“Why Clyde?” I asked myself aloud. Clyde in Sydney is named for the River Clyde in Scotland. It was thought to be a suitable name. A subdivision of land was made in 1878 called New Glasgow.
Let’s talk about Clyde’s history. Rosehill Junction was the original name of the railway station here. It opened in 1882. The station was just west of the bridge over the Duck River. It was a junction. It connected the Western railway line. It also connected the Carlingford and Sandown railway lines.
Edward Miller Grant Eddy was the Commissioner of Railways. He renamed the station Clyde Junction. Later he settled upon the name Clyde in 1883. He said New Glasgow is close by. Old Glasgow is watered by the Clyde. He likened Duck River to the Clyde. So Clyde would not be unacceptable.
Clyde Engineering Co. was established in 1884. It became a hub of railway engineering. The station became Clyde Junction in 1901. It reverted to Clyde in April 1904.
Today Clyde is exclusively industrial and commercial. Factories, workshops, and warehouses dominate the area. Clyde has no permanent population to speak of. In 2021, just nine people lived here.
Clyde railway station was a junction. It served the Western, Leppington, and Inner West lines. It also connected to the Carlingford line. The Carlingford line closed in January 2020.
Where exactly is Clyde? Clyde sits 21 kilometres west of Sydney’s central business district. It falls within the City of Parramatta’s local government area. Clyde forms part of Greater Western Sydney.
The annual rainfall in Clyde is about 965 mm. The most rain Clyde received in a day was 293 mm. The most rain in a February day was around 190 mm.
Early land grants in the Clyde area included 200 acres to James Smith in 1818. Market gardens, orchards and mixed farming dominated the landscape.
Hudson Bros. recognized the potential of the lands south of the Parramatta River. By the late 1870s, the business had outgrown its Redfern site. A new location of about 7 acres was chosen at what is now known as Clyde.
The industrial township was initially known as Hudson or New Glasgow. The adjacent railway platform also officially opened in 1883.
Over the twentieth century, the character of the suburb changed. It went from mixed residential and industrial to almost wholly industrial. In 1897 the established firm of Hudson Bros. went into voluntary liquidation.
In October 1898, the former Hudson works became the property of the newly formed Clyde Engineering Co. Ltd.
In 1925 a crude oil refinery was built. It was on the southern bank of the Parramatta River. It was near the junction with the Duck River. Known as Clyde Refinery, the plant was built by John Fell and Co. Pty. Ltd.
The 21st century will see another phase in the history of Clyde. There has been a reduction in heavy manufacturing. There is recognition of the value and need for the rehabilitation of degraded natural landscapes. This allows reuse of these landscapes.