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Denham Court is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Denham Court is located 44 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Campbelltown and City of Liverpool.

[edit] History

Denham Court was named after the 500 acre (200ha) land grant of Richard Atkins, in 1810. Atkins, who was the colony's Judge Advocate, named it after his ancestral home in England. Ruth Banfield, who has extensively researched the history of Denham Court, suggests Atkins was a womaniser and alcoholic. He eventually found himself in debt to a Captain Richard Brooks and transferred Denham Court into his ownership. Atkins left for England, never to return, while Cpt Brooks acquired four adjoining land grants and brought his wife and family out from England in 1814. At first they lived in Sydney, but by 1825 the family had moved into a home at Denham Court. And within years the famous colonial architect, John Verge, had added elaborate wings and new central section.

It has been suggested that Brooks had a desire to be "master of all he surveyed" and wanted to recreate the typical English country estate, with himself as the lord of the manor. His panoramic hillside estate was one of Sydney's most vibrant social centres of the 1820s and 1830s. Captain Brooks had six beautiful daughters and the proud squire did his utmost to make Denham Court a name to be noticed. The dances, laughter and social functions that dominated life at this grand homestead can only be imagined.

Ruth Banfield says Captain Brooks' "grand vision" of being the English squire was such that he ordered a private chapel to be built on the estate. Church Road now leads to this "St Mary the Virgin" Church, which is supposedly based on a similar structure at Denham in England. However the Captain barely lived long enough to see his dreams come to fruition. After being gored by a bull, he died at the age of 68 in 1833.

Denham Court was inherited by his daughter, Christiana, who had married Thomas Valentine Blomfield, an army lieutenant in the 48th Regiment. By the late 1830s, the property was becoming the nucleus of a small village, with a mill, church and hotel. Christiana and Thomas both died in the 1850s. After some years as a ladies boarding college run by Miss Sarah Eliza Lester, it became the home of the Blomfields' son Richard.

His son, Andrew Blomfield, took charge and oversaw a huge subdivision of the Denham Court property in 1884, creating 444 blocks and leaving the old house standing on only 26 acres (10.4ha). Yet few blocks were sold. John Mayne bought the property in 1890 and 11 years later the widower married local lass, Maud Macdonald. It was their niece, Miss Gowan Flora Macdonald, who inherited the historic holding and sparked a debate with Campbelltown Council in 1970 over the suburb's name. In 1974, Dr Keith Okey bought the house (which was classified by the National Trust in 1978) and carefully restored it as a private home.

It is ironic that Miss Gowan Flora Macdonald, fought tooth and nail to prevent Denham Court from being used as the official suburb name in 1970. Miss Macdonald made special representations to Liverpool Council asking that the name only be applied to the historic Denham Court house and farm - which she owned. Any use of the name for surrounding areas was unauthorised, she argued. Miss Macdonald suggested the "Edmondson" be used instead, honouring locally-bred John Edmondson who won the first Australian Victoria Cross medal for bravery of World War II. Unfortunately, it had been awarded posthumously in 1941 as he had been killed in action. Liverpool Council, regarding it as a fine tribute to the local war hero, offered no objection. The suburb straddled the council boundary. And the support of Campbelltown was needed prior to any name change and support was hard to find. Hostile aldermen claimed the "Parish of Denham Court" was a historic name applying to the whole area, and not just the house or farm. Council advised Liverpool that it objected.

In November 1970, the NSW Geographical Names Board attempted a compromise. It decided to name part of the area within Liverpool territory as "Edmondson Park", while the remainder would simply be "Denham". But this dumping of the word "Court" only drew unanimous criticism from Campbelltown Council, and the war of words continued until 1976, when the full title was finally approved.

Since the 1970s, the suburb area has been dotted with impressive mansions on large subdivided blocks. Denham Court Road notes, of course, the old property. It has wound across the hills since last century, but was only sealed and widened for modern traffic in 1965. Remnants of the old 1884 estate still exist in the form of Brooks Road (after the squire himself), Blomfield Road (in honour of his in-laws) and Dickson Road, after David Dickson, the brother-in-law of Richard Blomfield, who helped prepare the subdivision.

Woodd Road notes the Reverend G.N. Woodd, an early rector of "St Mary the Virgin" Church, while Gibson Road possibly recalled another local Anglican minister, Reverend J. Gibson. Zouch Road pays tribute to Captain Henry Zouch, a police superintendent who had helped pioneer the southern districts of NSW. He had married Cpt Brook's sixth daughter, Maria. Keating Place recalls the owners of a boarding house that operated nearby in the 1920s.

Gowan Place honours Gowan Flora Macdonald, while McCormack Place notes an early family in the district. Streets of Denham Court which are actually located in Liverpool Council area, such as Springmead Drive, Culverston Avenue and Pembury Close recall the names of early farms, while Cubitt Drive and Cassidy Street note pioneer land-holders such as William Cassidy and Daniel Cubitt. ^[1]

[edit] Housing

Denham Court is one of the more affluent suburbs in south western Sydney. It is sometimes referred to as 'the south-western millionaires' row', in reference to the row of mansions along Denham Court Road, where a prominent ridge allows views all the way to Sydney

[edit] Population

According to the 2006 census, Denham Court had a population of 327 people, which was slightly older and wealthier than average. The majority of families in the suburb were couples with children (60%) and the average age was 40. The median family income was $1669 per week compared to a national figure of $1171. There were substantial numbers of people speaking Italian (9.8%), Croatian (6.4%) and Serbian (4.3%) at home. The stated religions were Catholic (47%), Eastern Orthodox (11%) and Jehovah's Witnesses (11%), No religion (4%).^[2]

[edit] Notable Residents

• Jim Masterton, owner of 'Masterton homes'.
• John Hopkinson, owner of 'Hopkinsons transport'
• John Marsden, solicitor

[edit] References

• Drawing of Denham Court by William Hardy Wilson [1]
• Portrait of Captain Richard Brooks [2]

[edit] External links

• Denham Court, New South Wales is at coordinates 33°59′48″S 150°50′23″E / -33.99668, 150.83973Coordinates: 33°59′48″S 150°50′23″E / -33.99668, 150.83973