Historical Australian Towns: Wellington, NSW: The Second Oldest Settlement West of The Blue Mountains

Wellington, NSW, located 370 kilometres northwest of Sydney and 50 kilometres southeast of Dubbo, is the second oldest settlement west of the Blue Mountains.

The caves at Wellington are in an outcrop of Early Devonian limestone that is about 400 million years old.

Binjang of the Wiradjuri People

The Wiradjuri clan is the largest in NSW, being defined by three rivers the Lachlan (galari), Macquarie (wambool) and Murrumbidgee (murrumbidjeri).

Living by hunting, gathering and fishing in small groups of 20-40 people, the Wirdjuri met with other groups for ceremonies, feasts, and to resolve disputes.

Aboriginal people hunting water birds in the rushes, Joseph Lycett, 1813, SLNSW

Native of New South Wales from Wellington Valley [picture] / [Augustus Earle. showing part of the, [ca. 1826], SLNSW

The Wiradjuri language, which is closely related to the Ngiyampaa language to the west and Gamilaraay to the north was spoken across a wide area of central NSW. ( In 1992 Stan Grant Sr initiated the Wiradjuri Language Reclamation).

Baiame is the creation ancestor from the sky who arrived with his emu-wife Birrahgnooloo and created the rivers, mountains, and forests and gave people laws of life, traditions, songs, and culture. A giant serpent called Kurrea also travelled about and created the landscape.

Sacred sites are connected to heroes known as jin, of which there are of least 18. The jin are connected to an animal or plant (totems) and Wiradjuri people would inherit their jin from their mother. A person's jin regulated who they could marry and came with the responsibility of caring for the sacred sites associated with the jin.

Fossils later discovered at the Wellington Caves of a species of bat were named Macroderma koppa after Koppa a mythological spirit that Aboriginal people associate with the caves.

“Wiradjuri people of central NSW carved complex designs into trees to mark the burial site of a celebrated man whose passing had a devastating effect on the community. It has been suggested that the carvings were associated with the cultural heroes admired by the man in life and were thought to provide a pathway for his spirit to return to the skyworld”. (1.)

Australian Broadcasting Commission. 1939, ABC weekly ABC, Sydney

Aboriginal carved tree, Australian Broadcasting Commission. 1939, ABC weekly ABC

Male initiation ceremonies (burbung) were held on Mt Canobolas and stone tools have been found at sites on the mountain.

A Wiradjuri Burbung male initiation ceremony, was recorded by the Australian anthropologist R.H. Mathews in 1896.

An Aboriginal initiation ceremony, Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930)

An Aboriginal initiation ground, Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930)

Coolamons, made from the outer bark of a tree trunk, were used by Aboriginal women to carry fresh water, roots, vegetables and babies. A piece of the outer bark of the tree was removed and then moulded over the fire to give it its distinctive curved sides.

Evidence of Aboriginal occupation in the region includes, 13 scarred trees, a stone arrangement, a carved tree, and a bora ground.

The oldest date for an Aboriginal site in the region is taken from two rock shelters 60km southeast of Wellington. This site is dated to 7150 BCE.

1800s

The explorer G W Evans travelled in the region, southwest of Bathurst in November 1813. Looking Northwest, he saw what he described as “high, distant mountains”; probably part of Mt Canobolas (Aboriginal name: Coona Boloo --twin heads or two shoulders).

In 1817 and 1818, Surveyor-General Oxley travelled through the area to the east of Orange. He later described the region as "soil rich, country beautiful", which led to a flood of settlers to the region.

John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828)] was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation.

Surveyor Meehan passed to the west of Orange in 1820.

Settlement west of Bathurst began 1823.

In January 1823, Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane commissioned Lieutenant Percy Simpson to establish a settlement in the Wellington Valley and command a convict station.

Accompanied by James Blackman, Simpson drove to the new area through present-day Orange (Blackman's Swamp) towards Wellington. John Blackman's name, is remembered by Blackman's Swamp (now Robertson Park in Orange).

Surveyor and explorer (Sir) Thomas Mitchell declared of Percy Simpson that he knew of "no other officer in the Colony to whom I could with better expectation as to the results, entrust any work connected with the formation of roads, bridges and streets".

