The name "Tamworth" is a contraction of "Tame Worth", meaning a "fort on the River Tame".
Tamworth has become
well known as Australia's "country music capital".
The Kamilaroi People (Gamilaraay)
Kamilaroi comes from
gamil meaning "no" and
araay meaning "having".
The Gamilaraay language was
traditionally spoken over a large area of north-central, New South Wales.
Reverend William Ridley, a Presbyterian minister to the Kamilaroi, from 1852 to 1856, collected vocabulary and other information. He wrote various books, including, "‘On the Kamilaroi language of Australia", in Transactions of the Philological Society (1855).
Ridley’s Kamilaroi vocabulary included words for “star” and “Sun” (1856). Ridley (1873), also
recorded that four stars of the constellation Corona Australis were called Bundar, the kangaroo.
Other anthropologists to collect information and traditions of the Kamilaroi, include, R.H. Mathews and Norman B. Tindale. Matthews was an Australian surveyor and self-taught anthropologist who employed at least one, the Kamilaroi man Jimmy Nerang, in his survey team.
In the Gamilaraay kinship system, all
individuals belong to two groups, these being:
Guwaymadhaan (Dark or Heavy Blood) and
Guwaygaliyarr (Light Blood). Group inheritance comes from the mother. These two groups are split again into subgroups (known as sub-sections), with four groups in total. Individuals can only marry those in groups diļ¬erent to themselves, and both their parents.
Intermarriage of individuals of the same totem was forbidden.
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| In 1925 Herbert Basedow published The Australian Aboriginal. His beleived that Aboriginal people living away from civilisation should be left alone to continue living in their traditional ways and that Europeans should be prevented from having contact with them. Uncontacted peoples |
Kinship systems regulate the behaviour of people and determine rights and responsibilities.
Mathews' observed and described an initiation, Bora ceremony, held by Kamilaroi people in 1894. (read
here). Matthews regarded the Bora as being integral to the social cohesion of Aboriginal communities and "a great educational institution".
Elders who were medicine men (Wirringan) and wizards (Koradji) instigated the Bora. Teleteglyphs (carved trees) were associated with the initiation ceremonies (Bora). According to the anthropologist, Frederick McCarthy, the Kamilaroi believed "tribal culture heroes came down from and went back to the sky through the trees".
A stone quarry site at Moore Creek, north of Tamworth, was
used for making stone axes. Sharpening grooves for axes can be found near the river.
Traditional Aboriginal warfare was not over land, as spiritual connections to a specific territory were paramount. The superiority of one's own group over another group was one reason for warfare. Others were formal battles, ritual trials, raids for women, and revenge attacks.
Hunting and gathering required a lot of knowledge and skill, such as the use of weapons and tracking an animal. Knowledge of the seasons and where to forage and prepare suitable foods was passed down as knowledge to each generation.
The Kamilaroi who resisted European settlement were regarded as ferocious warriors. Fighting took
place across the Liverpool Plains, with 16 British and up to 500 Indigenous Australians being killed between 1832 and 1838.
There were positive interactions too. In 1831, near Murrurundi, Sir Thomas Mitchell employed as a guide, an Aboriginal man from the Liverpool plains. This man took the expedition to a station near Quirindi (means fish breeding area). At Quirindi, another Aboriginal man
helped guide the expedition a few miles beyond Tamworth.
1818
John Oxley and his exploration party were the first European visitors to Tamworth when they camped on and named the Peel River on the way to Port Macquarie.
1830s
From the 1830s, squatters began
to settle along the Peel River. However, they were removed when the Australian Agricultural Company (AAC) received over 300,000 acres on the western side of the Peel River.
Ralph Darling had earlier prohibited settlement beyond settled areas, as there were not enough resources to ensure law-and-order. Those who settled north of the Liverpool Range could not obtain a legal title for the land and could be evicted.
Joseph Brown’s "Wallamoul" and William Dangar’s "Waldoo" (near present-day Tamworth) marked the limits of British
settlement (1831).
Henry Dangar explored the Peel Valley for the Australian Agricultural Company in 1831 and in 1834.
When explorer, Major Thomas Mitchell, explored the Liverpool Plains in 1831, he found bushrangers and drovers
settling in the area between the Liverpool Range and Tamworth.
