land was rented by the explorer Gregory Blaxland, who owned nearby Brush Farm. In 1818 the Balmain lands were sold to an ex-convict John Bennett. His nephew William was his heir. Soon after he inherited the land, William married Susan Brown. Initially the couple lived in John's old house which was near the intersection of Bellevue and Bigland avenues, but in 1836 they mortgaged part of their land to build a new house in what is now Meadowbank Park, Meadowbank. Major Edward Darvall and his family arrived in the colony in January 1840. He was a retired English army officer with strong family connections to the British East India Company. His wife Emily came from a long line of wealthy London merchants. In May 1840, the Darvalls leased Deniston Farm and of land from a Dr Forster, for a period of 12 years. However, the property was again advertised to let in The Sydney Morning Herald on 8 March 1849. In 1855 William and Susan Bennett sold all their land north of Victoria Road to Major Darvall. The Darvall property stretched from Shaftsbury Road to Ryedale Road and from Rowe Street to Victoria Road, a total of . They built a two-storey house, Ryedale House, during the late 1850s, now the site of St Columb's Anglican Church. The house was constructed of sandstone blocks. Ryedale House was moved to Paterson (near Maitland), NSW. It is believed the Ryedale Estate was so named because of its closeness to Ryde and because Major Darvall came from the Yorkshire dales. The nearest the house were planted with orchards, mainly citrus trees. The Darvalls lived in this house for nearly 70 years – Edward until his death in 1869, his widow Jane until 1899, their son Anthony until 1910 and Anthony's widow Kate until 1922. The railway and subdivision In the 1880s, with the building of the railway line from Homebush to Hornsby, some estates were subdivided along its route. Landowners like Mrs Darvall sold parcels of their estates to the colonial government and by 1883 construction was well advanced. The Meadowbank Railway Bridge across the Parramatta River was completed in August 1886 and was followed by the opening of a single line track from Strathfield to Hornsby on 17 September 1886. Ryde (now called West Ryde) was one of the seven stations of this line and one of only two that were built