Meadowbank, New South Wales

Meadowbank Sydney, New South Wales
Meadowbank railway shops and outdoor eating area
Population	3,667 (2011 census)
• Density	5,200/km2 (13,600/sq mi)
Established	1801
Postcode(s)	2114
Area	0.7 km2 (0.3 sq mi)
Location	15 km (9 mi) west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)	City of Ryde
State electorate(s)	Ryde
Federal Division(s)	Bennelong
Suburbs around Meadowbank: Denistone West Ryde Ryde Melrose Park Meadowbank Putney Homebush Bay Rhodes Breakfast Point

Meadowbank is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Meadowbank is located 15 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Ryde and part of the Northern Suburbs area. Meadowbank sits in a valley on the northern bank of the Parramatta River.

The territory from Sydney Cove to Parramatta, on the northern side of the Parramatta River, was thought to be that of the Wallumattagal, and had the aboriginal name Wallumetta, the territory of the Wallumede people.

Aboriginal people in the Sydney district were clans of larger groups sharing a common language. Three language groups have been identified in the Sydney Region - the Kuringgai (or Guringai), the Dharug (or Dharruk / Dharuk / Darug), and the Dharawal (or Tharawal). The Wallumedegal are thought to have been within the Dharug speaking area.

Land originally granted to Surgeon William Balmain in 1794, in the district of the Field of Mars, was bestowed the name 'Meadow Bank'. Balmain returned to England in 1801, leaving his estates to be managed by fellow surgeon D'Arcy Wentworth. Wentworth agreed to sell Balmain's grants to John Bennett, an ex-convict who had been transported in 1795. By 1819 both the 'Meadow Bank Estate' and 'Chatham Farm' to the north, belonged to Bennett. In 1823 he was joined by his nephew William Bennett. John Bennett died in July 1829, a bachelor, and his nephew inherited his estate, building Meadowbank House around 1835. William then sold 'Chatham Farm' to Major Edward Darvall in 1855. William Bennett died in 1865 but his widow remained at Meadowbank until her death in 1879. The estate was subdivided in the late 1880s, given impetus by the opening of the railway from Strathfield to Hornsby in 1886. The station opened here was called Hellenic but this was later changed to Meadowbank, after the Meadowbank Estate. Meadowbank Public Baths established in 1895 was a former recreation destination but were closed in 1943 due to pollution from Homebush Bay. Shepherds Bay Row Boat ferry services were established as early as 1794 from Schooner Wharf (Belmore Road, near Helene Park) taking passengers to the Concord shore.