Susan Marsden wrote this essay originally as the introductory paragraph and Part one, ‘The physical and historical context’, of the report Hindmarsh Heritage Survey prepared by John Dallwitz and Susan Marsden (Heritage Investigations), assisted by Rima D’Arcy and Margaret Mary Vervoon, for the Corporation of the Town of Hindmarsh and the Heritage Conservation Branch, funded by the National Estate Programme 1983/4. The unpublished report presents a survey of heritage places in the old inner western suburbs of the then Council, including Hindmarsh, Bowden, Brompton and Croydon, and reflects the information available in that period.The author acknowledges and thanks her report co-authors and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for permission to reproduce this history.