Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area now known as Croydon was part of the land which the Wangal people lived.
Their focus of tribal land was believed to be centred on Concord and stretched east to the swampland of Long Cove Creek.
The land was heavily wooded at the time with tall eucalypts, blackbutts and turpentines covering the higher ground and mangroves, swamp oaks and swamp mahoganies in the lower swampy ground of Iron Cove Creek.
The diet of the Wangal was primarily fish so they spent most of their time living near the shores of the Parramatta River and fishing in canoes.
The land away from the river shores provided fruits, berries and edible plants as well as possums and kangaroos, which were killed both for food and their skins.

The arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 and the start of modern Australia had, as one could expect, an influence on the people living in the area.
 One of their leaders, Bennelong,  befriended the first governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip, and was taken by him to England.

After establishing the colony at Sydney Cove in early 1788, a second settlement was established at Rose Hill (now called Parramatta) later that same year to establish farms to feed the people.
Within a year or so, a rough land route had been established between the two settlements, traversing through the territory of the Cadigal, Wangal and Burramattagal people.
This rough track later became the main artery of the expanding Greater Sydney and, as the northern boundary of what is now Croydon, influenced modern settlement in the area.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area now known as Croydon was part of the land which the Wangal people lived. Their focus of tribal land was believed to be centred on Concord and stretched east to the swampland of Long Cove Creek. The land was heavily wooded at the time with tall eucalypts, blackbutts and turpentines covering the higher ground and mangroves, swamp oaks and swamp mahoganies in the lower swampy ground of Iron Cove Creek. The diet of the Wangal was primarily fish so they spent most of their time living near the shores of the Parramatta River and fishing in canoes. The land away from the river shores provided fruits, berries and edible plants as well as possums and kangaroos, which were killed both for food and their skins.
The arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 and the start of modern Australia had, as one could expect, an influence on the people living in the area.  One of their leaders, Bennelong,  befriended the first governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip, and was taken by him to England.
After establishing the colony at Sydney Cove in early 1788, a second settlement was established at Rose Hill (now called Parramatta) later that same year to establish farms to feed the people. Within a year or so, a rough land route had been established between the two settlements, traversing through the territory of the Cadigal, Wangal and Burramattagal people. This rough track later became the main artery of the expanding Greater Sydney and, as the northern boundary of what is now Croydon, influenced modern settlement in the area.
Croydon, New South Wales