Lane Cove is a residential suburb and municipality of Sydney's north shore. The original inhabitants of the region were the Camaraigal people. A corruption of their name survives with the nearby suburb of Cammeray.

The earliest recorded European contact with the region was noted by Lieutenant William Bradley in February 1788. In an early survey of the Port Jackson harbour, Bradley navigated the region, referring to it as Lane Cove. Albeit, no explanation as to the derivation of the name was suggested. During the last decade of the eighteenth century the north shore, known as "the other side of the water" was bestowed the official title of "The District of Hunters Hill". Hunters Hill is commonly accepted as the name of the Glasgow estate of Thomas Muir, a colonist who acquired land in the region in October 1794. However, some discrepancy exists over the naming of the region and the date of Muir's arrival in the colony. Alternatively it is plausible that the district was named after Governor Hunter.

Despite several grants being accorded in the region around the turn of the century, the Lane Cove region remained largely unoccupied. The agrarian orientation of colonial society rendered a disinterest in the region as the ground was rocky and the soil considered poor. However the densely forested region was deemed suitable for the establishment of a convict timber felling operation in 1805. This was still in existence in 1814, with 48 convicts working under the supervision of a resident overseer. The camp was abandoned in 1819.

The initial survey of the Lane Cove region is credited to James Meehan, an emancipated convict who later became Deputy Surveyor General. A survey of Lane Cove drafted by Meehan in July of 1806, plots the earliest regional government grants. A subsequent survey of allotments in 1831 executed by James Larmer indicates the emergence of timber getters and sawyers huts in the cove. The abandoned site of the convict camp was then known as Fiddens Wharf, utilised for the transportation of wood and produce from scattered local orchards. Despite this activity and the geographical proximity to Sydney Cove, Lane Cove remained relatively undeveloped through the 1850s.

Albeit one industry which did flourish impressively was that of education. Early settlers of the region provided for a local school by 1816. In 1848, the Lane Cove Church of England school recorded an annual enrolment of 12 pupils. At this time four other denominational schools were operating in the region. In 1878, a school established by the Council of Education at Woodford Bay was transferred to Longueville, upon a site adjacent to the present day Lane Cove Public School. Four years subsequent, a new brick structure was erected to cater for the burgeoning numbers of students.

In 1878, Father Joseph Dalton acquired land in Lane Cove and established St Ignatius Riverview College, and by 1880, 12 students were in attendance. The famous imposing classical structure which continues to dominate the view from the river was added in 1889. Riverview continues to produce academic excellence today, under the instruction of the Jesuit Fathers.

By the 1880s Lane Cove hosted the diverse industries of dairies, pottery works, road metal contractors, tanneries, a boiling down works and a piggery. The local population of 500 envisaged regional improvements through the establishment of local government. In 1885, 150 locals petitioned the colonial secretary for a separation from the Borough of River Ward. This proved unsuccessful and in 1893, 306 residents of the population of 1,000 again petitioned for the establishment of the municipal district of Lane Cove. This petition was accepted and in April 1895, the Borough of Lane Cove was proclaimed in the Government Gazette. Alderman Jeremiah Roberts was unambiguously elected the first mayor at the council's inaugural meeting that same month. Local government proved the crucial catalyst for the subsequent development of the attractive community of today.

0 of a possible 0 points from 0 votes