Forbes in the Central West of NSW, is located between Parkes and West Wyalong, 378 km from Sydney.
Wiradjuri People
The Forbes area is part of the Wiradjuri territory.
Most Aboriginal people lived a highly mobile lifestyle, moving about according to seasons and availibilty of food sources, in extended family groups, of between 10 to 50 people.
Mostly, men would hunt animals and women would collect seeds and plants to eat, using knowledge passed down the generations.
Grinding plates called a "nardoo stone" were used by Wiradjuri people to grind grass seeds to make a kind-of damper-like bread that could be cooked in the fire. Yams and roasted possum were staple foods of the Wiradjuri people.
Possums were also used to make skin cloaks that would be worn, turned fur inward, in the winter months.
Healing and sickness were treated by a "magic man" who used sorcery, but
bush medicine was also used, such as Eucalyptus leaves for body pains and fevers.
 |
| BOGAN AND LACHLAN RIVER ABORIGINEES. Science of man and journal of the Royal Anthropological Society of Australasia.Vol. 4 No. 9 (22 October 1901) |
1800s
In 1815, Surveyor General John Oxley found the Lachlan River south of Bathurst. Three years later, he followed this river for three days westward to a place he
named Camp Hill, which would become Forbes. He said, "impossible to imagine a worse country".
 |
| The Lachlan River (Wiradjuri: Kalari, Galiyarr) |
1830sSquatters moved into the area from 1834.
Major Thomas Mitchell passed through Forbes in 1836.
1860sIn 1861, the population was 124.
Forbes First Cemetery was established in 1861, near the old Victoria Lead. The first timber framed Anglican Church opened in 1861.
Harry Stephens, also known as "German Harry", discovered gold at Black
Ridge in June 1861 and made £40,000, but soon only had his horse. At this time, Forbes was a tent city.
The first discovery of gold was
made on the surface, but soon some rich
alluvial leads were discovered, and by 1862
the rush had attracted a population of
about 8,1,000 people. Men of all nationalities
congregated here, and the usual life of a
great diggings was the result. (1.)
The police barracks at Camp Hill were finished. They were built of sawn timber, with shingled roof,
and contained a large canteen for the use of the mounted police. (1861) (2.)
The gold was taken by armed police escort to Bathurst and then to Sydney.
Forbes was connected to the telegraph in 1862.
The biggest gold heist in our nation's history occurred after the gold escort left Forbes in June 1862. At Eugowra, Frank Gardiner stuck up the Royal Mail in 1862 and relieved the escort of £14,000.
The first courthouse completed in 1863. And, the first Methodist services began in 1863.
The gold rush was over in 1863 but a few thousand people remained in Forbes which grew into a regional service centre.
 |
| Ilawarra Mercury (Wollongong, NSW : 1856 - 1950), Tuesday 20 February 1866 |
In 1866, the orginal Forbes Hospital was built.
The first meeting having for its object the
establishment of a School of Arts at Forbes
was held in February 1867. (3.)
Ben Hall was born in 1837 and was a cattleman before his life of crime. Accompanied by Frank Gardiner and his gang, they were often in the Forbes area. Hall was shot by police in 1865 and is buried in the Forbes Cemetery.
1870s
Forbes was proclaimed a municipality in 1870.
The earliest Gothic part of Forbes School was built in 1870.
 |
| Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 12 October 1878 |
1880sThe second courthouse in Victorian Italianate style was built in 1880.
 |
| Forbes Court House, no date. The second courthouse was built in Forbes in 1880, that replaced an earlier construction, completed in 1863. https://www.flickr.com/photos/state-records-nsw/ |
 |
The Forbes Lock-up, NSW, no date, Museums NSW
|
1890sForbes railway station opened on 18 December 1893.
