Mulgoa, New South Wales
- 66 km (41 mi) west of Sydney CBD
- 14 km (9 mi) south of Penrith
Suburbs around Mulgoa: | ||
Lapstone | Regentville | Glenmore Park |
Blue Mountains National Park | Mulgoa | Orchard Hills |
Warragamba Dam | Wallacia | Luddenham |
Mulgoa is a village, located in the local government area of the City of Penrith, in the region of western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mulgoa is located approximately 66 kilometres (41 mi) west of the Sydney central business district.
Mulgoa covers an area of 5,530 hectares (13,700 acres), south of the Penrith suburbs of Regentville and Glenmore Park.
History
Aboriginal culture
Mulgoa takes its name from the Mulgoa people, who were an Aboriginal Australian people, the Indigenous inhabitants of the area who spoke the Dharug language. The name is believed to mean "black swan". The Mulgoa were not the only inhabitants of the area; they shared the Mulgoa Valley with the Gandangara people of the Southern Highlands, whose territory extended up into the Blue Mountains. The Aboriginal peoples mostly lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle governed by traditional laws, which had their origins in their mythology known as the The Dreaming. Their homes were bark huts called gunyah. They hunted kangaroos and emus for meat, and gathered yams, berries and other native plants.[2][3]
European settlement
Following the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney, there were a number of bloody battles between the British settlers and the local Indigenous people in this area, however, it is believed that the Mulgoa people were generally peaceful and most of the clashes were with the Gandangara. The first government land grants in the area were made in 1810 to Edward Cox, the four-year-old son of Captain William Cox, who constructed a famous road across the Blue Mountains in 1814. William Cox built The Cottage on the land in about 1811. Fernhill, a much grander residence with associated gardens, now heritage-listed, was completed in the 1840s, although the proposed second-storey was never added.[4] Not far away dwelt Cox's friend Sir John Jamison, who erected the colony's finest mansion, Regentville House, in 1824, on an eminence overlooking the Nepean River. In 1821, three large land grants were made on the Nepean at Mulgoa to the Norton family: James Norton, the founder of Sydney's first law firm and his father and brother, Nathaniel.[5][6]
The centre of Mulgoa's spiritual life in the colonial era was St Thomas' Anglican Church, which dates from 1838. It was the first public building in the Mulgoa Valley and was constructed out of sandstone and cedar on paddocks donated by the Cox family, with Sir John Jamison serving as one of its patrons. The Reverend Thomas Cooper Makinson was St Thomas' inaugural rector. Attached to the church was Mulgoa's first school which operated until 1871–72, when the Mulgoa Provisional School replaced it.[7][8]
In 1893, Mulgoa's population was sufficiently large to be granted the status of a municipality. Its area extended beyond the current suburb boundaries. In 1949, however, council rationalisations led to it merging with Penrith, St Marys and Castlereagh into a larger Penrith Municipality. These days, Mulgoa is still primarily a rural area.[2]
Mulgoa Post Office opened on 1 September 1863.[9]
20th century
In May 1942, during the Second World War and after the bombing of Darwin, a group of Aboriginal children were evacuated from "The Bungalow" in Alice Springs, Northern Territory[10] to an Anglican home Mulgoa. The group included Rona and Freda Glynn,[11][12][13] as well as John Kundereri Moriarty.[14]
The Church Missionary Society Home for Half-Castes existed between 1942 and 1947, run by the Church Missionary Society. It housed Aboriginal children aged 1–14, and some mothers, who came mainly from South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, with a few from New South Wales. They were evacuated by the Department of Native Affairs, under military orders.[15] However the group of children did not leave Mulgoa until January 1949.[11][16]
Heritage listings
Mulgoa has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- Fairlight Road: Fairlight Homestead[17]
- Mulgoa Road: Fernhill, Mulgoa[18]
- 754-760 Mulgoa Road: Glenmore, Mulgoa[19]
- St Thomas Road: St Thomas' Anglican Church, Mulgoa[20]
- 2 St Thomas Road: Cox's Cottage[21]
Transport
Mulgoa Road is the main road in the suburb, connecting with Penrith. Busways provides a bus route 795 which runs from Warragamba to Penrith along Mulgoa Road.[22]
The iconic Mulgoa speedhump is known amongst the locals for its inability to slow cars down.[citation needed]
Education
There is a government-run primary school, Mulgoa Public School,[23] and a privately run school, Nepean Christian School.[24]
Demographics
The recorded population of Mulgoa in the 2016 census was 1,898. The majority of residents are Australian born (79 per cent) with small minorities born in England (2.8 per cent), Germany (1.6 per cent), and Malta (1.5 per cent). The most common responses for religion were Catholic 36.7%, Anglican 24.7% and No Religion 14.1%. There are a large number of couples with children (52 per cent) and most houses are owned outright (42.6 per cent) or being paid off (41.9 per cent). The number of renters (12.9 per cent) was substantially less than the national average of 30.9 per cent. The median household income ($2,217 per week) was higher than the national average ($1,438).[25]
