After the colonisation of Australia in 1788, diseases such as smallpox, along with the loss of their hunting grounds, caused huge reductions in their numbers, and they moved further inland.

On the shale ridges, heavily timbered woodlands contained several varieties of eucalypts while the swamplands and tidal mudflats had mangroves, swamp oaks (Casuarina glauca) and blackwattles (Callicoma serratifolia) after which the bay is named.

The Broadway end attracted slaughterhouses and boiling down works that used the creek draining to Blackwattle Swamp.

The Broadway end attracted slaughterhouses and boiling down works that used the creek draining to Blackwattle Swamp.

[1] Reclaiming the swamp, Wentworth Park opened in 1882 as a cricket ground and lawn bowls club.

A shift in demographics occurred, with younger professionals and technical and administrative people servicing the corporate city wanting to live close by.

[4][1] "Tranby", originally known as "Toxteth Cottage", was first listed in the Sands Directory in 1858 and is thought to have been completed in that year.

The cottage became known as Tranby in the 1870s when Allen's other daughter Elizabeth and her husband William Binnington Boyce lived there.

[8][1] In 1931 Tranby became a hostel for the University of Sydney and was the home of John Hope of Christ Church St Laurence.

The original section, containing six rooms, is central to the facade describing a Georgian character recessed into the whole.

As at 1 October 1997, Tranby and its history can be viewed as reflecting the evolutionary changes which took place on the Glebe Peninsula in architecture, land allocation and the growth and diversity of society.

[1] Tranby was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales.

Tranby and its history can be viewed as reflecting the evolutionary changes which took place on the Glebe Peninsula in architecture, land allocation and the growth and diversity of society.

It has been the scene of a number of key issues in the history of Indigenous activism, including meetings which led to the Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

Tranby is a fine example of a post-Regency picturesque cottage and one of the earliest buildings in Glebe to have an asymmetrical plan.

It is a local and regional landmark for the non-Aboriginal community which has established a relationship with Tranby through education in Aboriginal culture and involvement with human rights movements.