By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. SLEEPING in the churchyard of St Mary Magdalene at St Marys is Benjamin and Elizabeth Loveday. Benjamin was born in 1822 the son of Henry John Loveday born in 1794 at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk in England and Maria Finch. Ben married […]

Photo of William courtesy of Holroyd Council website By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. IN 1928 William Freame was an avid historian who organised history walks to interesting places. He wrote about a very interesting walk from Doonside to St Marys commenting that Doonside was the first […]

Bennett’s Wharf Nepean River – courtesy of Penrith Library By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. IT is true that the closeness of water and the absence of not being able to swim, does over the years, take its toll on people at our local rivers and creeks. […]

Photo from an unknown local newspaper A History page a while back was about the Railway Institute in Penrith and the various uses it enjoyed. Since then, I came across a newspaper article I had kept that had a connection to the building over 40 years ago. The review was by Lindsay Fisher. “Penrith’s Railway […]

William Fleming courtesy of the Jones Family By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. IN May 1885 a public meeting was held in the Protestant Hall at St Marys to consider the advisability of a petition to the Government in favour of Incorporation. About 200 people were present, […]

By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc. THOMAS David Beyer (Jnr) was an Anglican clergyman and Air Force Chaplain who was born in March 1906 at Lakes Entrance in Victoria. The son of Thomas David Beyer (Snr) and his wife Victoria Ruth (Dunk). His father was a well-known […]

 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 […]