Northbridge, New South Wales

History

Northbridge took its name from its location, north of a sandstone suspension bridge built in 1892. The bridge was constructed by a team of land developers at a cost of £A42,000, equivalent to in , and originally known as North Sydney Bridge. The engineer responsible for the construction was Coyle and the style was Federation Gothic, with medieval motifs as "unexpected embellishments". It has been known as the Northbridge and Cammeray Suspension Bridge but is now called the Long Gully Bridge.

The land where the suspension bridge was built belonged to William Twemlow, a Sydney jeweler. In 1868 he purchased the land extending from Fig Tree Point to the head of Long Bay, now Northbridge. He initially regarded the land as valueless but changed his mind when he made a handsome profit by selling some of it to an English syndicate who built the suspension bridge. Twemlow decided to build a two-storey home called The Hermitage, on Fig Tree Point, from sandstone quarried on the estate, which took a year to cut. As this was the first house built in this locality, transport was a problem and Twemlow had to sail through The Spit and around Middle Head to Circular Quay, from where he walked to his shop at Sydney Arcade.

Northbridge Post Office opened on 25 November 1920.

Suburban development of Northbridge occurred in the aftermath of World War I, and through the 1920s, new houses, roads, schools and shops were built in the suburb.

Northbridge Hotel was opened in 1931 by Tooth & Co.

Northbridge Plaza was opened to the public in 1982. The plaza underwent a significant refurbishment in 2012.

Northbridge was home to former politician, Bob Hawke, the 23rd prime minister of Australia, who spent the final years of retirement at a waterfront mansion. He died at his home from natural causes on 16 May 2019, two days before the federal election. His widow, author Blanche D'Alpuget described Hawke as "the greatest Australian of the post-war era."

Since that time, Northbridge has maintained a number of Federation-style detached houses.

Transport

At the 2011 census, 22% of employed people travelled to work on public transport and 52% by car (either as driver or as passenger). This is compared with the 2021 census (impacted by Covid) where 2% of employed people stated they travelled to work on public transport and 25% by car (either as a driver or as passenger). 60% of employed people worked at home.

Demographics

| 2001 |5795 | 2006 |6031 | 2011 |5932 | 2016 |6347 | 2021 |6493 As of the 2021 census, the suburb of Northbridge recorded a population of 6,493. Of these:

• The median age was 44 years, compared to the national median of 38 years, children aged under 15 years made up 20.5% of the population (national average is 18.2%) and people aged 65 years and over made up 20.9% of the population (national average is 17.2%).
• More than two-thirds (67.4%) were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 4.8%, China mainland 3.9%, Hong Kong 2.1%, New Zealand 1.8 and Japan 1.6%.
• 76.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other most common languages spoken at home included Mandarin 4.5%, Cantonese 3.7%, Japanese 2.2%, Greek 1.4% and Armenian 0.9%.
• The most common responses for religion were No Religion 37.4%, Catholic 25.7% and Anglican 15.6%.
• Of occupied private dwellings in Northbridge 74.1% were separate houses, 19.2% were flats or apartments and 6.3% were semi-detached. The average household size was 2.9 people.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.3% of the population of Northbridge.

Notable residents

Several notable Australians live in Northbridge including former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, federal 'teal' independent MP and businesswoman Kylea Tink, former rugby league champions Laurie Daley and Jason Taylor, former Wallabies player Phil Waugh, Seven News presenter and journalist Chris Reason and Australian journalist Kathryn Robinson.

The composer Dulcie Holland and her conductor husband Alan Bellhouse both lived in Kameruka Road in Northbridge until their deaths.

The businessman and philanthropist, Edward Hallstrom, lived in a large house, 'Figtree House', since demolished, at what is now Hallstrom Close and Hallstrom Point Park, until his death in 1970.

Former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke purchased a waterfront property in Northbridge shortly before the end of his tenure and resided there until his death in 2019.

References

• http://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au, Local council website

References

1. {{Census 2021 AUS
2. (1990). "The Book of Sydney Suburbs". Angus & Robertson.
3. Apperly. (1994). "A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture". Angus and Robertson.
4. Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions.
5. "2021 Northbridge (NSW), Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics".
6. {{Census 2001 AUS
7. {{Census 2006 AUS
8. {{Census 2011 AUS
9. {{Census 2016 AUS
10. (18 November 1954). "Children help this composer". [[The Sun (Sydney).
11. (27 October 1953). "Musicians all in this home". [[The Sun (Sydney).
12. "Northbridge {{!}} The Dictionary of Sydney".
13. "Hallstrom residence, Hallstrom Close, Fig Tree Point c1940 {{!}} The Dictionary of Sydney".