Historical Australian Towns

The Convicts Came to Australia

The Background

Hanging outside Newgate Prison

In Britain in 1688, there were 50 offences on the statute book, for which the death penalty could be imposed. By 1776, there were almost four times as many crimes punishable by death.

1776 was also the year that Britain halted transportation of convicts to its American colonies due to the outbreak of war and the Declaration of Independence.

Transportation as punishment for criminal offences was next in severity to the death sentence. The Elizabethan Act of 1597 had first introduced transportation into English law "For the punishment of Rogues, Vagabonds, and Sturdy Beggars – to be banished out of this Realm and all other Dominions thereof-".

Since the 1718 Transportation Act, about 57,000 convicts were sent to the American colonies.

British prisons became full, and prison ships called hulks were used. The first hulk used as a prison was the Tayloe, moored in the Thames in London in 1775. The Home Office, however, offered pardons to prisoners who joined the Army or Navy or voluntarily left the British Isles for the duration of their sentence.

Prison hulk HMS Success at Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Much pressure was on Home Secretary, Lord Sydney, to find an alternative destination to send convicts from the overflowing prisons.

The sloop HMS Nautilus was sent to explore the west coast of Africa and to select ''a proper spot for the making of a settlement if … judged expedient''.

Das Voltas Bay on the southwest coast of Africa was examined and judged unsuitable for a penal colony, as there was ''no bay, river or inlet but only a steep barren rocky shoreline … without … a drop of fresh water or … a tree''.

In 1783, James Matra, who had travelled on the HMS Endeavour with Captain James Cook in 1770, proposed a "Settlement at New South Wales". Cook's opinion of Matra, however, had been that he was "good for nothing".

Replica of the sailing ship HMS Endeavor, (Dennis4trigger)

Sir Joseph Banks, the famous botanist who also sailed to Australia in 1770, on the HMS Endeavour, was asked to give his advice in a report to a committee of the House of Commons about where in the world to establish a British penal colony.

Joseph Banks recommended Botany Bay as the site for a penal colony as: ''.....in every respect adequate to the purpose''. Although, Banks had described the site in his journals as being swampy, with sandy soil.

James Cook died in 1779 and was involved in exploration rather than colonisation.

Orders Issued

On August 18 1786, Lord Sydney instructed Treasury to: ''forthwith'' provide ''a proper number of vessels for the conveying of 750 convicts to Botany Bay''.

The First Fleet of 11 ships left Portsmouth on 13 May 1787 with more than 1480 men, women and children on board. As well as British and Irish convicts, there were African, American, French, and around 16 Jewish people on board.

Convicts embarking for Botany Bay, NSW, Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827

Commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip, the journey of The First Fleet lasted eight months.
Sailing into the unknown, across the ocean route used only once by Abel Tasman and twice by James Cook, the convicts knew that they had little chance of seeing their homeland or loved ones again.

Once out at sea, Phillip allowed the convicts on deck: “in order to breathe purer air". The fleet would sail via Tenerife (Canary Islands), to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Cape Town (South Africa).

Those undertaking the voyage to Terra Australis (Southern Land) suffered great hardships at sea. Only 25 deaths occurred during the voyage, probably due to careful planning and good treatment of the convicts under Phillip's conscientious and efficient command. Many convicts put on weight and were healthier when they arrived in Australia than when they left England.

Construction and Real Estate Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1930 - 1938), Wednesday 23 February 1938

During the last leg of the journey, November–December 1787, the First Fleet was battered and tossed about as the ships made their way through the Roaring Forties (extremely powerful westerly winds).

Lieutenant Philip Gidley King described the dreadful situation on board HMS Supply: "strong gales … with a very heavy sea running which keeps this vessel almost constantly under water and renders the situation of everyone on board her, truly uncomfortable".

The miserable convicts, mostly confined to the hulls, were thrown about as the ships heaved and plunged through the sea, constantly wet and cold.

