Timeline

1817 - 1825 British land 'grants' allocated at this time had a huge influence on the the area.eg William Chippendale, William Hutchinson, (former convict 1799)  'Waterloo Mills’  and James Chisholm (NSW Corps), William Redfern (a Canadian immigrant to England). AHD

1820s Calder House [see picture] built for Chisholm, he moved to the Camden area. (wine and spirit merchant, purchased Gledswood 1816, further land grant 1829, vineyard 1830). The house was used as a school from the 1850s.

1840s Hutchinson's third daughter, Mary, married John Rose Holden in 1834. He had arrived as an ensign in 1831. They built 'Everleigh House' on Hutchinson's Paddock, naming it after his mother's maiden name, Betty Everleigh. It showed in the maps from 1850; in the vicinity of Louis St, just north of Vine. It was later spelt Eveleigh. Two sons survived infancy; George and Henry Augustus. Mary passed away in 1849, and Holden returned to England in 1853 or soon after. ADB  The section from Hudson St to Cleveland St was then called Yarnold St.

1850 Watercolour shows the turning of the turf for the first railway. Aboriginal family / community on the right. 

1855 The railway line to Parramatta Junction opened, cutting through Hutchinson's Paddock, and Chisholm's grant . The Government established repair shops at Redfern [now known as Central].

1875 The site was too small, so recommendations were made to move the workshops. The Government chose nearby land; sixty-two acres 'granted' to Chisholm.

1878 Chisholms' Grant was resumed (from the subsequent owners?)
         Eveleigh Railway Station opened (now known as Redfern.) 
        
1880 Chisholm's compensation price was settled on, (a tragic irony) approximately 100 000 pounds. Clearance began for the building of the Eveleigh railway workshops, and Calder House was used as the Works Manager's Residence. 

1881 Hutchinson’s grant was subdivided for the Golden Grove estate, where houses were built for workers.

1980s Residential dwellings were constructed in the area known as Darlington (incorporated in 1864), stimulated by the need for housing for workers at the Eveleigh Railway Workshops.

1889 Most of the Darlington area was subdivided and most of the buildings were constructed.

1890 11 827 people worked for the NSW Department of Railways. The railway workshops at Eveleigh were the biggest employer of Aboriginal people, particularly during the late nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century. Barani 

1900 La Perouse was declared an Aboriginal reserve and was the closest Aboriginal community to Sydney’s city centre. AHC

1906 Eveleigh Station was renamed Redfern Station. The former Redfern Station was renamed Sydney Terminal (Central).

Many local Aboriginal people from Redfern were employed in the foundry, boiler room and workshops. In later years, others arrived from the country seeking work but had to sleep in disused air-raid shelters because the local hotels refused them accommodation. (Australian Railway Historical Society Archives) Barani

1914 The Department of Railways had become one of Australia’s largest employers and one tenth of its workforce was employed at Eveleigh. HP

1920s Aboriginal people from all around NSW migrated to Redfern drawn by the possibility of regular work on the railways as fettlers and cheap rent. AHC

1930s During the Great Depression, many Aboriginal people sought refuge with relatives in Redfern as work in rural areas became scarce. AHD  As work became scarce in the city, the links between the two Aboriginal strongholds of La Perouse and Redfern strengthened and a growing homeless population formed makeshift camps around La Perouse. AHC

'Eveleigh employees were involved in the advocacy of improved living and working conditions for Aboriginal people, and their citizenship rights, from the early 1930s until 1967.' LT source?

A story told to Charles Madden explained that in the Great Depression, the only uniforms available were black - black shorts and black socks - so the Redfern 'All Blacks' had a practical origin. Hartley 

1940s Many travelled from northern and western NSW for the increased work opportunities after the outbreak of WWII source?

1944 Bill Onus and Ted Duncan began organising support for the Redfern All Blacks.

After World War II, more affluent residents who had bought land freehold nearby, pressed Randwick Council to move the squatters from La Perouse. Many of those Aboriginal people moved to Redfern and sought refuge with relatives. A large Aboriginal population had now er-established itself in Redfern and the area was the location of a number of civil rights protest meetings and rallies. AHC

1950s Spread of dieselisation foreshadowed the closure of the workshops which occurred in the late 1980s. LT

1965 Redfern accommodated over 12,000 Aboriginal people;  many were employed in local factories. AHC

1967 National Referendum. More Aboriginal people migrated from mainly the rural areas of NSW and Queensland to Sydney for the greater opportunities for jobs, housing and education. AHC

to be continued