Hornsby, New South Wales

Hornsby Sydney, New South Wales
Florence Street Mall with Hornsby Water Clock
Population	19,863(2011)
Postcode(s)	2077
Location	25 km (16 mi) north-west of Sydney
LGA(s)	Hornsby Shire
State/territory electorate(s)	Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai
Federal Division(s)	Berowra, Bradfield
Suburbs around Hornsby: Hornsby Heights Asquith North Wahroonga Westleigh Hornsby Waitara Thornleigh Normanhurst Wahroonga

Location map of Hornsby based on NASA satellite images

Hornsby is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia 25 kilometres (16 mi) north-west of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of Hornsby Shire.

History

The name Hornsby is derived from Convict-turned-Constable Samuel Henry Horne, who took part in the apprehension of bushrangers Dalton and MacNamara on 22 June 1830. In return he was granted land which he named Hornsby Place.

The first European settler in the area was Thomas Higgins, who received a grant of land in Old Mans Valley. A railway station named "Hornsby Junction" opened on 17 September 1886 to the north of the town of Hornsby, which had developed on the site of Horne's grant. It formed the junction of the Northern Line and the North Shore Line which were yet to be completed at that time. Hornsby station was one stop further south on the Northern Line. Due to confusion by commuters alighting at the incorrect station expecting to transfer to a connecting train, the old Hornsby station was renamed Normanhurst on 17 November 1898 after prominent local activist and engineer Norman Selfe, while the Hornsby Junction station assumed the current name of Hornsby.

The first Hornsby Post Office opened on 1 August 1864, and was renamed South Hornsby on 1 May 1900, the same day Hornsby Junction office near the railway station (open since 1887) was renamed Hornsby. The latter office remains open; the South Hornsby office was renamed Normanhurst in 1905.

The Hornsby Shire Council was established in 1906. In 1961, The Westfield Group built a shopping mall at Hornsby, making it one of the first suburbs in Sydney with a modern-style shopping centre. A competing shopping centre, Northgate, opened in 1979 but was eventually bought by Westfield. In late 1999, the two sites were amalgamated when the original Westfield was demolished and Northgate was renovated to create the new Westfield Hornsby which opened in November 2001.

Transport

Hornsby is 25 kilometres (16 mi) by train from the Sydney central business district and is approximately 24 kilometres (15 mi) by road. Hornsby railway station is a junction of the Northern Line and the North Shore line of the City Rail network. There are frequent railway services to the central business district via Macquarie Park on the Northern Line or via Gordon on the North Shore Line. Hornsby is also a transport junction of Northern Sydney with Intercity and Express trains stopping here on the way to the Central Coast, Newcastle and further north.

Bus services operate from Hornsby Station Interchange. Services are operated by both Transdev & Hillsbus to local areas such as Hornsby Heights, Asquith, Westleigh, Normanhurst, Thornleigh, Wahroonga and Turramurra. Services also operate to Macquarie Park, Macquarie University, Castle Hill and the Metrobus M60 to Parramatta via Cherrybrook, Castle Hill & Baulkham Hills

The Pacific Highway, which passes through Hornsby, was formerly the main road link between Sydney and north-eastern Australia. The completion of the F3 Sydney-Newcastle Freeway, which has its southern end at the neighbouring suburb of Wahroonga, means that the heavy traffic now bypasses the already busy Hornsby town area.

Commercial areas

Hornsby Shire Council Chambers

Hornsby remains a busy commercial centre, just as it was a century ago. Over the years, the town centre has developed distinct characteristics on either side of the railway line.

The western side consists of a traditional high street shopping village along the Old Pacific Highway. A short section of the highway north of the shops still has several antique lamp posts preserved. On the eastern side of the highway from south to north are the police station, the court house and the historic Hornsby Shire Council chamber (built in two stages in 1915 and 1930). On the western side is Hornsby Park with swimming pool, Hornsby Aquatic Centre, and bushland beyond it and Hornsby TAFE. A large war memorial and the adjacent RSL Club is located at the southern end of the shops.

The eastern side is dominated by Westfield Hornsby, a shopping centre, which features two department stores a Myer & David Jones, an Event Cinemas multiplex, 335 stores, a food court and several restaurants. The intersection of Florence Street and Hunter Street became a pedestrian mall in the early 1990s. At the centre of the pedestrian mall is a large water clock sculpture, designed by Victor Cusack. The public library is also located in this area.

The north-western side of the suburb is occupied by various industries and the northern end of Hornsby features a major Cityrail railway workshop.

Residential areas

Residential areas, consisting of low-to-medium density housing, are located on both sides of the railway line. Many of residential areas on the western side of the train line enjoy bushy surrounds and close proximity to Regional and National Parks, as well as the beautiful Lisgar Gardens.

In recent years, high-rise apartments have been constructed adjacent to the train line as part of the NSW state planning policies to allow medium to high density development along transport corridors.

