Balmain is a suburb on the Inner West of Sydney and part of the local government area of the Inner West Council. Located 2 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD, the suburb occupies 155 hectares of land and is bounded by Gow Street, Birchgrove Public School, Macquarie Terrace, Curtis Road, College Street, Mort Bay Park and Mort Street in the north, Mort Bay, Cooper Street, Darling Street, Jubilee Place, Datchett Street and Sydney Harbour in the east, White Bay, Batty Street, the suburb of Rozelle, Henry Street, Clare Street, Darling Street, Schultz Street, Terry Street and Bayville Street in the south, and Iron Cove in the west.
ABOUT BALMAIN
History
Before becoming the gentrified region that it is in the 21st century, the Inner West was home to the Darug people, which was divided to the Cadigal and Wangal clans. The clans occupied the land along Port Jackson, from South Head to Lewisham, as well as the land stretching to Homebush Bay.
The earliest European settlements in the land now occupied by the Inner West dates back to 1790s, when the first land grants were made. Most of the residents in the area used to make a living through farming and timber-getting.
The area now known as Balmain was part of a 550-acre land grant made by Governor John Hunter to surgeon Dr William Balmain in 1800. After the land was sold from one owner to the next, the area was finally subdivided and developed in the 1840s. By 1861, it had been divided into the well populated Balmain in the east and the sparsely populated Balmain West.
Balmain became one of the premier industrial centres of Sydney during the 1800s as industries clustered around Mort Bay, including shipbuilding, engineering and boilermaker. The increasing industrialisation then created a demand for cheap housing.
In the 1920s, the opening of the railway further established Balmain. Over the next 30 years, immigrants boosted the suburb’s population.
After gaining a reputation as a rough working-class area of Sydney, Balmain’s gentrification began in the 1960s as industry waned. The middle class people were attracted to the suburb’s waterfront location and proximity to Sydney's CBD.
The rest of Inner West’s population continued to expand in the 1990s, aided by high- and medium-density housing.
Traditionally blue collar, Balmain saw the beginning of the industrial roots of the trade unionist movement. The suburb was also the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party, which was formed in 1981.
Demographics
As of 2019, Balmain is home to 11,921 people, with an average population density of 77.08 persons per hectare. Australia-born citizens represent 61.9 per cent of the local population, with other residents born in England, New Zealand, Ireland, the United States of America and Scotland. About 79.6 per cent of people spoke only English at home, while others Italian, Mandarin, French, Greek and Spanish.
Famous residents
Balmain is home to several notable personalities, including Billy Hughes, the seventh Prime Minister of Australia; Sir John Kerr, the 18th Governor-General of Australia; Henry Parkes, former Premier of New South Wales; John Storey, 20th Premier of New South Wales; Tom Uren, former Whitlam Government Minister; Neville Wran, 35th Premier of New South Wales; Nick Origlass, former Trotskyite mayor of Leichhardt Municipal Council; H.V Evatt, former leader of the Australian Labor Party; and LGBT rights activist Peter Bonsall-Boone.
Numerous artists also call Balmain home, including Hollywood actress Rose Byrne, musicians Alex Lloyd, Josh Pyke, Malcolm Young and Rick Springfield, actress Lottie Lyell, entertainer Carlotta and authors Geraldine Brooks, Frank Moorhouse and George Negus.
Former champion swimmer and politician Dawn Fraser, rugby players Dally Messenger and Wayne Pearce, diver Matthew Mitcham and Australian cricketer Fred Spofforth are also residents of the Inner West suburb.
RAAF’s highest scoring fighter ace of World War II Clive Caldwell also hails from Balmain.
In the mid-1960s, Balmain became the setting for the popular Seven Network situation comedy series My Name's McGooley, What's Yours?, which starred Gordon Chater, John Meillon and Judi Farr.
The suburb was the setting for the 1994 Australian film The Sum of Us starring Jack Thompson, John Polson and Russell Crowe.
LIFESTYLE
Often dubbed as one of the unofficial “hipster” capitals of the world, Inner West boasts lively arts and culinary scene, live music, impromptu park parties, whimsical stores and Instagrammable restaurants and cafes. Excellent coffee, vegan meals, endless cuisine choices—from Thai, Japanese and Indian to Italian, Czech and Nepalese—and craft beers are abundant across suburbs. Old and new meet in the streets lined with European-inspired buildings, restored cottages and historic pubs.
