Everything about Lewisham New South Wales totally explained
Lewisham is a
suburb in the
inner-west of
Sydney, in the state of
New South Wales,
Australia. Lewisham is located 8
kilometres south-west of the
Sydney central business district, in the
local government area of
Marrickville Council. The postcode is 2049. Lewisham is surrounded by the suburbs of
Petersham,
Dulwich Hill,
Summer Hill,
Haberfield and
Leichhardt.
History
Lewisham is named it after the
London borough of
Lewisham, which means Leofsa's village or manor.
Aboriginal Culture
The greater Sydney area has been populated for around 40,000 years. The original residents of the Lewisham area were the
Cadigal clan of the
Darug tribe. Artefacts found near the
Cooks River indicate at least 7,000 years of habitation in the local area.
European Settlement
When the
First Fleet arrived in 1788, they set up camp in the middle of Cadigal territory. While the first governor
Arthur Phillip endeavoured to establish cordial relations with the Cadigals and their neighbours, the two groups were competing for the same food sources and tensions inevitably developed. In 1789, a
smallpox epidemic developed and wiped out the majority of the Cadigals.
This aided the British in clearing the land and granting it to the colonists. By 1809, all the land within Lewisham had been granted. Lewisham took its name in 1834 from the estate of Joshua Frey Josephson, a German-born businessman who would later become mayor of
Sydney.
Transport
Lewisham railway station is on the
Inner West line of the
CityRail network. Lewisham is notable in railway history as the termination point for the first train journey in the NSW colony in 1855, although the
Lewisham railway station wasn't built until 1885. The whipple
truss bridge over
Long Cove Creek was constructed 1885-1886 featuring North American technology developed by Squire Whipple. It is probably the most significant railway bridge site in Australia, certainly in NSW. It has the unique distinction of 4 different types of bridges from different eras. The
Engineers Australia designated the Viaduct in 1994 as an historic engineering marker.
Schools
Trinity Grammar School formerly Saint Thomas a Becket Primary School, is located on 5 Thomas Street, Lewisham.
Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham is located on 58 - 61 The Boulevarde. Lewisham Public School is located on 71 The Boulevarde Lewisham. Petersham Public School is on the border of Lewisham and
Petersham.
Churches
Saint
Thomas Becket's Catholic church is located in Thomas Street, the current priest is Fr. Michael Butler (1988 - present).
Catholic Organisations
The Servants of Mary Help of Christians has moved its Marian Centre from Surry Hills to Lewisham, they're currently located at the top of the old St. Thomas a Becket Primary School Hall and have only just begun unpacking and renovating.
Their biggest project as of now is getting 100, 000
Miraculous Medals taped onto leaflets with information on them in preparation for
World Youth Day and to hand them out to Pilgrims whilst the event is held at
Randwick Racecourse and other venues.
Population
Demographics
According to the 2001
census, Lewisham had a population just under 3000. The character of its population was quite different to its near neighbours, not having a large number of residents born overseas. After Australia, the most common countries of birth were
England (3.5%),
Portugal (2.9%) and New Zealand (2.8%). There were also a reasonable number of
Greek speakers (3.9%), just topping
Portuguese (3.5%) as the second most common language in the area after English. The number of
Indigenous Australians (2.6%) was higher than the national average and also a significant local demographic.
The population is predominately young couples. In fact the number of couples without children (40%) exceeds the number of couples with children (38%), a marked contrast to the national figures. The number of people aged 21-54 is 52% well above the national average (44%) while the younger and older age groups were all lower than the national averages. There were also a substantial number of single person households (30%).
Notable residents
- Clive Caldwell (1910-1994), World War II air ace
- Les Haylen (1898-1977), author and politician, he was the local federal member of parliament from 1943-1963.
- John Shand (1897-1959), prominent Sydney barrister from the 1920s to the 1950s who took on a number of high profile cases of the day.
- Mother Xavier (1870-1938), head of the Little Company of Mary (1899-1929) which ran Lewisham Hospital and helped make it one of the top hospitals in Sydney.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Lewisham New South Wales'.
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