MOTELS FOR SALE - Key Persons
Ben Hall's bushranging gang harried the district around Binalong throughout 1863 and 1864, robbing travellers, stores and mail coaches. Johnny Gilbert, a former compatriot of Frank Gardiner and a member of Hall's gang, was killed in 1865 during a gunfight on the Boorowa Rd, near Binalong. His grave can be seen on the outskirts of town.
Drummond Park, at the corner of Jessie and Donnelly Sts, features the Apex Memorial Lookout, which offers views over the city.
Dumaresq Dam is located 8 km north-west of Armidale. Head out of town along Boorolong Rd and turn into Waterworks Rd following the signs. The waters are periodically stocked with trout and may be fished in season (from the October long weekend to the end of the Queen's Birthday long weekend in June). There is a walking trail around the dam, a boat ramp, sailboating, swimming, and picnic and barbecue facilities.
Job Titles:
- Yuin Elder, on Mt Dromedary With Wallaga Lake and Bermagui in the Distance
Eric Naylor, a Yuin Elder, on Mt Dromedary with Wallaga Lake and Bermagui in the distance
Castledoyle Rd heads south-east off Waterfall Way (the road to Dorrigo) at the eastern edge of Armidale. It will take you the 16 km to Gara Gorge where there are day-use facilities and swimming at Blue Hole.
The Threlfall Historic Hydro-Electric loop walk offers fine views of the gorges. One of the first hydro-electric schemes in Australia was built to light the town of Hillgrove and the remains can still be seen at Gara Gorge.
George Bass was prompted by the survivors' reports to venture south and on December 14, 1797, he entered Batemans Bay. He observed signs of severe drought and reiterated Cook's view that it was too exposed to function as a port.
Hamilton Hume was granted 300 acres at Appin. It was either he or his father that built the homestead 'Beulah', which is still standing, halfway to Campbelltown, on the Appin Road, though it is not visible from the road and not open to the public.The 1824 Hume and Hovell expedition to Port Phillip left from a point nearby on the Appin Rd which is marked by a monument erected in 1924 and made of stone taken from the Hume's house.
Government surveyor Henry Dangar, a central figure in the European investigation of the upper Hunter, camped here, by the river, in August 1824 during his first exploration of the district. He crossed the river, discovering Dart Brook and Kingdon Ponds (two tributaries) just to the north-west of the present townsite.
At the end of the road turn left into King St. At no. 132, to the right, unmistakably, is Hua-Tsa (1856), a beautiful building originally known as The Mill House and built on a land grant made out to Charles Windeyer in 1833. It is a long, single-storey house constructed of hand-made bricks with a very high hipped roof, encircling verandah, cedar joinery, and six-panelled doors with semi-circular fanlights, and shuttered, multi-paned sash windows.
John Oxley investigated the district in 1817 and declared that 'these desolate areas would never again be visited by civilised man' although he did observe that the local Aborigines seemed to be strong and healthy. As it was winter time Oxley noted that they wore possum skin coats, bound their hair with nets, had a tooth missing as part of an initiation ceremony and carried stone axes, spears and woomeras.
John Gilbert - Bushranger. Was shot by Constable John Bright in a battle with police near Binalong on Saturday 13 May 1865. Only 25 years old at the time of his death he had followed a life of crime for 10 years and was the most reckless villian (sic) of the Gardiner-Hall gangs of bushrangers. On the credit side it can be said he was a splendid horseman, a deadly shot, game with fists or gun. Always polite to women and of irrepressible good humour and witty speech. On Tuesday 16th May 1865 the body of "Flash" Johnny Gilbert was buried in the police paddock near Binalong township.ยน
The shoot-out occurred just eight days after Hall was killed near Forbes . Gilbert and his comrade John Dunn were hiding out in a hut owned by Dunn's grandfather, John Kelly. Kelly informed the police of their whereabouts and when the sun arose on May 13 they had the hut surrounded. As the troopers rushed the hut the pair fled for the bush firing but Kelly had wetted Gilbert's cartridges and the bushranger was struck fatally in the chest. Dunn was caught at the end of the year and hung in 1866.
6 km west of Balranald on the Sturt Highway is Low Level Weir, another pleasant spot for picnics, barbecues or fishing.