The first ship, HMS Supply, reached Botany Bay on 18 January 1788. However, it was soon apparent that Botany Bay had poor soil, little freshwater and was exposed to harsh winds.

Captain Phillip decided to go north to Port Jackson.

Interestingly, a French expedition on a voyage of discovery under navigator Comte de La Pérouse had arrived off the coast on 24 January 1788. But the French ships were unable to enter Botany Bay until 26 January, the same day that the First Fleet moved to Sydney Cove in the harbour of Port Jackson.

La Pérouse and his ship would disappear at sea in that same year.

The grave of French priest Pere le Receveur, of the ill-fated La Perouse expedition, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 29 November 1884

Governor Phillip, the first Governor of the first Australian colony, named the settlement at Port Jackson, Sydney, after, Lord Sydney, the British government's Home Secretary.

The formal instructions from King George III (America's last king and the Australian colonies' first) regarding the Aboriginal people were to "conciliate their affections" to "live in amity and kindness with them".

Phillip strove very hard to establish friendly and peaceful relations and would greet the Gadigal clan of the Eora Nation (Aboriginal people of of Port Jackson) with open arms, or with a handshake, and guns laid on the ground. (The word Eora means "here" or "from this place")

However, the British also wanted to show their strength. Watkin Tench expressed this: "Our first object was to win their affections, and our next was to convince them of the superiority we possessed: for without the latter, the former we knew would be of little importance".

But the Eora people did not want the Berewalgal (strangers) here. They were a clan-based warrior culture with their own customary law.

Papers of Sir Joseph Banks - charts and illustrations, ca 1790s

Each clan lived in well-defined areas, the kinship system and complex cultural practices governed their way of life.

The Eora women and children were kept away while the men yelled warnings. Lieutenant Philip Gidley King wrote in his journal: "All the natives which were seen when we first arrived at Port Jackson danced violently, shouting "woroo woroo, go away".

There were high points and low points. Two months after landing, the Eora and the British danced "hand in hand like children at a picnic". They both sang and frolicked about. One of the British men, much to the amusement of the Eora people did "apply [a] handkerchief where Eve did ye fig leaf". (he applied a handkerchief, in the style of a fig leaf, to a nude Eora woman)

Drawing from William Bradley's Journal, A Voyage to New South Wales, ca. 1802. 11. "First interview with the Native Women at Port Jackson New South Wales"

Drawing from William Bradley's Journal, A Voyage to New South Wales, ca. 1802. 13. "View in Broken Bay New South Wales. March 1788'. Note: Eora and British dancing in the foreground

As Australian Aboriginal people had no chiefs or other centralised institutions, Governor Phillip soon found that offers of friendship had to be repeated to the many different and separate clans. As time went on, it became apparent that the British knew little about this land and its people.

Lady Juliana

Chartered to transport female convicts to Australia, Lady Juliana sailed before the Second Fleet with 226 female convicts, and arrived at Port Jackson on 6 June 1790. Most women convicts on board were London prostitutes: the Lady Juliana developed a reputation as a floating brothel.

The ship's steward, John Nicol, who wrote an account of the voyage stated that: "when we were fairly out to sea, every man on board took a wife from among the convicts, they nothing loath".

Ladies of The Broad Arrow, World's News (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 1955), Saturday 16 February 1952

The Lady Juliana was well managed, kept clean and fumigated. The women were allowed free access to the deck and given fresh food.

Sailing via Tenerife, Cape Verde, Rio Janeiro (staying 7 weeks) and the Cape of Good Hope (staying 4 weeks), the women also provided "services" at the various ports. Or as John Nicol the ship's steward expressed it: "We did not restrain the people on shore from coming on board through the day. The captains and seamen, who were in port at the time, paid us many visits".

Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954), Thursday 2 November 1905

The voyage took an astonishing 11 months. Many of the convict women arrived pregnant, and seven babies were born during the voyage.

