A Return to Putney Near Manchester?
Hugh Thompson aims to find out if Aussies are aware of the original
The Putney name prominent in New South Wales
May 2, 2025
On his annual trip to see his daughter and grandsons in Sydney, Putney Society vice president Hugh Thompson paid a visit to nearby Putney NSW. He wanted to find out if anyone heard of their Alma Mater back in old England.
He took the 50-minute river bus ride from Circular Quay by the famous Opera House, past familiar sounding Chiswick and Mortlake jetties to Kissing Point, the river bus stop for Putney.
Half a mile down the leafy two car Charles Road and he was at the small suburban village of Putney NSW.
First up were Anne and Charmaine both who had emigrated from England thirty years ago. Certainly, they had heard of the place but of the Boat Race they had not a clue and they were not too sure if it was West or East of Blackfriars.
On the next table was Brad who after a bit of questioning realised he had come across it in Wolf Hall as the birth place of Thomas Cromwell. Over at the Putney Charcoal a bunch of tradies of Syrian origin hadn’t heard of the place and like everyone else didn’t realise that nearby Chiswick and Mortlake NSW had historical connections.
Steve in the next-door deli had heard of the Boat Race but not of Putney and his daughter in law Sue asked whether it was near Manchester where her mum came from. Elsewhere Philippa said she had heard of Putney SW15 because it sometimes came up when she typed in her home village.
Charmaine and Anne left England thirty years ago
But before we get all self-righteous how many of we by the Thames know of the Parramatta River or have ever heard of Putney Vermont?
A major difference between the two Putney’s is their crime rates. While in 2024 the 5000 in NSW suffered a crime rate of 35 per 1000 inhabitants the 85000 in SW15 suffer a rate of 110 per 1000. Here Roehampton accounts for a third of violent crime and the High Street a third of thefts. Last year Putney NSW reported 28 thefts,19 burglaries and 19 assaults. We can only dream.
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