Balmain, New South Wales

Balmain is located on the Balmain peninsular in Sydney Harbour adjacent to the suburbs of Rozelle to the west and Birchgrove to the east. It is situated next to Iron Cove on the northern side and White Bay on the southern side.

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History

Prior to white settlement, the area was inhabited by the Indigenous Eora peoples.

The area now known as Balmain was part of a 550 acre (2.2 km²) grant to colonial surgeon Dr William Balmain (1762-1803) made in 1800 by Govenor John Hunter. The land was first settled in 1836 and by 1861 had been divided into the well populated eastern suburb of Balmain and the sparsely populated western area, extending to the gates of Callan Park, known as Balmain West.

The peninsula changed rapidly during the 1800s and became one of the premier industrial centres of Sydney. Industries clustered around Mort Bay included shipbuilding, a metal foundry, engineering, boilermaking and a dry dock completed in 1855.

In the 1920s the manufacture of railway and mining equipment completed the heavy industrialisation of Balmain. Balmain also boasted its own coal mine - a deep, gassy and watery affair that struggled to survive, supported mainly by its long-suffering, English shareholders, from its opening in 1897 to its final closure in 1931. The mine's shaft was located beside what is now Birchgrove Primary School. From the bottom of the shaft a decline led down to a block of coal situated under the harbour between Ballast Point and Goat Island. Image:Balmain, New South Wales - Darling St c1888.jpg

Trams once ran all the way down Darling Street to the Wharf at East Balmain.

Balmain had a repuation as a rough working-class area of Sydney. Numerous phrases have been used to describe the suburb and its inhabitants, including "Balmain boys don't cry" (former NSW Premier Neville Wran at the Street Royal Commission; "You can take the boy out of Balmain, but you can't take Balmain out of the Boy" (Unknown); "There are only two types of man in this world: those who were born in Balmain and those who wish they were" (a Police Commissioner of New South Wales). Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating also once spoke of the "Basket weavers of Balmain".

The industrialisation of Balmain created a demand for cheap housing. This was satisfied by the dock owners selling small blocks of land to entrepreneurs who then built tiny cottages and rented them to the workers. The post-industrial gentrification of Balmain has resulted in a suburb of considerable charm and interest where the modest, pretty houses command prices that would not have been dreamt of by their original tenants. However, Balmain still retains a diverse mix of residents due to the Housing Commission unit blocks in the suburb.

It was in this suburb in 1891, in the meeting hall of the Unity Hotel, that the Australian Labor Party was formed and first met. Balmain is still very much a Labor area, due to a high proportion of residents being socially-conscious middle class professionals, and a surviving connection with the area's old working class identity and history.

Balmain's colourful past should also include mention of the notorious Balmain Nellie Boys - a house of ill-repute frequented by sailors, politicians and actors and staffed by local working boys.

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Local Landmarks

Balmain Power Station - A private power station which once serviced the electricity needs of the local area. Demolished in 1994 to make way for apartments.

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Famous residents

Famous residents have included New South Wales state premiers Henry Parkes (1816–1896), often called the 'father of federation', and Neville Wran; the infamous Governor-General Sir John Kerr, swimming legend Dawn Fraser and rugby league greats Dally Messenger and Wayne Pearce. Both Pearce and Wran attended the Nicholson Street Public School, built in 1883 and one of the oldest schools in the area.

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Sports teams

Balmain is home to the mighty Balmain Tigers Rugby League Club (originally Watersiders), a foundation club who played the first rugby league match in Australia against the Western Suburbs at Birchgrove Oval in 1908. In the year 2000 the team merged with Western Suburbs Magpies to become Wests Tigers, and in 2005 the Tigers defeated the North Queensland Cowboys in the Grand Final to win the premiership; sparking scenes of jubilation in Balmain not seen since the last premiership victory in 1969.

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Notes

Template:Note Postcode 2041 covers the suburbs of Balmain, Balmain East and Birchgrove.
Template:Note Combined population for all residents of postcode 2041.
Template:Note Median house price for all properties of postcode 2041.

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References

Solling, M; Reynolds, P; Leichhardt: On the margins of the city, Allen & Unwin, 1997, ISBN 186448408.
Lawrence, J; Warne, C; A Pictorial History of Balmain to Glebe, Kingsclear Books, 1995, ISBN 0908272405.

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