The Wellington Valley Settlement Site, located in the valley formed by the junction of the Bell and Macquarie rivers, was established as a convict agricultural station in 1823 to supply food to the Sydney colony.

Within three years, 120 hectares (300 acres) of land were under cultivation, and 40 buildings had been constructed by 80 convicts.

Tensions between Aboriginal people settlers in the Bathurst region resulted in Governor Brisbane declaring martial law for a period in 1824. However, at Wellington, relations were amicable.

Wellington was named after the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

Government House, offices, military barracks, accommodation for convicts and staff, a blacksmith shop and stores were built, and later, a lime kiln and stockyards.. There are no remains of these buildings left today.

Botanist Allan Cunningham visited Wellington in 1825, collecting plant specimens.

In 1826, Governor Darling established an area known as the "limits of location", outside which settlement was not permitted. This area comprised 19 counties stretching from north of the Hunter Valley to Yass in the south and west to Wellington. Squatters, however, took their stock beyond these limits, taking up large tracts of land.

Governor Darling began an annual distribution of blankets and ready-made clothing ("slop") in 1826 to replace possum skin cloaks usually worn by Aboriginal people. Lots of information can be found in these "Blanket lists", such as an individual’s English name, Native name, probable age, number of wives, children, Tribe, and district.

The artist Augustus Earle travelled to Wellington in 1826 and produced various watercolours.

A native family of New South Wales sitting down on an English settlers farm, possibly in the Wellington area of NSW [Augustus Earle]

Mosman's Cave Wellington Valley, New South Wales, 1826, [Augustus Earle]

In 1827, the Wellington settlement became the destination for "the better sort of Convicts’ or "specials" (educated convicts), who actually knew nothing about farming. (Brisbane to Bathurst, 1823). Governor Darling later wrote "‘Educated Convicts’, as they are termed, which includes those transported for Forgery ..."

The explorer Hamilton Hume in 1828, first described the Wellington Caves. Of the Cathedral Cave, he wrote that "the inside of the cave is beautifully formed and some parts of it are supported by pillars 50 feet high and beautifully carved by nature".

Captain Charles Sturt also visited Wellington Valley in 1828 and reported on the caves.

1830s

George Ranken, a local magistrate, found fossil bones of both a diprotodon and a giant kangaroo in the caves (megafauna) in 1830, nothing like them had been seen before by Europeans in Australia.

The caves have the skeletal remains of marsupial lions, diprotodon (three-tonne wombats), giant kangaroos and seven-metre-long carnivorous goannas. Bone fragments and fossils are embedded in the walls.

THE DIPROTODON : THE GIANT MARSUPIAL OF AUSTRALIA, RECONSTRUCTED FROM REMAINS DISCOVERED. Australia's giant 'wombat', the Diprotodon, first unearthed in 1830 in Wellington Caves, NSW. It was widespread across Australia when the first Aboriginal people arrived. Became extinct about 25,000 years ago. Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946)

Major Thomas Mitchell, explorer and surveyor, spent 13 days exploring the caves and then made drawings, cave maps and sketches.

Mitchell sent samples of fossils and bones from the caves to the British Museum and gave a talk to the Geological Society of London in 1831. The interest of eminent scientists was aroused, such as Charles Darwin.

A corroboree was also held at the convict station, which Major Thomas Mitchell attended in 1830.

When the convict settlement closed at Wellington in 1830, the land and buildings were given to the Christian Missionary Society to Christianise the Aboriginal people of the district. The convicts were relocated or assigned to settlers.

Wellington Valley was the first mission in Australia to employ ordained Germans.

Smallpox, called “Thunna Thunna” by the Aboriginal people, devastated the Wiradjuri people of the region in 1830. John Mair, a surgeon sent by the authorities from Sydney, wrote, “the disease had finished its work of desolation, and left only its traces behind” by the time he arrived.

The Wiradyuri held a special corroboree for the following few years to Baiame the creator, in response to this devastation.

Wellington Valley, New South Wales, looking east from Government House [picture] / [Augustus Earle], Augustus Earle, watercolour c. 1826–7

Capt. John Henderson, a geologist and military surgeon, visited Welling about 1832 and recorded one of the earliest descriptions of Baiame and other Aboriginal deities. He also interviewed several Wiradjuri from Wellington and he described an initiation ceremony.

