NSWPlanned settlement
Ashfield
A roadside village that the first railway turned into a suburb.
1838Village of Ashfield laid out
WHAT STARTED IT
Ashfield grew where the Parramatta and Liverpool roads meet, on a shale ridge between Sydney and Parramatta. The name came from early landholder Robert Campbell, whose father was laird of Ashfield in Scotland, and in 1838 part of the Ashfield Park estate near the road junction was cut up and sold as the Village of Ashfield.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Bishop Broughton laid the foundation stone of St John’s Church in 1840, and it was consecrated in 1845. The Sydney–Parramatta railway opened in 1855 with a station at Ashfield, and villa allotments were soon advertised opposite it. Residents argued over local government through rival petitions in 1870 and 1871 before the Borough of Ashfield began in December 1871. By 1901 the census counted more than 14,000 people in the municipality.
TURNING POINTS
1838Part of the Ashfield Park estate near the Parramatta and Liverpool roads is subdivided as the Village of Ashfield.
1840Bishop Broughton lays the foundation stone of St John’s Church; faulty brickwork later has the church re-erected under Edmund Blacket.
1855The Sydney–Parramatta railway opens on 26 September, with Ashfield one of its intermediate stations.
1871After rival petitions, the Borough of Ashfield is proclaimed to begin on 28 December; its first election is held on 6 February 1872.
1891The census counts 11,697 people in the borough.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A densely populated inner-west centre with a large Chinese community. It has been part of Inner West Council since 2016.