Ryde District Historical Society

11/06/2026

What’s in Your Garden? 🌿 Uncovering the curious and the quirky across our district.

09/06/2026

Let's focus on another of the Ryde District's historic houses. This time it's "Warrelda" at Arthur St, Ryde, built around 1880 as a Victorian-style large farmhouse. It's earliest history is associated with the Benson family and orchards. It was built for John and Ruth Benson and their family. The original building dates to c. 1875 and was later extended. In 1891 Warrelda was described as "situated on the highest ground in Ryde, commanding an uninterrupted view of Sydney". In June 1913, the local newspaper, "The Cumberland Argus and Fruit Growers Advocate" described Warrelda's orchards as "owned and worked by John Benson and Son.... one of the best known orchards in North Ryde."

Harold Benson inherited Warrelda in 1921 along with seven acres of surrounding land on the corner of Quarry Rd and Arthur St. Soon after he and his family moved into Warrelda, he was employed as Ryde's Stationmaster, previously having been Stationmaster at Carlton in southern Sydney. He had little time for farming and leased the property to Chinese market gardeners.

In 1946 Harold sold Warrelda and seven acres of land to Italian Market Gardener Giovanni Cessario who moved to Ryde from Seaforth. The following year, Giovanni sold 3.5 acres and a humble single storey weatherboard cottage to his brother-in-law who established his own market garden on the site of the corner of Quarry Rd and what is now Lavarack St. Giovanni was a successful market gardener and also built accommodation quarters on the property to house new Italian migrants who lived there until they had the funds to purchase their own house or land. Giovanni's family lived in Warrelda which was later inherited by his eldest daughter who remained in the house until her death in 2021.

The house and surrounding land have been sold and it's future is unknown. Warrelda will always be remembered as a large functional farmhouse and gathering place for family celebrations held by both the Benson and Cessario families and their descendants.

07/06/2026

Open Day at Willandra. Then and Now, the way we were and the items we used to use.
Sunday 21 June 11am till 2pm

07/06/2026

“What’s in Your Garden? 🏡 Uncovering the curious and the quirky across our district.”

Not your typical backyard addition. Was spotted at East Ryde, when it existed and captured for our database to preserve the memory!

05/06/2026

View these two items plus many more at our Open Day on Sunday 21 June from 11am to 2pm at historic Willandra, 770 Victoria Rd, Ryde - enter from Willandra Street off Belmore Street. Free entry, lots to see and do. We are highlighting "Then and Now" items and pictorial display.

Picture the washing day back "Then", a laborious chore. Washboards were usually made with a rectangular wooden frame in which a series of ridges were mounted, usually wooden or metal. Clothes were soaked in hot soapy water in a washtub or a sink. The clothes would be squeezed by hand then rubbed against the ridged surface of the washboard to force the soapy cleansing fluid through the clothes to carry away dirt. Clothes would then be rinsed and squeezed by hand again and hung to dry. How many of these Rinso packets were needed to do a large family wash?? Was there powder residue left on the clothes? By the way, this packet in the image contains the original powder!

We all know what the "Now" is - electric washing machines, press a few buttons and the machine expends the detergent, agitates away the dirt, rinses and spins dry. Liquid, tablet or paper sheet detergent easily dissolved in the machine.

03/06/2026

Dialling back the clock to 2002 when "Woollies" West Ryde looked like this! And that iconic old logo? Still hanging on at Woolworths at Eastwood Centre these days earning recognition across many social media platforms!

01/06/2026

30/05/2026

This magnificent church, St James Presbyterian is an inter-war period church in the Gothic Style. Built in 1923-1924 for the Ryde - Meadowbank Presbyterian Community which originally formed in 1915.

The church has a simple symmetrical form with large gabled nave and twin gabled porches separated by a colonnaded narthex at the facade facing Bowden St. Roofs are steeply pitched parapeted gables, clad in Marseillaise pattern tiles. The parapets feature stepped rendered capping detail, walls are constructed of face brickwork with render horizontal banding and brick buttressing also with render coping. Pointed arch windows are emphasised by rendered corbel courses and moulds. The front facade features a large stained class bar tracery.

A building to be admired in person and can be found at 74A Bowden St (corner Squire St) Ryde.

28/05/2026

“What’s in Your Garden? 🏡 Uncovering the curious and the quirky across our district.”

This garden's focus is on the old-fashioned hand-operated water pump that was used before modern plumbing to draw water from underground wells or tanks. They make great decorative items paired with a barrel or planter to create a heritage and rustic look. Spotted at West Ryde.

25/05/2026

We discovered this gem of a photo from 2003.

Chatham Road West Ryde, next to the West Ryde Hotel. Remember the Ampol Service Station (out of the picture) and right next to it was Squirts Car Wash and Taste Buds Café? Later it became Budget Petrol then West Ryde Petrol, Squirts Carwash remained and the cafe became Tatsuya Restaurant.

This site is now under construction with a mid-rise 62 apartment building and 4 retail spaces.