In December 1829, the early colonists first sighted the land on which the flourishing City of Wagga Wagga now stands. The persons thus privileged consisted of Captain Charles Sturt, 39th Regiment, stationed in Sydney, Mr George Macleay and six others. This party passed over the site of future Wagga Wagga on its expedition of discovery down the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers. Settlement swiftly followed.
Wagga Wagga was proclaimed a town in 1849 and in the same year surveyor Thomas Townshend marked out the town. In the 1860s the population totaled approximately 700, but by 1881 it had increased to 3,975. In 1879 the railway line was extended south of the river.
The name of the City is derived from the language of the Wiradjuri tribe, which was the biggest aboriginal tribe in New South Wales, embracing the Riverina area.
“Wagga”, “Wahga” or Wahgam” in aboriginal dialect means “crow”. The repetition of a word was the method of expressing the plural or emphasis, thus Wagga Wagga means “crows” or “the place where crows assemble in large numbers”. The Murrumbidgee River which runs through the City also derived its name from the aboriginal language and means “plenty water” or “big water”.
Wagga Wagga is 518km by rail from Sydney and 432km from Melbourne on the main Southern line. It is 185.6m above sea level and situated on the Sturt Highway, which joins the Hume Highway 48km to the east. It is the junction of the Sturt Highway and the Trunk road known as the “Olympic Way”, which enables travellers by road to proceed to and from Sydney via Cootamundra, Cowra, Bathurst and The Blue Mountains area, instead of travelling via the Hume Highway.
The City, incorporated as a Borough in 1870 and proclaimed a City in 1946, has an area of 488,600 hectares, and at 30 June 1998, an estimated population of 58,000.
On 1 January 1981 the existing City of Wagga Wagga became amalgamated with the adjoining Shires of Kyeamba and Mitchell.
Hay is a town and a shire in the Riverina region of New South Wales, 770 km. west of Sydney and 410 km. north of Melbourne. The area of the shire is 11,348 sq. km., and the other main town in Booligal. (Hence, “Hay, Hell and Booligal.”, A.B. Paterson’s poem remarking on the region’s extreme summer heat. “Hell” was One Tree Plain, 40 km. north of Hay. The locals dispute Paterson’s account of their summers.) The terrain is open treeless plains with eucalypts inhabiting the river country.
Hay is on the Murrumbidgee River, and at the junction of the Sturt and the Cobb Highways. The district was first settled in 1850 and a township was surveyed in 1859. First known as Lang’s Crossing the name “Hay” was given when the town’s design was approved in June, 1859. John Hay (later Sir), was the local member of Parliament. The wool produced in the district was transported by Murrumbidgee river boats from Hay. In 1872 a municipal council was proclaimed. Hay was connected by rail to Narrandera in 1882, to capture some of the river trade. (The line lasted until 1983, and the station is on the Register of the National Estate.) In 1881 The Australian Handbook described Hay as
…situated in the Riverine district, on the Murrumbidgee river. It is a shipping port and port of entry, 460 ;miles (493 postal) SW. of Sydney; the more speedy communication with which is via Melbourne to Echuca by rail, thence by Deniliquin and Moama railway, a distance in all of 275 miles.
To Sydney overland the route is by coach to Wagga-Wagga, thence the railway. Cobb’s coaches leave Hay for Deniliquin daily, and on Tuesdays and Saturdays for Wagga-Wagga, Wednesdays and Sundays for Bolligal, &c. It is in the county of Waradgery, police district of Hay, and electorate of Balranald, returning two members. In the municipal district are 21 miles of streets, and property of the annual rateable value of L24,185.
It is an important crossing place, by a fine iron bridge on the Murrumbidgee river, which is navigable to here by steamers during the greater part of the year. This bridge is 400 yards in length, with a swing to enable steamers to pass in food seasons. The river is navigable to Wagga-Wagga (470 miles) during a greater portion of the year. The highest rise in the river above summer level ever known here has been 24 feet.
The leading hotels are the Tattersall’s, Caledonian, Commercial and Crown. The Hay Standard, weekly, and Riverine Grazier, biweekly, are the local journals. The Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, and Wesleyans, have places of worship here; there is also a hospital, Athenaeum and free library. Banks: N. S. Wales, Union and Joint Stock.
The premises of both the N. S. Wales and joint Stock Banks are fine spacious buildings. Insurance Agencies: Sydney, Alliance, United Victoria, Mutual Life Association, and Austsralian Widows’ Fund. Principal buildings, besides those mentioned, are the court-house, post and telegraph office and police barracks, public school, Masonic hall and theatre, municipal chambers, and gaol. There are at hay Masonic, Foresters’ and Temperance lodges, lands office, three breweries, and a bonded store.
The town is supplied with water from the nunicipal waterworks, the water being pumped up from the river and carried in pipes through all the principal streets. The town is well laid out, the streets are broad, in some cases planted with trees, and the footpaths asphalted.
The surrounding country is entirely taken up for sheep and cattle stations, and consists of plains sparsely timbered. The population is now stated at upwards of 2,000, and the district at upwards of 4,200. About 70,000 bales of wool are sent from Hay during the season.
