Bronte

There is no clear evidence for the name or names of the particular bands of the Eora people who lived in what is now the Waverley area. Most sources agree on the Cadigal, but some sources name the Biddigal and Birrabirragal bands as well.In the early part of the nineteenth century, land in the eastern suburbs of Sydney was given to settlers as free grants. Governor Phillip had been instructed to grant land to ‘deserving emancipated convicts’ and ‘soldiers of the Marine Corps’ from 1789. The free grants ceased in 1831, and in 1836 William Mortimer Lewis, New South Wales Colonial Architect, became the first to purchase land at Nelson Bay, later known as Bronte.