Mortdale, New South Wales



Mortdale is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mortdale is located 20 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Mortdale lies across the local government areas of the City of Hurstville and Municipality of Kogarah. Mortdale extends south to Lime Kiln Bay, on the Georges River. Mortdale Heights is a locality in the western corner of the suburb.

History
Mortdale has been known in the past as Mort's Road, Mort's Hill, Mort's Crossing, Mort's Township and Mort Dale. The suburb was named after Sydney industrialist Thomas Sutcliffe Mort (1816–1878) who was famous for pioneering the refrigeration of shipping meat and the construction of Mort's Dock, Balmain. Thomas Mort purchased the land from Robert Townson (1763–1827), who had been granted land in the Hurstville area with his brother John Townson.

A small farming community started when the land around Mort's Road was subdivided into 17 farms. The Hurstville Steam Brick Company (better known as Judds Brickworks) was established in 1884 by William George Judd. The large brick-making chimneys were easily seen from around the district. The first residences were built opposite the Brickworks in 1885. The railway was extended through the district around the same time. The railway divided two of the main farms, Kemp's orange orchard and Parkes's farm near Victoria Avenue, and these were subdivided for housing by 1894. The official title for the suburb was set as Mortdale when the railway station opened with that name on 20 March 1897.

The school opened in January 1889, and the post office and grocery store opened in November. Mortdale became a popular residential suburb in 1920s for soldiers returning from World War I.

In 1921, there was a movement for Mortdale to split from Hurstville and form a separate municipality. An official 1923 inquiry into the proposed Municipality of Mortdale decided against the change, despite the separation movement having the law behind them.

At the same time there was also a push to have the name of Mortdale changed due to its similarity with the suburb of Mortlake and the association with its literal translation ('Valley of the Dead'). Suggestions by various groups over several years included: Leyton, Montrose, Morella, Kingrose and Boronia. A final list approved by the Department of Lands were: Carruthers, Princemead, Wyargine, and Storrieville, but the matter was never resolved.

Commercial area
Mortdale consists mainly of residential dwellings with some commercial and industrial developments in the north-west corner. The main shopping centre is located on Morts Road and Pitt Street, near Mortdale railway station. Commercial and industrial developments are located along Boundary Road.

A number of streets near the commercial area are named after notable streets in the Sydney CBD; These include: George Street, Martin Place, Pitt Street, Macquarie Place and Oxford Street. This is the only group of Sydney-wide streets named as such.

Transport
Mortdale railway station is on the Illawarra line of the CityRail network. Punchbowl bus services 944, 945 and 955 run throughout the week, with limited services on weekends.

Churches

 * Christ Church Anglican
 * Mortdale Uniting Church
 * Mortdale Oatley Baptist Church
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons)
 * Hurstville District Christadelphian Ecclesia
 * Mortdale Spiritual Church

Schools

 * Mortdale Public School
 * Carinya Special School
 * Marist College Penshurst
 * Penshurst West Public School

Parks and Waterways

 * Mortdale Memorial Park, Renown Park, Jubilee Park, Hurstville Golf Course, Mick Downes Reserve, Oatley Heights Park, Lime Kiln Bay Reserve, Olds Park, Edith Park, Beatty Street Reserve, Ruby Wing Reserve, Paddy Tyler Reserve, Milsop Place Reserve, Sunlea Avenue Reserve, Treloar Avenue Reserve, Walter Street Reserve, Nicol Murray Reserve, Lesley Crescent Reserve,
 * Georges River, Lime Kiln Bay, Dairy Creek

Landmarks

 * Historic Buildings - Mortdale Fire Station, Old Police Station, Mortdale Hotel, Mortdale Railway Station, Mortdale RSL Club, Mortdale Bowling Club (demolished 2012), St George Masonic Club, Mortdale Scout Hall, Mortdale Senior Citizens Centre, Ellen Subway underpass.
 * Mortdale Memorial Park - Contains a perimeter of large Small-leaved Fig trees, a classical rotunda and a decorative War Memorial. The park is popular for picnics, weddings, and concerts.

Sport

 * Hurstville Golf Course - 18-hole golf course
 * Ken Rosewall Tennis Centre - 8 tennis courts adjoining the golf course
 * Renown United Rugby League Club - play at Renown Park, Mortdale
 * Mortdale Heights Cricket Club - play at Oatley Park Oval
 * Hurstville Small Bore Range - rimfire shooting rifle range opposite the golf course
 * Beatty Street Reserve - Cricket Nets
 * Jubilee Park - netball court

Pop culture
Mortdale has been colloquially referred to as the "Valley of the Dead" or "Death Valley", due to the Latin mort ("death") and English dale ("valley"). Mortdale is also colloquially referred to as "Morty", often in relationship with the hotel. In 1992, Su Cruickshank, published a book entitled 'Bring A Plate to The Mortdale Scout Hall - The Autobiography of a Fat Tart Complete with Recipes'.

Demographics
According to the 2011 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population, there were 9,702 people usually resident in Mortdale. 36.5% stated they were born overseas with the top countries of birth being China 7.25%, United Kingdom 3.0% and Macedonia 2.65%. English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 60.6% of residents and the most common other languages spoken were Cantonese 5.5%, Mandarin 6.4% and Macedonian 4.4%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were Catholic 26.7%, Anglican 16.0% and Orthodox 4.1%.lll

Notable residents

 * Mark Gasnier - St George Rugby League Footballer
 * Reg Gasnier - St George Rugby League Footballer
 * Billy Smith - St George Rugby League footballer
 * Ruby Violet Payne-Scott (1912-1981) - physicist, radio astronomer and schoolteacher
 * John Gore - Salvation Army Officer pioneer
 * Ronald Sharp - designed & built the Sydney Opera House organ