The Hay gaol was built in 1879 and is on the Register of the National Estate. For want of prisoners it has been used as an emergency hospital (Spanish Influenza epidemic, 1919), a Red Cross Maternity Home, and hospital for a Prisoners of War camp and as a postwar Institute for Girls. In 1976 it was made into a museum.
In 1994 the Hay Shire had 675,000 head of sheep and fat lambs, 67,000 cattle and 25 sheep stud establishments. Farming was predominantly grazing, with small areas of cereals, rice growing and market gardens. The Hay township had five manufacturing establishments in 1994, and its position on two highways gave it nearly $1.5 million in accommodation takings through seven hotels/motels. The aerodrome, 3 km. south of Hay, has night landing facilities. The township has four banks, a high school and primary schools, a student’s hostel, the weekly riverine Grazier newspaper and a full array of community and recreational facilities. Hay won the N.S.W. Tidy Towns State title in 1991.
The populations of Hay have been 2,461 (1911), 3,156 (1933), 4,349 – shire, 2,817 – town (1971), and 3,808 – shire, 2,817 – town (1991).
Postcard dated December, 1907.
Further Reading:
Hay Historical Society, “The Witcombe Heritage: A History of the Buildings of Hay”, 1993.
Temora is 325 km. west of Sydney, 90 km. north of Wagga Wagga and in the north-east of the Riverina district.
Temora was the name of an early pastoral property, and was derived from an Aboriginal word of uncertain meaning or from a Scottish Gaelic tern meaning an eminence with an extensive view. The Temora pastoral station was gazetted in 1849, occupying 200,000 acres.
Unpayable quantities of gold were found on the Temora station in 1869, and the discovery of payable gold did not occur until 1880. A small village formed by April, 1880. By the middle of 1880 there were 20,000 people in the Temora district and the town site was surveyed. The next few years saw the winning of gold (alluvial and reef) and prolonged drought. By 1885 Temora had a hospital and three churches. In 1888 most of the Temora station was subdivided for small-farm settlement. Three years later the Temora town council was created and the railway reached Temora in 1897. A well-established Temora was described in The Australian Handbook, 1904, as –
In 1912 the town electricity supply was established and an agricultural research station opened. It concentrated on pasture, wheat and oat growing and sheep research. On the eve of the first world war the Star Theatre was opened and in 1925-6 the Literary Institute and School of Arts were opened. The benefits of the Burrinjuck Dam on the Murrumbidgee River, 120 km. to the east came in 1930 with the supply of hydro electricity and in 1935 with a town water supply. The swimming pool was opened in the same year, and a sewerage scheme built four years later.
Temora, with a municipal area of 21 sq. km. was described in the 1949 edition of The Australian Blue Book as –
In 1952 the Temora High School was opened and in 1971 a large pre-school premises was built. A reduction in secondary industry (the cordial factory closed in 1979) was partially relieved by tourism and the town’s historical society embarking on a rural museum in 1979. An extensive group of buildings was acquired, including Sir Donald Bradman’s original home. The township also contains several substantial buildings, a notable one being the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
In 1969, on the property of harness-racing horse breeder, Colin Pike, a colt named Paleface Adios was born. The horse became the Pharlap of harness racing over an eight year career that ended in 1980. Temora has a memorial to “The Temora Tornado, Paleface Adios.” In 1981 the councils of Temora (town) and the surrounding Narraburra shire were united to from the Temora shire of 3,752 sq. km. The district’s gold mining past was revived when the Paragon open-cut gold mine was begun in 1987, about 12 km. north of Temora at Gidginbung. Temora has seven hotels and one hotel/motel. In 1994 the Temora shire had 120,494 ha. under pasture, 34,683 ha. growing wheat and 574,000 sheep and lambs.
Temora’s census populations have been 2,784 (1911), 3,823 (1931), 4,446 (1971) and 6,200 (1991 – enlarged shire). The town’s 1991 population was 4,279.
Further Reading:
Goffin, Graham, Paleface Adios, The Living Legend, Harness Racing Publications, 1982.
Temora Yesterday and Today 1880-1980, Temora Historical Society Inc., 1992.
Tumut is a town and a shire 120 km. west of Canberra. It is situated in the Tumut River valley which, while close to the Snowy Mountains, is 280 m. above sea level. The Tumut River enters the Murrumbidgee about 40 km. northwards, near Gundagai.
The valley was explored by Hume and Hovell in 1824. Settlers came in the late 1920s, probably from Yass to the north. The name Tumut is supposedly derived from an Aboriginal word meaning resting place by the river.
By 1852 a town existed on the site of Tumut, but being situated on a river it was inundated in a severe flood in that year. Rebuilding on higher ground followed. The discovery of gold at Kiandra,about 80 km. south-east of Tumut, in 1859 provided a market for Tumut’s primary products. In 1875 The Australian Handbook described Tumutas –
In 1887 the Tumut town council was created, within boundaries smaller than the present township. The outer parts were not under local government until the creation of Gadara shire in 1906. By 1903 the area of farmland under cultivation around Tumut was 11,000 acres and a railway connection to Gundagai was opened. The town had a mechanics’ institute andlibrary, an Agricultural and Pastoral Association and several friendly societies.The Tumut district’s tourism potential was promoted in the early 1900s when the nearby Buddong Falls and Yarrangobilly Caves were depicted at an international exhibition. Another industry was started in 1921 with softwood plantings in the Tumut State Forest. A trout hatchery was constructed in 1928, thesame year as when the town and shire council were united to become Tumut Shire. By the outbreak of the second world war Tumut had a caravan park,golf links, reticulated electricity and a sewerage scheme.
