P. L. Travers (1899–1996): Author of five volumes of Mary Poppins stories; boarded at
Normanhurst School in
Ashfield beginning in 1912 and later lived with her mother and younger sisters at 17 Pembroke Street[7]
Fredrick Wills (1870–1955), artist and photographer and motion picture pioneer[8]
Mei Quong Tart (1850–1903): Prominent Sydney businessman,
tea house owner and acting consul to Imperial Chinese government in late 19th century; lived in Gallop House at 48 Arthur Street[14]
Colonel Matron
Kathleen Best (1910–1957): Nurse and first director of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps[17]
Pat Hughes (1917–1940), air force officer who shot down more German planes during the
Battle of Britain than any other Australian[18]
John Paton (1834–1914), Scottish-born soldier awarded the
Victoria Cross for gallantry at the
Siege of Lucknow in India. He retired to Summer Hill and a park on the corner of Smith and Henson Streets in Summer Hill is named after him.[19][20]
Alick James Bryant (1903–1985) also known as James John Bryant: Believed to have been the youngest Australian soldier to serve during the
First World War[22]
Pioneers
Augustus Alt (1731–1815): First surveyor-general of New South Wales; arrived with the
First Fleet in 1788 and was granted a substantial parcel of land in northern Ashfield[23]
Robert Campbell (1769–1846): Early settler responsible for giving Ashfield its name[24]
Ninian Melville (1843–1897): a well-known Sydney furniture maker and mortician who subsequently became the Mayor of Ashfield, and a parliamentarian[30]
Richard Murden (1906-1997): Haberfield furniture salesman, twice elected mayor of Ashfield and also elected to the NSW Parliament.
Sir
Henry Parkes (1815–1896): Former NSW Premier, lived in Ashfield during the 1870s[31]
Herbert Pratten (1865–1928): Jam maker and politician, was mayor of Ashfield and later Federal Minister for Trade and Customs from 1923 to 1928;
Pratten Park named in his honour[32]
Murray Robson (1906-1974): soldier awarded the
DSO in
WWII and NSW opposition leader from 1954 to 1955. His father,
William Robson (1869-1951), was also a member of parliament and mayor of Ashfield.
Sir
Bertram Stevens (1889–1973): premier of New South Wales from 1932 to 1939[33]
Paul Whelan (born 1943): Mayor of Ashfield from 1972 to 1976 and Minister for Police in the
Carr government from 1995 to 2001.
Richard Baker (1854–1941): Curator/Director of the Technological Museum in
Ultimo (now known as the
Powerhouse Museum); lived in Ashfield for 30 years in a house named "Eudesmia", which still stands; proponent of decorative use of the
Waratah in logos and symbols[34]
Dr
John Belisario (1820–1900): Dentist at the later end of the 19th century; recorded as living in Summer Hill in the 1891 census; first dentist in Australia to administer ether to a patient to carry out dental work[35]
Walter Wilson Froggatt (1858–1937), entomologist, founder of the Naturalists' Society of New South Wales and author; Froggatt Crescent in Croydon, and the Froggatt prize for Science at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney are named after him[37]
Ian Clunies Ross (1899–1959): Veterinary scientist and founder of the
CSIRO, he was for a while commemorated on the Australian $50 note[38]
Stan Rowley (1876–1924): Australian Olympic athlete who won three individual bronze medals (60m, 100m, 200m) at the Paris Olympics in 1900 and also picked up a gold medal as part of the British cross-country team[40]
Other
Margaret Chandler (1934–1963), one of the two victims who died under mysterious circumstances in the well-publicised
Bogle-Chandler case; lived in Croydon with her husband Geoffrey[41]
Reverend
Bill Crews (born 1944): As the Minister of Ashfield Uniting Church, he created the Exodus Foundation to assist homeless and abandoned youth[42]
David Elphinstone (1847–1916): prominent architect and builder and resident of Summer Hill
Edwin Johnson (1835–1894): Education reformer, undersecretary to the Department of Public Instruction[43]
Bea Miles (1902–1973): Eccentric Sydneysider, born in Ashfield but spent much of her later life living on the street and whose life was the inspiration for the book and movie, Lilian's Story[44]
Louise Taplin (1855–1901): Matron, until her death, of The Infants Home in Ashfield; led the home through the 1890s depression
^Lawson, V., 1999, Out of the sky she came: The life of P. L. Travers, creator of Mary Poppins, published in association with Belladonna Books.
ISBN0-7336-1072-2
^Laughren, Pat (2005).
"Wills, Frederick Charles (1870–1955)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. Supplementary (Online ed.). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. pp. 283–284. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
^Teale, Ruth (1969).
"Abbott, Joseph (1843–1903)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 3 (Online ed.). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
^Dickey, Brian (1972).
"Fitzpatrick, Michael (1816–1881)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 4 (Online ed.). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. pp. 184–185. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
^McDonald, D.I (1981).
"Froggatt, Walter Wilson (1858–1937)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 8 (Online ed.). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. p. 592. Retrieved 22 January 2008.