If the Honourable John Davies had got his way, the suburb of Leumeah may today be called "Holly Lea". After all, this was the name the wily politician bestowed on the nearby railway platform when it was built in 1887.

But the name infuriated the surrounding farmers. Mrs Eliza Rudd felt so strongly about it she defaced the platform sign.

The main problem was that Davies had arrogantly called it after his own family homestead, Holly Lea (which still stands nearby). Quite a bold move for such a johnny-come-lately, who had only moved into the area three years earlier.

Local residents argued the platform name should instead honour pioneer settler, John Warby, whose old land grant of Leumeah stood to the south. By the 1880s, it was owned by influential Joseph and Eliza Rudd.

Like any career politician, Davies no doubt recognised the public mood and quickly had "Leumeah" signs erected along the platform.

John Warby is regarded as the "founding father" of Leumeah. He was transported as a convict in 1792 and ten years later was appointed as a constable to protect the famous wild cattle of the Cow Pastures. In this role he forged a close friendship with the Tharawals and when he was granted 260 acres (104ha) on Bow Bowing Creek in 1816, Warby named his estate after the Aboriginal phrase for "Here I Rest".

This property straddled what is now the border of Campbelltown and Leumeah. His house was demolished in 1963, but his old stable and barn still exist - although there is some confusion over which is which. The stable is home to "The Barn Restaurant", while the barn is part of the "Colonial Motor Inn". Warby lived on Leumeah until his death in 1851.

Parish maps show other early land grantees included James Fletcher, William Kitson, William Ray and Jeremiah Smith. Of these, none left any lasting titular impact, except possibly for the latter, for it's believed Smiths Creek got its name from Jeremiah, whose original land grant enveloped the waterway.

By the late 19th Century, the area was still only thinly sprinkled with signs of civilisation. Thick bushland dominated the eastern slopes, while to the north of Smiths creek lay the hilly grazing land of Campbellfield Estate.

Pembroke Road, stretching south from Minto, was one of the earliest thoroughfares, and like other roads in that suburb, it was named after a member of English aristocracy. The main roadway to Campbelltown was called Rudd Road, in honour of the family which farmed the surrounding fields.

Angle Road began its life as "Angle Lane" and was a narrow path leading from the railway to the Soldier Settlement at Campbelltown East. It probably gained its name from the way it trailed up the hillside. In April 1960 "Lane" was dropped.

August 1926 saw the first major land subdivision of Leumeah, with 320 acres (128ha) placed on the market by John Patrick King, whose family had by then acquired most of the area.

"This magnificent estate, formerly the home of the well known Rudd family, has been subdivided into 119 allotments comprising business sites near the station, large home allotments (and) choice farmlets up to seven acres in area," the estate advertisements claimed.

A King Street was shown on early estate maps - recognising the subdividers - but this soon caused confusion as there was already a street by that name in Campbelltown. So it was renamed Kingsclare Street. The other major road noted the harbourside address of the King family home in Rose Bay - O'Sullivan Road.

Hughes Street, was thought to have been named after a local family.

Yet the expected land buyers did not eventuate and only a fraction of the farmlets were sold. By July 1927, the development syndicate had placed the estate "on hold" and fenced the area so it could be leased for grazing.

The Great Depression did little to encourage growth and it wasn't until 1935 that the subdivision was marketed again. And this time around it met far more enthusiasm from buyers.

Leumeah Progress Association was formed in 1944 and at the start of the 1950s, it asked Campbelltown Council to find a suitable site for a park. About 12 acres (5ha) was acquired and named Orana Park, an Aboriginal word for "Welcome".

In 1970 it became the home ground of the Campbelltown Kangaroos Rugby League team, and modernised as Campbelltown's best sports complex. By 1987, it was home of the Western Suburbs Magpies and three years later, was renamed Campbelltown Sportsground.

By the mid-1950s, proposals to increase the size of Leumeah village, by converting farmlets into suburban lots, were scoffed at by aldermen. The forerunner of the State Planning Authority, Cumberland County Council, agreed and in 1957 it limited the allowable village area to sites near the railway line and Rudd Road.

So it was in this area that the earliest suburban estates were developed. By November 1959, the Campbelltown Ingleburn News noted a "mushrooming of houses" on farm land once owned by the Whitten family.

Kath Whitten was a member of the NSW Egg Board and would later be Campbelltown's Mayor from 1961-62. Asked to name a street created by the subdivision, the family jokingly offered "Egg Board Avenue". Council eventually chose the title Kulgoa Street.

Maybe nearby Fitzroy Crescent was named in honour of the early NSW Governor, Sir Charles Fitzroy, and Forbes Place after Sir Frances Forbes, the colonial Chief Justice who advocated the jury system.

The biggest developments came after March 1959, when a large slice of the village's rural backblocks were converted to a "residential" zoning.

However, there was still no Council policy for naming new streets and it seems developers made all the choices. And almost four decades down the track, we can only guess at their motivations.

Turimetta Avenue, Tallowarra Road, Teralba Road, and Tahlee Crescent all note Aboriginal words. This naming theme was probably chosen to highlight the fact it was the Turimetta company that was developing the estate.