"Cranebrook" was the farm of James McCarthy, an Irish Catholic convict transported in 1793. He was a successful farmer and secretly conducted Catholic mass in his home. His daughter Elizabeth was buried on the farm in 1806, in what became the first Catholic cemetery and oldest surviving burial ground in Australia.
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| McCarthy Cemetery near Penrith Whitewater |
His neighbours farm "Mount Pleasant" was owned by another ex-convict in Samuel Terry. He became a phenomenal success and together with his wife Rosetta Marsh expanded the farm all the way to the river. When he died in 1838, he was the richest man in the colony!
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| Line of olive trees where Mount Pleasant farm was. |
The village of Cranebrook grew to justify the building of a school in 1882. It is today a private home as a new school has been built nearby which is called Samuel Terry Public School.
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| 1950's photo of Cranebrook School |
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