Aboriginal people have been referred to as the Wellington Wiradjuri.

Records show that a blanket distribution, to Aboriginal people, occurred at Wellington on 29 August 1830.

Joseph Montefiore, a Jewish businessman from London, arrived in NSW in 1829. In 1834, he received a land grant (free) of 2,560 acres in the Wellington Valley, which he named Nanima. He was assigned convicts and by 1838, he owned 12,500 acres. In 1838, Montefiore tried to establish a village

The Aboriginal Mission, the first Anglican mission in Australia, was established at the former convict station at Wellington on the site of Maynggu Ganai in 1832 by Reverend William Watson, Reverend Johann Handt and their wives. There was much quarrelling amongst the missionaries.

The missionaries, however, recorded the Wiradyuri languages their observations of Wiradyuri traditions and way of life.

Severe drought made it almost impossible to provide enough food for the mission. And Rev. Watson, after learning of settlers corrupting Aboriginal girls, tried to bring the girls to the Mission but he was viewed as a kidnapper among the Aboriginal women. This led to his dismissal.

A dictionary was compiled by Reverend Gunther, who spent six years at the Anglican mission at Wellington Valley from 1837, of the Wiradyuri language.

In 1838, some of the buildings at the Wellington settlement were used by the police, there were several constables and the Mounted Police.

The earliest known Aboriginal camp in the Wellington district, known as Blacks Camp, appears to be part of Rev. Watson's new Mission after he was dismissed. The new site Apsley Mission was also known as the Blake's Fall Mission.

Rev. Watson wished to teach in the Wiradjuri language, but the Corresponding Committee in Sydney were concerned at the expense of printing Wiradjuri primers. He reverted to teaching in English.

Between 1839 and 1840, A bushranger nicknamed Blue Cap, who wore a straw hat, a black dress coat and vest, and who had about 15 convicts in his gang, terrorised the Wellington district.

Bushranging days, Truth (Sydney, NSW : 1894 - 1954)

1840s

The village of Montefiore was established on the north side of the Macquarie River crossing in 1840. The village of Wellington was proclaimed in 1842.

The police relocated to Montefiore in 1842, which was the main settlement of the time. However, in 1846, there were only two houses, two hotels and four shops at Montefiore, as the land was leased land and settlers could not buy freehold land.

The Lion of Waterloo Hotel at Montefiore, which still survives, was first licensed hotel in 1842 and built the year before by a Belgian named Nicholas Hyeronimus of cypress pine logs and corrugated iron.

Nicolas Hyeronimus (Dinant, Namur, Wallonia, 1 January 1808 – Sydney, New South Wales, 27 June 1860)

The original Wellington Settlement and Mission was abandoned in 1844–45. The remains of buildings were used by settlers or sold. A brick-lined well remains.

Corroboree, Wellington Valley 1847. Drawing by William Curtis. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), Monday 25 September 1848

1850s

Much of the original Wellington Settlement and Mission was sold off as small farms in the 1850s.

Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954),

In April 1851, the first payable gold in Australia was discovered at Ophir, about 87.2 km from Wellington via Burrendong Way, and this rush almost depopulated the village of Montefiore.

In about 1854, Nicholas Hyeronimus built the homestead The Meeting of the Waters (now named Glenrock) on land west of the Bell River near Wellington.

A small gold rush occurred at Wellington in 1856.

ydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Monday 5 May 1856

Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), Monday 18 May 1857

1860s

Wellington Public School opened in Sep, 1861 with 36 students.

The first Wellington Hospital building opened on 1 January 1863..

Gerard Krefft, Curator of the Australian Museum, conducted two separate extensive excavations of the Wellington Caves in 1866 and 1869, collecting many significant fossil specimens for the museum.

A Catholic stone church was built in 1864. The Bank of NSW opened their first branch in 1865.

Cobb & Co commenced a coach service through the town in 1865.

The Anglican Church, designed by architect Edmund Blacket, was completed in 1867.

John the Baptist Anglican Church, Wellington, NSW

From 1869 to 1881, deep shafts extracted gold worth over £26,000 at Wellington.

The original Post Office opened in 1869. The five arched arcade and the second storey were added in 1904.

1870s

The Wellington Caves were opened to the public in the 1870s and were already a popular tourist destination by the time the phosphate mine was established.

