Stanmore

Stanmore is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia 6 kilometres south west of the Sydney central business district.

Stanmore is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia 6 kilometres south west of the Sydney central business district. It is part of the local government area of the Inner West Council. It is known for its long strip of shops running along Parramatta Road (Great Western Highway).

Stanmore was named by a prosperous saddler, John Jones, who seized the land of the Gadigal of the Eora nation in 1835 where Newington College now stands and called it the Stanmore Estate. Jones named it after his birthplace of Stanmore, now a north-west suburb of London. Land in the present Stanmore area was first allocated to colonial officers by Governor Arthur Phillip between 1793 and 1810. Thomas Rowley owned Kingston Farm which occupied the eastern half of Stanmore and much of Newtown, and a portion of George Johnston's Annandale Farm estate covered the area south of Parramatta Road containing Annandale House built in 1799 on the hill between Macaulay and Albany Roads.Johnston marched from here with his troops to Castle Hill on 5 March 1804 to quell the convict revolt. He also rode from here on 26 January 1808 to arrest Governor William Bligh during the Rum Rebellion. Johnston planted the first Norfolk pines on the Australian mainland along the line of Percival Road, leading to Parramatta Road.

Stanmore Road was constructed in 1835 and early development occurred in this area. In 1855, the railway divided Stanmore into areas known as North and West Kingston north of the railway, and South Kingston south of the railway. The Kingston Farm had been sold to James Holt in 1835, and North Kingston was subdivided in 1854. South Kingston (between the railway and Stanmore Road) was slowly subdivided from 1857 with isolated large houses built between 1860 and 1870.It was not until the late 19th century that the name Stanmore came into more regular use, replacing Kingston. Municipal boundaries established in 1861 and 1871 placed most of Stanmore into the Municipality of Petersham, with the area south of Stanmore Rd placed into the Municipality of Marrickville. In 1878, Stanmore railway station was established and the streets west of Percival Road were laid out. More intensive development subsequently occurred in this area and the name Stanmore slowly moved northwards from Stanmore to Parramatta Roads. Stanmore became a desirable location, booming in the 1880s and 1890s with the opening of Newington College and the Percival Road shopping area. The naming of streets after English colonies between Derby and Stafford streets reflected the English values of the time. The final subdivision of Johnston's South Annandale estate took place in 1905, and building was not completed until 1916-1918. Annandale House was demolished in 1905, and Weekley Park was established on land donated by the Johnston family.A small amount of light industry was established in the early 1920s in the area close to Parramatta Road, including H. Small and Co., a chocolate maker opening in 1928, and Starkeys Cordials. Both establishments have since closed and their premises have been converted into offices and apartments.