The popular residential suburb of Gladesville occupies the northern shoreline of the Parramatta River within the local government constituencies of neighbouring Hunters Hill and Ryde. In 1795 while Captain William Paterson was acting Governor, the convict John Doody was granted 30 acres of riverside Gladesville land. Paterson is believed to number among the admirers of Doody's naturalistic art, who included the botanist and Endeavour explorer, Sir Joseph Banks. Gladesville's first European resident is remembered in the local street of Doody Avenue.

It was in 1806 that John Glade came to settle in the district which later took his name. He extended his farm Glades Bay in 1817, acquiring John Doody's grant. Although this venture apparently enjoyed prosperity, Glade sold his interests in 1841, and so made way for the suburb's development. Gladesville was the name given to the riverside land's first major subdivision of 1856.

A considerable portion of one river headland including Bedlam Point is reserved for Gladesville Hospital. Many believe Bedlam Point is the site of the colony's first mental institution, and so named after its infamous English counterpart. However prior to the opening of the Tarban Creek Asylum in 1838 this point was known as Bethlem. From the 1820s the proprietor James Squire referred to it as Bethlem Point, a contraction of Bethlehem. In 1838 the Tarban Creek Asylum designed by prominent colonial architect Mortimer Lewis was opened. This was not the colony's first such institution. Castle Hill and later Liverpool were the sites of earlier asylums. By 1866 when Gladesville Hospital was extended Bethlem Point had given way to the popular Bedlam Point pun. This allusion to a diabolical medieval madhouse sits incongruously with Gladesville Hospital's beautifully manicured and fine colonial buildings. No longer functioning as a hospital, it presently houses the New South Wales Medical Board, and is being considered as an educational centre.

Isolation of Gladesville proved the single most important factor barring immediate development of the suburb. Although not far from Sydney as the crow flies, the intricate embroidery of the Parramatta River rendered accessibility difficult. From Gladesville north to Newcastle settlers were inconvenienced by the river barrier. Access to Sydney town was only possible via a round trip west to Parramatta. Surveyor General Sir Thomas Mitchell resolved to redress this problem with the construction of the Great North Road in the late 1820s. In 1832 a punt commenced operation between the two sections of this road on the southern riverside at Abbotsford, to the north at Bedlam Point.

With the opening of the original Gladesville Bridge in 1881 came the first and sole connection between the northern and southern lower Parramatta River region until the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932. Construction of the Gladesville Bridge was followed closely by the Iron Cove Bridge, spanning Iron Cove in 1882. Consolidation of Gladesville as a residential suburb gradually followed these major transportation improvements.

The new Iron Cove Bridge was opened in July 1955 by the then Premier and Colonial Treasurer, the Honourable J.J Cahill. This was followed by the impressive engineering feat of the new Gladesville Bridge. Credited in its day as the longest concrete arch span in the world, it was officially opened by Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent in October 1964.

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