Sorry folks. The book slipped and hit the enter button before I could type further. Hazel, not sure how acurate Frances Pollon's 1988s research into Sydney suburbs is, but may help. Cheers, Maureen What I was going to write was :- Governor Macquarie had what is probably the most understanding attitude to the Aborigines of any of the colony's Governors, and he made several attempts to raise their standard of living. One of his ideas was to grant them land of their own. This was Blacks' Town, established in 1821 in the area of present Plumpton. Ther name was moved south-west when a village grew up in the area around the later railway station. The Native Institution, a school for Aboriginal children, established near Parramatta in 1814, was moved to the same area by Governor Brisbane in 1823.The Native Institution had been established by William Shelley, a missionary who had come from Tahiti, and Mrs. Macquarie is said to have taken a great interest in the scheme, teaching the women and girls sewing and singing. However, the idea gradually failed owing to staff shortages, and the institution closed in 1825. By 1848 Blacks' Town was a deserted village. Todays Blacktown stands on the site of two large grants: 1,200 acres, north of the present station, given to Frederick Garling in 1819, and 2,000 acres given to Robert Lethbridge in 1823. These two properties were subdivided into lots of 6 to 98 acres in the 1850s and 1860s. After 1860, when the railway line came, the suburb showed signs of revival. The station was called Blacktown Road and a small village grew up around it. In the late 1860s Mrs. Chisholm's school was established, and it received Government aid in 1871. A post office was opened in July 1862, the year when the name of the suburb was officially changed to Blacktown. In 1872 the increasing population necissitated the opening of a public school. The area remained semi-rural until after the Second World War. The population explosion of the 1960s turned it into a thriving area, a shopping mecca for nearby suburbs. Blacktown has a number of fine educational institutions, a large hospital and the second largest recreation club in NSW. Blacktown is also the railway junction of the Richmond line, which was opened in 1864. Blacktown Shire Council was first established in 1906 and the first Council Chambers were opened in 1912. The full and interesting story of the Blacktown Aborigines has never been written, because of lack of information about the traditions and culture of the tribes that lived there. The area is rich in red sandstone, and some stone tools have been located over the years. The style of the artifacts already found belongs to the past thousand or more years. On Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 4:27 PM, Hazel Magann <[email protected]>wrote: > Good afternoon > I am again hoping to receive some advice or assistance. I am compiling > histories of people who have resided in Blacktown City though not > restricting their biographies to certain years. > > I am having difficulty locating excat dates that the districts received > their official names in Blacktown City. I have checked "The Geographical > Names Board" to come up against a brick wall. I am aware of when the > Housing Estate at Mount Druitt named their Districts but it is the other > areas I require. > > Any help would be most appreciated. > > Warm Regards > Hazel E. Magann. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >