bligh but he refused and suffered greatly for his loyalty.

St. Ives
Early residents petitioned for a post office to be established in the area known prior as Rosedale, but because there was another post office called Rosedale in NSW the name St. Ives was chosen, probably in honour of 1880s MP Sir Isaac Ellis Ives. Rosedale is still remembered in a road.

Dalrymple-Hay Nature Reserve holds the most significant remnant of the Blue Gum Forest that grew in shale-based soil around Sydney. It was named for Richard Dalrymple-Hay, who proposed its preservation in the 1920s.

Turramurra
An Aboriginal word meaning “big hill”.

Irish Town Grove was named so because of the many Irish families who settled there from the mid-1800s.

The Lookout was apparently purchased by a group of residents in 1908 so that it could be given to the council as a permanent public lookout.

Wahroonga
An Aboriginal word meaning “our home”.

Claude Cameron Grove is named in honour of the former mayor and distinguished veteran of WWI and WWII.

Waitara
A New Zealand Maori word meaning “mountain stream.”

Waitara Creek is a fresh water stream that rises near the train station and flows to Berowra Creek.

Pearces Corner, where Waitara, Wahroonga, and Normanhurst meet, is named incorrectly after Aaron Pierce, a convict turned timber-getter who built his hut around 1835 on the spot where three tracks met.

Warrawee
Sainty Reserve was originally a part of the early estate of Joseph Sainty.

And Warrawee is an Aboriginal word meaning “stop here”. A fitting end to this edition’s local history page!

Sources:

Geographical Names Board www.gnb.nsw.gov.au
Dictionary of Sydney www.dictionaryofsydney.org
Ku-ring-gai Historical Society www.khs.org.au
The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Francis Hollon, 1988

Sydney and Suburbs, by Brian and Barbara Kennedy, 1982