{{for|the former NSW electoral district|Electoral district of Mulgoa}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox Australian place| type = suburb | name = Mulgoa | city = Sydney | state = NSW | image = | alternative_location_map = Australia NSW metro Sydney | pushpin_map_caption = Location in metropolitan Sydney | coordinates = {{Coord|-33.8461|150.6525|type:city_region:AU-NSW|display=title|format=dms}} | image2 = | caption = | lga = Penrith City Council | postcode = 2745 | est = | pop = 2,044 | pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}} | pop_footnotes = <ref name="census21">{{Census 2021 AUS|id=SAL12825 |name=Mulgoa (State Suburb) |accessdate=27 September 2024 |quick=on}}</ref> | elevation = 75 | area = 55.5 | stategov = Badgerys Creek | fedgov = Lindsay | dist1 = 66 | dir1 = west | location1 = Sydney CBD | dist2 = 14 | dir2 = south | location2 = {{NSWcity|Penrith}} | local_map = yes | near-nw = {{NSWcity|Lapstone}} | near-n = {{NSWcity|Regentville}} | near-ne = {{NSWcity|Glenmore Park}} | near-w = ''Blue Mountains National Park'' | near-e = {{NSWcity|Orchard Hills}} | near-sw = ''Warragamba Dam'' | near-s = {{NSWcity|Wallacia}} | near-se = {{NSWcity|Luddenham}} }} '''Mulgoa''' is a village, located in the local government area of the City of Penrith, in the region of western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mulgoa is located approximately {{convert|66|km}} west of the Sydney central business district.
Mulgoa covers an area of {{convert|5530|ha}}, south of the {{NSWcity|Penrith}} suburbs of Regentville and Glenmore Park.
==History== ===Aboriginal culture=== Mulgoa takes its name from the Mulgoa people, who were an Aboriginal Australian people, the Indigenous inhabitants of the area who spoke the Dharug language. The name is believed to mean "black swan". The Mulgoa were not the only inhabitants of the area; they shared the Mulgoa Valley with the Gandangara people of the Southern Highlands, whose territory extended up into the Blue Mountains. The Aboriginal peoples mostly lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle governed by traditional laws, which had their origins in their mythology known as The Dreaming. Their homes were bark huts called ''gunyah''. They hunted kangaroos and emus for meat, and gathered yams, berries and other native plants.<ref name="Penrith City Council">{{cite web | url= http://www.penrithcity.nsw.gov.au/index.asp?id=437 | title=Penrith Local Suburb Profiles – Mulgoa | publisher=Penrith City Council | accessdate=31 July 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.mananura.com/aboriginal-history-dharugtx.html | title=Dharug Aboriginal History | publisher=Christopher Tobin | accessdate=26 July 2007 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929223218/http://www.mananura.com/aboriginal-history-dharugtx.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 29 September 2007}}</ref>
===European settlement=== Following the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney, there were a number of bloody battles between the British settlers and the local Indigenous people in this area, however, it is believed that the Mulgoa people were generally peaceful and most of the clashes were with the Gandangara. The first government land grants in the area were made in 1810 to Edward Cox, the four-year-old son of Captain William Cox, who constructed a famous road across the Blue Mountains in 1814. William Cox built The Cottage on the land in about 1811. ''Fernhill'', a much grander residence with associated gardens, now heritage-listed, was completed in the 1840s, although the proposed second-storey was never added.<ref name=Fernhill>{{cite NSW SHR|5045436|Fernhill|fn=EF14/5162; 09/4636; S90/6146|date=9 April 2013|accessdate=26 November 2017}}</ref> Not far away dwelt Cox's friend Sir John Jamison, who erected the colony's finest mansion, Regentville House, in 1824, on an eminence overlooking the Nepean River. In 1821, three large land grants were made on the Nepean at Mulgoa to the Norton family: James Norton, the founder of Sydney's first law firm and his father and brother, Nathaniel.<ref name="ADBNorton">[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/norton-james-2511/text3393 "Norton, James (1795–1862)"], ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 16 September 2011.</ref><ref name=SMH1914>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15485524 |title=An old family |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954) |location=New South Wales |date=21 March 1914 |accessdate=16 September 2011 |page=4 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
