by John Horne
Eastern Creek rises in the hills of western Sydney near The Horsley Drive below the ridge that runs north-south in the Western Sydney Parklands . It flows northwards for about 30 kilometres through the modern cities of Fairfield , Blacktown and Hawkesbury until it empties into South Creek at Vineyard . Reedy , Angus , Bungarribee , Breakfast , Burdekin , Quakers and Bells Creeks join it on its way .
It was called Wawarrawarri by the local Dharug people who occupied the area for many thousands of years . They had campsites on the higher ground close to the creek because it provided them with bountiful fresh water and many plants and animals for food .
They moved with the seasons to take advantage of the changing availability of food in the area , but they were displaced and dislocated from their traditional lands and practices when the European settlers arrived . The Europeans wanted the creek water for themselves , their animals and their crops .
The first Europeans to come across Eastern Creek were an exploring party led by Captain Watkin Tench of the Royal Marines , in 1789 . They were on their way westwards from Prospect Hill exploring the area .
Tench and his party crossed the creek
The Bush Inn at the Eastern Creek Crossing was used as a school in 1866 .
to investigate , perhaps they took their boots off to wade through the water or used a crossing already made by the local Dharug people . When they crossed they continued on until they reached Yandai ( The Nepean River ) and then returned to Parramatta . Why the name Eastern Creek ? The origin of the name lies in the fact that Eastern Creek is the eastern branch of South Creek and from very early days , it was known as this . The village that grew where the road crossed the creek also became known as Eastern Creek .
The Great Western Highway , one of the most historic modern roads in Australia , was constructed very early in the period following the Europeans arriving in the Sydney area . The Great Western Road mostly follows the route of the original road with a few deviations made in modern times at Prospect and near Penrith .
By the time the explorers Blaxland , Wentworth and Lawson crossed the Blue Mountains in 1813 , the Western Road was already carrying road traffic from Sydney to Parramatta and further west to the Penrith District . Though little better than a dirt track it was still a road . Bridges were built to cross obstacles like Eastern Creek and South Creek .
Somewhat like today , toll gates stopped travellers to collect road use fees at various places along the road ; there was one near the Eastern Creek Crossing at The Garrison .
Roadside inns opened up along the way to provide food and lodgings for travellers . One of these , The Bush Inn , at the Eastern Creek Crossing , was owned by an ex-convict named ‘ Lumpy ’ Dean . It was later called The Corporation Inn and still later , The Old House at Home Inn . In 1858
it became the area ’ s first post office and in 1866 a private school used one of the inn ’ s rooms as a classroom .
Another obstacle that travellers had to overcome or avoid was bushrangers . In 1824 a cart belonging to Mr Blackett , the superintendent of the Government Farm at Rooty Hill , was held up by a bushranging gang who severely beat the poor driver and stole everything he had .
A famous local bushranger in the Prospect to Eastern Creek area was Bold Jack Donohue and his gang . He used the Fox Under the Hill Inn at Prospect as one of his haunts . He had a network of “ friends ” who fenced the properties he stole from , who were both unfortunate travellers and locals . The Fox Hills Golf Course carpark covers the old inn site .
On one occasion Donohue and two companions were escaping from mounted troopers near Eastern Creek . They evaded capture and made their getaway in the thick scrub that covered parts of the Bungarribee Estate .
Donohue was shot dead in a gunfight with troopers in 1830 near Bringelly . When he was killed he was wearing trousers he had taken from Robert Crawford during a robbery weeks earlier at Doonside near Eastern Creek .
Robert Crawford was one of the witnesses at Donohue ’ s inquest and recognised his own trousers on the dead body . Bushrangers like Donohue would strip their victims down to their underwear during robberies .
In 1817 the NSW Government built a house on the Sydney side of Eastern Creek , on the northern side of the road , that originally was called The Garrison . Later it became known as Hollinsworth .
Soldiers were based at The Garrison to police the road traffic and oversee convicts
Hollinsworth at Eastern Creek was built in 1817 and demolished in 1961 by the NSW Main Roads Department to duplicate the Great Western Highway . at work on road maintenance plus those being transported along the road . At night convict chain gangs could camp at The Garrison but only under supervision .
The village of Eastern Creek eventually had an inn or two and a blacksmith and a wheelwright who repaired the many coaches and other vehicles that journeyed along the Western Road . It had a post office from 1858 and a school from 1866 in one room in The Old House at Home Inn . The land on the southern side of Eastern Creek was mostly used for market gardens . There were poultry and dairy farms in the district and at Rooty Hill there was a sawmill where timber cut in the Eastern Creek District was carted to the mill by bullocks and drays . The area was mostly rural and agricultural .
Today , Eastern Creek has changed from the sleepy village it used to be into a thriving modern commercial and tourist hub . The remnant rural land is being covered by many kinds of industrial developments . The Western Sydney Parklands Trust wants to turn the area around Pikes Lane , Eastern Creek into a tourist facility . Old houses that have stood there for many years have been demolished and the land cleared .
A new shopping complex has been built on Rooty Hill Road South where it intersects with the Great Western Highway at Eastern Creek , fundamentally changing the once rural nature of Eastern Creek into a modern , urban environment .
and District Historical Society Incorporated
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Founded in 1976 to ensure that the history of the Blacktown area would be collected and conserved for all time by tapping into documents and people ’ s memories .
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