Parramatta (pop. 30,211) is one of the largest suburbs of Sydney, Australia. It is the geographic and population center of the Sydney metropolitan area. It lies 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of Sydney’s central business district. Parramatta was the second settlement established by the British in Australia, after Sydney.
Parramatta lies along the Parramatta River, a major tributary of Sydney Harbour. The Parramatta River’s fresh water, supplied by Domain Creek and other tributaries, mixes with brackish (slightly salty) water near Parramatta’s central business district. This meeting point is called an estuary. The Parramatta River estuary supports a diversity of plants and animals, including the bar-tailed godwit and other shorebirds.
The Burramattagal people are the traditional inhabitants of the Parramatta area. They are a clan of the Darug peoples, an Aboriginal language group of New South Wales.
Arthur Phillip, the governor of the British colony of New South Wales, founded Parramatta on Nov. 2, 1788. Phillip traveled to the area with a small party from Sydney by boat to select a site for a redoubt (small fort). He initially named the area Rose Hill. On June 4, 1791, the governor renamed the area Par-ra-mat-ta, the name by which Aboriginal people knew it. The name has been said to mean place where the eels lie down. Later explanations of the name suggest that its real meaning is probably head of the river.
The British started their settlement at Parramatta to help produce grain to feed their colony. James Ruse, a former convict and an experienced farmer, began to grow wheat and corn crops. He received the first land grant issued in New South Wales. A number of Parramatta settlers were pioneers in the sheep industry. John and Elizabeth Macarthur began the export of wool to England. Their home, Elizabeth Farm, is the oldest surviving house in Australia. It was built in 1793.
In March 1797, the Aboriginal leader Pemulwuy and about 100 Aboriginal warriors attacked a government farm at Toongabbie, near Parramatta. Pemulwuy and his followers were opposed to colonial settlement around Sydney. The resulting conflict between the Aboriginal warriors and British soldiers became known as the Battle of Parramatta.
