Uralla is located in New England High
Country, 501km north of Sydney and 485km south of Brisbane.
The name "Uralla" comes from the local Aniwan people, and means ceremonial meeting place.
The Anaiwan Aboriginal People
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| Aboriginal man with spear |
1830s
Saumarez Station,
established about five kilometres south of Armidale, was one of the earliest grazing runs established on the New England tablelands during the 1830s.
Arriving in New South Wales in 1825, Henry Dumaresq was a former army officer and brother-in-law of Governor Ralph Darling. His run established in 1834,
covered the area that is now the town of Uralla.
1850s
Samuel McCrossin built the first house in Uralla in 1850, a roadside inn at the creek in Queen St.
A small gold find started a mini gold rush to the district.at the Rocky River field in 1852.
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| Hobarton Mercury (Tas. : 1854 - 1857), Wednesday 27 August 1856 |
The
village was gazetted in 1855. By 1859, Uralla had three hotels, a post office and small school.
Chinese miners outnumbered Europeans on the streets of Uralla. Most planned to get rich and return home to China.
1860s
Uralla was opened up for selectors in the
early 1860s.
Uralla Public School began in 1862. The school first opened in a little slab
building with a shingle roof, measuring 22ft. by 14ft., rented from Mrs. Paul Kirkwod.
In 1868, a new. school building and teacher's residence were erected at a cost of £750. Towards this sum the residents contributed £245, or one-third, as was the general condition for the erection of a country school in those days. (
1.)
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| An 1866 photo of Uralla, NSW |
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| Uralla, NSW, 1867 |
1870s
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| Blanche's Inn, the old wooden hotel near Uralla connected to Thunderbolt the bushranger |
On the afternoon of 25 May 1870, Captain Thunderbolt, the
infamous bushranger (real name Fred Ward), who had been in the area for the Uralla races, made his way to Blanch's Inn on the main road. Arriving early in the afternoon he was met by the son of John Blanch who told him that his parents had not yet
returned from the races. Riding the approximately 300 metres (980 ft) to Split Rock he waited for the Blanchs and after bailing them up and robbing them, he accompanied them back to the inn.
Thunderbolt was pursued by Constable Walker, of the Uralla police. The bushranger fired at the constable, who returned the shots, killing both Thunderbolt and his horse. The shooting took place near Blanche's Inn, between Uralla and Bendemeer. Constable Walker later rose to the rank of inspector.
Thunderbolt's partner and wife, Mary Ann Bugg, was the daughter of a convict named James Bugg and an Aboriginal Worimi woman
named Charlotte. She was well educated for the times and taught the illiterate Thunderbolt to read.
Mary Ann was very proud to be married to Captain Thunderbolt and called herself the Captain's Lady. With her help Captain Thunderbolt evaded capture for six years.
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Frederick_Wordsworth_Ward alias Captain Thunderbolt
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| Mary Ann Bugg (7 May 1834 – 22 April 1905) |
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| Thunderbolt's Rock is a heritage-listed rock and now picnic site and tourist attraction located adjacent to the New England Highway in Uralla, NSW |
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| Uralla, NSW, 1871, Australian Town and Country Journal |
Phoenix Foundry was founded in 1872 when it was known as the Uralla Foundry or The New England Brass and Iron Lace Foundry. It maybe Australia's oldest operating foundry.
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| McCrossins Mill, Uralla NSW. Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919) Sat 25 Apr 1874 |
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| Alexander Mitchell who built McCrossins Mill built the original public School in Uralla. later it became Matron McMaugh's Hospital. Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919) Sat 25 Apr 1874 |
Alexander Mitchell who built McCrossins Mill also built the original public School in Uralla. Later it became Matron McMaugh's Hospital.
1880s
The railway arrived in 1882.
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| Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 1 September 1888 |
1890s
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| Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser (NSW : 1856 - 1861; 1863 - 1889; 1891 - 1954), Tuesday 18 December 1894 |
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| Armidale Chronicle (NSW : 1894 - 1929), Wednesday 22 January 1896 |
1900s
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| View of Uralla, N.S.W. - very early 1900s, (Kaye) |
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MR. O. CARTER'S BUSINESS PREMISES. Uralla and District. Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 21 September 1904 |
The resources of the Uralla district are mainly pastoral, such well-known grazing properties as Mr. A. A. Dangar's Gostwyck Mr. Fletcher's Kentucky, the estate of the late R. Vickers' Goldsworth, and Mr. R. Hudson's Balala, being within its confines. (
2.)
