Botany Heads, From Gannon’s Forest Road.

In 1812, a wealthy merchant named Simeon Lord bought the land of Captain John Townson and named it Lord’s Forest. When Lord died, the land became the property of John Rose Holden and James Holt of the Bank of NSW.  A dam with a roadway on top was constructed on the Cooks River at Tempe in 1839. In 1843, the road that was to become known as Forest Road was extended from the dam to a hand-winched punt in Lugarno. On the other side of the river, the road continued all the way to Wollongong however, it was only suitable for travellers on horseback. The new road opened up the Hurstville region and created a settlement at Bottle Forest, now known as Heathcote. In 1850, the Lord Forest estate was purchased by Michael Gannon, who subdivided it into small farms along what is now Croydon Road and three larger farms that were purchased by Dent, Peake, and Ibbotson. The area became known as Gannon’s Forest. The land originally granted to Robert Townson was purchased by John Connell in 1830 and, following his death in 1849, the estate was inherited by his grandsons, Elias Pearson Laycock and John Connell Laycock. The Gannon’s Forest post office opened in 1881. The local school was named Hurstville by School Inspector MacIntyre when it was established in 1876. When the railway station opened on 15 October 1884, it took the name Hurstville, from the school.