Convicts soon became the companies (AAC) largest type of employee. Although, those who had served a sentence, Aboriginal and indentured servants on seven-year contracts, were also employed with the latter making up the bulk of initial employees.
The name Tamworth came from Tamworth in England, the home town of Sir Robert Peel (Peel was then Prime Minister of England), after whom the river was named.
In 1834, 6000 sheep were brought to the region by the Australian Agriculture Company.
In November 1835, James White opened a store
on the east side of the river in what is now Peel Street. After 18 months, he sold the business to Richard Stubbs and his partner J. J. C. Irving.
Tamworth appeared on the map in 1837.
The first Courthouse was built on the Gipps/Ebsworth Street corner in 1837.
During the early days, goods were transported by horse or bullock teams from the Hunter Valley over the steep road across the Liverpool Ranges. Or from Sydney to Newcastle by the river, to Morpeth in the lower Hunter Valley. Then continuing overland to Tamworth.
1840s
Thomas Byrne, became Tamworth's first Postmaster in 1840.
The first hospital in Tamworth was a small slab hut with a bark roof and earth floor, which opened in the 1840s. This became known as the Ebsworth St hospital.
The 1840s were
very hard times for the region, with severe floods, and drought and economic recession.
Reverend S Williams, Vicar of Tamworth in 1848.
Surveyor John Gorman submitted his plan for a Tamworth Reserve on 31 July 1849. Sir Thomas Mitchell, began laying out the design for the town and named its original streets.
1850s
On January 1, 1850, Tamworth was proclaimed a town (when its population reached 3,000).
The first sale of
building blocks in the Government town took place in July 1850.
Population of Tamworth was 254 in 1851.
In August 1851 gold was discovered at Hanging Rock.
John Barnes built the Royal Oak Hotel in 1852.
Tamworth hospital and Benevolent Society was formed in 1854. A new hospital was constructed in Peel Street, with four wards.
The town's first government school was established in 1855, on the later site of Peel Barracks.
In 1857 a suspension bridge
was built over the Peel River, the first of its kind in NSW.
The Tamworth Watch House "lock-up" was built in Darling Street in 1859.
The Armstrong flour mill in Marius Street, operated in 1859, for only a short period.
Aboriginal people were being employed as station hands,
trackers, shepherds, boundary riders, domestic servants and station workers
The first local newspaper was the
Tamworth Examiner, commencing in 1859.
The Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows, was established on the 9th August, 1859, to promote philanthropy, the ethic of reciprocity and charity.
1860s
An Act in 1861, gave smaller farmers the right to select up to 320 acres of unreserved Crown Land at 1 pound an acre.
Population in 1861 was 543.
A second courthouse in Darling Street
was constructed in 1861.
In 1861 the telegraph line was extended to Tamworth.
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| Peel St, Tamworth, NSW, about 1861, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser |
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| Brisbane Street, Tamworth, NSW, about 1861, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser |
James Garland was the Police Superintendent based at Tamworth from 1862. The Tamworth district was full of bushrangers, including Captain Thunderbolt, who robbed mailmen, travellers, inns, stores and stations across much of northern New South Wales.
Captain Thunderbolt
was assisted by his wife, Mary Ann Bugg, who was the eldest child of assigned convict James Bugg and his Aboriginal "wife" Charlotte.
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| Mary Ann Bugg (7 May 1834 – 22 April 1905) was one of two notable female bushrangers in mid-19th century Australia. |
"Ardullie" homestead for Donald Munro was built in 1863. Munro's Mill
was constructed in the following year. (William Dowel, builder of Munros Mill, Calala Cottage, St Nicholas Church, Conservatorium of Music and many more buildings)
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| Peel Street, Tamworth, NSW, 1864, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser |
Tamworth Mechanics' Institute opened in 1866.
A new telegraph office built in 1866.
1870s
A regular twice-weekly mail coach run from Tamworth to Warialda via Manilla, Barraba and Bingara in 1872.
Extension of Great Northern Railway from Murrurundi to Tamworth in 1873.
Philip Gidley King (grandson of Captain Philip Gidley King, the third Governor of New South Wales) was the inaugural mayor of the town of Tamworth from 1876 to 1880.