A British newspaper later commented:

"The female convicts carried to Botany Bay, by the Lady Juliana transport, were delivered very soon after their arrival of thirty-seven children, the exact number of men in the ship!"

Elizabeth Barnsley, one of 151 convicts transported on the Lady Juliana, was described by John Nicol as: "a noted sharper and shop-lifter" whose family (she told him) "for one hundred years back, had been swindlers and highwaymen". She petitioned the government agent to wear her own clothes instead of convict dress (which she was allowed while at sea). She was also: "very kind to her fellow convicts, who were poor. They were all anxious to serve her. She was a queen among them".

Nichol also wrote about the parents of Sarah Dorset, who came to the ship before the Lady Juliana left England. When they found that their daughter was on board, they blessed god that they had found their daughter at last. The parents came onto the ship, and the father said to Sarah, with great feeling, "my lost child". The mother sobbed, and Sarah fainted as she fell at their feet.

Sarah was convicted of stealing a greatcoat from a London pub, and had become a "disorderly girl" (prostitute). She was sentenced to seven years' transportation to the colonies.

The Second Fleet

The Second Fleet, also known as the "Death Fleet", consisted of six ships carrying settlers, convicts and supplies to Sydney Cove, Australia, in 1789 (four transport ships and two storeships).

Of the 1006 convicts transported aboard the Second Fleet, one quarter died during the voyage, and about 40 per cent were dead within six months of arrival in Australia.

The firm, Camden, Calvert & King, previously had been involved in transporting slaves to North America, undertook to transport, clothe and feed the convicts for a flat fee, whether they landed alive or not.

The Justinian arrived in Sydney 20th June 1790, with much-needed supplies (Food harvests had failed). A week later, the Surprise, Neptune and Scarborough, arrived with convicts in a terrible condition.

During the nine-month voyage, the convicts were chained below deck and the private contractors reduced the rations, to increase their profits.

Reverend Richard Johnson, who accompanied the First Fleet, later wrote: "The misery I saw amongst them was unexprissable [sic] … their heads, bodies, clothes, blankets, were all full of lice. They were wretched, naked, filthy, dirty, lousy, and many of them utterly unable to stand, to creep, or even stir hand or foot. … covered over almost with their own Nastiness".

Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Wednesday 9 February 1938

The Chapman

The Chapman departed Cork, Ireland, with 200 male convicts on board, 15 March 1817, from the beginning keeping the convicts in double irons.

One of the sentry's reported that the convicts were picking the locks. Then the convicts broke the locks and swarmed the decks.

World's News (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 1955), Wednesday 18 June 1930

An informer, Michael Collins, hoping for favours, claimed that a mutiny was being planned by the convicts so that they could sail away to America. Five convicts were flogged on suspicion.

The ship's cook then claimed that the convicts were forcing the hospital bulkhead, and the soldiers opened fire, resulting in 3 convicts being killed and 22 injured.

Terry Kiernan, a convict, later told the court of inquiry that most of the convicts were in bed, and all were in irons when the shooting began.

It was reported that third mate, Baxter, had shouted "Fire away, boys, and kill them all".

The dead were thrown overboard, and the wounded were not treated until the next morning, as the surgeon was too afraid.

Four men were declared to be ringleaders of the "mutiny", and chained on the open deck.

The convicts were put on half rations for the remainder of the journey. And 70-100 convicts were chained every night to an iron cable.

Surgeon Dewar told the convict Kiernan, "If any one complains about rations I won't flog him. I'll shoot him".

The ship's log supplied evidence of the extreme brutality, which included floggings for convicts rattling their chains, speaking Irish or coughing.

News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Friday 22 October 1954

Governor Macquarie's secretary, Mr Campbell wrote: "This was inhuman, barbarous, and cruel beyond all reason — even a mutiny could not justify it".

Other members of the court reported to Macquarie that no criminal charges could succeed against the officers of the Chapman.

Captain Drake, who was sent home under open arrest, took action to sue Macquarie for unlawfully detaining his ship during the inquiry. (1.) "A History of Australia", by Majorie Barnard.