The centre of Mulgoa's spiritual life in the colonial era was St Thomas' Anglican Church, which dates from 1838. It was the first public building in the Mulgoa Valley and was constructed out of sandstone and cedar on paddocks donated by the Cox family, with Sir John Jamison serving as one of its patrons. The Reverend Thomas Cooper Makinson was St Thomas' inaugural rector. Attached to the church was Mulgoa's first school which operated until 1871–72, when the Mulgoa Provisional School replaced it.<ref>{{cite book |title=St Thomas' Church, Mulgoa, 1838–1988: A Parish History |author1=Walsh, Stephanie |author2=Robsinson, Peter |location=Sydney |date=1989 }}</ref><ref>{{cite NSW SHR|5045482|St. Thomas Anglican Church|fn=10/23454; S90/05990|date=12 May 2004|accessdate=26 November 2017}}</ref>
In 1893, Mulgoa's population was sufficiently large to be granted the status of a municipality. Its area extended beyond the current suburb boundaries. In 1949, however, council rationalisations led to it merging with Penrith, St Marys and Castlereagh into a larger Penrith Municipality. These days, Mulgoa is still primarily a rural area.<ref name="Penrith City Council"/>
Mulgoa Post Office opened on 1 September 1863.<ref name = "Post Office">{{Cite web |work=Phoenix Auctions History |title=Post Office List |publisher=Phoenix Auctions |url=http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=NSW&filter=*Mulgoa* |access-date=6 February 2021}}</ref>
===20th century=== In May 1942, during the Second World War and after the bombing of Darwin, a group of Aboriginal children were evacuated from "The Bungalow" in Alice Springs, Northern Territory<ref>{{cite web | title=St Mary's Hostel - Summary | website=Find & Connect | date=27 November 2020 | url=https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/nt/YE00008 | access-date=24 October 2022}}</ref> to an Anglican home Mulgoa. The group included Rona and Freda Glynn,<ref name=asn2019>{{cite web | title=The Florence Nightingale from the bush | website=Alice Springs News| first= John P. McD| last=Smith | date=3 March 2019 | url=https://alicespringsnews.com.au/2019/03/04/the-florence-nightingale-from-the-bush/ | access-date=25 October 2022}}</ref><ref name=lemon>{{cite web|series=Australian Women's Archives Project|first= Barbara |last=Lemon | title=Freda Glynn | website=The Women's Pages | date=6 October 2008 | url=http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/cal/glynn.html | access-date=24 October 2022}}</ref><ref name="Lever 2019">{{cite web | last=Lever | first=Brandon | title='It was for us': She gave voice to bush communities | website=Newsworthy | date=17 July 2019 | url=https://www.newsworthy.org.au/freda-glynn-gives-bush-communities-voice-2639192606.html | access-date=24 October 2022}}</ref> as well as John Kundereri Moriarty.<ref>{{cite web | title=Socceroo dreaming | website=The Age | date=24 May 2006 | url=https://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/fifa-world-cup-2018/socceroo-dreaming-20060524-ge2dig.html | access-date=26 October 2022}}</ref>
The Church Missionary Society Home for Half-Castes existed between 1942 and 1947, run by the Church Missionary Society. It housed Aboriginal children aged 1–14, and some mothers, who came mainly from South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, with a few from New South Wales. They were evacuated by the Department of Native Affairs, under military orders.<ref>{{cite web | title=Church Missionary Society Home for Half-Castes, Mulgoa - Summary | website=Find & Connect | date=30 November 2021 | url=https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/nsw/NE01041 | access-date=25 October 2022}}</ref> However the group of children did not leave Mulgoa until January 1949.<ref name=asn2019/><ref>{{cite interview | last = Moriarty | first = John | interviewer-first = Terry|interviewer-last =Lane | title = The National Interest | url = http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/natint/stories/s194174.htm | publisher = Radio National | date = 1 October 2001 | access-date = 23 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001021001118/http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/natint/stories/s194174.htm|archive-date=21 Oct 2000}}</ref>
=== Heritage listings === Mulgoa has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Fairlight Road: Fairlight Homestead<ref name=nswshr-262>{{cite NSW SHR|5045081|Fairlight Homestead & Barn|hr=00262|fn=S90/05387 & HC 32846|accessdate=18 May 2018}}</ref> * Mulgoa Road: Fernhill, Mulgoa<ref name=nswshr-54>{{cite NSW SHR|5045436|Fernhill|hr=00054|fn=EF14/5162; 09/4636; S90/6146|accessdate=18 May 2018}}</ref> * 754-760 Mulgoa Road: Glenmore, Mulgoa<ref name=nswshr-74>{{cite NSW SHR|5045381|Glenmore|hr=00074|fn=09/1844; S90/06200 & HC 32064|accessdate=18 May 2018}}</ref> * St Thomas Road: St Thomas' Anglican Church, Mulgoa<ref name=nswshr-426>{{cite NSW SHR|5045482|St. Thomas Anglican Church|hr=00426|fn=10/23454; S90/05990|accessdate=18 May 2018}}</ref> * 2 St Thomas Road: Cox's Cottage<ref name=nswshr-171>{{cite NSW SHR|5045078|Cox's Cottage|hr=00171|fn=S90/05992 & HC 32303; 10/10926|accessdate=18 May 2018}}</ref>