Schools

Hornsby is home to a number of schools, including primary schools Hornsby North Public School, Hornsby South Public School and Clarke Road Special School and the secondary schools Barker College and Hornsby Girls' High School, which is a selective school. There is also a TAFE College at the north-western side of Hornsby.

Culture

Hornsby has long been associated with Ginger Meggs, a cartoon by Jimmy Bancks who grew up in Hornsby, which has appeared in Australian newspapers since 1921.

The local newspaper that serves the area is the Hornsby Advocate, owned by the Cumberland Newspaper Group.

Hornsby Aquatic Centre

Hornsby Aquatic Centre, which was built in 1962, had reached the end of its safe working life, and was closed on Friday 24 December 2010. Hornsby Shire Council is currently constructing a new centre on the site to be opened in early 2014.

Population

At the 2011 Census, there were 19,863 residents in Hornsby. About half of people were born outside of Australia, with the top other countries of birth being China 8.8%, India 5.1%, Republic of South Korea 3.8%, England 3.7% and Philippines 2.0%. Almost half of people spoke a language other than English at home. Languages spoken at home included Mandarin 9.0%, Cantonese 5.3%, Korean 4.5%, Hindi 2.1% and Persian (excluding Dari) 2.1%.

Notable residents

• Edgeworth David, leader of the first expedition to reach the South Magnetic Pole
• Dan Parks, rugby union player
• Bill Alley, cricketer
• Jim Lees, former NSW police commissioner
• Fred Stolle, tennis player
• George Collingridge, writer and illustrator, also well known for research into the theory that the Portuguese discovered Australia in the 1600s. A small reserve in Hornsby is named after him, and his former home is currently the chapel of Hornsby Hospital.
• Liz Burch, actress
• J J Hilder, watercolourist
• Peter Fowler, golfer
• Patrick Power, former Senior Counsel in New South Wales, Australia
• Danny Williams, rugby league player
• Scott Gourley, rugby league player.
• Robert Madgwick, teacher, soldier, academic and public servant, was the first vice-chancellor of the University of New England from 1954 until 1966, and chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Commission from 1967 until 1973.
• Julian O'Neill, former rugby league fullback
• Rich Thompson, professional American baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels
• Ted White, cricketer
• John Davies, archivist, writer
• Ted Ball, professional golfer
• Ian Keith Harris, composer
• Simon Whitlock, Professional darts player competing on the PDC circuit

Landmarks

• Hornsby Water Clock
• Hornsby Odeon Cinema
• Hornsby Quarry (heritage-listed)
• Hornsby Court House, Pacific Highway (heritage-listed)
• Hornsby Shire Council Chambers, Pacific Highway (heritage-listed)
• Hornsby RSL Club
• Hornsby War Memorial, Pacific Highway (heritage-listed)
• Lisgar Gardens, Lisgar Road (heritage-listed)
• Hookhams Corner is the junction between the Pacific Highway, Carrington Road, Galston Road (which goes to Galston) and Old Berowra Road. It is also the name of an unbounded locality encompassing the area, as well as the site of two large water storage tanks that supply the surrounding area. It is at 33°41′29″S 151°05′55″E

Gallery

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  Barker College

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  Hornsby Girls High School

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  Wallaroba Arts and Cultural Centre

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  Hornsby Park

Climate

Hornsby is around two degrees warmer than Sydney CBD. Unlike most of Sydney's west, and because of its high elevation, it gets almost the same amount of rainfall as Sydney does.

Climate data for Hornsby
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	27.7 (81.9)	27.3 (81.1)	25.6 (78.1)	23.4 (74.1)	20.3 (68.5)	17.4 (63.3)	17.0 (62.6)	18.5 (65.3)	20.9 (69.6)	23.3 (73.9)	24.8 (76.6)	27.1 (80.8)	22.7 (72.9)
Average low °C (°F)	17.0 (62.6)	17.0 (62.6)	15.1 (59.2)	12.0 (53.6)	9.2 (48.6)	6.5 (43.7)	4.9 (40.8)	5.7 (42.3)	8.0 (46.4)	10.8 (51.4)	13.0 (55.4)	15.7 (60.3)	11.2 (52.2)
Precipitation mm (inches)	112.6 (4.433)	140.7 (5.539)	133.8 (5.268)	105.7 (4.161)	86.2 (3.394)	115.1 (4.531)	51.8 (2.039)	58.7 (2.311)	60.4 (2.378)	82.3 (3.24)	95.5 (3.76)	82.7 (3.256)	1,125.5 (44.311)
Source:

• Highest Maximum Temperature: 42 °C
• Lowest Maximum Temperature: 4.9 °C
• Warmest Month: January
• Coolest Month: July
• Highest Precipitation: February
• Lowest Precipitation: July

Further reading

Ollif, Lorna (1975). There Must Be a River (A History of Hornsby Shire). Ollif Publishing Co. ISBN 0-9599183-1-0.