Annandale’s Wobbly Border: How It Got That Way

A reader recently pointed out that the map I shared in Issue 6 left out a section of Annandale bounded by the the triangle of streets between Parramatta Rd, Johnstons Creek and Booth/Mallett Streets. My apologies and thank you for pointing this out Ian!

The good news is that this comment spurred me to research the history of Annandale’s border and I found out more than I bargained for, including Australia’s only coup d’état.

In the 1790s, Marine officer George Johnston began collecting land grands on the ridge heading west from Sydney. His first grants (1793) were south of Parramatta Road in what is now Stanmore. In 1799 he received another grant on the north side of the road, squeezed neatly between White(s) Creek and Johnstons Creek, running down to the harbour at Rozelle Bay. Johnston renamed the whole estate “Annandale” after his birthplace of Annan in Scotland.

This geography, Rozelle bay at one end, two creeks on each side, Parramatta Road at the top would become the skeleton of the future suburb.

Just across Johnstons Creek sat the sprawling estate of: Governor William Bligh. His 1806 land grant formed the basis of Camperdown, directly abutting Johnston’s farm.

The two men were neighbours, but not friends.

Bligh had been sent to Sydney to rein in the power of the New South Wales Corps, whose officers dominated land holdings and the lucrative rum economy. Johnston was one of those officers. Tensions grew until 26 January 1808, when Johnston led about 400 soldiers from Annandale Farm into town, arrested Bligh at Government House, and took control of the colony.

It was the colony’s only military coup and in the short term, it worked. Bligh was gone for over a year, and officers loyal to Johnston effectively ran New South Wales.

But the victory was brief. When word reached London:

– The coup was ruled illegal
– Johnston was court-martialled and dismissed
– The Corps was disbanded
– Bligh was officially vindicated (though he never returned as governor)

Crossing Johnstons Creek today, you’re passing over the old frontier between two estates whose feud shaped early colonial politics.

Through the late 1800s, Johnston’s estate was subdivided into roughly the street grid we know today. By the 1870s and 1880s, “North Annandale” was the eastern ward of Leichhardt Council. In 1894 that ward, roughly 360 acres between Whites Creek and Johnstons Creek, from Parramatta Road down to Rozelle Bay, broke away, to form the Borough (later Municipality) of Annandale.

Its borders were almost identical to the modern suburb but with one important exception.

Fast‑forward a century. Local historian Marghanita da Cruz, drawing on NSW Government records, notes that in 1995 the suburb boundary was pushed east across Johnstons Creek to take in the block bounded by Booth Street, Mallet Street and Parramatta Road. The change was initiated after local-government reshuffles created confusion about which council administered the block.