Notable residents
- Stuart Ayres, former New South Wales Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney
- Edward Cox, a son of William Cox, and politician; and his son, Edward King Cox, also a politician.[4]
- Captain William Cox (1764–1837), Mulgoa pioneer, military officer, landowner and road-builder.[4]
- Robert Dulhunty (1803–1853), landowner, police magistrate, alderman and founder of the Dubbo district in central-western New South Wales.[26]
- Sir John Jamison Kt, MD (1776–1844), landowner, physician and Member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales.[27]
- The Reverend Thomas Cooper Makinson (1809–1893), Mulgoa's first resident Anglican clergyman and schoolmaster, who later converted to Catholicism.[28]
- Emmanuel Margolin, entrepreneur and former operator of El Caballo Blanco, which contained Sydney's largest private zoo.[29][30]
- Senator The Honourable Marise Payne, former federal Foreign Affairs Minister[31]
- David Stove (1927-1994), philosopher.[citation needed]
Governance
At a local government level, Mulgoa is part of the south ward of Penrith City Council, represented by Jim Aitken, Mark Davies, Sue Day, Karen McKeown and Mark Rusev. The current mayor is Tricia Hitchen. At the state level, it is part of the Electoral district of Badgerys Creek, represented by Tanya Davies, of the Liberal Party. Federally, it is part of the Division of Lindsay, and represented by Liberal Melissa McIntosh.
References
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Mulgoa (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ a b "Penrith Local Suburb Profiles – Mulgoa". Penrith City Council. Retrieved 31 July 2007.
- ^ "Dharug Aboriginal History". Christopher Tobin. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
- ^ a b c "Fernhill". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
- ^ "Norton, James (1795–1862)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ "An old family". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954). New South Wales: National Library of Australia. 21 March 1914. p. 4. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ Walsh, Stephanie; Robsinson, Peter (1989). St Thomas' Church, Mulgoa, 1838–1988: A Parish History. Sydney.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "St. Thomas Anglican Church". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
- ^ "Post Office List". Phoenix Auctions History. Phoenix Auctions. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
- ^ "St Mary's Hostel - Summary". Find & Connect. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ a b Smith, John P. McD (3 March 2019). "The Florence Nightingale from the bush". Alice Springs News. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- ^ Lemon, Barbara (6 October 2008). "Freda Glynn". The Women's Pages. Australian Women's Archives Project. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ Lever, Brandon (17 July 2019). "'It was for us': She gave voice to bush communities". Newsworthy. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ "Socceroo dreaming". The Age. 24 May 2006. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ^ "Church Missionary Society Home for Half-Castes, Mulgoa - Summary". Find & Connect. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- ^ Moriarty, John (1 October 2001). "The National Interest" (Interview). Interviewed by Lane, Terry. Radio National. Archived from the original on 21 October 2000. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- ^ "Fairlight Homestead & Barn". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00262. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
- ^ "Fernhill". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00054. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
- ^ "Glenmore". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00074. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
- ^ "St. Thomas Anglican Church". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00426. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
- ^ "Cox's Cottage". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00171. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
- ^ "Busways route 795". Transport for NSW.
- ^ "Mulgoa Public School". Primary schools. NSW Education.
- ^ "Nepean Christian School".
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Mulgoa (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ Dulhunty, Beryl (1966). "Dulhunty, Robert Venour (1802–1853)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 1. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
- ^ Walsh, G. P. (1967). "Jamison, Sir John (1776–1844)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 2. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
- ^ Daly, R. A. (1967). "Makinson, Thomas Cooper (1809–1893)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 2. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
- ^ "Margolin Properties on Market". Camden Accommodation. 21 May 1990. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012.
- ^ "Zoo Owner Fights With Neighbours Over Access". Alligators.com.au. Originally published in The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 February 1999.
- ^ "Biography". Marise Payne.[self-published source?]
External links
- Penrith Local Suburb Profiles
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- Agnes Banks*
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