[2] William Redfern (1774–1833) was a surgeon's mate in the Royal Navy and was aboard HMS Standard when its crew took part in the revolt in 1797 known as the Mutiny of the Nore.

The commodious home Redfern built on his land was considered to be a country house, surrounded by flower and kitchen gardens.

Tanners, wool scourers and wool-washers, fellmongers, boiling down works and abattoirs had ten years to move their businesses outside city boundaries.

Public meetings were held and after a flurry of petitions Redfern Municipality was proclaimed on August 11, 1859, the fourth in Sydney to be formed under the Act.

From the 1850s market gardeners congregated in Alexandria south of McEvoy Street, around Shea's Creek and Bourke Road.

At that time the present Redfern station was known as Eveleigh, after a lovely old home standing on the western side of the railway line.

The name Eveleigh was retained for the huge railway workshops, just beyond the station, on the site of the original Hutchinson Estate.

While many were worked by European-Australians, by the 1870s Chinese market gardeners had acquired leases in the district and a decade later were dominating the trade.

At that time, many businessmen in the area were from Syria, such as George Dan, who established his business in 1890; Stanton and Aziz Melick, in 1888; and Anthony & Simon Coorey, in the 1890s.

[1] Many of its services have disappeared or been substantially downgraded over the last couple of decades, even though Redfern is still a densely populated inner city suburb.

[1] Eveleigh Railway Workshops machinery was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.