Randwick’s rich and diverse heritage is steeped in the history of this country. Prior to European settlement there was an extensive Indigenous community living a traditional lifestyle, taking advantage of the plentiful coastal location.
The Indigenous people’s connection with the land now known as Randwick City traces back more than 8,000 years. Evidence of their lifestyle is present in rock engravings of whales, sharks and fish along the coast, in midden heaps and from the oral traditions of the significant Aboriginal community living in Randwick City today.
Captain Cook, the British convict First Fleet under Captain Arthur Philip, and the French explorer La Perouse, all sailed into Botany Bay and explored parts of the City, giving Randwick its British and French historic connections that remain to this day.
The historic motto of the City of Randwick is “Semper prima” which means “Always first” and the Municipality of Randwick, proclaimed in February 1859, was the first Local Government area to be established, after the City of Sydney, with boundaries substantially the same as today. Randwick was declared a city in 1990.
The Federation of Australia was proclaimed in Centennial Park in 1901 and the Centenary of Federation celebrations in 2001 were also focused on Centennial Park.
Randwick’s heritage includes a close connection to sports history such as surfing – Maroubra Beach was dedicated as Australia’s second National Surfing Reserve in 2006, racing at Royal Randwick Racecourse, golf at five major golf courses, and the various football codes including the Galloping Greens – Randwick Rugby Union.
Randwick City also has strong links with national defence sites, including Randwick Barracks, and coastal fortifications at Malabar Headland, Bare Island, and Cape Banks, and the World War II former USA Army camp at Heffron Park. Soldier settlements and post war housing were a key feature of residential development in the southern parts of the City.
To celebrate this rich history and the 150th anniversary in 2009 of Randwick becoming a municipality, Randwick Council is planning a year of community festivities.
Council has also commissioned a professionally researched, comprehensive book on the history of Randwick which will interconnect with the wider Australian heritage.