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| Public School, Uralla. Postcard with seasons greetings sent from Aberdeen to Frank F. Moore Esquire, Bishop's Bridge, Maitland, 22 Dec 1906. Special Collections |
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| Hill Street, Uralla.Postcard, [n.d.] |
WWI
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| Studio portrait of 1327 Corporal (Cpl) James Cameron, 2nd Reinforcements, 1st Battalion, of Uralla, New England, NSW. Pte Cameron enlisted on 1 October 14 and embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Themistocles on 22 December 1914. He died of wounds on 6 September 1915, aged 29 years.AWM |
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| Trooper Robert J. Foster, D.C.M. THIS soldier beongs to Goldsworth, Uralla, New South Wales. He left Sydney last December with the 6th Light. Horse, and saw a good deal of fighting around Anzac before he was wounded. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 27 October 1915 |
John Henry, in 1918, established and operated machinery that supplied Uralla with electric light and power for many years.
1920s
10kms south of Uralla & 3kms off the highway is the historic village of Kentucky, established as soldiers settlement blocks after WW1.
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| Kentucky Soldiers' Settlement Estate - railway station with school building in background Dated: by 31/12/1921. Museums of History NSW |
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| AT THE URALLA SHOW, N.S.W. competitors in the class for Ladies' Hacks. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 22 February 1922 |
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| SCENE DURING THE GRAND PARADE AT THE URALLA SHOW. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 22 February 1922 |
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| Uralla Times (NSW : 1923 - 1954), Thursday 4 September 1924, |
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| Uralla Times (NSW : 1923 - 1954), Thursday 4 September 1924, |
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| Uralla Times (NSW : 1923 - 1954), Monday 19 December 1927 |
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| Uralla Times (NSW : 1923 - 1954), Monday 19 December 1927 |
1930s
Country Women's Association
NEW SOUTH WALES AND QUEENSLAND ACTIVITIES
URALLA REST KOOM.
Uralla rest room Is open free to all country women, whether members of tho C.W.A. or not.
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| Uralla Times (NSW : 1923 - 1954), Thursday 23 October 193 |
Farmer and Settler (Sydney, NSW : 1906 - 1955), Saturday 8 March 1930 |
| Uralla Times (NSW : 1923 - 1954), Thursday 23 October 1930 |
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| Uralla Times (NSW : 1923 - 1954), Monday 27 July 1931 (Australia was affected badly during the period of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Depression began with the Wall Street crash of 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide.) |
1940s and WWII
1950s
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| Uralla Times (NSW : 1923 - 1954), Thursday 25 May 1950 |
Around Uralla
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| McCrossins Mill is a heritage-listed former mill and store and now museum at Salisbury Street, Uralla. Built by Alexander Mitchell for John McCrossin in 1870 |
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Uralla Train Station, NSW, opened on 2 August 1882 when the line was extended from Kootingal
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| 11Kms east of Uralla, NSW, along a windy road but well worth the detour. All Saints Anglican Church was built in 1921 |
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| Chinese heritage exhibit at McCrossins Mill, Uralla, NSW |
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| "Foxwood", a magnificent two-story heritage home built in 1891, Uralla, NSW |
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| Thunderbolt Inn hotel Uralla NSW. Built 1909 |
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| Uralla NSW |
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| Uralla NSW |
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| Uralla Memorial Institute, Built by C G Cooper in 1910 and licensed as the Tattersalls Hotel. In 1920, the interior was gutted by fire and abandoned. The Uralla sub-branch of the RSL, the trustees of the old Literary Institute and members of the Country Women's Association had the derelict rebuilt in 1927 and officially recognised as a First World War Memorial Literary Institute. |
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Uralla, NSW, Built 1892 for Australian Joint Stock Bank (AJS) After demise of that bank, the building was occupied from 1907 by The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited. Following merger with National Bank of Australasia in 1982, it continued as a bank until 1995, when it became a private residence John
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Uralla Heritage Walk
McCrossins Mill: The brick and granite flour mill built in 1870, which now houses a multi-award winning museum.
Uralla Foundry Museum
Captain Thunderbolt's grave is in the Uralla Pioneer Cemetery. The cemetery is located at Uralla Square, Uralla,
