Stroud is a small country town one hour north of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Mid-Coast Council local government area. The major road through Stroud is the Bucketts Way. At the 2006 census, Stroud had a population of 669. Stroud was a self-contained village by 1832 and, as early as 1836, the company's storehouses and much of the convict labour force were located there. By 1850, it had become the company's headquarters. Land was subdivided for private settlement in 1849, with settlers arriving from England the following year to take up land grants there.