Rooty Hill, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Rooty Hill
city = Sydney
state = nsw


caption = The Rooty Hill, taken from the railway station
lga = City of Blacktown
postcode = 2766
pop = 12,814 (2006 census)
area = 6.3
propval =
stategov = Mount Druitt
fedgov = Chifley
near-nw = Plumpton
near-n = Glendenning
near-ne = Doonside
near-w = Mount Druitt
near-e = Doonside
near-sw = Minchinbury
near-s = Whalan
near-se = Eastern Creek
dist1 = 42
dir1 = west
location1= Sydney CBD

Rooty Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rooty Hill is located 42 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

History

Rooty Hill was named after a hill on Norfolk Island. The origin of this name puzzled historians for many years because the clue lay not in Blacktown City but on Norfolk Island. Governor Philip Gidley King had been in charge of the first settlement there in early 1788 and had noted that the hillside where he had built his Government House had been difficult to dig owing to the amount of tree roots beneath the surface. The hill on Norfolk became known as the rooty hill and the name is now official. When King returned to New South Wales he built the headquarters for his government reserve of 1802 at the foot of a hill that reminded him of the Norfolk Island rooty hill and there can be little doubt that he named Blacktown's Rooty Hill after that on Norfolk where he had met his future wife and spent several happy and productive years. The name Rooty Hill first appeared on a map in 1803.

Two doubtful explanations regarding the origin of the name persist to this day. The first concerns tree roots and the trouble they presented when ploughing for cultivation - the hill was not thickly timbered and better land for cultivation was available nearby. The second explanation concerns the Hindu term 'ruti', meaning "food" in a colloquial sense, (it may also refer to 'roti', a type of wheat). Wheat was urgently needed for the expanding colony's population and was grown in the area. A number of soldiers and marines in the colony had served in India, including Governor Lachlan Macquarie. This can be debunked quite easily because the NSW Rooty Hill was known by that name from 1802 whereas any Indian influence arrived about 1810. Furthermore, in 1803 the still-starving colony was in no position to export grain.

The purpose of Kings Rooty Hill settlement was to provide a reserve for government-owned cattle. The south-western part of this vast area (which closely follows Blacktown City's current boundary) came to be known as the Rooty Hill Run.

Commercial area

*Rooty Hill RSL Club is an entertainment and dining venue.
*Rooty Hill Holiday Inn opened in 2002, next to the Rooty Hill RSL Club.

chools

*Rooty Hill Public School is a New South Wales public school providing education from Kindergarten to Year 6. It has been on Rooty Hill Road North since opening in 1957 with 114 students. The entire class of the opening year attended the 50th anniversary celebrations held in May 2007. Member for Chifley, Roger Price commented that "..the influence a school can have on a student lasts their lifetime. Having the entire class of 1957 at the (50th anniversary) celebration shows just how positve that can be". [ "Happy returns", Mt Druit - St Marys Standard. 23 May,2007. ]
*St. Aidans Primary School (Kindergarten-Year 6), located in in Adelaide Street was founded in 1907.
*St. Agnes Catholic High School (Years 7-10). Evans Road, Rooty Hill is a secondary school located in South Rooty Hill. Established in 1962, the school is a part of the Christ Catholic College Community of schools in 1999, which is a system of three schools that broke apart in 2004, the other two being Clare Catholic High School, Hassall Grove and Loyola Senior High School, Mt Druitt, which is the only Senior High School in the Parramatta Diocese. In late 2004, St Agnes was going a major building development, with a new building containing six classrooms, a library and an undercroft, which would provide easy access to the school hall. Once again, in late 2007, the school is under-going a whole-campus redevelopment, due to be completed mid-2008.
*Rooty Hill High School (Years 7-12). North Parade, Rooty Hill. A secondary School catering for students from year 7 to year 12.

Parks

*Rooty Hill Skatepark.

Notable Residents

Notable residents have included:
* Sir Douglas Mawson - scientist and explorer

References

External links