Fairfield East

Fairfield East Sydney, New South Wales
Shops in Tangerine Street
Population	5,273 (2016 census)[1]
Established	1876
Postcode(s)	2165
Location	28 km (17 mi) west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)	City of Fairfield
State electorate(s)	Fairfield
Federal Division(s)	Fowler
Suburbs around Fairfield East: Fairfield Yennora Old Guildford Fairfield Fairfield East Villawood Fairfield Villawood Villawood

Fairfield East is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Fairfield East is located 28 kilometres (17 mi) west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. Fairfield East is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

Fairfield East shares the postcode of 2165 with nearby suburbs of Fairfield, Fairfield Heights and Fairfield West. Fairfield East was also home to the Infamous Villawood Bronx which was plagued with crime and drugs and experienced gang related murders and other serious crimes for many years until the former public housing estate was knocked down in 1999 and redeveloped into townhouses and private homes.

History

Fairfield East gets its name from its neighbour Fairfield which in turn was named after the family estate of Captain John Horsley, an early settler. Prior to colonisation, the Cabrogal clan of the Dharug people inhabited the area around what is now known as Fairfield East. British settlers moved into the area in the early 19th century and used the land for farming.^[2]

By the 1870s, the area now known as Fairfield East was part of two large properties: Orchardleigh in the north which extended towards Guildford and Mark Lodge in the south which also included Villawood, Carramar and parts of the Fairfield town centre.^[3]

In 1876, Orchardleigh was subdivided for housing and when Mark Lodge followed suit in 1885, the area completed its transformation from farmland to suburbia. The name Mark Lodge was still used in the area for some time after although by the 1950s it had officially become Fairfield East.

Population

According to the 2016 census, Fairfield East had a population of 5,273 people, including a substantial Vietnamese community with 27.4% of residents born in Vietnam and 24.7% speaking Vietnamese. The majority of people were born outside of Australia, and after Vietnam, the next most common countries of birth were Iraq, China, Lebanon and Myanmar. Almost a quarter of the population were Buddhists, just behind Catholicism as the leading religion in the suburb. The most common occupations were technicians and tradespeople (16.6%), labourers (16.1%) and professionals (14.8%). Speaking languages other than English was common with just 22.1% of people speaking English only at home. Other languages spoken at home included Vietnamese 24.6%, Arabic 14.8%, Cantonese 6.0%, Mandarin 3.6% and Spanish 3.2%.^[1]

References

Coordinates: 33°52′18″S 150°58′24″E / 33.87177°S 150.97346°E / -33.87177; 150.97346