The area now known as Harrington Park was originally home to the Muringong, southernmost of the Darug people. Shortly after the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney in 1788, four cows and two bulls strayed from a Government Farm at Rosehill and found their way to a rich expanse of lush land southwest of Sydney. It was seven years before the healthy herd (which had grown in number) was discovered.

Governor Hunter had the region surveyed in 1795 and named it Cowpastures in honour of the herd. The region was declared a Government reserve although settlers such as John Macarthur soon lobbied the Governor for land grants in the rich farming area.

In 1813, 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) in the area were granted to trader Captain William Douglas Campbell as compensation for the loss of his snow Harrington which was seized by convicts, from its anchorage in Sydney Harbour, on the evening of 15 May 1808.[3] In March 1809, His Majesty’s Ship Dedaigneuse fell in with the Harrington near Manilla, in the Philippines, and after a short engagement the vessel was driven on shore and totally destroyed.[4] Campbell called the land Harrington Park in remembrance of his vessel.   (Wikipedia)