The shire contains the townships of Adelong, Batlow, Cabramurra and Talbingo. In the south-east is Yarrrongabilly and (just outside the shire), the place whereKiandra was situated. The Tumut township was described in The Australian Blue Book, 1948, as –
The postwar period saw the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme inject prosperity and development into Tumut. Upstream on the Tumut River is the Blowering Dam, Talbingo Dam and Tumut Ponds Dam. There are four power-generation stations in the Tumut Valley, using the controlled waters of the Eucumbene,Tooma, Tumut and upper Murrumbidgee Rivers. Any deficiency in water flow is made up by water carried by tunnel from Lake Eucumbene to Tumut Pond Dam. The power station furthest down the valley is at the bottom of the Blowering Dam, the largest of the three storages on the Tumut River. Water from Blowering Dam is also used for irrigation.
The scenic attractions of Tumut were made accessible by the Snowy Mountains Scheme’s roads. Orchards and exotic trees around Tumut add to its scenic attraction. Tumut shire has 119,000 ha. of farmland, of which 83,000 are pasture. In 1994 there were 149,000 sheep and lambs and 65,000 cattle. Little cereals are grown, although high-grade millet is grown for a broom factory(also a tourist attraction).
Large softwood plantations and saw mills are a mainstay of the district’s economy.
Tumut’s census population have been 2,274 (1911), 3,012(1954), 5531 (1971) and 5955 (1966). Tumut shire’s census population have been 7848 (1933) and 10951 (1996).
Leeton is a town and a shire in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. It is 12 km. north of the Murrumbidgee River, 100 km. north-west of Wagga Wagga and 430 km. west of Sydney.
The town is relatively recent. In the early 1900s Hugh McKinney, an engineer with experience of irrigation works in the Indian Punjab, noted the similarity of the Riverina – Murrumbidgee plains to the Indian topography. In association with local pastoralists McKinney’s observation developed into an irrigation plan beginning with the Burrinjuck Dam (1906), on the Murrumbidgee River, south-west of Leeton.
The scheme was greatly assisted by Sir Samuel McCaughy, local pastoralist and member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, who had carried out irrigation works. He was the owner of North Yanco, the site of the future Leeton.
The Murrimbidgee Irrigation Areas Trust erected buildings at North Yanco in 1911. In 1912 the place was named Leeton after Charles Lee, Minister for public Works and a member of the Trust. The following year the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission (successor to the Trust) added further buildings, including a School of Arts, as more workmen were engaged forirrigation works. It also commissioned Walter Burley Griffin to design thetown. Over 140 town allotments were sold on 2 April, 1913. Schools and churches were established from 1913 onwards, a hospital was completed in 1919, anda railway connection to the Narrandera line made in 1922. The commission established and operated numerous secondary undertakings including a stock sale yards, abattoirs, butter and bacon factories, a power house and canneries. Leeton was also noted for Co-operatives, including dairy farmers (1921),fruit growers (1932), cannery (1935), stock treatment (1937), poultry farmers(1943) and rice growers (1950).
Local government was vested in the Commission until 1921 when an Executive Board was appointed to assist. In 1928 the Willimbong shire was created,with Leeton as the administrative centre. The population of Leeton in 1933 was 3,629.
In 1949 The Australian Blue Book described Willimbong Shire (473 sq.km.) as –
By 1949 a substantial change had occurred in the social background of farmers. In 1924 61% of horticultural holdings in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area had been occupied by soldier settlers and 1% by Italians. In 1949 the figures were 18% and 32% respectively, and in 1972 Italians occupied 75%of holdings. The figure was lower in the Leeton (Yanco) area – 50% – but still a significant presence in the community.
Notwithstanding Leeton’s recent past, it has several buildings of note. The Historic Hydro, originally built for the Water Commission, is a motor inn and reception venue. There are 21 listed Art Deco buildings, including the Roxy Theatre. Leeton is the location of several educational services, including agricultural schools, a TAFE and the St. Francis De Sales Regional College. Sir Samuel McCaughy’s mansion is part of the Yanco Agricultural High School.
In 1993-4 crops in the Leeton Shire (1,132 sq. km.) comprised 11,562ha. of rice, 5,196 ha. of wheat, 2,330 ha. of orchards, 659 ha. vegetables and 474 ha. of vineyards. There were 142,000 sheep and lambs (mainly for meat) and 37,000 beef cattle. Manufacturing locations numbered 21, with a turnover of $373 million in 1991-2.
The census populations of Leeton have been –
Town/locality: 2,793 (1933), 5,148 (1954) and 6,245 (1991).
Shire: 8,992 (1947), 11,359 (1971) and 10,795 (1991).
