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Penrith City Local History - Places - Suburb profiles - Agnes Banks

Agnes Banks

Agnes Banks is located on the uppermost northwest boundary of the City of Penrith. This locality is placed within two local government areas. The small village of Agnes Banks is within the Hawkesbury City Council Area. Agnes Banks is connected to Penrith by Castlereagh Road which runs alongside the Nepean River between Richmond and Penrith. This suburb was settled as early as 1804 by Andrew Thompson who leased his land out to tenant farmers on the gently undulating alluvial farmlands. Natural woodlands and sandy deposits make up the higher landscape of this suburb. Agnes Banks is a rural outpost of the City of Penrith which has kept its intrinsic agricultural value and rural lifestyle.

Agnes Banks NSW on Google Maps

Andrew Thompson (1773 –1810), an emancipated convict was granted 278 acres on the banks of the Nepean River by Governor King in 1804. Situated near the Yarramundi Lagoon, he named his grant Agnes Bank after his mother Agnes Hilson and rented these fertile river flats out to suitable tenants for food production. Thompson became well-known in Windsor and was later named the “Father of Windsor”. He was a builder, farmer, brewer, tanner and was the Chief Constable at Green Hills (later Windsor) until 1808. Andrew Thompson died in 1810 at Windsor. His property was sold in 1815 to John Campbell who built two farmhouses, one of which later became known as ‘Osborne’.

Chestnut: This  late Victorian farmhouse was built around 1880 in Flemish bond brickwork and was extended in 1915 with a projecting side bay. This house is typical of the farmhouses built in this area during the latter part of the nineteenth century.


Chestnut, Castlereagh Road, Agnes Banks (1986)

Tyreel: Tyreel was built in 1870 and extended with a two storey addition in 1890. The land had previously been the southern section of the Osborne property owned by Andrew Thompson. John Williams purchased this property and named the farm Tyreel.


photo by Inglis Rural Property


photo by Inglis Rural Property

Osborne: The property was part of a land grant made in 1804 to Andrew Thompson, who named the farm after his mother. The house was built in the early 1820s. The southern part of the Agnes Banks estate was purchased by John Williams who named his farm Tyreel. In 1926 Ronald Barr purchased part of the property and renamed the house Osborne.


Osborne, Castlereagh Road, Agnes Banks (1986)

St Paul’s Church of England: The church was built in 1893 on land donated by Robert Farlow. It became the centre for social engagement for over 50 years. Concerts and harvest festivals were annual events on the social calendar. After the church closed, the building was relocated in 1991 to the University of Western Sydney Hawkesbury Campus and reinvented as the Owen Carter Memorial Chapel.


St. Paul's Church of England, Castlereagh Road, Agnes Banks (1986)

 


1792 Andrew Thompson arrived as a convict
1803 1 MayMathew Gibbons received two land grants 
1803 31 MayCharles Palmer granted 100 acres near Yarramundi Lagoon
1803 1 JuneWilliam Baxter (ex-NSW Corps) received 80 acres
1803 1 JuneJohn Bayliss (ex-NSW Corps) received 200 acres
1804 11 AugustGovernor King granted Andrew Thompson 278 acres on the banks of Nepean River
1804 11 AugustWilliam Minchin granted 280 acres
1810 22 OctoberAndrew Thompson died at his home
1810 30 NovemberGovernor Macquarie visited Agnes Banks on his tour of New South Wales
1815 Governor Macquarie’s Secretary John Campbell purchased part of Agnes Bank
1823 Campbell leased his farm and farmhouse
1838 Robert and Charlotte Williams purchased Agnes Banks
1839 Robert Williams died
1879 Public School built and named Yarramundi
1879 John Williams purchased the southern portion of Agnes Banks and named his property “Tyreel”
1880 Williams built a two-storey mansion on Tyreel
1890s Agnes Banks common was subdivided into 40 acres block
18933 May St Paul’s Anglican Church erected
18959 SeptemberCastlereagh Municipal Council proclaimed
1900  Post Office opened
1926  Ronald Barr purchased a portion of Agnes Banks and named the house there “Osborne”
1940s  Tex Morton ran the ‘Dude Ranch’ and guest house
1949 Castlereagh Municipal Council amalgamated with Penrith Municipal Council
1966 Post Office closed
1970
 School at Agnes Banks closed
1980s  St Paul’s Church relocated to Richmond





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