Concord, New South Wales

Concord is a suburb in the inner West[2] of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canada Bay.

Concord
Sydney, New South Wales
Majors Bay Road clocktower
Population14,533 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)2137
Location10 km (6 mi) west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)City of Canada Bay
State electorate(s)Drummoyne
Federal Division(s)Reid
Suburbs around Concord:
Concord West Mortlake Breakfast Point
North Strathfield Concord Cabarita
Strathfield Burwood Canada Bay

Concord is known as the 'Parklands Suburb' of the Inner West. Concord West is a separate suburb, to the north-west.

History

Concord takes its name from Concord, Massachusetts, in the USA, which was the site of the Battle of Concord, one of the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1778). Some historians believe the Sydney suburb was named Concord to encourage a peaceful attitude between soldiers and settlers. The first land grants in the area were made in 1793.[3]

The original Concord Council was established in 1883. Concord Council amalgamated with Drummoyne Council in 2000 after 117 years of self governance to form the City of Canada Bay. It is also the name of the surrounding parish.

In 1933, 'Concord Jubilee 1833 - 1933: a history of the municipality of Concord: with illustrations', compiled by G. M. Shaw was published.

Commercial area

Concord features Majors Bay Road Shopping Village. It includes several cafes, restaurants, Coles supermarket, post office, medical centre and other commercial enterprises. There is also a small shopping strip on Cabarita Road known as 'Cabarita Junction' and just up the road as you head towards Breakfast point you will find a small cafe and restaurant precinct on the corner of Mortlake Street and Brays Road.

Majors Bay Road cafes

Churches

St Luke's Anglican Church is one of the oldest churches in Concord. The church is over 150 years old and is located at Burton Street near Concord Oval.[4] Its current organ was donated by Dame Eadith Walker, of the famous Walker family on her 21st birthday in 1883.[5]

St Mary's Catholic Church is a prominent architectural landmark on Parramatta Road.[6] The first church on the site was built in 1845 until a new church was built in 1874. A school operated in the original church building until a separate school building was built and opened by Cardinal Moran in 1894. A convent for the Sisters of Charity was erected next to the church in 1898. The present church building was completed in 1929.

Parks

Concord has many parks, including:

  • Queen Elizabeth Park (formerly known as 'Concord Park', renamed to honour Queen Elizabeth II after her visit to Australia in 1954)
  • Henley Park (site of the former general cemetery - 1938)
  • Majors Bay Reserve, including Arthur Walker and Ron Routly Reserves (beginning of the Concord Foreshore Trail).
  • Concord Golf Course, Massey Park, Cintra Park
  • Concord Oval (home ground of Inter Lions Soccer Club and the West Harbour Pirates Rugby Union Club, training ground of Wests Tigers NRL club)
  • Sid Richards Park (home ground of the Concord Comets Baseball Club)
  • Central Park, St Lukes Park, Bayview Park, Edwards Park, Greenlees Park, Goddard Park, Rothwell Park.

Transport

State Transit and Transit Systems operate 9 routes via Concord:

  • 439 & L39: Mortlake to the City via Five Dock & Leichhardt
  • 458: Burwood station to Ryde
  • 460: Concord Hospial to Five Dock
  • 464: Mortlake to Ashfield station
  • 466: Cabarita Park to Ashfield station via Bayview Park
  • 502: Bayview Park to the City via Victoria Road
  • 526: One weekday service from Concord High School to Olympic Park wharf via Burwood & Strathfield
  • 410: Hurstville via Campsie, Burwood and Ryde to Marsfield

Concord West railway station & North Strathfield railway station service the Concord area. The stops are on the Northern line approximately 14 km (9 miles) from Central Station.

Sydney Ferries service the Concord area stopping at Cabarita Wharf.[7]

Concord was once serviced by an independent tram line which ran from Mortlake and Cabarita junction through Majors Bay Road, Concord, though to Burwood Road (formerly Wharf Street on the Concord side of Parramatta Road) south though Burwood CBD and terminating at Enfield, its most southern point. This tram system did not join with the rest of the Sydney wide tram network which ceased operating in the early 1960s.

Bus services between Mortlake/Breakfast Point and Cabarita to Burwood (and eventually to Ashfield via Enfield, i.e. routes 464 and 466) follow the old tram lines through the suburb, which were removed in 1948. Few hints of Concord's trams remain today apart from the extra width of Majors Bay Road and Brewer Street in order to accommodate a double track tramway and the existence of Tramway Lane and Cabarita Junction which is where the tram tracks split, with one track providing the Mortlake branch and the other the Cabarita branch.

