History
"The Precarious Life of James Matra: Voyager With Cook, American Loyalist, Servant of the Empire" by Alan Frost
The Precarious Life of James Matra: Voyager With Cook, American Loyalist, Servant of the EmpireThe Precarious Life of James Matra: Voyager With Cook, American Loyalist, Servant of the Empire
“Matraville’s beginnings were small farms and market gardens, many of them worked by the Chinese following the gold rush era. In 1917 a gift of 72.5 acres of Crown land, described as ‘the waste sand hills beyond Daceyville, was made available for returned soldiers from World War I. A Voluntary Workers Association formed and between 1918 and 1925 some 93 homes were built, south west of Anzac Parade and Beauchamp Road, as the Matraville Soldiers’ Garden Village… The houses eventually passed to the State Housing Board. In 1977 despite local protests, all but one of the cottages was demolished and the site redeveloped. The surrounding streets recall battlefields and sites of World War I.”
Lawrence, J. Pictorial History of Randwick, Kingsclear Books, Alexandria, 2001, pp.88-89.
Matraville is named after MATRA, JAMES MARIO (MARIA) (1746?-1806), sailor and diplomat, was born James Magra, probably in the second half of 1746 in New York, son of James Magra and his wife Elizabeth. A member of a prominent Corsican family, Magra senior had migrated to Dublin in the early 1730s and changed his name from Matra. He perhaps studied medicine in Ireland and moved to New York before 1740. By his death in April 1774, Dr Magra had become prosperous, with large property holdings; however, the family lost its wealth in the American Revolution. Read more …
AMCOR’s paper mill on Botany Road, has since the early 1900′s, been an identifiable landmark in Matraville, step back in time and read about its history - Botany Paper Mill. For details on progress of the new mill, read the AMCOR community meeting minutes.
18/05/2012 at 1:14 pm 
17/05/2012 at 10:53 pm 
29/04/2012 at 10:02 pm 
I would be interested to hear from any older residents who may have photographs/information of the railways to Boral and Bunnerong Powerhouse in Matraville, especially within the block bounded by Botany, Bumbora Point, Military and Bunnerong Roads.