Cambridge Park, New South Wales

History

Aboriginal culture

Prior to European settlement, what is now Cambridge Park was home to the Mulgoa people who spoke the Darug language. They lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle governed by traditional laws, which had their origins in the Dreamtime. Their homes were bark huts called "gunyahs". They hunted kangaroos and emus for meat, and gathered yams, berries and other native plants. Shortly after the arrival of the First Fleet in Australia in 1788, an outbreak of smallpox decimated the local indigenous communities.

European settlement

The first land grant in the area was made in 1831 to Phillip Parker King, son of the Governor Phillip Gidley King. He named it St Stephens although it later became part of the Werrington estate belonging to his sister Mary Lethbridge. It was run as a farm until the 1880s when the estate was subdivided into smaller farms, one of which became Cambridge Park. Development in the area began in the 1950s. Cambridge Park Post Office opened on 2 January 1953 and closed around 1995.

Housing

Developed mainly in the 1950s, the streets are at right angles to each other, unlike the curving street patterns of the newer suburbs to the north, and the houses are mostly fibro on quarter acre blocks.

Demographics

According to the , there were 7,054 people in Cambridge Park.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 8.8% of the population.
• 76.4% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 2.7% and New Zealand 2.0%.
• 80.7% of people spoke only English at home.
• The most common responses for religion were No Religion 37.2%, Catholic 22.2% and Anglican 14.5%.

Governance

At a local government level, Cambridge Park is part of the north ward of Penrith City Council, represented by Lexie Cettolin, Kevin Crameri, Ross Fowler, Pat Sheehy (currently mayor of Penrith) and John Thain. At the state level, it is part of the Electoral district of Londonderry, represented by Labor's Prue Car. Federally, it is part of the Division of Lindsay, represented by Liberal Party Melissa McIntosh.

References

References

1. {{Census 2021 AUS. 50px]] Material was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License].
2. "Dharug Aboriginal History". Christopher Tobin.
3. "Penrith Local Suburb profiles – Cambridge Park". Penrith City Council.
4. Phoenix Auctions History. "Post Office List". Phoenix Auctions.