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Rooty Hill, New South Wales




Rooty Hill is a Suburb in the City Of Blacktown , in Western Sydney , in the Australia n state of New South Wales . Rooty Hill covers an area of 6.3 square kilometres. The last available census of 2001 states Rooty Hill's population as 11,173. The postcode for Rooty Hill is 2766.


HISTORY

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 .


ORIGIN OF NAME

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.


SCHOOLS


Primary Schools

  • Rooty Hill Public School is a New South Wales Public School providing education from --- Kindergarten to Year 6. It has been on Rooty Hill Rd 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) is also located in Rooty Hill, in Adelaide Street.



Secondary Schools

  • St. Agnes High School (Year 7 - 10). Evans Road, Rooty Hill

  • Rooty Hill High School (Year 7 - 12). North Parade, Rooty Hill



TRIVIA


  • Rooty Hill RSL Club has been operating for over 40 years. It is a local entertainment and dining venue.

  • Rooty Hill Holiday Inn opened in 2002, next door to the Rooty Hill RSL Club.

  • Rooty Hill has the only skate park in the City of Blacktown.



NOTES AND REFERENCES



EXTERNAL LINKS