NSWFarming
Ryde
Before Top Ryde, there were the riverside Eastern Farms.
1792Eastern Farms granted
WHAT STARTED IT
In 1792 the first land grants were made to emancipated convicts on the north bank of the Parramatta River east of Parramatta, so the area was called Eastern Farms. The river carried their fruit, vegetables, poultry, maize and pigs to the Sydney markets.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
By 1794 the district was known as Kissing Point, and St Anne’s church, built on the ridge in 1826–27, became the focus of a village named Ryde on an 1841 auction plan. Ryde became a municipality in 1870 and grew after the first Gladesville bridge opened in 1881 and the Strathfield–Hornsby railway in 1886.
TURNING POINTS
1792Ten emancipated convicts receive grants at the Eastern Farms in February.
1798The district has the largest concentration of settlers in the colony.
1826Work begins on St Anne’s church on the ridge above the river.
1841A ‘Plan of the village of Ryde, Kissing Point’ is drawn up for a land auction.
1870The Municipality of Ryde is proclaimed on 12 November.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
The administrative centre of the City of Ryde, with council offices and shopping at Top Ryde. Colonial houses such as Addington, The Retreat and Willandra survive, along with the 1837–38 police station.