Birchgrove, New South Wales



Birchgrove is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Birchgrove is located 5 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt.

Birchgrove is located on the north-west slope of the Balmain peninsula, overlooking Sydney Harbour, and includes Yurulbin and Ballast Points. Balmain is the only adjacent suburb. The long waterfront provides views of the Parramatta River with Cockatoo Island dominating the foreground. It is one of the wealthier suburbs of Sydney thanks to its harbour frontages. In August 2010, apartments in Louisa Road were engulfed by fire. No residents were hurt, but the cause of the fire was considered suspicious.

History
Birchgrove was named after Birchgrove House, built by Lieutenant John Birch, paymaster of the 73rd regiment, around 1812. He added 'grove' to his surname when naming the house because of the large number of orange trees growing on the original site. The house was constructed of stone believed to have been quarried on site.

In March 1814, the estate was purchased by merchant trader Roland Walpole Loane. By 1818, Loane had returned to land holdings in Tasmania and the estate was leased for many years. Loane unsuccessfully attempted to sub-divide the lot into four parcels in 1833. In 1838, the estate was purchased along with land in the Balmain estate by Captain John McLean. Financial difficulties forced McLean to mortgage the estate and additional land, but the Supreme Court finally foreclosed on loans in April 1844. In 1850, the estate was briefly owned by Henry Watson Parker, who would later become the third premier of New South Wales. Later the same year, the estate was purchased by Didier Numa Joubert. Jourbert leased the property to William Salmon Deliotte until 1856. Between 1856 and 1860, Joubert instructed William Brownrigg to survey the first subdivision of ten lots. Streets were named after the Joubert family. Birchgrove House was sold to Jacob Levi Montefiore during the subdivision. Sale of the allotments fell well short of expectations with three lots remaining unsold by 1866. By December 1862, Joubert was forced to surrender his remaining interest to the Bank of New South Wales.

From the 1860s, a number of waterfront businesses appeared in the area including coopers, boat builders and the Morrison & Sinclair shipyard.

By 1878, due to market pressure from prices in nearby Balmain estate, 82 lots of the original subdivision remained unsold. Additional land was carved from the Birchgrove House when it was sold to John Lowry Adams in 1878. A syndicate of businessmen purchased the remaining lots of the estate and commissioned architect Ferdinand Reuss to draw up a new plan for subdivision. This second subdivision was much more successful with all lots sold within several years.

The local heritage item is Clifton Villa, a three-storey sandstone house in the Gothic style. The house was built in the late 1860s and is surrounded by a covered verandah. In the mid-1870s a ballroom was added. The house's interior features a marble fireplace and cedar woodwork, while the exterior includes a caretaker's cottage that was originally a carriage house. Clifton Villa is now listed on the Register of the National Estate.

In 1900 Adams subdivided the Birchgrove House grounds into 12 lots. In 1911 Mary Scot further subdivided Birchgrove House into 5 lots. The house was eventually demolished in 1967 to make way for units.

The suburb was the location of the Balmain Colliery, Australia's deepest coal mine.

Former tram line to Birchgrove
Tram services branched off from the main line on Darling Street, Balmain, turning left into Rowntree Street, left into Cameron Street and right into Grove Street, before terminating at Wharf Road in Birchgrove. A government bus service now follows the former tram route

Landmarks

 * Ballast Point is a 2.6 hectare former industrial site located at the tip of the Balmain Peninsula now redeveloped as a public open space.
 * Yurulbin Park is a former shipbuilding site located at the end of Yurulbin Point (Long Nose Point) which has been transformed into an award winning public space.
 * Pubs - Birchgrove and Balmain are home to many famous drinking establishments, including the Sir William Wallace Hotel, named after the Scottish hero who was the subject of the film Braveheart.

Transport
Birchgrove ferry wharf provides access to the Inner Harbour ferry services, which runs services to Circular Quay.

Sydney Buses operates a service from Birchgrove Park to Art Gallery of NSW via the Queen Victoria Building (QVB). During peak hour this service terminates at QVB. Another service runs from Birchgrove Park, along Darling Street, Balmain, through Glebe and Ultimo to Millers Point and The Rocks, via George Street.

Recreation
Birchgrove is home to the Balmain Sailing Club, which hosts the annual Balmain Regatta, claimed to be the oldest regatta in Australia, run for the first time in 1849.

Demographics
In the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing, the population of Birchgrove stood at 3,520 people, 51.5% females and 48.5% males, with a median age of 38 years. 25.4% of the population was born overseas with England (9.4%), New Zealand (2.6%) and Ireland (1.1%) the most common. The five strongest religious affiliations in the area were in descending order: no religion (32.4%), Catholic (21.3%), Anglican (18.9%), Uniting Church (2.3%) and Presbyterian and Reformed (2.1%).

Birchgrove's population is typically wealthy, with a median weekly household income of $2,340, compared with $1,027 in Australia. The most common types of occupation for employed persons were Professionals (44%), Managers (23.7%), and Clerical and Administrative Workers (13.5%). 58% of the suburbs occupied private dwellings were family households, 26.7% were lone person households and 4.9% were group households.

Birchgrove has the highest proportion (17%) of citizens holding a postgraduate degree of any Sydney suburb.

Notable residents

 * Judy Davis — actress
 * Bryan Brown — actor
 * Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay — explorer, ethnologist, anthropologist and biologist (25 Wharf Road, Birchgrove, NSW, Australia)

Schools

 * Birchgrove Public School

Churches

 * St John's Anglican Church