Haberfield Association

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Haberfield, NSW
Haberfield Association

We are the recognised residents association for Haberfield - Australia's first 'Garden Suburb'. If you live here please join the group.

Visitor posts are welcome, but you may be better to post to our We Love Haberfield group. Meetings begin at 7:30pm on the third Monday of every month at Haberfield Library. Haberfield represents the first comprehensively planned ‘garden suburb’ in Australia, and one of the earliest manifestations of the ‘garden city’ movement in the world. It was built on an area called the Dobroyd Estate, which b

y the late 19th Century was still in large part characterised by pristine bushland, and thus known locally as ‘Ramsay’s Bush’. Becoming the ‘Federation’ suburb, it was at the turn of the Twentieth Century that the entrepreneurial Richard Stanton, a resident of nearby Summer Hill and later known as the founder of Haberfield, embarked on the project of developing the area which had been acquired from the long-term owners: the Ramsay Family. Stanton’s endeavour, however, would became far more than just a housing development. Haberfield was an experiment in Australia’s future, encapsulated in the vision of the ‘garden city’, a term first coined by Ebenezer Howard in the midst of the dystopian urban landscape of an industrial Victorian Britain. It was a philosophy that promoted urban unity, space and a connection with nature; streets would be tree lined, relatively wide, but houses would still be close enough to sustain a community, while fences would be low so as to foster a continuous garden between the properties of neighbours. Importantly though, no one house was to be the same - each was designed separately. All homes would be beautiful yet modest, limited to one story, and built in an architectural style that would later become known as the ‘Federation’ style. There was a vision on the part of Stanton and his followers, that Haberfield would be the exemplar for a new Australia: one in which the urban landscape promoted community, democracy, health and middle class prosperity. This was in sharp contrast to the terraced, cramped, and stratified inner-city suburbs nearby. Haberfield was to be, as per the famous slogan, ‘slum-less, lane-less and pub-less’.

13/04/2026

VALE DON READETT!

Don Readett passed away on February 21 2026. He left a legacy of community service to education. His wife, Jody and four daughters honoured him at a celebration with colleagues, friends and family in Drummoyne. A great proportion of his life’s work occurred at Dobroyd Point Public School where he served as Principal for over 22 years.

Don gained his teaching qualifications from the then Armidale Teachers’ College. He followed this study by completing a Bachelor of Economics at New England and then a Masters of Education at Sydney University. His lifelong friend Ray Cranfield was among those who paid tribute to Don’s passion for and dedication to his teaching.

An able administrator, Don ended his professional career working for the
Department of Education in the Building the Education Revolution infrastructure program with which he was proud to be associated.

An optimist with a love of life, music and the beach, Don was devoted to his family. He lavished on them his boundless affection and energy. He was admired and respected by the Haberfield community whose many children benefitted from his wide knowledge, leadership and encouragement for their learning.

Vale Don Readett 1946-2026
Jozefa Sobski AM, Vice President, Haberfield Association

23/12/2025

WWI Sister Sheridan - searching for any descendants

Searching for descendants or relations of Margaret NORTON nee Sheridan b:1890 d:1979.
Late of Stuart St, Lane Cove, Margaret had served as a nurse in WW1 having lived at Roslyn 128 Ramsay Street, Haberfield.

Her death notice in the SMH noted “ ... loved wife of the late Jack Stuart Norton [d.1974], loved mother of Peter, Margaret, Lawrence and Richard, loved grandmother of their children, aged 89 years. ....”
As Sister Sheridan, she is one of only 3 women recorded on the Haberfield Roll of Honour for her services during World War One.

The Haberfield Association would like to make contact with any dependents or extended family as soon as possible.

The “Haberfield Honour Roll” records that:

Margaret Sheridan was born in Petersham New South Wales on 26 June 1890, one of five children to John Sheridan and Margaret Strong.

A trained nurse, she enlisted in Sydney on 2 September 1916. She gave her father’s address at Roslyn 128 Ramsay Street Haberfield.

Members of the Australian Army Nursing Service left Sydney aboard RMS Kashgar on 2 September 1916, promoted to Sister, she returnec to Australia on 19 February 1918 aboard HS Devanha.

Margaret left Sydney again aboard HMAT Wiltshire on 9 November 1918. Stationed in Abbassia, she returned to Australia aboard HT Essex on 15 June 1919, disembarking on 28 July. Margaret was discharged on 3 November 1919.

She married Jack Norton at St Bede’s Drummoyne on 29 November 1920. Jack passed away in 1974. Jack served during both World War One and Two.

Margaret passed away in Longueville NSW on 7 September 1979.

Her brothers Charles and John also served. John lost his life at Gallipoli in 1915.

https://www.haberfieldhonourroll.com/ross-h-thompson-w/
Please contact
Susan Jackson-Stepowski
E: [email protected]

21/12/2025

Nice Christmas Tree. Thank you Inner West Council.

11/12/2025

Greetings from resident kookaburra at Yasmar.

06/12/2025

Looking for a local Christmas Present that will be appreciated for years to come?
The full set of Tours of Haberfield is available at a special Christmas discount price of $90.

If you missed the Haberfield Association information table outside IGA today, you can order the set by email [email protected] with your contact details including phone number and payment & delivery can be arranged.

Alternatively, you can purchase by EFT/email: A/C name: “Haberfield Association”, BSB 062 178; A/c 10007308 Ref: “Surname” “book number(s)” (1, 2, 3) and sending a confirmation email to [email protected] with your name, address, phone number and the book number(s).
Prices of individual books, including delivery, are: Part One and Part Three $35 each, Part Two $30.

Part One: has over one hundred pages of information and illustrations pertaining to the late nineteenth century subdivisions of the Dobroyde Estate and the first Haberfield subdivision by Richard Stanton in 1901.

Part Two: contains information on and photographs of the area generally bounded by Sloane Street, Parramatta Road, O’Connor Street, Tressider Avenue and the nearby section of Hawthorne Parade. It includes Ramsay Street, Logan and Nicholls Avenues and Haberfield and Stanton Roads and over 55 photographs many of which have not previously been readily available to the public.

Part Three: comprises two sets of tour notes whereby people can walk the streets of Haberfield and gain an understanding of its history and heritage value, including the Third Subdivision of the Dobroyde Estate in 1885 and the Northcote Estate of 1905. A list of streets in each tour is given in the Preface. Part Three completes the 19th century residential subdivision of the Dobroyde Estate and Richard Stanton's Haberfield Estate begun in 1901.

05/12/2025

Looking for that special Christmas gift?
What about something uniquely about Haberfield …

“Tours of Haberfield - Past and Present” is available today as a gift set af all three volumes for a special price of $90 - saving ten dollars of the regular price.
You can also meet Haberfield Association representatives this morning outside Lamonica IGA 10.00 to Noon and we will tell you a bit about what ww do in trying to keep Haberfield the special garden suburb we all enjoy…

03/12/2025

Resident brush tail possum at Yasmar.

28/11/2025

Freesia laxas adorning the forest floor in east No Man’s Land at Yasmar.

07/11/2025

7 Nov 2025 SMH

06/11/2025

Delights at Yasmar today were scented by its wattle.

29/10/2025

At Yasmar House the chimney is being replaced, like for like, near the watchful jacaranda.

Address

Haberfield, NSW

Website

http://haberfield.asn.au/

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