News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Friday 22 October 1954

The Westmoreland

The convict ship Westmoreland transported 185 convict women and 18 children from various British prisons to Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land, arriving 3 December 1836.

Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954), Sunday 22 October 1944

The Surgeon Superintendent of the Westmoreland, Dr James Ellis, perhaps influenced by Quaker reformer Elizabeth Frye and the British Ladies Society for the Reformation of Female Prisoners, suggested to the Admiralty that the convict women would behave better during the long voyages if they were gainfully employed in making patchwork.

The Rajah Quilt is a large quilt that was created by women convicts in 1841 whilst travelling from Woolwich to Hobart using materials organised by Lydia Irving of the British Ladies Society for promoting the reformation of female prisoners convict ship sub-committee. The quilt was presented to Jane Franklin. The quilt was sent back to Britain for Elizabeth Fry, the leader of the British Ladies Society. The quilt's provenance was then unclear until it was rediscovered in 1989. It is now held by the National Gallery of Australia

Surgeon-Superintendent James Ellis also observed the seven foot clearance under the beams allowing sufficient room for lofty berths and a good circulation of air, for the convict women.

The journey took 113 days.

Some facts

Between 1788 and 1868, more than 162,000 convicts were transported to Australia.

Around 40,000 Irish convicts were transported to Australia between 1791 and 1867, including at least 325 who had participated in either the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the rebellion of 1803 or the Young Ireland skirmishes in 1848.

The majority of convicts were transported for petty crimes. With the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Britain in the 1780s, life became very difficult for many people. Machinery was invented that replaced cottage industries and farm work. Many people moved to the cities, which became overcrowded with poor and displaced people. People stole things to survive.

Almost 20% of Australians today have a convict ancestor.

Gilgandra, NSW: On the banks of the Castlereagh River

The town of Gilgandra is located 59 km north of Dubbo, on the Great Western Plains region of NSW.

The name Gilgandra is Aboriginal for "long water hole". Ancient Aboriginal sites can be found throughout the region, and in caves in the Warrumbungle Ranges. Hand stencils, marked rocks, and engravings can also be found.

The Gilgandra District is mostly an agricultural area with sheep, beef cattle and winter cereal cropping. Whilst Gilgandra is primarily a farming community, the town has some wonderful buildings of Twentieth-Century Late Modern style architecture, that will surprise and delight.

Aboriginal People

The Gilgandra region traditionally lies within the territories of three Aboriginal groups; Gamilaraay, Wiradjuri and Wayilwan. Tribal names have provided a sense of collective identity. However, many Aboriginal people, as with everyone else, have multiple layers of group identity.

The Gamilaraay people camped on the eastern side of the river and the Mole tribe of the Wiradjuri on the western side. The Wailwan lands were located between Gilgandra and Brewarrina.

Evidence of Aboriginal occupation of the land to the east of Gilgandra is perhaps 25,000 years and in the Warrumbungle Ranges up to 17,000 years.

Aborignal shelters, made from wood/bark (gunyas)

Aboriginal sites found around the Gilgandra region include: rock shelters, campsites and scarred trees

The Gamilaraay language was spoken over a large area of north-central New South Wales. The explorer Major Thomas Mitchell was the first person to record some vocabulary of the Gamilaraay language in 1832.

The first known recordings of the Wiradjuri language are in the writings of James Gunther in 1838.

Aboriginal people were governed by their totems, clans and moieties. These systems were similar over much of inland NSW.

New South Wales Aboriginal woman with scar-tattoo, "The history of mankind" (1896)

Aboriginal people arrived in Australia perhaps 60.000 years ago, when New Guinea and Tasmania were part of the mainland. Since this time, the Australian environment has changed dramatically. The weather 45,000 and 25,000 years ago was much cooler and wetter. Between about 25,000 and 15,000, the climate became colder, drier and more windy. Aboriginal Australians had to adapt to these significant changes.

