Birthplace of modern Australia

Today the Sutherland Shire is an attractive blend of ocean beaches, waterways, parklands and residential suburbs on the southern limits of the Sydney metropolitan area.

But the sandstone cliffs bordering the Pacific and the bushlands and heaths of its national parks remain as they were when the great navigator James Cook sailed HM Bark Endeavour along its coastline on his voyage of exploration in 1770.

Cook's arrival

Sutherland Shire is known as the 'Birthplace of modern Australia', as Kurnell (now a suburb of the Shire) was the first landing site on the east coast of Australia by James Cook. He went ashore on 29 April, 1770 at a spot now within the Captain Cook's Landing Place, part of the Botany Bay National Park. For eight days he and his scientists, seamen and marines explored and mapped the area.

One of his crew, Forby Sutherland, died there and was buried on the shore. Cook named a nearby headland Point Sutherland after him.

The site, part of the Botany Bay National Park and under the care of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), covers 324 hectares including a spectacular coastal scenic drive, picnic, places lookouts, and the Discovery Centre which has an exhibition dedicated to the life and achievements of James Cook and a wetlands display.

More information is available on the NPWS website (note: this link takes you away from Sutherland Shire Council's web pages).

Traditional land owners

Prior to the arrival of the Endeavour and later the First Fleet, the area around Sutherland was populated by the many Clans of the Dharawal people.

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First European settlers

The area's first European settler came in 1806 and Captain James Birnie took up the first land grant in 1815 at Kurnell. Settlement continued slowly, with only approximately 1,500 people living in the area 100 years later when the Shire was proclaimed.

The area now called Sutherland Shire (incorporated 1906) was officially founded by Government Proclamation in 1835. The boundaries are the Georges River in the north, Deadman's Creek down to Woronora Dam in the west, from the dam across through the Royal National Park to Garie Beach in the south, and the Pacific Ocean in the east.

A growing Shire

A few farmers, woodcutters and fishermen lived in the area until the arrival of the first steam train to Sutherland on 26 December 1885 and continual release of crown lands. In 1921 the population had reached 7,990 and in 1939 it was 19,566. By 1951 it had risen to 50,150, jumping to 111, 893 in 1961 and 151,000 in 1970.

Today, the Shire's population is 214,601 (June 2001 Australian Bureau of Statistics).

Shire services

Except for people around Miranda, up until 1927 most Shire residents relied on tank water for domestic uses. However, most parts of the Shire were reticulated following construction of the Woronora Dam, which was completed in 1931.

Cronulla was supplied with electricity in 1917, which was generated privately by Mr AT Robinson. Several years later the plant was taken over by Sutherland Shire Council and was transferred to the Sydney County Council in 1955.

Electrification of the railway from Sydney reached Sutherland in 1926, with the cessation of the steam train service in 1931-32 and was extended from Sutherland to Cronulla in 1939. Today the train network covers the central and eastern parts of the Shire and has 13 railway stations.

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Australia's oldest national park

The Shire has vast areas of native bushland, which includes the Royal National Park. This is Australia's first national park and was dedicated on 26 April 1879. It is the second oldest national park in the world after Yellowstone National Park in the United States.

The Shire now includes large parts of four national parks: Botany Bay National Park (which includes the site of Captain Cook's landing in 1770); Royal National Park; Heathcote National Park; and Georges River National Park. These are the responsibility of and maintained by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Boom time

A population boom occurred in the 1950s with an increase in housing areas and the creation of new suburbs in the Shire.

Associated with this population growth was residential, industrial and commercial development. Gone were the country township concepts of one street shops; in their place have risen large modern shopping centres.

These days, the regional retail centre is at Miranda, with district centres at Caringbah, Sylvania, Engadine, Cronulla, Gymea, Sutherland, Menai and Jannali. Westfield Shoppingtown Miranda is one of the largest complexes of its type in the Southern Hemisphere.

Located on Kurnell Peninsula along with other industrial complexes, Caltex Refining Company is the biggest industrial complex in the Shire and is one of the largest refineries in Australia. Other industrial areas are at Taren Point, Kirrawee and Heathcote.

Schools

The first school in the Shire was built about 1880 to serve children living at the Como railway construction camp. When World War II came to a close, the only secondary school in the Shire was the Sutherland Intermediate High School, taking pupils to form three only.

The Shire now has 79 schools within its boundaries, as well as the Sutherland College of Technical and Further Education's campuses at Gymea and Loftus.

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