by Cathy Jones 2025
Birriwa Avenue, Strathfield South, is built on land originally granted to James Morris on 1 January 1810. Part of this grant was later subdivided as the ‘Ripon Estate’. In 1927, Enfield Council approved a subdivision of part of the Ripon Estate, creating Birriwa Avenue and fifteen residential allotments. The avenue lies between Madeline Street and Chisholm Street.
Initially, Birriwa Avenue was situated in the western ward of the former Enfield Council. Following the amalgamation of the west Ward of Enfield with Strathfield Council in 1949, it came under the Strathfield Local Government Area. For many years Birriwa Avenue was located in the suburb of Enfield and then Belfield, but in 2023 the suburb boundaries were revised, and Birriwa Avenue was officially included in Strathfield South.
All land in Birriwa Avenue was originally owned by local builder William Francis (W.F.) Bush (1891–1970). He was the son of William Benjamin Christopher Bush (1869–1925), a builder and former Enfield alderman (1914-1925), and his wife Lillian (née Crawford). W.F. Bush married Sybil Mitchell and they lived in both Liverpool Road, Enfield, and later in Birriwa Avenue. A prolific builder in the Enfield district during the 1920s, he subsequently moved to Bathurst and also served in the Australian Army during the Second World War.
On 2 May 1928, the Daily Telegraph reported approval for W.F. Bush to construct fifteen brick cottages, along with a brick shop and dwelling, in Birriwa Avenue. The street first appears in the 1929 Sands Sydney Directory, an early form of residential and business directory. It seems likely that the first building completed was the shop and residence at 17 Birriwa Avenue, on the corner of Madeline Street. Building of the shop was likely intended to attract interest in the new housing estate, which soon saw the construction of the fifteen planned homes.
The wider development of this part of Enfield was influenced by the establishment of the Enfield Marshalling Yards in 1916, which generated substantial employment and stimulated residential growth in the local district. Many early residents of Birriwa Avenue had railway associated occupations and were likely employed at the Marshalling Yards or nearby Chullora Workshops.
‘Wembala’ 10 Birriwa Avenue Strathfield South was built in 1929 on Lot 4 and is a brick interwar California Bungalow with a terracotta roof.
This land on which the house is built was transferred to builder William F Bush in 1927. Approval was granted to William F Bush in May 1928 to construct 15 houses in Birriwa Street. This house was built by 1930 and owned by its builder William Bush until 1949, when it was sold to Sydney Leonard Marsh, of Campsie, Railway employee and Dorothy Lilian Marsh (nee Rauchie), his wife as joint tenants. The house was addressed as 9 Birriwa Avenue. In 1957, the street was renumbered and the house number was changed to 10 Birriwa Avenue. A notice of death of Sydney Leonard Marsh, a railway employee was registered in 1980.
References
Building Activity (1928, May 2). The Daily Telegraph, p24
Department of the Valuer General NSW – Valuation List – Valuation District of Enfield
Enfield Council, Minutes of Council Meetings
Sands Sydney and Suburban Directory