Aboriginal people were not "unchanging people" in a "timeless land".

A 2011 genome study indicated that Australian Aboriginals descend from the first humans to venture beyond Africa more than 60,000 years ago. There are also strong genetic links with Papua New Guinea, Micronesia and parts of Oceania.

Aboriginal people of Western NSW keep up their traditions, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 28 July 1900

The dingo arrived in Australia about 4,000 years ago. Genetic evidence implies that the dingo arrived with Indian migrants. Some Aboriginal Australians can trace as much as 11% of their genomes from gene flows from about 4000 years ago, from migrants located south of today's India.

The Castlereagh River was very important to the Aboriginal people of Gilgandra, having spiritual significance and as a place to congregate, bathe, drink, eat and hunt.

Fire was also important. Historian Stephen Pyne observed:

"Without campfires there would be no storytelling. Without torches and bonfires, there could be no ceremonial community after dark. Without the protective radiance of the hearth fire, Aborigines were defenceless against the evil spirits that marauded the night in search of souls to devour. Fire was ubiquitous in Aboriginal ritual and myth because it was ubiquitous in Aboriginal life".

Bark from trees was used for dishes, canoes and blankets. A canoe was made from a sheet of bark folded and tied at both ends with plant-fibre string.

Aboriginal bark canoe, made from a sheet of bark folded and tied at both ends with plant-fibre string.

European colonisation had a dramatic effect on many Aboriginal communities and the environments in which they lived. The resources and hunting and gathering practices of the Aboriginal people were disrupted and traditional kinship systems came under increased pressure.

Europeans

Portrait of George William Evans (1780-1852), Deputy Surveyor General of NSW and Australian
explorer

George Evans, surveyor and explorer, passed through the area between Curban and Armatree in 1818. On 13 July, Evans wrote in his diary that there were "a number of native fires about the base of the (Warrumbungle) range". On 14 July he wrote:
"...suspected that we had been watched by the natives. I saw some of them, and our resting place was surrounded by their smokes: they however did not attempt to molest us.

Licences were issued for stations along the river in the vicinity of today's Gilgandra, Curban, Armatree and Gulargambone by 1836/37.

Richard Rouse at Mundooran, Thomas Perrie at Breelong, James Bennett at Bearbong and Curban, Lowes at Carlganda and Yalcogreen, John Hall at Calingoingong, were all early settlers,

One of the main tracks to get to Gilgandra in the early days followed the Castlereagh River from Mendooran.

Abraham Meers (Means) and Eliza Raymond resided at "Erringanerin", on the Castlereagh River, where Abraham worked as a shepherd. Their son, Samuel Meers, was born on 3rd May 1839. A newspaper article claims Aboriginal people flocked to see the white "Piccaninny," and conducted a corroboree. (1.)

Abraham was murdered by three convicts on 5th August 1839 (Llewellyn Powel, Charles Clipp and James Lynch). The convicts were caught and executed 29th Nov 1839. Abraham was buried the following day at Cullengoingoing, the site of his death. The murderers were caught on the day of the murder and later hanged at Sydney.

South Australian Record and Australasian and South African Chronicle (SA : 1840 - 1841), Saturday 6 June 1840

An inn was established at the Gulgonda (now Gilgandra) river crossing in 1840.

According to the surveyor Thomas Mitchell in 1846, the Aboriginal people named what was later called the Castlereagh River, Barr.

Surveyor George Boyle White in July 1848, was tracing the course of the Castlereagh River when he wrote in his diary that new young cypress trees were growing thickly in an area around Rouse's station (Breelong). He also commented before he'd got to Merritt's (Eringanerin) that if there wasn't a fire through there, it would become a thick scrub in 20 years.

Prior to the 1840s, some Aboriginal people were already working for the pastoralists along the Castlereagh River.

In 1848 Thomas Spicer took up the Carlgandra run and John Merritt was at Eringanerin on the eastern side of the Castlereagh River.

