History of Seven Hills

City of Blacktown Location: 34 kilometres north-west of Sydney cast of Blacktown Road, on the Main Western Line

Located on the Western railway line between Parramatta and Blacktown, a siding opened here in December 1863, and in 1869 the station was built.

This area was first settled when Matthew Pearce, a free settler who arrived on board the surprise in 1974, was granted 160 acres in 1795. He named it King's Langley after the English Village of that name, about 30 km south of London; it is believed that Pearce was born in the manor house in that village (see also Kings Langley). The grant was bounded by the present Old Windsor Road, Seven Hills Road, Chapel Lane (Baulkham Hills) and Toongabbie Creek. Because his family could see seven hills from their home, the area became known as Seven Hills, a title it has borne since 1800.

Pearce was interred in St John's Cemetery, Parramatta but later his remains were removed. Today Matthew Pearce and his family lie Peacefully in a private cemetery which his descendants set up at the corner of Seven Hills Road and Old Windsor Road.

In the early years of this century, there was a small village in the area. A tileworks was established in about 1900 and continued to operate for about sixty years. Today Seven Hills has a Department of Agriculture poultry research station, established in 1939 on the site that had been Grantharn poultry farm before the First World War. Nearby Grantham High School is on land that was also part of the Pearce estate.

Reference: The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled & Edited by Frances Pollon, published by Angus & Robertson Publishers 1988