Photo of Henry courtesy of Archive Office of NSW. By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. SIR Henry Parkes was born to a farming family on the 27th May 1815 at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire in England. He was the youngest of seven children to Thomas Parkes and his wife […]

Wood Sawyer 1905 painting courtesy of Frederick McCubbin. By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. AT South Creek on the 22nd of January 1859 at Regentville William Watson was indicted for having unlawfully and feloniously killed and stabbed Simon Ryan. The prisoner pleaded not guilty and was undefended. […]

Photo of the Demountable Buildings at St Marys High School in 1957 courtesy of State Archives NSW. By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. IN 1962 “Freedom Park” had been chosen by Mr William J Eason the Principal of St Marys High School and proposed by him at […]

Photo of a diesel-electric locomotive courtesy of the Commonwealth Department of Munitions. By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. DURING 1943 the Commonwealth Department of Munitions imported four diesel-electric locomotives built by the General Electric Company from the USA for use as shunters at St Marys. These were […]

Watercolour of the Church courtesy of National Library. By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. IN April 1840 The “Sydney Herald” recorded that “The new Church of St Mary Magdalene at South Creek was consecrated by the Lord Bishop on Wednesday last. The Church, which is a very […]

Photo of the Protestant Hall at St Marys taken by photographer Charles Kerry. By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. September 1916. It is freely admitted that the people of St Marys through their civic and social leaders possess the facility of organization in a large degree and […]

IN January 1907 Arthur Judges held a magisterial enquiry touching on the death of a young married man named Ernest Anderson, a half-brother of Joseph Hayes of Penrith. Ernest was on a visit at the time the fatality occurred just below the Nepean River Bridge. Alick McLennan stated that he was a farm labourer, 16 […]

Photo of the grave courtesy of the Find a Grave Website. By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. James Bourke a resident of Orchard Hills died in High Street Penrith on Friday on the 2nd January 1925. Mr Norman Wade was driving his car up High Street and […]

By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. THE first inhabitants were the Dharug aboriginal people. Fourteen tribes or “mobs” made up this language group and the people who inhabited both sides of South Creek were known as the Gomerrigal-Tongarra clan and they called the Penrith area “Mooroo Murak”. […]

100 years ago in December 1924, children of the Infants’ Department of Penrith’s District School had a very enjoyable time at the Nepean Picture Theatre when the annual Christmas Tree was held. A large number of children under the care of Miss Smith the mistress of the department had assembled at the theatre at 2pm […]