Kensington, New South Wales

Kensington Sydney, New South Wales
University of NSW
Kensington
Coordinates	33°54′27″S 151°13′32″E / 33.90750°S 151.22556°E / -33.90750; 151.22556Coordinates: 33°54′27″S 151°13′32″E / 33.90750°S 151.22556°E / -33.90750; 151.22556
Population	12,776 (2011 census)
Postcode(s)	2033
Location	4 km (2 mi) south-east of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)	City of Randwick
State electorate(s)	Heffron
Federal Division(s)	Kingsford Smith
Suburbs around Kensington: Waterloo Moore Park Centennial Park Zetland Kensington Randwick Rosebery Eastlakes Kingsford

Kensington is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area (LGA) of the City of Randwick, in the Eastern Suburbs region. Colloquially, Kensington is referred to as "Kenso".

Kensington lies to the immediate south of Moore Park and west of Randwick Racecourse. The principal landmarks of the suburb are the main campus of the University of New South Wales, National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), and the exclusive Australian Golf Club. Kensington is also a residential suburb close to the Sydney CBD. There is a mixture of high and medium-density housing, and free-standing homes for its 11,000 residents.

Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Cadigal people, one of the salt-water clans of the Darug language group. The Cadigal people were known for their fishing skills and often travelled in canoes. The 1828 census showed some 50–60 clans of Cadigal people living by the Lachlan swamps of Kensington and surrounding areas. Swamps provided fruit, nectar, roots and tubers. Very few Aboriginals live in Kensington today.

The suburb now known as Kensington was once called the "Lachlan Mills Estate", "Stannumville" and then "Epsom". It became Kensington in the late 1880s, starting life as an industrial suburb. Samuel Terry, the convict who became Australia's first millionaire, received a land grant in 1819. Daniel Cooper (1785–1853), also an ex-convict acquired land here in 1825 with his partner Solomon Levey, whom he later bought out. Cooper's nephew Daniel (1821–1902) planned to subdivide but in 1865 all developments was forbidden. Residential land was issued in the late 1880s and Kensington was to be the equivalent of London's distinguished suburb, Kensington.