Ryde

• Suburb: Ryde
• Municipality: City of Ryde

Ryde is a suburb of Sydney, NSW located 13 km north-west of the Sydney central business district and 8 km east of Parramatta. Ryde is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Ryde and part of the Northern Suburbs area. It lies on the north bank of the Parramatta River. Ryde was named after the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. It may have been adopted from G.M. Pope, who came from Ryde on the Isle of Wight, who settled in the area and opened the 'Ryde Store'.  Ryde is the third oldest settlement in Australia, after Sydney and Parramatta. Originally, known by its Aboriginal name Wallumetta, the whole area between Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers became known as the Field of Mars. The name Ryde was used from the 1840s and adopted as the name of the municipality in 1870. The suburb contains the oldest settler's cottage in Australia, Addington, on Victoria Road. Addington was built by the emancipist James Stewart, circa 1800. James Shepherd bought the property in 1810 and added a six-room house to the original sandstone cottage.  As Ryde was located at the top of the hill (from whichever way you approached it) it also became known as 'Top Ryde'. The Ryde Bridge links Ryde south to Rhodes, over the Parramatta River. Buses operated by Sydney Buses to and from Ryde operate to Strathfield, Concord, Macquarie University, Burwood, Sydney CBD (via Pyrmont), West Ryde, Putney, Chatswood, Epping, Olympic Park, Parramatta, Eastwood.   Source: Wikipedia