Oatley, New South Wales

Oatley is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Oatley is located 21 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Oatley lies across the local government areas of the City of Hurstville and City of Kogarah.

History
This suburb's name can be traced to James Oatley snr, watch-maker, who was transported to Botany Bay for life in 1814. Seven years later, in 1821, Governor Lachlan Macquarie granted Oatley a conditional pardon and appointed him overseer of the Town Clock for his work in installing the clock at Hyde Park Barracks.

The post office opened in 1903, thus giving the district its official suburban name of Oatley. Prior to this, the area west of the railway line was officially in the suburb of Hurstville and attached to the Hurstville Post Office with "Oatley's" in parenthesis at the end of the address. Likewise, the streets east of the railway line were officially in the suburb of Kogarah and attached to the Kogarah Post Office. In the late 1890s both Hurstville and Kogarah were much larger suburbs and were later divided up into separate suburbs.

Oatley is notable as the terminus of the first railway electrification project in Sydney, which reached this station from Sydney Central in 1926.

When a group gathered in Oatley Park in December 1959, to form a Bowling Club, it was inevitable that the founding members should choose a clock as the club emblem. The hands on the clock were set at 15 minutes after 10 - the precise time the first meeting of the Oatley Bowls Club was opened. The Club has since closed, though the greens and Club premises remain.

The Oatley campus of Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education opened in 1981 on the site of the former Judd's Brick Works and quarry.In 1981, when many teacher's colleges were amalgamated, it became The St George Institute of Education, part of Sydney College of Advanced Education, and then a campus of the University of New South Wales. It is now a secondary school, the Oatley Senior Campus of the Georges River College.

Commercial area
The traditional main shopping centre is located on Oatley Avenue and Frederick Street, near the railway station. A small group of shops and a Coles Supermarket are also located on Mulga Road in Oatley West. The village atmosphere, along with good cafes, and large parklands located in the centre of the shopping area adjacent to the train station, has led Oatley to be commonly mentioned as the most picturesque shopping village in the St George area.

Transport
Originally, the railway ran east of the present Mortdale Railway Sheds and down the western side of Oatley Avenue, on the land that is now Oatley Memorial Gardens. The first station platform was located at the western end of Fredrick Street and extended north as far as the Oatley Hotel car park. The electrification of the passenger network began in 1926 with the first suburban electric service running between Sydney's Central Station and the suburb of Oatley approximately 20 km south of Sydney.

Oatley railway station is the last station on the Sydney Trains Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra railway line before crossing the Georges River to Como in the Sutherland Shire. The 955 bus route operates a service from Oatley West, through Oatley to Hurstville.

Parks
The area's main attraction is Oatley Park but there are also a number of local bush parks surrounding the suburb: Oatley Point Reserve, Oatley Pleasure Grounds, Moore Reserve, Renown Park, Lime Kiln Bay Bushland Sanctuary, Giriwa Picnic Ground, Stevens Reserve, Meyer Reserve, and the Miles Dunphy Bushland Reserve (in which foot tracks were improved in 2011, by Hurstville Council). They attract many birds both native and introduced, with Oatley Park alone recording 146 species; as many as 90 recently.

Oatley Park
Oatley Park is a tree covered area that is almost completely surrounded by water. It covers an area of about 45 hectares and it is one of the most significant areas of bushland remaining in the St George area.

Oatley Park became a public recreation area on 25 March 1887. In October 1893, when the nearby residential subdivision was sold off, it was known as Peakhurst Park. It was renamed to Oatley Park in March 1922.

It protects important examples of natural environment which occur in all parts of the park. There is a swimming area, a playground featuring an old steamroller, lookouts, barbecues, a Soccer/Cricket Oval, a castle, as well as the natural environment in the park and it has become popular with the local community. The man-made wetlands of Lime Kiln Bay Reserve, which adjoin Oatley Park, provide refuge for bird species, such as, chestnut teal, Pacific black ducks, dusky moorhens and purple swamphens. Native mammals which are uncommon in the region can still be found within the park, including the short-beaked echidna and swamp wallaby.