Also in Savoy St is the Morrow Row, originally eight identical drop-slab houses built of timber from the forests around Narrabri in 1895 for the employees of store owner William Morrow. Three retain their original structure.
25 km south-east of town along a sealed road is the turnoff to Pindari Dam, on the Severn River, where there are excellent opportunities for boating, waterskiing and fishing. There are barbecue, picnic and camping facilities, a childrens' playground, an amenities block and a boat ramp.
37 km south-west along the road to Narrabri is the locality of Rocky Creek. Rocky Creek Gorge and 'Glacial Area' is a site of some geological interest. More generally it is a good picnic spot where you can swim in the creek in summertime amidst huge conglomerate boulders. It is also a good spot for bush exploration. A leaflet is available from the visitors' centre.
West along Barney St, at the corner with Dangar St, is S.H. Smith House, built in 1889 of Flemish brickwork. It originally served as New England Ladies' College which closed in 1904. In 1928 it became part of Armidale Teachers' College and was substantially altered. In 1960 it was joined with 'Southhall', a two-storey building dating from 1886 with chimney pots, cast-iron lacework verandahs and cedar doors, staircase and mantelpieces.
Turn into Armidale Airport, then turn left and follow the signage to this beautiful homestead. The Saumarez stations was taken up by Henry Dumaresq in 1835. Henry, the brother-in-law of Governor Darling, was a member of the Duke of Wellington's staff in the Battle of Waterloo in the course of which he was shot through the lungs while delivering a message. Consequently he suffered ill health for the rest of his life and died young in 1838.
The property was sold in 1856 and reduced in size through subdivision. The White family bought it in 1874, establishing a successful pastoral enterprise. They initially lived in a small brick cottage which is still standing. Francis White then built the luxurious 33-room Saumarez Homestead from 1888-1907 on the crest of a hill amidst landscaped gardens. It is a large two-storey Late Victorian mansion with fine upstairs verandahs featuring ornate cast-iron lacework, roundheaded windows and decorative gables. The architect was W. Pender.
Also on the property are a fragment of a small 1860s brick homestead, a large aviary, a schoolhouse once used by the staff's children, a farm worker's cottage and a collection of vernacular, timber slab and boarded farm buildings dating from the 1840s and 1850s.
The family donated the property to the National Trust in 1981 and the interior of the homestead is now open for viewing, but by guided tour only. These are available on weekdays at 10.30 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. Group tours can be arranged by advance booking, tel: (02) 6772 3616 or, after hours, (02) 6772 4486. There is a small charge. Afternoon teas, souvenirs and heritage books are available.
For those just wishing to peruse the gardens and outbuildings or inspect the homestead's exterior, the grounds are open from 10.00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m. on weekdays and 2.00 p.m. - 5.00 p.m. on weekends and public holidays. The Saumarez Homestead Fair is held in early May each year.
Thomas Alexander Browne served as police magistrate at Dubbo from 1881 to 1884. As 'Rolf Boldrewood', he wrote what is considered one of Australia's first novels of any note, Robbery Under Arms, which was published in serial form while he was still at Dubbo.
A visitor in 1885 described Dubbo as a 'pretty little town, built on an extensive plateau of squatting land'. He also noted three banks, streets 'mostly lined with neat red brick cottages' and 'a number of substantial shops'. By this time there were also several substantial churches and schools, a library and the town's third and present courthouse was under construction. A flour mill opened in 1893.
Job Titles:
- Member of Captain Moonlite
Thomas Williams, a member of Captain Moonlite's bushranging gang, was executed in Berrima Gaol in 1885 after stabbing a fellow inmate. Another gang member, Graham Bennett, may have spent time in, or even died in, the gaol. In his novel Robbery Under Arms (published in 1888), Rolf Boldrewood had Captain Starlite escape from the Berrima Gaol which he referred to as 'the largest, the most severe,the most dreaded of all the prisons in New South Wales'. From 1866 the prisoners spent the first nine months of their sentence in total silence and solitary confinement.
William Broughton arrived as a free settler with the First Fleet in 1789. He owned a store in Parramatta and later became deputy commissioner of stores in Sydney. His daughter Betsy, one of the survivors of the Boyd massacre in New Zealand when she was but two, later married Charles Throsby. Broughton died in 1821 though his wife remained at Lachlan Vale until her death in 1843. It was the subsequent owner, John Percival, who renamed the property. His descendant still lives in the house.