{{short description|Suburb in Sydney, Australia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox Australian place | type = suburb | name = Cattai | city = Sydney | state = nsw | image = Cattai national park arndells cottage.jpg | caption = Arndell's cottage | alternative_location_map = Australia NSW metro Sydney | pushpin_map_caption = Location in metropolitan Sydney | coordinates = {{coord|33|33|22|S|150|54|43|E|display=title}} | local_map = yes | zoom = 12 | pop = 1,077 | pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}} | pop_footnotes = <ref name=census21>{{Census 2021 AUS|id=SAL10858|name=Cattai|accessdate=8 August 2024 |quick=on}}</ref> | pop2 = 790 | pop2_year = {{CensusAU|2016}} | pop2_footnotes = <ref name = census>{{Census 2016 AUS|id=SSC10859|name=Cattai|accessdate= 19 October 2018 |quick=on}}50px Material was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016050101/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |date=16 October 2017 }}.</ref> | est = | postcode = 2756 | elevation = 27 | area = | dist1 = 63 | dir1 = north-west | location1 = Sydney CBD | lga = The Hills Shire | lga2 = City of Hawkesbury | stategov = Hawkesbury | fedgov = Macquarie | fedgov2 = Berowra | near-n = South Maroota | near-ne = Canoelands | near-e = Glenorie | near-se = Maraylya | near-s = Maraylya | near-sw = Pitt Town | near-w = Wilberforce | near-nw = Ebenezer }}
'''Cattai''' is an historic suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 44 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and 30 kilometres north-west of Parramatta. It is in the local government areas of The Hills Shire and City of Hawkesbury.<ref>Gregory's Sydney Street Directory, Gregory's Publishing Company, 2007</ref> Cattai's state electoral district is Hawkesbury, and its federal electoral divisions are Berowra and Macquarie.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/nsw/berowra.htm|title=Profile of the Electoral Division of Berowra (NSW)|last=Australian Electoral Commission|website=Australian Electoral Commission|language=en-AU|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309214220/http://aec.gov.au/profiles/nsw/berowra.htm|archive-date=9 March 2018|url-status=live|access-date=2019-02-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/nsw/macquarie.htm|title=Profile of the Electoral Division of Macquarie (NSW)|last=Australian Electoral Commission|website=Australian Electoral Commission|language=en-AU|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912092039/https://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/nsw/macquarie.htm|archive-date=12 September 2018|url-status=live|access-date=2019-02-11}}</ref>
Cattai is bounded in the north-west by the Hawkesbury River and is traversed by Cattai Creek. It encompasses the heritage-listed Cattai Estate, located within Cattai National Park at the junction of the Creek and the River.<ref name="nswshr-9822">{{cite NSW SHR|5014094|Cattai Estate|hr=00982|fn=S90/05713;S91/02261; S90/06440|accessdate=2 June 2018}}</ref><ref>The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company, 1981, p. 2/12</ref> The Georgian house was built between 1804 and 1821 by former Magistrate Thomas Arndell, with further additions being made in the 1860s. Cattai is also home to a historic rural public primary school that was founded in 1886.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/15240118|title=Cattai Public School: A Centenary History|last=Fletcher|first=Jim|date=1985|isbn=9780731602667|language=en}}</ref> The suburb was originally home to the Darug Indigenous Australians before being settled in the early nineteenth century.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5014094|title=Cattai Estate|last=NSW Environment & Heritage|website=environment.nsw.gov.au|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711185227/http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5014094|archive-date=11 July 2018|url-status=live|access-date=2019-04-11}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=The other Sydney : communities, identities and inequalities in Western Sydney|date=2000|publisher=Common Ground Publishing|others=Collins, Jock, 1949-, Poynting, Scott.|isbn=1863350179|location=Altona, Vic.|pages=158|oclc=50155548}}</ref>
==History==
===Indigenous Peoples=== {{Main|Darug}} The locality of Cattai was the home of the Darug people who occupied a large expanse of Greater Western Sydney.<ref name=":1" /> The Darug people are thought to have occupied the locality of Cattai for more than 20,000 years.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=http://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/cattai-nsw|title=Cattai, NSW - Aussie Towns|work=Aussie Towns|access-date=2018-10-28|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407013318/http://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/cattai-nsw|archive-date=7 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
