The Pittwater suburb of Bayview is situated upon the Barrenjoey Peninsula within the northern Sydney shire of Warringah. Fortunate to have escaped major development, the residents of Bayview who enjoy its peaceful waterfront aspect, willingly testify to the appropriateness of the suburb's name. European recording of region dates back to 1770 when Captain James Cook sighted Broken Bay from the Endeavour. Then in 1788, just six months after the establishment of the colony at Sydney Cove, Captain Arthur Phillip led an expedition into Pittwater. It is documented that Phillip was peacefully received by the local Guringai people, who demonstrated the ways of their lifestyle.

Surveyor James Meehan was despatched to draft an initial survey of Pittwater in 1815. By 1821 Peter Patullo was residing in the Bayview vicinity, and is credited for erecting the first European residence. Then in 1833 Robert McIntosh Senior received a 200 acre grant, which encompasses much of present day Bayview. Throughout the nineteenth century small mixed farms such as McIntosh's dotted the Barrenjoey Peninsula. Fishing and timber getting complemented farming to sustain a modest economy for the small and remote community. Indeed the remoteness of Pittwater afforded it another function. Escaped convicts and outlaws sought refuge in the peninsula. The intricate tapestries of the Pittwater inlets provided protection for illicit operations, and Governor Gipps declared smuggling to be the region's chief industry. Redressing this, he ordered the erection of a customs house upon the head of the Barrenjoey Peninsula. Completed in 1843, this stood as an historic landmark, until destroyed by fire in 1976. Today only the boatman's quarters and boat shed remain.

In 1862 William Oliver moved to the neighbouring Bayview location of Church Point. Undoubtedly inspired by the memory of three of his children who died in tragic circumstances, Oliver reserved a portion of his land for the erection of a church, cemetery and school. It is after Oliver's church of 1872 that Church Point was named. This chapel housed the first Pittwater Provisional School, with Miss Martha Perry instructing the 22 local children. The school was promoted to the status of Public School in 1884, with Mr Samuel Morrison at its charge. Following a visit by Sir Henry Parkes in 1887, the school was transferred to a new building and new site at Bayview in 1888. Regrettably, Oliver's church was demolished in 1932.

With the establishment of a Post Office in 1882 at the Bayview residence of Mrs Collins, the name of the suburb was officially documented. The following year witnessed the survey of the estate of Bayview, and closer settlement of the peninsula gradually resulted. Despite this, a century later Bayview still retains a sense of its nineteenth century isolation.

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