There are 31 hotels in Forbes, (
4.)
 |
| Carnsley Stock and Station Agent, Forbes, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 13 January 1894 |
 |
| Globe Hotel, Forbes, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 13 January 1894 |
 |
| THE UNION BANK OF AUSTRALASIA, Forbes, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 13 January 1894, |
 |
| The Court House Hotel, Forbes, NSW, Forbes, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 13 January 1894, |
 |
| Forbes, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 13 January 1894 |
 |
Forbes, NSW - outside the Post Office Hotel - [picture] Ryan & Thompson, 1893-5
INITIATION CEREMONIES OF THE WIRADJURI.TRIBES. By R. H. MATHEWS, was written 1896 describing the social organization of Wiradjuri clans. Read here |
 |
| The Grand Stand, Forbes Showground, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 16 January 1897 |
 |
| Office of the Forbes Times, establsihed in 1861, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 28 August 1897 |
 |
| Nicolas and Reymond established a partnership as sawmillers and general merchants and then built a flour-mill. In 1866 Reymond took up a 300 acre selection on the Lachlan which he called 'Champsaur'. He established a vineyard and in 1886 began commercial production of wine. (Forbes, NSW) Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 16 January 1897 |
 |
| Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 16 January 1897 |
Kate Kelly, the sister of bushranger Ned Kelly, lived at Forbes and drowned in a lagoon of the Lachlan River in 1898. (Read,
Mrs Kelly by Grantlee Kieza)
Lands Office at Forbes built 1898.
 |
| Forbes Fire Brigade Station, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Saturday 23 July 1898 |
 |
| HIS EXCELLENCY OPENING FORBES SHOW (Earl Beauchamp) .Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 12 August 1899 |
1900s
Vandenberg Hotel was the Court House Hotel run by Thomas Vandenberg, after his passing in 1903, the pub was renamed.
The School of Arts building erected in 1908.
 |
| Forbes Golf Club, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 13 September 1902 |
 |
| Mining in the Forbes District, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 2 September 1903 |
 |
| HALF-SQUADRON MOUNTED RIFLES, UNDER CAPTAIN ROBERTSON, IN FRONT OF FORBES TOWN HALL, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 3 June 1903 |
 |
| Forbes, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 3 June 1903 |
 |
| Forbes Picnic Club, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 18 May 1904 |
Forbes Aboriginal Reserve was gazetted in 1909.
 |
| Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Wednesday 24 March 1909 |
 |
| Visitors arriving at the Forbes Show, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 24 August 1910 |
 |
| J. DONAGHEY'S IRONMONGERY AND FURNITURE DEPOT. FORBES< NSW. Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 5 April 1911 |
 |
| JOHNSON AND SONS' CYCLING DEPOT AND INTEIUOR VIEW OF THE ENGINEERING WORKS. Forbes, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 5 April 1911 |
 |
| HUNTER AND PHILLIPS'S BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENT , GROCERY AND IRONMONGERY DEPARTMENTS. Forbes, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 5 April 1911 |
 |
| Albion Hotel, Forbes, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 5 April 1911 |
 |
| J Manson and Co at Forbes, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 5 April 1911 |
 |
| Forbes Advocate (NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 15 December 1911 |
 |
| Three Aboriginal women at the Lachlan River, at low tide, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 30 July 1913 |
 |
| TRACTION ENGINES DRAWING LUCERNE HAY GROWN AT NANIMA NEAR FORBES, NSW, .Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), Friday 23 May 1913 |
 |
| A Relic of the Gold Rush Days.-Ruins of the first gold commissioner's official residence on the northern banks of the Lachlan River, South Forbes.Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 20 August 1913 |
 |
| Aboriginal Arborglyph on Cadow Station (Cadow Station, which extended from the Lachlan River to Humbug Creek). Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 3 September 1913 |
 |
| Nangar (Mountain) Jimmy Clements. The last full-blood of the Eugowra section of the Calare (Lachlan River) Tribe. Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 1 October 1913 ( Jimmy Clements, or 'King Billy' as he was popularly known, attendended the opening of Parliament House in Canberra in 1927 to demonstrate his "sovereign rights to the Federal Territory" |
WWI
 |
| The "Boomerangs" [recruitment marches, 1915-1916] during their march through Forbes - Forbes, NSW, by Howes Studios, SLNSW |
 |
| Private G A Hoswell (of Forbes), Killed in Action. Forbes Advocate (NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 20 September 1918 |
 |
| Ladies of the Forbes Follies, Forbes Times (NSW : 1899 - 1902; 1912 - 1920), Tuesday 23 July 1918 |
1920sThe library was built in 1923 as the Literary Institute.
 |
| Forbes Masonic Temple, recently erected, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 3 October 1923 |
 |
| Everyones.Vol.6 No.383 (6 July 1927) |
 |
| Th Power Station at Forbes, NSW, Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), Thursday 2 February 1928 |
1930s |
| Western Age (Dubbo, NSW : 1933 - 1936), Friday 9 February 1934, |
 |
| Forbes Advocate (NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 12 July 1935 |
Jemalong Weir construction began in 1936, to divert water by gravity fed irrigation for stock production and domestic use.