The name Cattai was originally thought to have derived from an Aboriginal word with an unknown meaning. However, it was more likely named by the First Fleet Assistant Surgeon and Magistrate Thomas Arndell who built a homestead called 'Caddie'. The homestead is now called Cattai Estate and resides in Cattai National Park.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hawkesbury.org/name/cattai|title=Baulkham Hills City Council Origin of Suburb Names|last1=McHardy|first1=Cathy|website=Hawkesbury.org|publisher=300 Purple Toasters|access-date=6 December 2016}}</ref> The suburb of Cattai has henceforth been considered a misnomer of 'Caddie'.<ref name=":2" />
===Settlement=== {{Main|European settlement of Australia}} European settlers moved into the area in 1794 to sustain the food shortages of Sydney. Following protests by the Dharug people over the loss of their traditional hunting and fishing lands, soldiers were sent to the area in 1795.<ref name=":2" />
Cattai Post Office opened on 26 November 1906 and closed in 1994.<ref name="Post Office">{{Cite web|url=https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=NSW&country=|title=Post Office List|last=Premier Postal History|access-date=1 June 2012}}</ref>
Cattai Public School was established in 1886.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cattai-p.schools.nsw.edu.au|title=About Us|last1=Cattai Public School|website=Cattai Public School|access-date=6 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220092421/http://www.cattai-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Arndell Anglican College was an independent secondary college that was established in Cattai in 1990, until it moved to its current site of Oakville in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arndell.nsw.edu.au/content/history-and-culture|title=History and Culture|last1=Arndell Anglican College|website=arndell.nsw.edu.au|access-date=6 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103000855/http://www.arndell.nsw.edu.au/content/history-and-culture|archive-date=3 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Heritage listings== Cattai has a number of heritage-listed sites, the most notable being Cattai Estate on Wisemans Ferry Road.<ref name="nswshr-982">{{cite NSW SHR|5014094|Cattai Estate|hr=00982|fn=S90/05713;S91/02261; S90/06440|accessdate=18 May 2018}}</ref>
==Demographics==
===Population=== At the {{CensusAU|2021}}, there were 1,077 people in Cattai. The median age was 40.<ref name="census21" />
===Culture and language=== The majority of people from Cattai were born in Australia (85.0%).<ref name="census21" /> The most common responses for religion was No Religion (31.0%), followed closely by Catholic (28.7%) and Anglican (21.2%).<ref name="census21" />
The majority of people spoke only English at home (89.8%). The second most spoken language was Punjabi (0.9%) followed by Maltese and Croatian (both 0.7%).<ref name="census21" />
===Wealth=== Cattai is an affluent suburb in the growing north-west of Sydney. The median weekly household income is A$2,878, which is 164.8% greater than the national average.<ref name = census21/> In 2018, Cattai had a median house sale price of A$1.9 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.propertyvalue.com.au/suburb/cattai-2756-nsw|title=Market Trends for Cattai NSW|date=March 2018|website=Property Value|access-date=28 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028153308/https://www.propertyvalue.com.au/suburb/cattai-2756-nsw|archive-date=28 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> 47.3% of the households have an income greater than A$3,000 per week.<ref name=census21/>
==Landmarks==
===Parks and sights=== thumb|right|Arndell's cottage thumb|right|View from Cattai wharf *Thomas Arndell's Cottage * Cattai National Park *Mitchell Park
===Education facilities=== *Cattai Public School is an historic rural school founded in 1886.<ref name=":3" /> Campus facilities: ** 4 classrooms with interactive whiteboards ** Computers, including a specialised computer room with access to the internet and classes that allow for more individualised tuition ** School Library ** 1 Administration Building ** An upgraded playground with rubber-based Soft Fall and mini goal posts for student use **Sports oval, with complementary large grass areas * Arndell Anglican College was originally established in 1990 at ''Threlkeld Drive, Cattai.'' It has since been relocated to Oakville, New South Wales. The school is of Anglican denomination.
===Other=== *Riverside Oaks Golf Resort<ref>http://www.riversideoaks.com.au</ref> *Hawkesbury River *Cattai Joinery
==See also== *Hawkesbury River *Cattai National Park *Climate of Sydney
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Sydney The Hills Shire suburbs}} {{Hawkesbury suburbs}}
Category:Suburbs of Sydney Category:City of Hawkesbury Category:Hawkesbury River Category:The Hills Shire