Balmain East, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Balmain East
city = Sydney
state = nsw

---

caption = View of Sydney from Balmain East
lga = Municipality of Leichhardt
postcode = 2041
est = 1995
pop = 1,688 (2006 census)
area = 0.3
propval = [http://www.domain.com.au/public/suburbprofile.aspx?mode=%20$257,000&searchterm=Balmain%20East#mapanchor $1,537,500] (2007)
stategov = Balmain
fedgov = Sydney
near-nw = Birchgrove
near-n = "Port Jackson"
near-ne =
near-w = Balmain
near-e = "Darling Harbour"
near-sw = Balmain
near-s =
near-se =
dist1 = 5
dir1 = west
location1= Sydney CBD Balmain East is a small suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain East is located 4 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt. Balmain

Balmain East is located at the eastern end of the Balmain peninsula, in Sydney Harbour and shares a boundary with the suburb of Balmain to the west. The postcode 2041 covers the suburbs of Balmain, Balmain East and Birchgrove.

History

The area now known as Balmain East was part of a 550 acre (2.2 km²) grant to colonial surgeon Dr. William Balmain (1762-1803) made in 1800 by Governor John Hunter. Balmain was first settled in 1836 and by 1861 had been divided into the well populated eastern areas of Balmain and the sparsely populated western area, extending to the gates of Callan Park. [ Lawrence, J; Warne, C; "A Pictorial History of Balmain to Glebe", Kingsclear Books, 1995, ISBN 0-908272-40-5.]

The small peninsula that jutted out from the main Balmain Peninsula, along which the main artery road Darling St ran, was known to locals for decades as “East Balmain” and generally encompassed the area east of Hart St and Balmain Bowling Club. This dividing boundary was originally a natural swamp that was reclaimed early the early 1800s. Whilst the area was almost always referred to as East Balmain by locals, it was still generally regarded as just a name for the eastern peninsula of the suburb, in a similar way in that Birchgrove was the name given to the area of Balmain that encompassed Snails Bay (refer to the history of Birchgrove for more details on its name). [ Solling, M; Reynolds, P; "Leichhardt: On the margins of the city", Allen & Unwin, 1997, ISBN 1-86448-408-X. ]

Population

Demographics

In the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing, the population of Balmain East stood at 1,688 people, who are 52.5% females and 47.5% males, and have a Median age of 41 years. 27.6% of the population was born overseas with England (9.3%), New Zealand (2.9%) and the United States of America (1.5%) the most common. The five strongest religious affiliations in the area were in descending order: no religion (32.5%), Catholic (23.3%), Anglican (19.9%), Presbyterian and Reformed (2.7%), and Uniting Church (2.3%).Census 2006 AUS | id = SSC11045 | name = Balmain East (State Suburb)|quick=on|accessdate = 2007-12-28]

Balmain East's population is typically wealthier than the average, with a median weekly household income of $1,980, compared with $1,027 in Australia. The most common types of occupation for employed persons were Professionals (43.9%), Managers (20.4%), and Clerical and Administrative Workers (14.1%). 51.8% of the suburbs occupied private dwellings were family households, 33.8% were lone person households and 5.6% were group households.

References

External links

* [http://photosau.com/Leichhardt/scripts/home.asp Local Images at InnerWest ImageBank]
* [http://www.lmc.nsw.gov.au/libraries/07 Local History Collection, Leichhardt Council]