Oatley Pleasure Grounds
Harry Linmark established Oatley Pleasure Grounds and the boatshed on the bay provided boats for fishing and picnic parties. When Hartlands acquired the grounds they introduced a miniature zoo and also put in a wine bar that became noisy and controversial. In 1934 Kogarah Council bought the Pleasure Grounds, closed the wine bar, extended the area of the grounds and renamed it Oatley Bay Reserve.

Popular Culture
The Channel Seven Australian drama series Packed to the Rafters was filmed partly at Oatley

Schools

 * Oatley Public School
 * Oatley West Public School
 * St Joseph's Catholic School
 * Georges River College Oatley Senior Campus - located on Hurstville Road.

Churches

 * All Saints' Anglican Church
 * St Joseph's Catholic Church
 * St Paul's Anglican Church Oatley
 * Mortdale Oatley Baptist Church (MOBC)
 * Oatley Uniting Church
 * Oatley Christian Brethren Church
 * Hurstville District Christadelphian Ecclesia



Landmarks

 * Oatley Bay, Gungah Bay, Lime Kiln Bay, Neverfail Bay, Jewfish Bay
 * Oatley Point, Lime Kiln Point, Lime Kiln Head, Jewfish Bay Point
 * Hills Lookout, Websters Lookout
 * The Oatley Hotel (Oatley Pub)
 * Oatley Library
 * Myles Dunphy Reserve, a site of ecological significance. However, Hurstville City Council has plans to sell off a large part this public land to private businesss.
 * The 1905 George Fincham Pipe Organ located at Hurstville Christadelphian District Ecclesia is a historically-significant musical instrument in the area.

Community events

 * Oatley Lions Village Festival - An annual festival held on the third Saturday in October in Oatley Memorial Gardens and part of Frederick Street
 * Oatley West Arts and Crafts Festival - An event held at Oatley West Public school each year
 * Oatley Spring Fair - A fair held biennially at Oatley Public School

Sport
Water sports and recreation are a way of life in the peninsula suburb of Oatley whose eastern, southern and western boundaries are formed by the Georges River and its bays. Oatley has many sporting teams and sporting fields:
 * Renown United, the local Rugby League team, play at Renown Park.
 * Oatley Rugby Club, play Rugby Union at H.V Evatt Park in Lugarno.
 * Oatley RSL, who play at Renown Park, New South Wales, and All Saints Oatley West, who play at Oatley Park, are the two football teams.
 * Oatley Netball Club.
 * Oatley RSL Youth Club Gymnastics and Sport Aerobics

Demographics
According to the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population, there were 9,326 people usually resident in Oatley. 76.7% stated they were born in Australia. The top countries of birth for those born outside Australia being United Kingdom 4.1%, China 1.9% and New Zealand 1.1%. English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 81.0% of residents and the most common other languages spoken were Greek 2.9%, Cantonese 2.5% and Croatian 1.6%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were Roman Catholic 30.2%, Anglican 25.4% and Uniting Church 6.8%.

Notable residents

 * James Oatley snr - did not reside in Oatley. He lived on his farm 'Snugsborough', near Punchbowl.
 * Myles Joseph Dunphy (1891-1985) - architect and conservationist
 * Fiona Margaret Hall - an artistic photographer and sculptor.
 * John O’Grady (1907-1981) - pharmacist and author, who often wrote under the pseudonym 'Nino Culotta'. He lived in Algernon St., was a local builder, and frequented the Oatley pub pictured above.
 * Todd Greenberg - Chief Executive Officer of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Rugby League Club, resides in Oatley.
 * Ian McNamara - ABC Radio "Australia All Over" presenter.
 * Sonny Bill Williams - Rugby League footballer and heavyweight boxer.