What if the ground beneath our feet could talk? It would tell tales of Grantham Farm. Tales of settlers and soldiers. Tales of hardship and harvest. This is Grantham Farm. It is a suburb in north-west Sydney. It’s located in the local government area of Blacktown.
Grantham Farm was officially named on 6 November 2020. Before that it was part of Riverstone. The name comes from the Grantham Farm Estate. This estate was once a subdivision of the original Riverstone land grant. Governor Lachlan Macquarie gave that land to Lieutenant-Colonel Maurice Charles O’Connell in 1810.
Imagine O’Connell arriving here. He was granted 2500 acres as a wedding present. That’s a vast expanse of land to call your own. The boundaries stretched to Eastern Creek, Bandon Road, Windsor Road, and Garfield Road. He named it Riverston after his birthplace in Ireland. Six convicts were assigned to him. Their task was to clear the land and begin farming.
Governor Macquarie himself visited Riverston on December 8, 1810. He examined O’Connell’s dairy and stockyards. O’Connell received another 1000 acres in 1814. This extended the estate to Kensington Park Road. When O’Connell was transferred to India in 1814, he left the farm in the care of George Druitt.
For years Riverston was primarily used for grazing. Vineyards developed on the slopes of Eastern Creek. By 1842, the landscape was cleared with fenced paddocks and buildings. Tracks led from Windsor Road to the farmhouses and vineyards.
O’Connell first tried to sell the estate in 1845. He finally sold it in 1847 to the Australian Trust Co. In 1855, Andrew H. McCulloch, a Sydney solicitor, bought it. McCulloch subdivided the estate into eight sections. There were 59 farms for sale. An 1856 advertisement described the Riverston Homestead as having 81 acres. It included a dwelling house, outbuildings, and a well. There were enclosed paddocks and stockyards. It also advertised good cultivation ground.
Despite these optimistic descriptions, the 1856 and 1864 sales were unsuccessful. Three larger blocks were sold separately. These were not part of the Grantham estate.
Subdivisions in the 1850s and 1880s established the road pattern of Riverstone. Many roads exist only as names on a map. With Riverstone’s development in 1878, McCulloch offered smaller blocks for sale. This was the first township subdivision.
In May 1881, the Riverston estate was again subdivided. It was offered for sale by auction. As Riverstone grew, portions of the estate were identified by different names. Riverstone estate, Roseberry Park estate, and Grantham Estate emerged. When farm sales failed, the land was divided into tiny lots.
The auction plan shows Grantham Farm surrounded by auctioned properties. Grantham Estate was bounded by Crown Road, Windsor Road, Victoria Street, and Brisbane Road. The farm itself was reduced to 39 acres. It was bounded by Princes Street, Grantham Street, and Loftus Street. It was the only cleared area on the estate.
This marks the first official use of the name Grantham. Its origin remains unknown. The plan shows the location of the original buildings. These were the dairy and convict accommodations.
Land records show that Julius Schoffel bought 39 acres of Grantham Farm in 1886. He paid 775 pounds. This suggests the farm had substantial buildings. Schoffel operated the farm until his death in 1906. His brother Thomas then took over. Orchardists Thomas and Alfred Rumery were also owners or mortgagees. In the mid-1920s, Sam Challenger took over the property.
The Swift family bought the property in 1933. They built a new house near the gravel pit. They ran a small dairy and had fruit trees. Lionel Swift also worked at the meat works.
Grantham Farm continued to evolve. In the late 1950s, Lionel Swift partnered with Noel Vickery Dunston. They grew mushrooms in sheds. After the Swifts’ deaths, Dunston took over in 1963. Dunston built stables and a training track.
Grantham Farm’s story is still unfolding. From its humble beginnings as part of the Riverston estate to its modern identity. Grantham Farm is a place where history and community intertwine. The bell that once summoned convicts to work at Grantham Farm now resides at St Paul’s Church of England in Riverstone. A tangible reminder of the past.