Railway opened in 1878.
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| Arrival of the first train in West Tamworth, NSW, 1878 |
1880s
The Dominican Convent Building
was built in 1880.
Lighting of the streets by gas in 1882.
The railway was extended to East Tamworth in 1882.
Tamworth, NSW was the first municipality in Australia to use electricity to light it’s streets in 1888 (15 years before Sydney).
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| Tamworth Hospital. Dated: No date. NSW State Archives, Tamworth Base Hospital has historic significance at a local level for its establishment in 1881 |
1890s
The Royal Hotel was established in June 1891. It was burnt down in 1913, and
was rebuilt.
Peel Barracks built 1895 as the Tamworth Town Hall.
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| "Olga", the residence of Mr S, Joseph of the Tamworth News, to form one daily newspaper, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 4 December 1897 |
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| An experimental farm at Nemingha, Tamworth, NSW. Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 4 December 1897 |
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| "BRAESIDE” built in 1882 as a private home for Superintendent James Garland, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 4 December 1897 |
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| Tamworth News Office, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 4 December 1897 |
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| Tamworth Public School, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, Saturday 4 December 1897 |
1900s
February 1900, the Telephone Exchange was opened.
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| Sporting carnival at Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 1 July 1903 |
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| Mechanics Institute in Tamworth, N.S.W. - very early 1900s, Kaye |
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| Harcourt & Glover General Store, Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 27 February 1907 |
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| Messrs. Garvin and Cousens, prominent slock, station, and general agents, Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 27 February 1907 |
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| Green's Book Arcade, Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 27 February 1907 |
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| Nathan Cohen and Co. Stock & Station Agents, Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 27 February 1907 |
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| Regan's Palce of Trade, Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 27 February 1907 |
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| Caledonia Hotel, Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 27 February 1907 |
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| Views in the Tamworth District, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 27 February 1907 |
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| North Tamworth Football Team, NSW.Winners of President's Cup in C.N.R.F.U. Senior Competition Last Season. Back Row — S. H. Howey (hon. sec), T. Gray, D, Mullins, J. Doherfcy, J. White, B. Doherty. Second Row— P. Young, F. Lampardf W.- Jones (captain), 0r ScoU, P. Folliugton, E. Searle. Front Row — W. Munnix, P. McDonald, J. Shaw, A. Appleby. ,..?' ^ ... ? Back Row — S. H. Howey (hon. sec), T. Gray, D, Mullins, J. Doherfcy, J. White, B. Doherty. Second Row—P. Young, F. Lampardf W.- Jones (captain), 0r ScoU, P. Folliugton, E. Searle. Front Row — W. Munnix,P. McDonald, J. Shaw, A. Appleby. ,..?' Peak Hill Express (NSW : 1902 - 1952), Friday 26 August 1904, |
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| Tamworth Choir, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 13 October 1909 |
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| Leigh's central Hotel, Peel St, Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 13 October 1909 |
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| Peel Street, Tamworth, N.S.W. - early 1900s, Kaye |
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| Marius Street, Tamworth, N.S.W. - early 1900s, Kaye |
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| Tamworth from Calala Hill, N.S.W. - very early 1900s, Kaye |
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| TAMWORTH, NSW, corner Peel & Brisbane Streets, Flood, 1910. Kaye |
Milling and brewing were important industries.
