With the British colonisation of Parramatta, this area was originally part of the domain of Government House. What is left of this domain, including Government House, forms Parramatta Park. The name Northmead is derived from the location of the north "mead", or meadow, of the governor's domain.[2] The land was subdivided between 1859 and 1889 and the Northern Meadow and Western Meadow of the domain were split off and called Northmead and Westmead. From this time, orchards were established by many new settlers, including some whose names were well known in the Parramatta area - George Oakes, Nat Payten and William Fullagar among them.  (Wikipedia)