St Albans is a small and historic village on the Macdonald River, New South Wales, Australia, about 94 kilometres (65 mi) north west of Sydney. At the , St Albans and the surrounding area had a population of 305 people. History The original inhabitants of the Hawkesbury district were the Darug tribe of Aboriginals, also spelt as Dharug or Daruk. The river, which they called Derrubbin, was a focal point as a source of food and transport. The Darug people used the river to farm for fish, eels, water birds, and mussels. They also used the river as a mode of transport in bark canoes. It was first settled by Europeans in 1794 in a bid to acquire arable land to feed the increasing population of the penal colony at Sydney. In April 1794, Lieutenant Governor Francis Grose submitted plans for the first 22 farms on the Hawkesbury River in the present Pitt Town Bottoms area. In June 1795 a camp of Aboriginal peoples opposing the landtakings was harassed by a British regiment commanded by Paterson (who later regretted the necessary injustice). The "Village of Macdonald" was surveyed in 1837 but renamed St Albans on 26 January 1841 after the City of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. In the early part of the colonial settlement of New South Wales, the Macdonald Valley was an important agricultural area because of its accessibility by water. However, with the development of railways and extensive agricultural development west of the Great Dividing Range, the Macdonald Valley became less important and declined into a remote backwater. The valley is often referred to by the locals as the "Forgotten Valley". St Albans is on the banks of the Macdonald River, a tributary of the Hawkesbury River which is about 15 kilometres (9.5 mi) to the south. The village was opened for settlement in 1842 largely because it had become an important stopping point for farmers and others in the area wanting to ship their goods down the Hawkesbury River to Sydney. St Albans was at the navigational upper limit of the Macdonald River. This upper portion of the river has since been drastically reduced to navigation with sand and silt. Ferry and road access Two (free) 24-hour car ferries provide access to St Albans from the Sydney region along roads following the old goat and horse tracks on either side of the Macdonald.