Bringelly, New South Wales

Bringelly is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Northern Road between Penrith and Camden. It has a public school. Bringelly is also the name of a local hill.

History
Bringelly was a name given to a district of Sydney in the early 19th century and later a parish of the County of Cumberland. The Parish of Bringelly also included the neighbouring suburbs of Greendale, Wallacia and Badgerys Creek. Robert Lowe was granted 1000 acre in the parish of Bringelly in 1812 and is believed to be the first British settler in the area.

By 1818, most of the land had been granted and was being cleared for farms. The principal surgeon of New South Wales, D'Arcy Wentworth, received a grant in the area. Legend has it that The Wild Colonial Boy Bold Jack Donahue also used the suburb as a hideout and was eventually killed on Wentworth's property.

Another property of note is Kelvin, also known as The Retreat, which was built in 1820 by Thomas Laycock Jnr. A Georgian farmhouse, Kelvin is surrounded by a garden and is listed on the Register of the National Estate.

A post office was opened in 1857 and Bringelly Public School in 1880. Local government came to the area in 1906 with the creation of the Shire of Nepean, covering the area from Hoxton Park west to the Nepean River and south as far as Narellan. The Shire never thrived and when the New South Wales Government amalgamated a number of local councils in 1948, it was divided amongst Penrith, Liverpool, Campbelltown and Camden. In the process, the suburb of Bringelly was split between Liverpool and Camden Councils and remains so to this day.

People
According to the 2006 census taken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Bringelly had a population of 1,721, the majority of whom (53%) were men, a contrast to national figures where men (49.4%) were outnumbered by women. The majority of households were couples with children (61%) and the average age (35) was slightly lower than the national figure (37). Bringelly had a significant Italian minority with 6.1% speaking Italian at home. The number of Catholics in the suburb (45%) was substantially higher than the national average (30%).

Notable residents

 * Bold Jack Donahue (1806–1830), Australian bushranger
 * Thomas Laycock (1786 –1823)), English soldier, explorer, and later businessman
 * D'Arcy Wentworth (1762–1827), NSW Surgeon-general

Transport
Bringelly has reasonably easy road access to Penrith and Camden via The Northern Road and to Liverpool via Bringelly Road. The only public transport in the area is the Route 853/855 bus service connecting Bringelly to Liverpool via Rossmore, Austral, Hoxton Park and Cartwright.