Austinmer - History

Land grants

It was not until 1821 that a grant was made to Cornelius O'Brien, in the Bulli area, North of Wollongong. O'Brien's grant extended to the Austinmer area, subsequently known as North Bulli.

Robert Marsh Westmacott (Captain) made the acquaintance of Cornelius O'Brien and journeyed to his property to discuss the purchase of three properties held by him. Westmacott applied for and was granted three hundred acres where Austinmer ultimately became established. This was in 1836 and the next year he had constructed a commodious house which he named 'Sidmouth' after the town in Devon, England where he was born.

The house stood for more than ninety years, being demolished in the 1920's. By the middle of 1837, he was able to bring his wife and two sons to the finished house and settle in their home. He was allotted a certain number of convict labourers with his grant and with these, quickly cleared the land for his house and cultivation. Westmacott bought land north and south of his grant, mainly as investments. He used his North Bulli property for the raising of horses. He disposed of his Woonona property in 1841 and his Thirroul and Austinmer properties in 1846 and went to Parramatta to live.

James Hicks

James Hicks' grant of fifty acres adjoined two of Westmacott's blocks which he had purchased from O'Brien. When Westmacott's estate 'Sidmouth' was sold in 1843, it was acquired by Janes Hicks who moved into it with his family.

There were two boys Henry Thomas and Richard, and some girls. The Hicks farmed the land near the house and founded an orchard on the higher ground towards the cliffs. James Hicks subdivided the three hundred acres he took over from Westmacott into farms and orchard lots of forty acres bringing families to the areas with the sole object of creating farms and orchards.

The earliest of these families were the Fords who grew oranges, the Carrick's who grew grapes and apples, the Daly's who grew vegetables and fruit, the Mitchell's, the Maddens and the Hopewell's who carried on farming. By the 1860's other families in the area included the Powell family, the Geraghty family,  the Kennedy family and the McPhee family.

James Kennedy

James Kennedy with his wife and five children, a boy and four girls, came from Yallah and occupied a grant of land made to Joseph Roberts of one hundred and sixty acres, adjoining Westmacott's grant on the south.

In 1867 James, with three others, was elected as a Patron on Board to establish a school under the National Education Board, at North Bulli, and, after considerable negotiations, was successful in having it started.

On the death of the parents the farm was run by the son Patsy, and the girls, the latter making butter, as well as helping in the field sowing corn and lucerne. None of them ever married and Patsy, in his eighties in 1905, was gored by a bull and killed leaving the girls to handle their affairs. The property was eventually sold for three thousand pounds and the girls provided for in Thirroul.

Early residents

Early Austinmer residents are discussed above in the Land Grants information.

Early industry

Coal, salt and blackberries put Austinmer on the regional map in the 1880's before it became a holiday and health resort early last century in the wake of a large land sale. In 1889 the Illawarra and South Coast Tourist Guide, referring to Thirroul and Austinmer, said the district was known for its regular supply of blackberries to Sydney. This went on for about twenty years before the vines were eradicated. (Illawarra Mercury 18 October 1984 p.21)

Coal Mining

In 1884 the "North Illawarra Coal Co." was formed and started mining operations at North Bulli (Austinmer) and by 1886 was producing coal. During that period, the site of the mine was selected by Mr D Moresby, a colliery manager from Yorkshire, England, and on 18 November 1884 , the Illawarra Mercury states that the tug "Despatch" was taking soundings off Hicks Point in connection with the jetty intended to be erected there. By 1 January 1887 the jetty was erected and put to use for coal shipping. In 1895 the mine was worked out and subsequently closed. The jetty was later partly wrecked by storm and the remainder destroyed by fire in 1915. (Illawarra Mercury 18 October 1984. p.21)

Early transport

Railway

The Austinmer railway station was opened to traffic on 1 September 1887 bringing with it workers and their families.(King, Norman S: A History of Austinmer. NSW)

The Clifton to Wollongong section of the railway was constructed while the tunnels at Helensburgh and Otford were being completed connecting with Waterfall and Clifton. Until they were finished, coaches ran connecting the two, but the problem was the drag uphill at Stanwell Park where the passengers had to alight and walk up.

Tracks were used to drove cattle over land and a track down the cliffs was discovered at Wombarra. There were also tracks leading down to the delightful glen and beach of North Bulli.

In 1884 Robert Marsh Westmacott discovered and surveyed a new road up the pass and with government and local citizens support, had it built, it being eventually known as Bulli Pass. It was not until 1886 that a wheel vehicle was taken up.