NSWFarming
Burwood
An officer’s grant on the Parramatta road that became a railway town.
1799Captain Rowley’s grant
WHAT STARTED IT
Burwood lies between the Parramatta and Liverpool roads, about halfway along the old route from Sydney to Parramatta. In 1799 Captain Thomas Rowley of the New South Wales Corps was granted 250 acres here; the grant, later extended to 750 acres, covers most of Burwood and Croydon.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Rowley never lived on his grant, but merchant Alexander Riley later had a house here, Burwood Villa, which Joseph Lycett drew for his 1825 views of the colony. The railway gave Burwood one of its first stations in 1855, and the Municipal District of Burwood was proclaimed in March 1874. The station was enlarged in 1892 as villas and shops spread around it.
TURNING POINTS
1799Captain Thomas Rowley is granted 250 acres, later extended to 750 acres, covering most of Burwood and Croydon.
1825Joseph Lycett’s aquatint of Burwood Villa, ‘the property of Alexander Riley Esqr.’, is published in London on 1 May.
1855The Sydney–Parramatta railway opens on 26 September with a station at Burwood.
1874The Municipal District of Burwood is proclaimed on 27 March.
1892Burwood station is upgraded, with a new booking office.
1901The census counts 7,521 people in the municipality.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A major shopping and transport centre in the inner west with a large Chinese community. Burwood Council is one of Sydney’s smallest local government areas.