WW I
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| TAMWORTH BOYS ENCAMPED AT ARMIDALE. Back Row.—Ray. Pryor, Percy Godbold. D. Markham, Lloyd Dowe, Harry Page, Chas. Bowden, Chas. Rasmussen. Second row: Alf. Miller, Les. Pryor, A. Gillies, Eric Vial, D Robertson, W. White, Les. Parsons, ----(unknown)-. Third row: Alf. Cooper, Milton Parkins, Fred Mullane, R. Ogle, Bert Bradbury, F. Homewood, Clyde Irwin, R. V. Patterson, Roy Flanders. Front Row: H. Pryor, C. Sams, Norman Lambert, Claude Richardson, F. Sims, Crawford, J. Brown. Tamworth Daily Observer (NSW : 1910 - 1916), Saturday 18 September 1915 |
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| STREET PARADE IN PEEL STREET, TAMWORTH, N.S.W. - WW1 era, Kaye |
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| PATRIOTIC CARNIVAL AT TAMWORTH, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 19 April 1916 |
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| Panoramic view of Peel Street, Tamworth, New South Wales, 2 / EB Studios, 1917, National Library of Australia |
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CORPL. EDGAR RICHARDS D.C.M, aged 29 years. killed in action in France on March 27 Corpl Richards was very well known and popular in Tamworth, and prior to his enlistment was employed with P. G. Smith and Co. Ltd. ' For rescuing wounded under fire the late Corpl Richards had
been awarded the 'D C M.Daily Observer (Tamworth, NSW : 1917 - 1920), Saturday 28 April 1917 |
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| Nursing staff of Tamworth District Hospital, NSW, Daily Observer (Tamworth, NSW : 1917 - 1920), Friday 11 October 1918, |
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| John Oxley Centenary, Tamworth, NSW, A hundred years ago on 2nd September, 1818, John Oxley, Surveyor-General of New South Wales, leading a party of exploration from Bathurst, discovered and crossed the Peel River, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 11 September 1918 |
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| C Regan LTD., The Palace of Trade, Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 11 September 1918, |
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| P G Smith & Co. LTD, Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 11 September 1918 |
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| Tamworth Gaol, NSW, no date, NSW State Archives |
1920s
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| The Tamworth Council Chambers and Library, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 14 February 1923 |
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Messrs. Victor C. Thompson and R. F. Green, both Tamworth residents, who had notable successes in the recent political contest, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 14 February 1923 |
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| Tamworth Municipal Electric Power Station, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 14 February 1923 |
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| The Weir at Paradise, Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 29 February 1928 (Tamworth Swimming Club celebrated the opening of the new concrete Paradise Weir with a big carnival on February 21, 1925 |
There were Chinese growers of tobacco at Tamworth.
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| A Chinese share farmer of Tobacco, at Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 1 September 1926 |
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The biggest load of wheat drawn to Tamworth this season. There were 205 bags in all Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 16 March 1927 |
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| Post Office, Tamworth, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 29 February 1928 |
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| North West visit - Brisbane Street Tamworth (From the photograph album of L.G. Watt - NSW Board of Fire Commissioners) Dated: 30/09/1929, NSW State Archives |
1930s
Tamworth was connected to electricity in 1931.
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| Several spectacular and highly-amusing turns were given by Mr. Les Stanton, of Goonoo Goonoo-road, Tamworth, who hitched a particularly lively bullock to an improvised chariot and galloped wildly round the ring. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 12 October 1932 |
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| At the Bushmen's Carnival at Tamworth, the Royal visitor was given an insight into station life. The picture above shows a woman rider rounding up a steer. Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Monday 3 December 1934 |
2TM Tamworth's first radio station began broadcasting in 1935.
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| Peel Street, Tamworth, NSW, 1935, Donna Newton |
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| Brisbane Street, Tamworth, N.S.W. - 1930s/1940s, Central Hotel on the left corner. Kaye |
Zachariah “Jack” Kouvelis built the Tamworth Capitol Theatre in 1927.
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| Tamworth Capitol Theatre, NSW, 1930, Tamworth Regional Council finished what started on that shameful night. It ordered that the theatre be bulldozed on the same morning it was declared a heritage building (1.). |
On 22 September 1939, Peel Barracks (former town hall) became a recruiting depot for the Army.
1940s and WWII
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| Railway Hotel in Tamworth, N.S,W, - circa 1940, Kaye |
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| Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW : 1915 - 1954), Saturday 6 July 1940 |
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| In Match Against Tamworth. E. Widders, an Aboriginal man, was selected as full-back for New England Rugby League. representative team, to play Tamworth at Armidale, NSW, Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser Friday 23 May 1941 |
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| Pte. D. V. C. Cook, of Tamworth, missing. Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), Sunday 27 July 1941 |
The 2TM (Tamworth) Women’s Radio Club met throughout the 1940s, regarding child welfare.
During World War II, Tamworth was the location of RAAF No.20 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942, and closed on 14 June 1944.
