Explore Sydney's Suburbs: Homebush History

Join the Local Team at I’m Free Walking Tours as we take you around some of Melbourne and Sydney’s most vibrant and interesting suburbs.
Today we visit Homebush - one of the first freely settled lands in colonial Australia, once home to Jane Austen's Mr D'Arcy and a historic midway between Sydney and Parramatta.

Until we can get back to touring the city streets, join us as we share with you more Melbourne and Sydney content.

We'd love to be part of helping you reconnect with Sydney, it's culture, history and other small businesses within. So when we're back and touring we hope to see your local faces on one of our walking tours as we explore the centre of Sydney, the Harbour, The Rocks and Melbourne.

For more information and times of our I'm Free Tours visit:

Special thanks to the “Homebush Project” and The “Dictionary of Sydney”, great resources where a lot of well sourced information was used for this video.

More Information:

D’Arcy Wentworth & Jane Austen!? - Incredible proposition that the humble suburb of Homebush could have a link to Jane Austen! Below is an article that expounds on the two books written about this possible connection. Thanks to author Wal Walker for the research he did in writing these books, it’s definitely a rabbit hole worth getting lost down.

[BekyWeky]

I live in Homebush too, thanks for this! So informative and interesting!

[davidlang]

I grew up in Homebush during the fifties and sixties and have lived in California since the seventies.
I went to Homebush Kindergarten, Primary School (where the toilet was an old galvanized tin shed- gross!) and Homebush Boys High before studying architecture at UNSW.
Homebush holds lots of memories for me and I often wish I could move back there. I really miss it.
Enjoyed your history of how it got its name.
I think the pub on Parramatta Rd called the Horse and Jockey dates from the mid 19th century. It could be an interesting subject. And the Homebush Theater across the street when people got dressed up to go and see a movie!
Someone else posted a suggestion here about the history of Arnotts Bisquit factory on George Street could be worth looking into. I think EMI used to have a plant south of Parramatta Rd.
The beautiful old Post Office building is still there but the new tenants don’t seem to appreciate the heritage nor its beauty by their insensitive installation of signs. And I can name many of the shops on Rochester Street before their more recent incarnations like the hardware store on the corner of Rochester and Burlington Rd that had an old carriage house at the back with a hayloft above and is now a coffee shop. And the old milk bar named Con’s after the new Greek owner! I remember the first “supermarket” to open there in the late fifties! Speaking of Arnotts, I sometimes buy Tim Tams here in California (when I can find them) just for old time sake!
Thanks for the video!

[saranyaprabath]

So Interesting. Keen for this series! Could you cover Newtown as well?

[paulharper]

Great clip. It would be great to see more videos of the area. Arnold’s Factory, old homes of the area and the background to what used to be in place where Sydney Olympic park is.

[tamarhestelow]

I live in Homebush too but never knew the origins of my own suburb. Great video!

[jononolan]

Homebush was good until the mid 90s. It's gone downhill ever since. Look at the primary school. It used to be a diverse place of students from a wide variety of backgrounds. Now it's 95% South Asian. They're good people but you want a bit more variety. There's also way too many new ugly large apartments and it's just getting worse every year.