[2] The first grant to a white settler in the Cardiff area was a parcel of 2,560 acres (10.4 km2) to George Weller in 1833, stretching west of the current Macquarie Road to Argenton and Cockle Creek.

The other was the decision to construct the Sydney to Newcastle railway, which led to a navvies camp being established at Winding Creek in 1883, and work continuing through most of the rest of the decade.

For a short period in the 1880s Lymington became the popular name for the whole Cardiff area, supplanting Winding Creek, however it fell foul of the postal authorities, because of its similarity to another, established locality name.

There were a number of Welsh settlers living in the area, and on the suggestion of one of them, James Edwards, the name Cardiff was chosen after the capital of Wales.

The Cardiff Shopping Centre features a liquor store, newsagency, bakery, sushi cafe, hairdresser, and travel agency.

The proposal also includes the construction of a new railway station for access to the industrial estate and the Glendale shopping centre.

In 2021 Munibung Road was extended through the redeveloped former Pasminco Sulphide site, connecting through the new light industrial and residential development to T C Frith Avenue in Boolaroo.