Luddenham

John Blaxland received a land grant on 30 November 1813, which he named Luddenham after the family property in England. Luddenham is shared between the Liverpool and Penrith LGAs.

Colonial Land Grants

John Blaxland

The suburb of Luddenham is named for John Blaxland’s estate.  Blaxland came from the village of Luddenham in Kent to the colony in 1807. He had been promised a large amount of land for investing £6000 in the colony. However, when he arrived the grant he received from Governor William Bligh was smaller than he expected. Blaxland had been expecting for his £6000, free passage for his family and servants, free freight for his stores and equipment, a land grant of 3237 hectares, and 80 convicts, to be clothed and fed for 18 months by the government. He was granted only 520 hectares on the Parramatta River. This led to disagreements between the two.

In 1813 he was granted 2700 hectares between Wianamatta-South Creek and the Nepean River, which he named Luddenham. This grant covered a large area, including present day Luddenham and parts of Badgerys Creek and Wallacia.

Blaxland had a grand dream for his large property, Luddenham. Blaxland dammed the Nepean River near the present Wallacia Weir and built a flour mill to grind locally grown wheat. He also built house for overseas and convict workers as well as huge storehouses for grain. His brewery, famous for its very expensive equipment and magnificent stone buildings, produced little beer.

A keen member of the Acclimatisation Society, by 1836, he had installed a rabbit warren in which the rabbits were thriving. Unfortunately, his pioneering efforts to product and process his own raw materials were ill-timed and over-ambitious. In the depression of the 1840s, he had to mortgage his property. He died in 1845.

By 1860 there were 60 families living in the area. Luddenham Public School was opened in November 1860 and is still open today.

Vineyards

In 2015 Vicary’s Winery, Sydney’s first winery, closed to make way for Sydney’s second international airport. The vineyard was first planted in 1918, two years after Cess Vicary took over the property in 1916. In 1984 Chris Niccol took over the winery.