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| Youngest RAAF man to command aBomber Squadron is WING-COMMANDER JOHN KEITH DOUGLAS, DFC, of Tamworth, NSW (above). Aged 22, Border Morning Mail (Albury, NSW : 1938 - 1949), Friday 21 July 1944, |
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| NATIVE stretcher case given a cigarette by Corporal D. Wright, of Tamworth (N.S.W.), in New Guinea. — Department of Information picture. Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Monday 27 March 1944. The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. |
Tamworth
was proclaimed a city in 1946.
East-West Airlines was founded in Tamworth in 1947.
The Institution for Boys, later renamed Endeavour House, was establsihed in 1947. It was a place of punishment for boys aged 15 to 18, who absconded from other boys' homes. Some of Australia's most infamous criminals were sent to this cruel institution, including, Arthur Stanley "Neddy" Smith, George Freeman, Kevin Crump, James Finch, Archibald McCafferty and Billy Munday.
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| Tamworth Railway Refreshment Room, NSW - interior showing counter and dining tables. Dated: 17 March 1949, NSW State Archives |
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| Florence Bowden was born in 1893, in Terry Hie Hie, New South Wales, Australia. She had at least 1 son and 1 daughter with Jack Munro. She died in 1987, at the age of 94, and was buried in Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia. Florence “Granny” Munro moved to Tamworth in the 1940s, and formed a branch of the Australian Inland Mission Women's Fellowship. Granny Munroe was the Tamworth Citizen of the Year. Granny Munro Park is in West Tamworth |
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| NRMA Motoring and Services 1950s, Tamworth, NSW, 1950s, NRMA Motoring and Services |
1950s
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| Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 20 June 1952 (The word "spastic" has been largely erased from popular English usage) |
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| Peel Street, Tamworth, NSW, Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Monday 13 September 1954 |
1960s
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| ANZ Bank Tamworth, NSW, in 1960s, Attribution: PCovell |
1970s
The first Australasian Country Music Festival was hosted in Tamworth by radio station 2TM in 1973.
1988
The Golden Guitar
was erected on Sydney Road in 1988, and unveiled by Slim Dusty.
1990s
Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre opened in 1999.
2000s
Tamworth accepts asylum seekers and refugees. The majority of these refugees would be Sudanese.
2020
Tamworth became the New Zealand Warriors Temporary Training and Isolation facility during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
2021
Federal Member of parliament, Bob Katter, was refused entry into a licensed venue in Tamworth, for failing to provide his double COVID-19 vaccination status.
In 2022, one of eastern
Australia's largest hemp crops, for textile and building use, was harvested 10 kilometres from the middle of Tamworth.
Around Tamworth
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| Post Office, Tamworth, NSW, built 1886 |
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| Tamworth Train Station and Boer War Memorial, Tamworth NSW. opened 1882 |
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| Family Hotel, Tamworth, NSW.Corner of Bridge & Belmont Streets, Tamworth. The original hotel was established in 1878. Jan Smith |
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| Bank building, erected in 1892, as the Bank of NSW, Tamworth, NSW |
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| Central Hotel, Tamworth, NSW, built in the late 1930s |
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| The Courthouse Hotel, Tamworth, NSW, established in 1876 |
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| The Golden Guitar was erected in front of the Longyard Hotel on Sydney Road in 1988, Tamworth, NSW |
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| The Dominican Convent Building was built in 1880 – 82, Tamworth, NSW (amworth Regional Conservatorium of Music) |
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| The Shepherd's Hut was built in the 1840s. The property owned by the A.A. Company was divided into 34 runs and a shepherd's hut, Tamworth Historical Society: Calala Cottage Museum |
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| Designed and built by Philip Gidley King in 1875, Tamworth Historical Society: Calala Cottage Museum |
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| Tamworth Town Hall, NSW, opened in 1934 |
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| St Nicholas Catholic Church Tamworth, NSW, built 1877 |
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| Calrossy Anglican School (Calrossy), was established in 1919, Tamworth, NSW |
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| Zachariah "Jack" Kouvelis built the Regent Theatre in 1938, Tamworth, NSW |
Things To Do and Places To Go
Tamworth Heritage Walk
Tamworth Hospital Nursing and Medical Museum
Calala Cottage Museum
Australian Country Music Hall of Fame
The Powerhouse Motorcycle Museum