Zetland was named for
Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland, Grand Master of the
British Masons from 1844 to 1870, who was a friend of Governor
Sir Hercules Robinson, himself a mason. Zetland is an archaic spelling of
Shetland. Zetland originally featured a lagoon and wetlands which was drained in the early 1900s to create the
Victoria Park racecourse. It was bordered by O’Dea Avenue, South Dowling Street, Epsom Road and Joynton Avenue. The privately owned racecourse was closed after
World War II. The land was bought by British businessman
Lord Nuffield in 1947 and from 1950 the site was utilised by
Nuffield Australia for a motor vehicle assembly facility. Vehicle production was continued by Nuffield Australia and its successors
BMC Australia and
Leyland Australia until the factory was closed in 1975. The site was acquired by the
Commonwealth of Australia for a
Naval Stores depot which operated until the mid-1990s. The land was subsequently redeveloped into high density housing (location: ). Zetland Post Office was first opened on 4 January 1937 and closed on 29 September 1983.
Former tram line From 1902 a tram service operated through Zetland. The line initially ran via Chalmers and Redfern Streets and south along Elizabeth Street to Zetland. In 1924, the line was extended to Epsom Road in
Rosebery. In 1948, to facilitate the construction of the
Eastern Suburbs Railway, a new line was constructed down
Elizabeth Street between Devonshire Street and Redfern Street and the route was deviated to run down this new section. The line was electrified double track throughout. The line was closed in 1957. ==Demographics==