Oatley, New South Wales

Oatley
Sydney, New South Wales
Oatley Clock Tower, Frederick Street
Oatley
Coordinates 33°58′52″S 151°4′29″E / 33.98111°S 151.07472°E / -33.98111; 151.07472Coordinates: 33°58′52″S 151°4′29″E / 33.98111°S 151.07472°E / -33.98111; 151.07472
Population 10,486 (2016 census)[1]
Established 1883
Postcode(s) 2223
Location 18 km (11 mi) south of Sydney CBD
LGA(s) Georges River Council
State electorate(s) Oatley
Federal Division(s) Banks
Suburbs around Oatley:
Mortdale Penshurst Hurstville Grove
Peakhurst Heights Oatley Connells Point
Lugarno Como Oyster Bay
Frederick Street and Oatley Avenue intersection
Oatley Parade
Oatley Hotel on Oatley Avenue

Oatley is a suburb in Southern Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 18 kilometres (11 miles) south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Oatley lies in the local government area of Georges River Council.

History

This suburb's name can be traced to James Oatley Snr, watch-maker, who was transported to Botany Bay for life in 1814. Seven years later, in 1821, Governor Lachlan Macquarie granted Oatley a conditional pardon and appointed him overseer of the Town Clock for his work in installing the clock at Hyde Park Barracks.[2][3]

The post office opened in 1903, thus giving the district its official suburban name of Oatley. Prior to this, the area west of the railway line was officially in the suburb of Hurstville and attached to the Hurstville Post Office with "Oatley's" in parenthesis at the end of the address. Likewise, the streets east of the railway line were officially in the suburb of Kogarah and attached to the Kogarah Post Office. In the late 1890s both Hurstville and Kogarah were much larger suburbs and were later divided up into separate suburbs.

Oatley is notable as the terminus of the first railway electrification project in Sydney, which reached this station from Sydney Central in 1926.

When a group gathered in Oatley Park in December 1959, to form a Bowling Club, it was inevitable that the founding members should choose a clock as the club emblem. The hands on the clock were set at 15 minutes after 10 - the precise time the first meeting of the Oatley Bowls Club was opened.[4] The Club has since closed, though the greens and Club premises remain.[5]

The Oatley campus of Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education opened in 1981 on the site of the former Judd's Brick Works and quarry. In 1981, when many teachers' colleges were amalgamated, it became The St George Institute of Education, part of Sydney College of Advanced Education, and subsequently a campus of the University of New South Wales. It is now a secondary school – the Oatley Senior Campus of the Georges River College.[6]

Heritage listings

Oatley has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Commercial area

The main shopping centre is located on Oatley Avenue and Frederick Street, near the railway station. A small group of shops and a Coles Supermarket are located on Mulga Road in Oatley West. The village atmosphere, along with good cafes, and large parklands located in the centre of the shopping area adjacent to the train station, has led Oatley to be commonly mentioned as the most picturesque shopping village in the St George area.

Transport

Originally, the railway ran east of the present Mortdale Railway Sheds and down the western side of Oatley Avenue, on land that is now the Oatley Memorial Gardens. The first station platform was located at the western end of Frederick Street and extended north to the Oatley Hotel car park. The electrification of the passenger network began in 1926[9] with the first suburban electric service running between Sydney's Central Station and the suburb of Oatley approximately 20 km south of Sydney.

Oatley railway station is the last station on the Sydney Trains Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra railway line before crossing the Georges River to Como in the Sutherland Shire. The 955 bus route operates a service from Mortdale through Oatley West and Oatley to Hurstville.

Parks

The area's main attraction is Oatley Park but there are also a number of local bush parks surrounding the suburb: Oatley Point Reserve, Oatley Pleasure Grounds, Moore Reserve, Renown Park, Lime Kiln Bay Bushland Sanctuary, Giriwa Picnic Ground, Stevens Reserve, Meyer Reserve, and the Miles Dunphy Bushland Reserve (in which foot tracks were improved in 2011, by Hurstville Council). They attract many birds both native and introduced, with Oatley Park alone recording 146 species; as many as 90 recently.[10][11]

Oatley Park

Oatley Park[12] is a tree covered promontory that is almost completely surrounded by the Georges River. It covers an area of about 45 hectares (110 acres) and it is one of the significant areas of bushland remaining in the St George area.[13]

Oatley Park became a public recreation area on 25 March 1887. In October 1893, when the nearby residential subdivision was sold off, it was known as Peakhurst Park. It was renamed to Oatley Park in March 1922.

It protects important examples of the natural environment which occur throughout the park. In addition, there is a swimming area, a playground featuring an old steamroller, lookouts, barbecues, a soccer/cricket oval, and a "castle".[14] The man-made wetlands of Lime Kiln Bay Reserve which adjoin Oatley Park provide refuge for bird species such as chestnut teal, Pacific black ducks, dusky moorhens and purple swamphens.[15] Native mammals which are uncommon in the region can still be found within the park, including the short-beaked echidna and the swamp wallaby.[16][17]

Oatley Pleasure Grounds

Oatley Pleasure Grounds is a bush park located on Annette Street. It covers an area of 3.4 hectares (8.4 acres) and was built by Harry Linmark before 1934. Numerous performances occurred in the park previously, and a wine bar was constructed. The bar was later shut down due to noise complaints.[18]