Schools

Schools in the suburb are

Population

Demographics

At the 2016 census, there were 14,533 residents in Concord. 62.1% of whom were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were Italy 6.4%, China 5.3%, England 2.0%, South Korea 1.8% and India 1.5%. In Concord 57.6% of people only spoke English at home, compared to the national average of 77.0%. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 11.0%, Mandarin 5.8%, Cantonese 3.4%, Greek 3.3% and Arabic 3.3%. The most common responses for religion in Concord were Catholic 45.4%, No Religion 20.2% and Anglican 7.8%.[1]

Notable residents

Notable people who have resided in the suburb have included:

  • Isaac Nichols (1770–1819) - Australia Post's first postmaster and original owner of Walker Estate
  • Phillip Wilcher (born 1955) - Australian classical pianist and composer, also one of the original members of The Wiggles[8]
  • Thomas Walker (1804–1886) - Australian politician, banker, prominent land owner in Concord, and father of Dame Eadith Campbell Walker. Walker built the Italianate mansion Yaralla in the 1860s. It was extended in the 1890s by John Sulman and is now used as the Dame Eadith Walker Convalescent Hospital. It is listed on the Register of the National Estate.[9] Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital was built in fulfilment of Walker's will. It too was designed by John Sulman and is on the Register of the National Estate[9]
  • Dame Eadith Walker (1861–1937) - Australian philanthropist and major land owner in Concord for much of the late 19th and early 20th Century who aided in establishing Concord Repatriation General Hospital
  • Selwyn Francis Edge (1868–1940) - businessman, racing driver, and record-breaker. He is principally associated with selling and racing De Dion-Bouton, Gladiator, AC Cars, Clément-Panhard and Napier cars[10]
  • Mervyn Victor Richardson (1893–1972) - inventor of the Victa lawn mower
  • Hiram Caton (1936–2010) - Professor of politics and history at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
  • Neil Armfield (born 1955) - Theatre, film and opera director, grew up in Sanders Parade opposite Exile Bay
    Yaralla Mansion in Concord, originally home of Dame Eadith Walker, is now a convalescent hospital
  • Australian drama series All Saints, is set in the fictional All Saints General Western Hospital. The external shots (the sweeping shots of the skyline and hospital) are filmed at the Concord Repatriation General Hospital. Some scenes have been shot in and around Concord and Majors Bay Road.
  • Australian series Grass Roots was set in the fictional suburb of Arcadia Waters. Many external shots of Arcadia waters Council chambers used Concord Council Chambers as a setting and as was other various locations around Concord, particularly in the shopping centre and cafes in Majors Bay Road.
  • Australian mini series Bangkok Hilton was partly filmed in the grounds of the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital.
  • Australian drama/comedy series Packed to the Rafters is partly filmed in Riverview Street, and other locations within Concord, where the Rafter family home is located.[11]
  • Dirty Deeds a 2002 Australian/Canadian production filmed in Concord, utilising Henley park and a nearby 1960s period home for the setting.
  • Brides of Christ a 1991 miniseries used St Marys Catholic Church Concord for some of the internal Church Mass scenes.
  • The Cut a 2009 comedy/drama series was partly filmed in Concord, with some internal filming done in a Majors Bay Road shop and some external filming done on the Majors Bay Road shopping strip and Concord Oval.
  • The Victa Mower was created by Mervyn "Victor" Richardson in a Concord garage in 1952.[12]
  • Scenes from action movie Superman Returns were shot at Rivendell Hospital, which was Lex Luther's mansion.[13]
  • Scenes from the drama series Rake were shot in Concord.[14]
  • Scenes from the 2013 miniseries Carlotta were shot in Concord.
  • Canadian Exiles 1840 monument, Bayview Park. Unveiled by the then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada, May 1970.
  • Bayview Park wharf
  • Concord, view from Hen and Chicken Bay
  • Majors Bay Road cafes
  • Concord Post Office
  • War Memorial in Queen Elizabeth Park
  • Plaque commemorating Thomas Obed Correy, former Mayor of Concord Council. This stone and plaque was formerly from Queen Elizabeth Park Rotunda, demolished in 1972 and relocated to the last Concord Council Chambers site in Wellbank Street, now known as the Concord Library.[15]
  • St Luke's Anglican Church, Burton Street
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See also

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Concord (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  2. Australian Suburb Guide: Sydney Inner West Archived 26 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  3. Frances Pollon, The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Angus and Robertson, 1990, p.68
  4. St Luke’s Anglican Church Concord's 150th birthday celebration
  5. St Luke's Concord
  6. St Mary's Catholic Parish Concord
  7. "F3 Parramatta River ferry timetable". Transport for NSW.
  8. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/12/1086749943667.html
  9. The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company, 1981, pp.2,23
  10. Wise, David B., "Edge: Progenitor of the six-cylinder engine", in Northey, Tom, ed. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis Publishing Ltd, 1974), Volume 5, p.589.
  12. Lawncare
  13. "Australian movie locations". Archived from the original on 27 April 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  14. New South Wales Drama Map, David Knox
  15. Sheena Coupe, Concord A Centenary History, Concord Municipal Council 1983, p.117

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