City Of Willoughby history

By 1789, half of the population had been wiped out by smallpox and there were no First Australians communities in the Willoughby area following a traditional life style by 1830.

In 1834, the name Chagrin was changed to Willoughby in honor of Doctor Westal Willoughby.

Then in 1843 part of the faculty left for Cleveland where they started the Cleveland Medical College, obtaining a charter through Western Reserve College in Hudson.

In 1847 the remaining Willoughby faculty then moved to Columbus with their charter and started what is now the medical school of Ohio State University.

Eventually, these various small pockets incorporated beginning in 1853 with the Village of Willoughby.

In May 1865 67 residents of the rural district of Willoughby sent a petition to Sir John Young, Governor of NSW, praying for the incorporation of the Municipality of Willoughby.

This resulted in the Municipality of North Willoughby being formally proclaimed on 23 October 1865. Its boundaries were those of the present Willoughby local government area (LGA) together with the River Ward, which became the separate Municipality of Lane Cove in 1895.

To prevent further loss of valuable land and population, the residents of what was left of Willoughby Township incorporated and became the Village of Willoughby Hills in April of 1954.

Students in the ninth through twelfth grades are enrolled at Willoughby South High School, which opened its doors at its present location in 1959.

Also, in 1970, the voters adopted a City Charter streamlining the government to better fit the needs of the community.

Previously, Willoughby South High School and current rival Eastlake North High were housed in the same building called Union High, but following the division, the then-abandoned Union High became the location of Willoughby Junior High School until 1972.

1 David Collins, An Account of an English Colony in New South Wales, (London: 1798), Sydney, Reed, 1975.

The municipality was proclaimed as the City of Willoughby in November 1996.

Another amendment, adopted in 2000, divided the council-at-large seats into four separate terms.

submitted by:Willoughby Hills Historical Society Frank J. CihulaOctober 25, 2001 All rights reserved.

The Aboriginal Heritage Office (AHO) in Northbridge was opened on 2006 as a joint initiative of the Lane Cove, North Sydney, Manly, Willoughby, Ku-ring-gai, Pittwater and Ryde Councils.

Willoughby Today is an online news website founded in August 2010 for Willoughby.