Bungarribee estate was established in 1822 by Colonel John Campbell for the purpose of breeding horses for the East India Company. Campbell's Bungarribee Homestead was listed in 2000 on the NSW Heritage Register. One of his sons was Charles James Fox Campbell, a pioneer pastoralist in South Australia, after whom the Adelaide suburb of Campbelltown is named. Following the death of Campbell in 1827 the estate was sold. A subsequent owner, Charles Smith, established Bungarribee stud shortly after 1830, which only had pure-bred English horses. Bungarribee was a major rural employer and breeding area for Australia’s horse racing industry. Bungarribee’s horses dominated the emerging racing scene in NSW in the 1820s and 1830s , and many of Australia's most prominent race horses trace their bloodlines to Bungarribee. Steeltrap Drive is named after one of the most successful horses of this era and runs through the middle of the site. Many of today’s most prominent race horses can trace their history along Steeltrap’s blood line. Manto Street is named after Manto, one of the greatest horses that was one of the main breeding mares at Bungarribee. Sir Hercules Parade is named after Sir Hercules, who was the sire of the 1866 Melbourne Cup winner The Barb. Additional names include Velocity Parade, Gipsy Street, Emigrant Parade, Emancipation Street and Bet Hyatt Avenue – all named after successful thoroughbreds bred at Bungarribee.
Population
In the 2016 Census, there were 2,638 people in Bungarribee. 36.0% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were India 26.4%, Philippines 8.5%, Fiji 5.3% and Sri Lanka 3.8%. 24.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Hindi 13.4%, Gujarati 13.4%, Tamil 4.8% and Tagalog 4.4%. The most common responses for religion were Hinduism 37.2%, Catholic 19.3% and Islam 8.5%.
Transport
Approximately 500 metres from the northern end of the suburb is Doonside railway station, which is on the Western Line of the Sydney Trains network. It provides direct links east to Blacktown, Parramatta and Sydney CBD and west to Mount Druitt and Penrith. Due to the new developments there is a new bus stop on Steeltrap Drive. The Great Western Highway is nearby and provides access to the M4 and M7 motorways.
Recreation
Bungarribee contains Bungarribee Nature Reserve, which provides areas for dog-walking and casual recreation. A cage-free zoo, Sydney Zoo opened in 2019 is to the North West of the suburb.
