In the early years, this area was home to both indigenous and non-indigenous people. The original inhabitants of this area were the Darug people. Recent excavation of The New Rouse Hill site, one of the most archeologically investigated and significant in Australia, led to the discovery of close to 200 ‘grinding grooves’; providing physical evidence that aboriginal communities were sustained in the northwest of Sydney thousands of years ago. The New Rouse Hill site is close to the site of the infamous Battle of Vinegar Hill, a clash between Irish patriot convicts and the Redcoats, remembered every year in this district. Edward Robinson, an ex-convict turned innkeeper and sheep breeder, received the first grant of land on the site. Other settlers followed: the Pearce family, who planted the surrounding land mainly with orchards, owned Mungerie House, a typical homestead-style property which will be restored and incorporated within The New Rouse Hill. Baulkham Hills was proclaimed a Shire on 6 March 1906, with the first meeting of the provisional Council held on Mr Pearce's property.