St Marys

St Marys is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

St Marys is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 45 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith.

St Marys sits between South Creek which forms the western boundary and Ropes Creek, its eastern boundary.

The township of St Marys was first known as South Creek. The Bennett coach and wagon works manufactured horse-drawn wagons to meet the growing demand for transport in Sydney.The suburb is named after the parish church of St Mary Magdalene, built between 1837 and 1840 and situated between the Great Western Highway and King Street. The church foundation stone was laid on 22 November 1837 by Bishop Broughton. It is one of the oldest churches in New South Wales that still has regular services. The church is heritage-listed. Internees in the church cemetery include the wife of Philip Gidley King, Governor of New South Wales, plus numerous members of the King family. The land was donated by King's son and the bricks were made on his estate. King, Gidley and Lethbridge Streets were named after various members of the King family.

The site is believed to have been chosen by the mother of Phillip Parker King. The property had been acquired from John Oxley in 1828 by King, the original grant having been made in 1823. Other land grants in the area included those to Anna Josepha King in 1807 (Dunheved), Samuel Marsden (Mamre), and Mary Putland (Frogmore).

The area was first called South Creek because European settlement was originally centred along the banks of the creek. The land grants became working holdings because of the permanent water supply. The rich alluvial soil along the banks of the creek ensured an expanding agricultural community and its location on what was then called the Great Western Road, later renamed to the Great Western Highway, meant that it became a convenient staging post.

The name St Marys was first used when the St Mary's Post Office was opened on 1 October 1840. The township formed part of a grant to Mary Putland (later married Sir Maurice O'Connell), the daughter of Governor William Bligh (former master of HMS Bounty, during the famous mutiny in 1789). Closer settlement of the area was made possible when in 1842 part of the O’Connell Estate was subdivided. St Marys has a long and rich industrial and agricultural history, including tanneries and munitions formerly operated by Australian Defence Industries.

Mamre, situated on Mamre Road, was built c.1830 for Samuel Marsden. It is a two-storey Georgian home that is heritage-listed.Circa 1829–32, the Lethbridge family built Werrington House just north of St Marys. It was based on the family home in Cornwall. It is one of the most significant colonial homes in New South Wales and is heritage-listed.St Marys is now the home of the South Creek Vietnam Vets Association and the St Marys & District Historical Society Inc.

The Municipality of St Marys was proclaimed on 3 March 1890, and the election of the first council was held in May 1890. The council was amalgamated with the Municipality of Penrith on 1 January 1949. The first Mayor was William Garner, and the last mayor was J J Blair (1948). There is a branch office of the Penrith City Council on Queen Street along with a library. The St Marys & District Historical Society is open to the public on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm in the Community Centre complex located on Mamre Road on the southern side of the Great Western Highway.