==Transport== Mulgoa Road is the main road in the suburb, connecting with Penrith. Busways provides a bus route 795 which runs from Warragamba to Penrith along Mulgoa Road.<ref>{{Cite New South Wales transport timetables|B795}}</ref>
The iconic Mulgoa speedhump is known amongst the locals for its inability to slow cars down.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}
==Education== There is a government-run primary school, Mulgoa Public School,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mulgoa-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/ |title=Mulgoa Public School |work=Primary schools |publisher=NSW Education }}</ref> and a privately run school, Nepean Christian School.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nepean.nsw.edu.au/ |title=Nepean Christian School }}</ref>
== Demographics == The recorded population of Mulgoa in the {{CensusAU|2021}} was 2,044. The majority of residents are Australian born (81.6%) with small minorities born in England (2.4%), Malta (1.7%), and Germany (1.3%). The most common responses for religion were Catholic 41.4%, No Religion 20.2% and Anglican 19.8%. There are a large number of couples with children (54.8%) and most houses are owned outright (45.5%) or being paid off (39.0%). The number of renters (13.7%) was substantially less than the national average of 30.6%. The median household income ($2,533 per week) was higher than the national average ($1,746).<ref name="census21"/>
==Notable residents== * Stuart Ayres, former New South Wales Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney * Edward Cox, a son of William Cox, and politician; and his son, Edward King Cox, also a politician.<ref name=Fernhill/> * Captain William Cox (1764–1837), Mulgoa pioneer, military officer, landowner and road-builder.<ref name=Fernhill/> * Robert Dulhunty (1803–1853), landowner, police magistrate, alderman and founder of the Dubbo district in central-western New South Wales.<ref>{{cite AuDB |id2=dulhunty-robert-venour-2001 |title=Dulhunty, Robert Venour (1802–1853) |first=Beryl |last=Dulhunty |volume=1 |year=1966 |accessdate=27 November 2017}}</ref> * Sir John Jamison Kt, MD (1776–1844), landowner, physician and Member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales.<ref>{{cite AuDB |id2=jamison-sir-john-2268 |title=Jamison, Sir John (1776–1844) |first=G. P. |last=Walsh |volume=2 |year=1967 |accessdate=27 November 2017}}</ref> * The Reverend Thomas Cooper Makinson (1809–1893), Mulgoa's first resident Anglican clergyman and schoolmaster, who later converted to Catholicism.<ref>{{cite AuDB |id2=makinson-thomas-cooper-2423 |title=Makinson, Thomas Cooper (1809–1893) |first=R. A. |last=Daly |volume=2 |year=1967 |accessdate=27 November 2017}}</ref> * Emmanuel Margolin, entrepreneur and former operator of El Caballo Blanco, which contained Sydney's largest private zoo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.camdenaccommodation.com.au/camden-accommodation-articles/1990/5/21/margolin-properties-on-market/ |title=Margolin Properties on Market |work=Camden Accommodation |date=21 May 1990 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331001734/http://www.camdenaccommodation.com.au/camden-accommodation-articles/1990/5/21/margolin-properties-on-market/ |archivedate=31 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alligators.com.au/alligators-articles/1989/2/1/zoo-owner-fights-with-neighbours-over-access/ |title=Zoo Owner Fights With Neighbours Over Access |work=Alligators.com.au |publisher=Originally published in The Sydney Morning Herald |date=1 February 1999 }}</ref> * Senator The Honourable Marise Payne, former federal Foreign Affairs Minister<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marisepayne.com/biography |title=Biography |publisher=Marise Payne }}{{self-published-inline|date=November 2017}}</ref> * David Stove (1927-1994), philosopher.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}
==Governance== At a local government level, Mulgoa is part of the south ward of Penrith City Council, represented by Jim Aitken, Mark Davies, Sue Day, Karen McKeown and Mark Rusev. The current mayor is Tricia Hitchen. At the state level, it is part of the Electoral district of Badgerys Creek, represented by Tanya Davies, of the Liberal Party. Federally, it is part of the Division of Lindsay, and represented by Liberal Melissa McIntosh.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060819101600/http://www.penrithcity.nsw.gov.au/index.asp?id=969 Penrith Local Suburb Profiles]
{{Sydney Penrith suburbs}}
Category:Mulgoa Category:Suburbs of Sydney Category:City of Penrith