Kellyville is a part of
the Hills District and fast growing suburb of Sydney. Kellyville is bounded by Baulkham
Hills, Blacktown, Rouse Hill and Glenhaven. Kellyville
possesses a unique combination of being semi-rural, older suburban and modern. Population is low because properties
here are large, and many accommodate orchards, or support horses kept for
riding, or cultivate native-plant nurseries. But it is changing very quickly
due to the residential development and rail line expected to open in 2019. This
development is bringing lots of young families to Kellyville.
Kellyville was
originally known as 'There and Nowhere', followed by 'Irish Town', as a large
number of Irish people lived there. The first land grants were in 1802. Kellyville is named after Hugh
Kelly, who owned the Kellyville Estate.
Kelly
was convicted of larceny (theft) and transported to Australia. He arrived in
Australia in May 1803 on a ship called the Rolla. Hugh Kelly was pardoned in April 1808. He began work for Humphrey Evans, a
former Royal Marine turned farmer, who had a 130 acre grant in Parramatta.
Evans died in 1805 and by 1810 Kelly had married Evans’ widow Mary and established a licensed inn 'The Half
Way House' which became 'The Bird in the Hand' which was located on the corner
of Wrights and Windsor Roads. After Mary’s death Kelly married another two times, to Ester
Harley who died in a house fire and finally to another Mary in 1828 when he
moved to Goulburn.
White Hart Inn - an artist impression
Early land grants:
The White Hart Inn is
located on 30 acres originally granted to John Moss in 1810. Moss transferred
the land to Edmund Wright in 1821 and in the same year Edmund Wright transferred
the land to Hugh Kelly.
After Kelly's death in 1884, John Fitzgerald
Burns, James Green and George Withers purchased portions of several early land
grants, which were subdivided into farmlets as part of the 'Kellyville Estate',
thereby giving the suburb its name Kellyville. The first subdivisions of
100-acre lots were made in 1884.
Kellyville Post Office opened on 1 January 1889.
Bus outside Kellyville Post Office on corner of Acres & Windsor
Roads Kellyville 1930s
Parts of Kellyville became separate suburbs –
Beaumont Hills, north of Samantha Riley Drive, was renamed in 2002. Kellyville Ridge, west of Old Windsor Road,
is a separate suburb in the City of Blacktown.
Kellyville Public School is a historic building
which was established in 1849. For most of the 20th century, Kellyville was
semi-rural. From the 1960s to the 1980s about 900 homes were developed in an
area around Acres Road, known locally as 'The Village'. More recently, major
developments such as Kellyville Plaza have encouraged residential growth. Due
to the suburb's location, Kellyville is a major growth area in The Hills.
