NSWFarming
Parramatta
Sydney’s second city began as the colony’s farm.
1788Farm settlement founded at Rose Hill
WHAT STARTED IT
Crops failed in the poor ground around Sydney Cove, so Governor Phillip sent parties up the harbour looking for better land. He found more fertile ground near the head of the Parramatta River and set up a second settlement there to grow food.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
James Ruse proved at Experiment Farm that a former convict could support himself by farming, and in 1791 received the colony’s first land grant. Governors used Government House here until 1855. The railway reached the town centre in 1860, and suburbs such as Harris Park and Granville grew around the town from the 1870s.
TURNING POINTS
1788A redoubt is sited on 2 November and convicts begin clearing and planting the new settlement, first named Rose Hill.
1791Phillip renames the township Parramatta on 2 June.
1797Pemulwuy is shot and wounded on the town’s outskirts after a raid on the government farm at Toongabbie.
1799A larger Government House is built under Governor Hunter, keeping part of Phillip’s 1790 house.
1860The railway reaches a new Parramatta station near Church Street.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A major commercial and government centre in Sydney’s west. The NSW Police Force has its headquarters in Charles Street.