Schools

  • Oatley Public School[19]
  • Oatley West Public School[20]
  • St Joseph's Catholic School[21]
  • Georges River College Oatley Senior Campus[22]

Churches

  • All Saints' Anglican Church[23]
  • St Joseph's Catholic Church[24]
  • OAC Oatley Anglican Church[25]
  • Mortdale Oatley Baptist Church (MOBC)[26]
  • Oatley Uniting Church[27]
  • Oatley Christian Brethren Church
  • Hurstville District Christadelphian Ecclesia[28]

Landmarks

  • Oatley RSL & Community Club [29]
  • Oatley Bay, Gungah Bay, Lime Kiln Bay, Neverfail Bay, Jewfish Bay
  • Oatley Point, Lime Kiln Point, Lime Kiln Head, Jewfish Bay Point
  • Hills Lookout, Websters Lookout
  • The Oatley Hotel (Oatley Pub)[30]
  • Oatley Library
  • Myles Dunphy Reserve, a site of ecological significance.[31] However, Hurstville City Council has plans to sell off a large part of this land to private business.[32]
  • The 1905 George Fincham Pipe Organ located at Hurstville Christadelphian District Ecclesia is a historically-significant[33] musical instrument in the area.

Community events

  • Oatley Lions Village Festival — An annual festival held on the third Saturday in October in Oatley Memorial Gardens and part of Frederick Street[34]
  • Oatley West Arts and Crafts Festival[35] - An event held at Oatley West Public school each year
  • Oatley Spring Fair — A fair held biennially at Oatley Public School

Sport

Water sports and recreation are a way of life in the peninsula suburb of Oatley whose eastern, southern and western boundaries are formed by the Georges River and its bays. Oatley has many sporting teams and sporting fields:

Population

Demographics

According to the 2016 census, there were 10,486 people in Oatley. 71.8% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China 6.0%, England 2.9%, Hong Kong 1.3% and New Zealand 1.0%. 72.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 6.9%, Cantonese 3.4%, Greek 3.1%, Croatian 1.6% and Macedonian 1.3%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were Catholic 27.0%, No Religion 25.4%, Anglican 16.6% and Eastern Orthodox 6.6%.[1]

Notable residents

References

  1. 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Oatley (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 1 February 2018. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ↑ Arch Gray Collection, Society of Australian Genealogists, Sydney, NSW
  3. ↑ AGCI Index (Australian Genealogical Computer Index), Society of Australian Genealogists
  4. ↑ The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8, page 193
  5. ↑ http://orao.oatleypark.com/myles2.html
  6. ↑ Oatley Senior Campus, www.oatleysnr-h.schools.nsw.edu.au
  7. ↑ "Oatley Railway Station group, New South Wales State Heritage Register (NSW SHR) Number H01214". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  8. ↑ "Como Rail Bridge, New South Wales State Heritage Register (NSW SHR) Number H01624". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  9. ↑ Jubilee of Sydney's Electric Trains Brady, I.A. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, March 1976 pp41-66
  10. ↑ Oatley Flora and Fauna Conservation Society, 2003. Birds of Oatley Park
  11. ↑ Field, D. 21 August 2007. Ospreys spotted in Oatley and Lugarno The Leader, p9.
  12. ↑ About Oatley Park, Oatleypark.com
  13. ↑ Benson, D. & Howell, J. 1990. Taken for Granted: the bushland of Sydney and its suburbs. Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst. ISBN 0-86417-331-8
  14. ↑ ?, Hurstville City Council Archived 14 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  15. ↑ Parks & Reserves, Georges River Council, Hurstville
  16. ↑ Oatley Park Wildlife, Where Light Meets Dark.com
  17. ↑ Wallabies at Oatley Park, Oatley Flora and Fauna Conservarion Society, Inc
  18. ↑ Lawrence, Joan (1996). St George Pictorial Memories: Rockdale, Kogarah, Hurstville. Kingsclear Books. p. 65. ISBN 0908272456. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  19. ↑ Oatley Public School
  20. ↑ Oatley West Public School
  21. ↑ St Joseph's Catholic School Archived 5 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  22. ↑ Oatley Senior Campus - Georges River College
  23. ↑ All Saints' Anglican Church
  24. ↑ St Joseph's Catholic Church
  25. ↑ Oatley Anglican Church
  26. ↑ Mortdale Oatley Baptist Church
  27. ↑ Oatley Uniting Church
  28. ↑ http://www.livingtruth.info/
  29. ↑ http://www.cluboatley.com.au/
  30. ↑ http://oatleyhotel.tripod.com/home.html/
  31. ↑ http://off.oatleypark.com/?page_id=251
  32. ↑ http://www.hurstville.nsw.gov.au/SPContent.aspx?PageID=14&ItemID=685
  33. ↑ http://www.livingtruth.info/pipeorgan.html
  34. ↑ http://www.oatleylions.org.au/
  35. ↑ http://www.artcraftowps.org.au/
  36. ↑ http://www.oatleyrugby.com/
  37. ↑ http://www.oatleysoccer.com/
  38. ↑ http://www.asowsoccer.com.au/
  39. ↑ http://www.oatley.gymnastics.org.au/
  40. ↑ Australian Dictionary of Biography
  41. ↑ Sonny Bill Williams, the contender, by Greg Bearup, The Australian, dated 2 March 2013.

Bibliography

  • Sands and MacDougall Post Office Directory of Sydney (various years)
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