Hello again. James Sutton here and today I’m in Roseville Chase to talk about the man who has been called “The Father of Roseville”. Eden Herschel Babbage was born in Genoa, Italy in 1844. He emigrated to South Australia in 1851 when his father who was an English engineer, scientist, and explorer, was appointed to make a geological and mineralogical survey of the then colony of South Australia. Eden’s grandfather, Charles Babbage is credited with designing the very first computer. The Museum of Applied Arts & Science at the Powerhouse in Ultimo still has his original prototype which he presented to the British Parliament in 1832. From the age of 20, Eden worked for the Bank of Australasia until his retirement in 1904. His postings included Sale in Victoria and Wanganui in New Zealand. In retirement, he bought a house on Clanville Road in Roseville which was named Rawhiti.

Rawhiti Street was ensuingly named after this home. Babbage in retirement became a local councillor and president of the Roseville Progress Association, an organisation which was set up to encourage development and improved amenities in the area. This role led to him leading a campaign to create the Roseville Park, Davidson Park, and Roseville Chase. One of his projects was to develop a series of tracks through Roseville Park, including the Little Digger Track, which is a 1km track that starts under the old oak tree at the corner of Roseville Avenue and Amarna Parade. It then follows Moores Creek skirting the golf Course and then descends into the sandstone gully. The track was originally built to provide access to Roseville Baths in the 1920s. I’ll talk more about that in a future episode. Babbage’s work in developing the tracks led to one of the waterfalls at Moores Creek being named in his honour, Babbage Falls.

He led the Progress Association to build footpaths along the foreshore of Roseville Chase and the other side of Roseville Bridge, the vast Davidson Park was set aside as a bushland reserve in 1923 after Babbage had been heavily involved in a campaign to preserve it from development. A memorial was erected on the corner of Babbage Road and Ormonde Road in 1924 after his passing, commemorating Babbage’s local contribution and dedicating it to “The Father of Roseville”. In 1913, Babbage’s brother, brother-in-law, Francis Burton, donated a large pavilion to Roseville Park. Back to the modern-day and according to the records, the median price for houses in Roseville has had a substantial increase of 17.6% this year alone to $3.4 million. My name’s James Sutton, and I hope you enjoyed the story of “The Father of Roseville.” I’ll continue digging out a lot more stories about the Roseville area in the coming weeks and months so stay tuned. If you’d like to discuss your property, feel free to drop in and visit me at the McGrath North Shore office located at 280 Pacific Highway in Lindfield or give me a call on my mobile anytime. My number is 0422 704 370. Bye for now.