Rouse Hill, New South Wales Facts for Kids

Rouse Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rouse Hill is located in the Hills District, 43 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and 19 kilometres north-west of the Parramatta central business district. It is in the local government areas of The Hills Shire and City of Blacktown. Rouse Hill Town Centre is at the heart of the suburb, which contains a busy Town Square.

History
Rouse Hill House
Transport
Demographics
Education
Images for kids

History

Rouse Hill encompasses what was originally known as the Village of Aberdour along with the area originally known as Vinegar Hill following the convict rebellion of 1804. Vinegar Hill Post Office opened on 1 October 1857 and was renamed Rouse Hill on 13 April 1858. The new name was chosen after the estate of Richard Rouse (1774-1852), a prominent free settler who arrived in the colony in 1801. His first grant here was in 1802 and his second grant was in 1816. Governor Lachlan Macquarie suggested the estate be called Rouse Hill.

Battle of Vinegar Hill

Rouse Hill is noteworthy in Australian history as the site of the main battle during an Irish rebellion, known as the Castle Hill rebellion or the second Battle of Vinegar Hill. On 4 March 1804, Irish convicts including political prisoners transported for participating in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, broke out of the Government Farm at Castle Hill, aiming to seize control of the area and to capture Parramatta. The uprising was crushed by the military authorities at Rouse Hill the following day with much loss of life. Many of the participants in the rebellion were summarily executed. The exact site of the Battle is uncertain but a monument with a plaque commemorating the event can be seen within Castlebrook Lawn Cemetery on Windsor Road in Kellyville Ridge.

Rouse Hill House

Rouse Family

Richard Rouse built his home, Rouse Hill House, from 1813-18. Service wings and an arcaded courtyard were added circa 1863. The simple, geometric layout of the garden is probably the oldest surviving in Australia. The house, its immediate surviving estate and outbuildings including stables designed by John Horbury Hunt, is now a house museum cared for by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, and is on the Register of the National Estate.

Much of the family memorabilia has been preserved, including dolls, clothes and writings of the two girls, Nina (1875-1968) and Kathleen Rouse (1878-1932). These form a unique and fascinating record of late-Victorian Australian childhood, and inspired Ursula Dubosarsky's prize-winning novel "Abyssinia".

Transport

Rouse Hill is bisected by Windsor Road, which is now a major 4-lane road running from North Parramatta north-west to Windsor. Most residents of Rouse Hill are reliant on private cars for transport, with a high number of households having two or more cars.

Hillsbus provides services to Sydney CBD, North Sydney, Parramatta, Macquarie Park, and Castle Hill. Busways provides services to Blacktown, Riverstone and Castle Hill. Hillsbus also provides weekday services from Rouse Hill to Windsor. In September 2007, the North-West T-way opened, providing a bus rapid transit service to Parramatta railway station.

The Sydney Metro Northwest provides high frequency rail services to Chatswood. Rouse Hill station is located within the suburb.

Demographics

At the 2016 census, the suburb of Rouse Hill recorded a population of 7,965 people. Of these:

Age distribution: Residents had a distinct bias towards young families compared to the country overall. The median age was 34 years, compared to the national median of 38 years. Children aged under 15 years made up 26.2% of the population (national average is 18.7%) and people aged 65 years and over made up 7.6% of the population (national average is 15.8%).
Ethnic diversity: 68.8% were born in Australia, which is higher than the national average of 66.7%; the next most common countries of birth were Philippines 3.6%, England 3.3%, China 2.4%, India 2.2% and South Africa 1.9%. 74.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 3.2%, Tagalog 2.2%, Arabic 1.6% and Hindi 1.4%.
Religion: The most common responses for religion were Catholic 32.5%, No Religion 18.5% and Anglican 18.3%.
Finances: The median household weekly income was $2,401, compared to the national median of $1,438. This difference is also reflected in real estate, with the median mortgage payment being $2,600 per month, compared to the national median of $1,755.
Transport: On the day of the Census, 11.9% of employed people traveled to work on public transport and 73.4% by car (either as driver or as passenger).
Housing: 59.5% of occupied private dwellings were separate houses, 33.7% were semi-detached. The average household size was 3.4 people.

Education

Ironbark Ridge Public - Public Primary School
Our Lady of the Angels Primary - Catholic Primary School
Rouse Hill Anglican College - K-12 co-educational Anglican day independent school
Rouse Hill High - Public High School
Rouse Hill Public - Public Primary School

Images for kids

A 1804 watercolour depicting the 'Second Battle of Vinegar Hill'.
Mungerie House, Rouse Hill, a heritage-listed farmstead dating back to 1890
Rouse Hill Anglican Church

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Rouse Hill, New South Wales Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.

Rouse Hill, New South Wales facts for kids

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