Macquarie Fields

Macquarie Fields Sydney, New South Wales
Glenquarie Shopping Centre, Macquarie Fields
Macquarie Fields
Coordinates	33°59′40″S 150°53′15″E / 33.99444°S 150.88750°E / -33.99444; 150.88750Coordinates: 33°59′40″S 150°53′15″E / 33.99444°S 150.88750°E / -33.99444; 150.88750
Population	13,170 (2011 census)
Established	1883
Postcode(s)	2564
Location	42 km (26 mi) south-west of Sydney
LGA(s)	Campbelltown
State electorate(s)	Macquarie Fields
Federal Division(s)	Werriwa
Suburbs around Macquarie Fields: Macquarie Links Glenfield Holsworthy Macquarie Links Macquarie Fields Holsworthy Ingleburn Ingleburn Long Point

Macquarie Fields is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Fields is located 42 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region.

Macquarie Fields is surrounded by bushland. Nearby Macquarie Links, is a high-security housing estate beside an international standard golf course.

The original inhabitants of the Macquarie Fields area were the Darug people of western Sydney. The rich soil of the area was home to an abundance of plants which in turn attracted animals such as kangaroos and emus, both of which along with yams and other native vegetables and fruit were part of the diet of the Darug. They lived in small huts called gunyahs, made spears, tomahawks and boomerangs for hunting and had an elaborate system of tribal law and rituals with its origins in the Dreamtime. However, following the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, they were pushed off their land by the British settlers.

Macquarie Fields was named by early landholder James Meehan in honour of the Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie. The area was surveyed by Meehan in the early 19th century. Although transported to Australia as a convict for his role in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, Meehan had trained as a surveyor in Ireland and in 1803 was appointed assistant to NSW Surveyor-General Charles Grimes. In 1806 he was granted a full pardon and in 1810 became Surveyor-General. For his work, he was granted a number of parcels of land including 2,020 acres (8.2 km²) in what is now Macquarie Fields and neighbouring suburbs. He used the rich soil to grow cereal crops, fruit trees and to graze livestock.