Proud of its cultural diversity, Inner West also prides itself for numerous cultural centers, which are as abundant as recreational areas and even more prominent than shopping malls.
Public transport
In most council areas in Sydney’s Inner West, the top modes of transportation are cars (as drivers), trains, buses, ferries and light rail.
Sydney Trains Airport and Inner West & South Line runs south of Parramatta Road to Strathfield and to Macarthur via Granville, while the North Shore and Northern & Western Line follows the same route to Strathfield before it branches off to the north to Epping, stopping at North Strathfield, Concord West and Rhodes. The Bankstown Line services Erskineville, St Peters, Sydenham, Marrickville and Dulwich Hill, while the Dulwich Hill line connects Pyrmont, Glebe, Lilyfield, Leichhardt and Lewisham to Central railway station.
Balmain’s road network feeds into three main roads, namely Darling Street, Beattie Street and Montague/Mullen Street.
State Transit provides most of the bus routes across the Inner West, while ferries are mostly operated by Sydney Ferries, servicing the inner harbour and Parramatta River.
Balmain is serviced by several ferry wharves, including Thames Street Balmain serviced by the Cockatoo Island ferry services, Elliot Street, Balmain West and Darling Street, Balmain East serviced by the Cross Harbour ferry services. Services run to Circular Quay.
Transit Systems bus services that service Balmain are: 441 Birchgrove to Art Gallery of New South Wales via Rozelle and QVB; 442 Balmain to the Queen Victoria Building via Rozelle; 445 Balmain to Campsie; and 433 Balmain to Martin Place.
Bicycles have also been a part of the overall transport task since the 1990s. Bicycle paths and routes run through Five Dock to the Anzac Bridge cycleway (East-West route), Gladesville Bridge to Anzac Bridge (Northwest route) and Marrickville to the City via Newtown (Southwest route).
Schools and universities
Some of the most notable schools across Sydney’s Inner West are:
- Newington College (Inner West’s oldest school, 1863)
- Rosebank College (Inner West’s second oldest school, 1867)
- Sydney College of the Arts - the University of Sydney (Rozelle Campus)
- Sydney TAFE (Petersham College and Design Centre Enmore)
- University of Tasmania (School of Medicine Rozelle Campus)
Hospitals
Among the major hospitals in the Inner West are:
- Balmain Hospital
- Yaralla Estate (Dame Eadith Walker Hospital)
- Concord Repatriation General Hospital
Landmarks
Some of the major landmarks across Sydney’s Inner West are:
- Water Wharf Workshops
- Mort’s Dock
- Riverview Hotel
- Gladstone Park
- Birrung Park
- White Bay Park
- Parramatta River
- Barnwell Park Golf Club
- Concord Golf Club
- Massey Park Golf Club
- City of Canada Bay Museum
- Strathfield Park
- Sydenham Green Tempe Recreational Reserve
- Haberfield heritage conservation area
- Harbour Circle Walk
Shopping centers
Some of the major shopping centres and shopping districts across Inner West are:
- Darling Street, Balmain’s main thoroughfare
- Birkenhead Point Outlet Centre
- Rhodes Waterside Shopping Centre
- Westfield Burwood Shopping Centre
Sports and recreation
Rugby League is arguably the most popular sport in the Inner West, as well as most parts of Sydney and New South Wales.
Aside from the Rugby League, Sydney’s Inner West also participates in semi-professional soccer in the various divisions of the NSW State Leagues. Among the most notable clubs are the NSW Premier League and the APIA Leichhardt Tigers.
Balmain is home to the Balmain Tigers district rugby league football club, the Balmain Rugby Football Club, the Balmain Australian Football Club, the Balmain FC, the Balmain Sailing Club and the Balmain Rowing Club.
Some of the sports centres in Sydney’s Inner Wests are:
- Concord Golf Club
- Drummoyne Oval
- Erskineville Oval
- Sydney Homebush Street Circuit
- Leichhardt Oval
- Sydney Olympic Park (including Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre, Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre, Sydney Showground-Olympic Park, Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney Super Dome).
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