Photograph of Gertrude Porter (Hutchinson). She married Robert Porter. Moved to Wellington, NSW, along with their children and here Robert established the Wellington Gazette (later the Wellington Gazette and Western Districts Advertiser). The paper ran from 1874 until 1907

Gipps Street, Montefiores. (Wellington) Circa 1870. SLNSW

Post Office, Telegraph (and Courthouse), Wellington, N.S.W. 1870-1875

Percy Street, Wellington, N.S.W, 1870-1875

1880s

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), Wednesday 2 June 1880

The Bank of NSW building was constructed in 1883 on the corner of Warne and Percy Streets. Now a museum.

In 1884 the Wellington Caves were declared a natural reserve. Tours commenced about 1885 with the appointment of the first caretaker, James Sibbald. The Cathedral Cave is famous for its huge stalagmite known as Altar Rock which is 32 metres in circumference at its base and over 15 metres high.

Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Monday 21 June 1880

The Wellington Times is a newspaper published in Wellington since 1889.

1890s

William Suey Ling and his wife Alice ran Fong Lee and Co warehouse and department store for 40 years from 1896-1936.

Title: Class Z1222 (C79) No.148 locomotive at the Wellington Depot (NSW), no date, Museums of History NSW - State Archives Collection

Mr J P Clifford, Mayor of Wellington, NSW. Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 12 August 1899

Welling Waterworks, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 12 August 1899

Catholic Aboriginal Mission, Wellington, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 12 August 1899

Gazette Office, Wellington, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 12 August 1899

Mr J P Clifford's Store, Wellington, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 12 August 1899

Mr D Breeze' Agricultural Macheriy Depot, Wellington, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 12 August 1899

Mr James Connor's Great Central Hotel, NSWFreeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 12 August 1899

Mr John Restall's Bell Brewery, Wellington, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 12 August 1899

Messers. Sherrif and McCormick's Butchering Establishment, Wellington, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 12 August 1899

Polson's Stores, Wellington, NSW

FReidy's Railway Hotel, Wellington, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 12 August 1899

Messrs, Quirk and Mcleod's Roller Flour Mills, Wellington, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 12 August 1899

St Ignatius' Convent of Mercy, Wellington, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 12 August 1899

1900s

Wellington railway station, NSW, 1900, SLNSW

The Gaden Cave was discovered in 1902.

Wheat at Wellington, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 19 April 1902

QUIRK M'LEOD, AND CO.'S' WHEAT-SHED AT WELLINGTON, N.S.W. Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 19 April 1902

Saddler at Wellington, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919, Wednesday 17 June 1903

Flour mill at Wellington, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 17 June 1903

Newsagent, Wellington, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 17 June 1903

Postcard of Wellington Post Office, NSW, early 1900s

New hospital in Wellington, N.S.W. - 1904, Aussie Mobs

The Post Office officially opened in 1904.

Wellington Cricket Team, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 25 January 1905

Group watching the cricket at Wellington, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 25 January 1905

A visit to Wellington Caves, NSW, in 1905, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 8 March 1905

T. McCORMICK'S GRAND HOTEL, WELLINGTON, N.S.W. - very early 1900s, Aussie~mobs

Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Thursday 20 December 1906

WELLINGTON EIGHT-HOUR DAY MOVEMENT, NSW, 1905

Grandstand at the Wellington Show, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 6 May 1908

The judges of the rings events, Wellington Show, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 6 May 1908

Church of England, Wellington, N.S.W. - 1908, Aussie Mobs

The Central Butchery in Wellington, N.S.W. - 1909. Owned by Thomas J. Arneil. Aussie Mobs

Nanima Village was the first Aboriginal inland mission and is still home to more than 100 Aboriginal people. Nanima was officially established in 1910.

Wellington Aboriginal Reserve Teachers Residence, Wellington, NSW, 1910, ANU

Wellington Aboriginal Reserve Huts, 1910, Wellington, NSW, ANU

Wellington Aboriginal Reserve School, Wellington, NSW, 1910

Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Monday 11 September 1911

Forbes Advocate (NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 22 November 1912 * Traditionally, Aboriginal societies did not have kings or chiefs in the sense used by English-speaking people.

