Where is Seven Hills?

Seven Hills is part of the greater Blacktown City Council area, and is located west of Sydney, in New South Wales.  The district is known to have been inhabited by the indigenous Dharug people who were part of the Toongagal (Toongabbie) and Warmuli (Prospect) tribes.

The area is much changed since Governor Phillip reached Prospect Hill in April 1788, and since Watkin Tench - a marine officer - passed through in June 1789. John Redmond, an ex marine, received the first land grant of 60 acres in the Toongabbie area in 1793.  Thereafter, Seven Hills was transformed from bush into farmland and orchards.  Land owners included Major Joesph Fovaux and John and Elizabeth Macarthur, who are perhaps the most widely known. Others included William Joyce 1794, Matthew Pearce 1795, William Yardley 1797, and many others.

However, erstwhile residents would not recognize how Seven Hills, and surrounding districts, have transformed into the cosmopolitan urban towns of today.  This largely came about by subdivision of large acreages in the latter part of the 1800s, and in the 1940s, when the Housing Commission of NSW purchased large tracts of land for urban consolidation. Gradually infrastructure, like schools and shops, were built to service the growing population.

The area is undergoing a transformation once more; large homes replace the modest fibro housing commission cottages, while some residents occupy villa's and townhouses.  Furthermore, the demographics have altered dramatically to include a more complex mix of ethnic cultures replacing the more predominant Anglo Australians.

Ref: Jack Brook, The Seven Hills A Village Divided A Suburb United