1940s and WWII
Forbes ammunition works employed 350
people. |
| Pte. L. F. Morris, 20, single, of Queen Street, Forbes, son of Mr. and Mrs. T. Morris, of Forbes, reported missing since Crete; formerly junior porter at Sprlnghlll railway station; two uncles fought In the last war.Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Monday 14 July 1941 |
 |
| Mrs. T. W. Clarke, 66 Templar St., Forbes, seeks news of her husband, Private T. W. Clarke (Bing). Last heard of in Malaya.Daily Mirror (Sydney, NSW : 1941 - 1955), Thursday 25 June 1942 |
 |
| Forbes Advocate (NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 26 November 1943 |
 |
| Watching the polo at Forbes, NSW, Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Sunday 27 June 1948 |
 |
A good sample of Canoe Tree (from which (A)aborigines have cut the bark for a canoe) on the Lachlan River, New South Wales. Walkabout.Vol. 12 No. 9 (1 July 1946) ( the bark removed by Aboriginal Australians for the creation of bark canoes, shelters, weapons)
|
1950s |
| Floods at Forbes, NSW, Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), Wednesday 5 April 1950, |
 |
| Floods at Forbes, NSW, Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), Thursday 6 April 1950, |
 |
| Daily Mirror (Sydney, NSW : 1941 - 1955), Monday 23 June 1952 |
 |
| Forbes District Hospital, NSW, Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 9 May 1952 |
1970sThe Lachlan Vintage Village at Forbes opened on 17 May 1975. See
here2000s The Forbes council ordered that the fire-damaged Albion Hotel be demolished in 2009. The Albion was built in 1869 and rebuilt in 1889 and was a Cobb & Co. stage post. Tunnels under the Albion were used during the gold rush to transport gold and money to the banks, to reduce the chance of theft. See the Albion Hotel in 1992 here
At the 2021 census, Forbes had a population of 9,319.
Note:
The name Wiradjuri appears to be a term created by Reverend Dr John Fraser, an Australian ethnologist and linguist during the 1890s.
According to anthropologist and ethnologist Norman Tindale, there was a "literary need for major groupings that [Fraser] set out to provide them for New South Wales, coining entirely artificial terms for his "Great tribes".
Around Forbes
 |
| This National Bank at Forbes, NSW, was erected in 1884 |
 |
| Vandenberg Hotel, Forbes, NSW, was previously known as the Court House Hotel and was run by Thomas Vandenberg for which the pub was renamed after on his passing in 1903. |
 |
| RAAF Vampire A79-109 on display at Forbes, NSW (The WW2 era designed DH.100 Vampire jet was the RAAF's first mass operational jet starting service in 1949) |
 |
| Forbes Post Office, NSW, The 1881 built Post Office with a French mansard roof on the clock tower, designed by Government architect James Barnet |
 |
Lachlan Arcade, Forbes, NSW, opened in 1892 by Jewish merchant Daniel Berger
|
 |
| Forbes Town Hall, NSW, Dame Nellie Melba once sang at Forbes Town Hall as part of her Back Blocks Tour, she hit a note so high it broke one of the windows |
 |
| Forbes, NSW, 2nd courthouse, built 1880 |
 |
| The Post Office Hotel, Forbes, NSW, was built 1864, has ashlar stone work on corner. Topped with a parapet and windows small of the 1860s era. This was rebuilt in 1897 recording both dates on facade. |
 |
| Forbes railway station, NSW, opened on 18 December 1893 |
 |
| Built for John Meagher in 1938, Forbes, NSW, Art Deco style |
 |
| Forbes, NSW. Bushranger Ben Hall was shot and killed by police near here and buried in he town cemetery in 1865. https://www.flickr.com/photos/82134796@N03/ |
 |
| The Forbes and District Historical Society Museum, NSW, is housed in 'Osborne Hall', the dance hall of the Osborne Hotel which was built circa 1878. |
Things To Do and Places To GoForbes Heritage Trail
Forbes Cemetery Historic Graveside Walk
The Forbes and District Historical Society Museum is housed in 'Osborne Hall', the dance hall of the Osborne Hotel which was built circa 1878.
Mcfeeters Motor Museum
