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A brief history of Fairfield
City Farm:
- before 1806 - land was home territory to the people of
the Dharuk tribe.
- 1806 - Land Grant of 80 hectares to John Jamieson (born
1772), a Scottish immigrant, who was the Superintendent
of Government Stock. He named the property Coulmesly Hill,
but the spelling was later changed to Calmsley Hill.
- 1809 - a further Land Grant of 120 hectares at Calmsley
Hill to John Jamieson.
- 1823 - a further Land Grant of 40 hectares at Calmesly
Hill to John Jamieson. Cattle and sheep grazed on
the land.
- 1826 - 3 huts and a dairy were built on the farm at a
cost of £100.
- 1850 - John Jamieson died. Calmesly Hill farm was taken
over by William Jamieson (born 1828), a
Grandson of John.
- 1851 John Dengate of Coomsley Hill bought the farm for
£1,300 and farmed the land until his death
in 1886. The land passed to his executors Edwin and Henry
Dengate.
- 1904 - Patrick James Cashman of Fivedock bought the property
for £3,000.
- 1908 - James Clarke of Dulwich Hill bought the property
for £3,500.
- 1909 - James Clarke died, and his executors sold the
property back to Patrick James Cashman for £3,145.
- 1920 - Patrick James Cashman died, and his widow, Mary,
sold the farm to Robert McIntyre for £4,500 in 1921.
- 1929 - John Maurice Garnock, a wool and skin merchant,
purchased the farm for £5,700.
- 1929 - As the Great Depression set in, Garnock sold his
equity in the farm to James White of Coonamble
for £2,400.
- 1934 - Calmsley Hill was sold to Edward Dryland Horden,
one of the Anthony Horden dynasty of
merchants, for £6,450. Two of the trees on the farm,
a Peppercorn tree and a Moreton Bay Fig, are
believed to have been planted by the Horden family.
- 1947 - Calmsley Hill was sold to the Big Brother Movement
for £12,750. The Big Brother Movement was established
in 1925 as a scheme to help young British migrants settle
in Australia. The farm served as a reception and accommodation
area for groups of up to 40 young men at a time who were
trained in farm work. The Big Brother Movement built up
the dairy herd, established a piggery, poultry farm, orchard
and market garden under irrigation, and built a steel water
tower which still exists on the City Farm.
- 1971 - the land was zoned as open space in the state
government's Sydney Regional Outline Plan.
- 1972 - the Big Brother Movement sold most of the farm
to the State Planning Authority. The land became part of
the Horsley Park Services Corridor, bringing electricity,
gas and water to western Sydney. Parts of
the farm were also leased for dairy farming.
- 1984 - Fairfield City Council took up the lease on the
land and created Fairfield City Farm which conducted educational
programs.
- 1989 - a soil conservation education program was started.
- 1995 - the City Landcare in Your Own Backyard garden
was opened, which is now commonly referred to
as the Permaculture Garden.
- 2000 - Sydney Olympics 2000 Mountain Bike competition
was staged at the City Farm.
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