by John Horne

Blacktown City has more than 430,000 people living within its boundaries. The suburb of Blacktown itself has 51,000 and is a vibrant, multicultural place with all the mod cons that one would expect to find. However, in 1875, one hundred and fifty years ago, it was a completely different story, less than two hundred people called Blacktown home.

There was no telecommunication except the telegraph and postage. There were no internet, television or streaming services. Cars, planes, electricity, gas, plastics and one hundred and one other things that we take for granted today did not exist.

There was no city, municipality or shire of Blacktown or even a federated country called Australia. Instead, there were six colonies or states on the continent, one of which was New South Wales, a self-governing colony within the British Empire and whose monarch was Queen Victoria. Each of the Australian colonies had its own Prime Minister, army, navy, public service, postal service and government.

Every year the New South Wales Post Office compiled information that was used to publish the Greville’ s Official Post Office Directory.

The Blacktown entry for 1875-76 reads:

“ BLACKTOWN, a small township and railway station on the Western line in the parish of Prospect, electoral district of Central Cumberland, county of Cumberland, is 21 miles west from Sydney. Post and telegraph. Mails: close at G. P. O. daily at 8.30 a. m. and 4 p. m., arriving at post town daily( Sundays excepted) at 10.30 a. m. and 5.52 p. m.; leave for Sydney daily( Sundays excepted) at 6.8 a. m., arriving

daily at 7.20 a. m.( Note: 21 miles is 33.8 kilometres)”

Forty-eight men lived in Blacktown and their occupations are shown in the 1875-76 Greville’ s Official Post Office Directory. Mothers, single women, wives and children were not shown.

Edward Palmers was the only butcher and Henry Wood the lone carpenter.

Fifteen farmers resided there, Joseph Beckhouse, Robert Crawford, a grazier whose property Hill End covered most of Doonside, Michael Curran, W. B. Campbell, grazier, J. K. Cleeve who owned a very large property Bungarribee that covered another big part of Doonside and Blacktown, James Fry, Thomas Harvey, George Ireland, Timothy Kinchela, George Leabon, John Moon, Edmund Moore, Ralph Senior, Charles Tamstett and Thomas Willis.

The only innkeeper, Thomas Fitzsimons, owned the Royal Hotel.

There were twenty-two labourers, William Bates, Peter Beater, Peter Bennett, James Castles, Charles Champion, Edward Carey, Henry Carter, Richard Daley, George Glover, John Hayes, Charles Henese, Patrick Lakey, Henry Leabon, Daniel Lee, John Lock, James McDermott, Alfred Paine, Edmund Parsons, John Pond, John Sansfield, Richard Sperrin and William Stubbins.

The five railway employees were, Robert Bassett, porter; James Chisholm, a clerk, who probably ran the post office; John Collins, stationmaster; James Crossett, porter and Henry Woods, porter.

The two teachers, John Barrett and C. Chapman and one resident, John Bell, whose occupation is not shown.

The Grevilles Official Post Office Directory describes a tiny rural community with both large

and small farms surrounding a railway station and village. It only had two industries, agriculture and transport.

Few events about Blacktown were reported in the newspapers during 1875. The year began with bushfires burning the length of the railway line on both sides from Mulgrave to Blacktown and eastwards towards Parramatta.

The Sydney Hunt came to Blacktown in May 1875. Seventeen riders with their hounds chased a dingo that was released in a big grassy paddock about one mile( 1.6 km.) from Blacktown station. The dingo was given twenty minutes grace before the hounds were released and the riders galloped away trying to catch it.

Jumping fences, crossing fields, creeks, orange orchards and cultivated paddocks, the hunt travelled cross-country until the poor animal was cornered while cooling itself in a creek and the hunt was over. It had run for four miles( 6.5 km.) before it was killed. Several riders fell from their horses and one was knocked unconscious during the chase but the dingo lost its life.

During June1875, widespread heavy rain caused flooding of low-lying areas around the area. Eastern Creek burst its banks and people with their animals escaped to the hills until the floodwaters subsided.

On 30 June 1875, Blacktown citizens elected William Long to represent them in the seat of Central Cumberland in the New South Wales Parliament.

A big Christmas party ended the year. Seventy-five Sunday school children enjoyed food, drinks, a lantern slide show and musical entertainment and a rain shower did not dampen the children’ s enjoyment.

Blacktown today is definitely very different to what it was, one hundred and fifty years ago in 1875!

The original 1860 Blacktown Railway Station was replaced by this building in 1886 which was demolished by NSW State Rail in 1978-79.

Boys playing cricket outside Blacktown Public School which still stands in Flushcombe Road.

licensee. It stood where today’ s bus interchange road overbridge operates near Blacktown Railway Station. Later it was replaced by the Robin Hood.