Nanima Crescent, from the Lookout, Wellington, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 29 May 1912

WWI

Private Clarence Scheragn, 19th Batt., of Bodargora Station-, via Wellington, who has seen twoveers with the A.I.F. Mirror (Sydney, NSW : 1917 - 1919), Friday 5 April 1918

Anthony Devine openied his Freezing Works in Wellington , NSW, in 1915, freezing rabbits and chickens for export

Wellington Rail Bridge over Macquarie River, New South Wales, 1915, Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons

A phosphate Mine was in production from 1914 to 1918 at the Wellington Caves, as colonies of bats had left behind tonnes of droppings (guano), rich in phosphates The mine was abandoned, after 6000 tonnes of phosphate had been removed for fertiliser.

1920s

Wellington, NSW. Harvesting wheat.1921-1924. State Library of NSW

Jack Howland's Garage, Wellington, N.S.W (built during WWI)

Wellington 1924-25. The Main Street being prepared for a celebration [possibly Empire Day].

Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Thursday 21 May 1925

Entrance to the old phosphate mine at WellingtonCaves, NW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 2 June 1926

The Main Street of Wellington, NSW, showing the park. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 19 September 1928

Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954), Monday 21 January 1929

1930s

Wellington, NSW, 1930s

The Wellington Cenotaph, NSW, Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 2 June 1933

Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Thursday 25 May 1933

The Wellington Town Band in the good old days, Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Thursday 22 March 1934

Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Thursday 26 October 1939

1940s and WWII

Service number NX70413. Ranks Held Lieutenant, Major, Second Lieutenant, Temporary Colonel, Colonel. Birth Date 05 June 1894. Birth Place Australia: New South Wales, Wellington
Death Date 1985. Final Rank Colonel. Service Australian Imperial Force. Units 5th Australian Light Horse Regiment. 7th Australian Light Horse Regiment. 7th Australian Light Horse Regiment
Australian Army Medical Corps. 2/9 Australian General Hospital. Place Wellington, NSW. Conflicts/Operations First World War, 1914-1918. Second World War, 1939-1945

Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Thursday 13 June 1940

Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), Saturday 11 July 1942

WELLINGTON'S DEMAND FOR REFERENDUM ON BANK LEGISLATION, NSW, Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Thursday 2 October 1947

Wellington, NSW, about 1940s

Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Thursday 22 April 1948

STAFF OF WELLINGTON CENTRAL SCHOOL, 1948. Standing (left to right): N. Bronger, K. Carlill, D. Sheil, F. Ring, C. Jackson, T. Steinmetz, R. Cann, W.Parkinson, A. Brown, H. Willis. Middle row: K. Taylor, F. Craft, Miss E. Wickens, Mrs. P. Jackson, J. Day,M. Taylor, G. Smith, Mrs. M. McMahon, Miss J. McGroder, Mr. L. Rich. Front row: Misses R. Brown. E.Cuthbertson, Mrs. Stewart, Miss Nelson (headmistress infants' dept.), Mr. V. Lisle (headmaster), Mr. E. Whiting (headmaster primary dept.), Misses L. O'Sullivan, C. Ryan, I. Fox, B. Roberts.Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Thursday 22 April 1948

Vegetable growing has become an important industry in Wellington district, NSW. Top quality products aregrown in this part of the State. Two local Chinese girls, Mary and Joyce Coon, are shown above with sample of excellent Quality beans. they have just picked. Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 30 April 1948

May pie dancing by district school children at the Wellington, NSW, Show, Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 30 April 1948

Mabel Ling, a district Chinoae girl, holding huge quinces exhibited by Messrs. E. and B, Rich, of CurraCrook, Wolllngton,Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 30 April 1948

Federal Hotel Wellington, NSW, 1949

Wellington Show (NSW) Secretary's wife (Mrs. Price) hands over cup to Mr. C. Woodward, owner ol Western Dixie, winner of Show Trot (lixru). Jim Whiteley (Wellington Show President) and Joe Budd (driver) are also in the picture. Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 20 May 1949

1950s

Aboriginal Australian boxer,Wally "Wait-awhile-Wal" Carr, was born 11 August 1954, in Wellington, New South Wales. Described by Boxing 1970-1980 as having "boxing ability to burn" and "outstanding skills". (see here)

Swimming Pool, Wellington (NSW), no date, Museums of History NSW - State Archives Collection

Young people's dance at Wellington, NSW, Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW : 1949 - 1953), Sunday 17 May 1953

Coronation Year Show at Wellington, NSW, Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 15 May 1953

Coronation Parade, Wellington, NSW, 1954

Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Monday 10 August 1953

1954 Wellington High Rugby League Team, NSW

1960s

Private Paul Andrew Large, born on 8 June 1945 in Wellington, New South Wales, served with the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) in Vietnam. He died at the Battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966, just ten weeks after arriving in Vietnam.

Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Monday 12 April 1954

Beth Dean, boy initiate, and Bruno Harvey, guardian, from 'Corroboree', the ballet that was presented before Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh. 'Corroboree' will be presented by the Wellingtonbranch of the Arts Council in the Monarch Hall next Wednesday night. Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Thursday 29 April 1954

1980s

Michael Pearson, as part of his PhD research, excavated a rock shelter south of Hill End (1981) that had been occupied from at least 7,000 years ago to 1200 years ago.

The old Wellington Bridge collapsed in 1989, and a windchime at the turn-off to the caves, was made from the girders.

The Lion of Waterloo Hotel was restored between 1989 and 1993.

1990s

The Wellington Caves were reconstructed and reopened for tours in 1996.

2000s

Maynggu Ganai Historic Site (Wellington Convict and Mission Site) was purchased by the government in 2001 and gazetted in July 2002.

Wellington Correctional Centre, a maximum-security prison with a mix of male and female prisoners living separately, opened in 2007.

Author Colleen McCullough was born June 1, 1937, at Wellington, New South Wales and died January 29, 2015, Norfolk Island, Australia).

In 2021, Aboriginal artefacts, including stone axes and grinding stones, were returned to Wellington, found in the 1970s. Read here

Wellington Pioneer Cemetery was inundated by floodwater in November 2021.

Floodwaters at Wellington Pioneer Cemetery, NSW, in Nov. 2021

A massive hydro-electric plant near Wellington, capable of powering 400,000 homes with renewable energy, is underway in 2022.

At Macquarie Correctional Centre, an experimental prison in Wellington, inmates convicted of crimes like murder, and terrorism, sleep in dormitory-style "pods", take art classes and get paid to design and weld furniture. (2022)

Around Wellington

The Federal Hotel, Wellington, NSW, was built in 1894

The Old Wellington District Hospital and the main ward, old kitchen block, operating theatre, old nurses home, and isolation ward, pre 1910 structures, Wellington, NSW

Wellington Railway Station, NSW

Fong Lee's Lane, Wellington, NSW

Percy Street, Wellington, NSW

Swift Street, Wellington, NSW, built in 1892 by Dr Robert Rygate

The John Fowler 7nhp Steam Road Locomotive is a heritage-listed former steam road locomotive with nominal power of 5.2 kilowatts (7 hp) and now exhibited at 9 Amaroo Drive, Wellington, NSW

Nanima Village, Wellington, NSW, was the first Aboriginal inland mission and is currently home to more than 100 Aboriginal people.

Originally the Bank of NSW, constructed in 1883. This building became the Wellington Catholic Presbytery from 1922-66, after which it became the John Oxley Museum, Wellington, NSW

Old Police Station, Corner Maughan and Percy Streets Wellington, NSW

Former Macquarie Theatre at Swift Street, Wellington, NSW

Percy Street, Wellington, NSW "Streamline Moderne" Architectural features and attached "Bills Cafe", owned by the Tarros family. Cafe founded 1938

Construction of the Wellington Courthouse, NSW, commenced in circa 1859 and was completed in circa 1861

The Lion of Waterloo in Wellington, NSW, was built in 1841 and licensed in 1842

Wellington. Great Art Deco decoration on a former residence on Percy Street near the Wellington Hotel. Aztec stepped surround to window and chevron shape panel. denisbin

Former bank, built 1927, Nanima Crescent, Wellington, NSW

Maughan St, Wellington, NSW

Former Commercial Hotel, Wellington, NSW, built 1865

"Logiealmond" in Warne St, Wellington, NSW. Once owned by Mr Murdoch McLeod

The Wellington Hotel, built in the 1880s, Wellington, NSW

Kimbell's at Wellington, NSW, was a business in Warne Street from the early 1900's servicing the community delivering bread & pastries by horse and cart