At the time of European settlement the Canada Bay area was part of the traditional lands of the Wangal clan of Aboriginal people. The Wangal were a clan of the larger Darug language group or Aboriginal nation. Their lives were strongly focussed on the harbour and its foreshores, especially in food gathering.
Aboriginal people also hunted animals, harvested plants and gathered raw materials in the bushland fringing the harbour. The Hen & Chicken Bay area, along with Homebush Bay, was traditionally a major meeting place for Aboriginal people from Port Jackson and the wider Sydney region.
Before the arrival of white settlers, Cabarita Park was a typical rocky outcrop along the shores of the Parramatta River. Cabarita may have been derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘by the water’ or may have been derived from a place in Spain where Surveyor-General Mitchell worked under Wellington.
Correy’s Gardens Picnic Group
Cabarita Point was first sighted by the first European settlers in February 1788 – by Captain Hunter on his journey up the Parramatta River. The park was reserved as a recreation area in 1856, and first accessible by steamer in the 1850s.
Cabarita Terminus 1907
Early in its history the park was popular for picnics and watching boat races on the harbour. Part of the suburb was originally granted in 1795 to David Anderson, a private soldier in the NSW Corps. The grant was described as being at ‘Cabarita Point, at the upper part of the harbour’. Cabarita Park, a picnic area on Cabarita Point was known as Correy’s Gardens in the 1880s. This part of the river was the venue for early regattas, including the GPS schools ‘Head of the River’ before these races were moved to the Nepean River.
Cabarita Pool c1923
The park was dedicated for public use in 1880. Cabarita was linked to Burwood station by tram, and the park was popular with families for picnics. There was a segregated swimming pool, with one half for men and boys, the other for women and girls. Husbands and wives, as well as lovers, would lean on the dividing fence for a chat as the water swirled around their legs.
France Bay, Exile Bay and Canada Bay, adjacent to the park, commemorate a group of 58 French-Canadian exiles. After an 1838 rebellion in Canada these prisoners were sent to NSW and held in the Longbottom Stockade in Concord, at which time the 3 bays received these names. Cabarita Park was proclaimed a public park under the Public Parks Act 1912
You never know what you might find on a leisurely stroll. This is the inscription on a plaque I found recently . . . This is the site of the first settlement on 10th January 1792ByWilliam Careless and James Weaversin the locality set up by Governor Phillip asfarms of the eastern boundary (later called Kissing…
Daisy May Bates was born Margaret May O’Dwyer, on 16 October 1859 at Roscrea, County Tipperary, Ireland. At the age of twenty-four she travelled on the Almora to Australia. She stayed at the home of the Bishop of North Queensland and later with several family friends who had migrated previously. Because of this she later said ‘Australia…
The first day of spring is the little-known but uniquely Australian celebration – National Wattle Day. Wattles have always been part of our country’s landscape and the lives of its people. For Indigenous Australians, wattle trees were a source of food, medicines and wood for many different utensils and weapons. Indigenous peoples of Australia soaked the gum…
Why are so many people trying to re-write the nursery rhymes of our childhood to rid them of sexism, violence and social insensitivity? They should be left alone because they are important historic commentaries containing more than meets the eye. Not content with angry adults already knocking off Noddy, shooting down Biggles and black-balling the…
Turning the First Sod The ceremony of turning the first sod of the tramway line, which is to connect the suburb of Enfield with Mortlake, was performed yesterday afternoon by the Minister for Works, Mr. O’Sullivan. Elaborate preparations had been made by the municipalities interested in honouring the event, as the day was regarded by…
Post WWI were boom years for building suburban houses that were detached and provided a yard for relaxation and family pursuits. The popular style was the Californian bungalow, a style readily adopted into Australia from the USA from 1913 onwards. They provided an excellent standard of accommodation within a single storey and incorporated a verandah…