lived in this area for thousands of years. In 1770, the land along the Cooks River was explored by officers from HM Bark Endeavour.
European settlement
In the early days of European settlement, the land in this area was mostly used for farming. The southern parts of Campsie were part of the Laycock estate, that extended to most of Kingsgrove. The area between South Campsie and the Cooks River was known as the Redman estates. John Redman was granted in the 1812 and he later purchased the area to the east, which was a land grant of to Thomas Capon in 1817. The railway was completed in 1895, encouraging suburban development and leading to the area becoming heavily populated. The line passed through the Campsie Park estate which was owned by the Anglo-Australian Investment Company. A large wooded area was cleared for the construction of the station on Beamish Street. The first post office opened in April 1900 and the public school opened in 1908. The earliest model suburb in New South Wales was Harcourt, between Canterbury and Burwood, developed by William Phillips from 1889. The was covered in scrub and inhabited by wild birds. The land was cleared and the streets were called avenues on the model of New York City. Although the suburb no longer exists, the Harcourt name remains as a locality and is reflected in the name of Harcourt Public School on First Avenue. The Town Hall of the Municipality of Canterbury was moved to Campsie in 1962. The City of Canterbury was declared in 1993.
Education
There are three primary schools in Campsie:
Harcourt Public School
Campsie Public School
St. Mel's Primary School
Demographics
In the 2016 census, there were 24,541 people in Campsie. 28.4% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China 22.0%, Nepal 7.2%, Vietnam 4.0%, South Korea 3.6% and India 3.2%. 17.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 21.1%, Cantonese 10.1%, Nepali 7.4%, Arabic 6.1% and Korean 4.5%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 29.3%, Catholic 18.4%, Buddhism 10.9%, Hinduism 9.2% and Not stated 8.4%.
Commercial area
Campsie has a mixture of suburban residential, retail and light industrial developments. The main shopping centre is situated along Beamish Street, close to Campsie railway station and surrounding streets. The Campsie Centre is a shopping centre located between Amy Street and Evaline Street. It contains supermarkets, a discount department store, many specialty shops, cafes and a library. Commercial and light industrial developments run along the length of Canterbury Road. Canterbury Hospital is a district hospital located on Canterbury Road.
Transport
is located on the Bankstown line of the Sydney Trains network. The line was opened in 1895 and electrified in 1926. Two additional tracks were laid for goods traffic. Beamish Street runs north-south for 1.6 kilometres and is characterised by retail and commercial developments over most of its length. Canterbury Road is a major arterial route, 11 kilometres long and connecting the inner suburbs of Sydney with Bankstown and suburbs further to the south-west.
