History of Lake Cathie

REAL ESTATE IN LAKE CATHIE, 2445

What's behind the name? ‘Cati’, ‘ Cattai’ or ‘Cathie’? ‘Cat-eye’ not ‘Cathay’.

Back in 1945, when the first residents moved to the area, it was little more than an isolated fishing spot and scrub. Sally and her husband Bob Pead were the first residents to move to the area and responsible for giving the village its name. Sally gave the name ‘Cati’ to her home and that was how the village was known. The couple farmed 60 acres of land on the southern side of the lake. 

Bob and Sally married in Tamworth and they lived in Guildford, Sydney where they established a poultry farm. “With the depression only a couple of years away it was a bad time to be in business, although the couple made it pay until their house burnt down in 1938,” it was reported by Port News (1975 article). After the fire the couple moved to Wauchope, where Bob had been born and raised, to establish a taxi service. The business was sold when the opportunity to buy 60 acres at Cati for $500 cropped up. “Most of the land was timbered, but after picking out a spot on top of the hill the couple set to work and built themselves a rough shed to sleep in,” it was reported. The residence Sally described as ‘basic’, with just four walls, a roof and earth floor. Sally, Bob and their three children lived there until a builder came out from Wauchope to build a house. 

The house was built on the corner of Elanora and Orana Drives. As payment the Peads gave the builder a block of land fronting the beach. The family had to contend with the harsh lifestyle of living in the middle of the bush, with all its dangers and hazards. “It was hard right from the beginning, but we had a lot of fun,” Sally told the Port News in 1975. Sally learned how to bake bread, milk cows, make butter and cheese, grow vegetables, drive a tractor and horse sleigh. 

The village grows

Bob, realising the potential of the area, sold some of the front blocks on the foreshore and in next to no time a small village formed. The Peads catered for their needs by starting a shop at the side of their house. Up until 1957, when a telephone exchange was installed in Sally’s shop,

The village and area had been called Cati Creek, but Sally wanting more prestige for the village as she thought the area was too beautiful to be known as a ‘creek’. She rang the Kempsey Postal Inspector and suggested it be changed to Lake Cattai. He Inspector agreed to a change but told her there was already a town by this name in Sydney. She then suggested Lake Cathie but retaining the pronunciation of the first nomination. Whenever she heard her village called Lake Cathy, she said “the hair rises on the back of my neck”. It was largely through the actions of the Peads that the Lake Cathie Progress Association was formed. The organisation obtained for the area the post office, telephone exchange, electricity, water and sealing of the streets  It was also the Peads who made gifts of the land for public purpose on which the local tennis courts were constructed. 

It is ‘Cat-eye’ not ‘Cathy’ say residents.

To the continual amusement of most locals, many visitors to Lake Cathie pronounce the name of their beloved village incorrectly. It is pronounced Cat-eye not Cathy as all of us have heard at one time or another

Information courtesy of:  Port News 1975/ Port Macquarie Express 1990 / Helen Tarrant, Lake Cathie resident 

For all things real estate in Lake Cathie and Bonny Hills (2445) contact award-winning Licensed Real Estate Agent – Debbi Phillips 0435 677 256

Lake Cathie Bonny Hills Real Estate -  selling and leasing homes in postcode 2445 since 2005.