Cobb & Co.

The Cobb and Co. transport route linking European settlements was built from 1850 to 1923. The Corduroy Road Ruin Historic Site is a heritage-listed former stagecoach route located at East Coonamble Road, Curban, Gilgandra Shire. (A Corduroy Road is made by placing logs over "slushy, spongy patches" of road).

The Cobb & Co. service from Gilgandra to Coonamble came to an end around 1898. Bill Rowley offered a cheaper price than Cobb & Co. for the mail service on this route and was given the contract. However, Rowley did not have enough horses for the Dubbo to Coonamble run, or stables and grooms for "change overs". Adam Nolan took over until the end of Cobb & Co. in Gilgandra.

One of Cobb & Co.'s coaches, COBB & CO. (1924, December 13). The Bathurst Times (NSW : 1909 - 1925)

James Christian (born Wicklow, Ireland) had a hotel and post office combined at "Carlgandra" run, for which he earned a salary of 12 pounds. After this, he leased New Breelong Station sometime before 1860. This run included the area of the Goonoo State Conservation Area located north of Breelong Road. James Christian died on the property when a bale of wool fell off the skids, when loading the teams, killing him. His grave can be found on the property.

First post office at Gilgandra, with Postmaster James Christian. A post office was established at Gilgandra on 1 January 1867 and operated until 1 January 1871. He was employed at a salary of £12 per annum.

The first licensed hotel was the Bushman's Arms Hotel in 1866.

Hannah Morris, known as "The Mother of Gilgandra", was the first Publican of the Bushman’s Arms, which also included the post office. Hannah and her husband were also involved in establishing the first school in Gilgandra in 1877.

In 1884 Hannah Morris opened the first bridge over the Castlereagh River.

Bridge over the Castlereagh River at Gilgandra, NSW, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 3 March 1928

Between 1874 and 1880 Cobb & Co. operated twice-weekly mail services between Gilgandra and Dubbo.

A telegraph office opened at Gilgandra in 1882.

Gilgandra was proclaimed a town in 1888.

Courts of Petty Sessions were held in Gilgandra in June 1884, with a permanent Court not being appointed until July 1911. A Court House was built in Court Street around 1915. That building was relocated to the site in Myrtle Street in early 1929.

The first Police Station in the Gilgandra district was established at Curban in 1880. This building was later moved to Gilgandra and was demolished about 1931. The police operated from a room in the Gilgandra Court House, in Myrtle Street, for some years. The present Gilgandra Police Station was built in 1934.

Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Saturday 9 October 1886

The town was proclaimed in 1888. The first town blocks were sold in 1889.

The Golden West Hotel opened in the 1890's as the Imperial Hotel.

St. John’s Lutheran Church, Gilgandra, was built in Elizabeth Street in1925. It is no longer functioning.

Drawing of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Gilgandra, 15 Elizabeth St, Gilgandra NSW

1900

Breelong Murders

John and Sarah Mawbey, who were the licensees of the Breelong Inn, employed various Aboriginal men, including, Jimmy Governor and Jacky Underwood, who murdered four members of the Mawbrey family and a governess.

This crime, known as the Breelong massacre occurred on the night of the 20th July 1900. The fictionalised novel (by Thomas Keneally) and film (by director Fred Schepsi), The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, is about this crime.

Jimmy Governor was married to a white woman, Ethel Page, when she was aged 16, and five month's pregnant with his child. The couple experienced many critical comments: inter-racial marriage was not common at the time.

Mrs Sarah Mawbey and three of her children, Hilda, Percy and Grace, together with school teacher Helen Kerz, were killed by Governor and Underwood.

Underwood was captured soon afterwards, but Governor and his younger brother Joe fled into the bush. and went on a robbing spree in the Hunter Valley area, committing other murders along the way. *Gender is the best predictor of criminal behaviour

The Black Tracker (later Sergeant Alexander Riley of Dubbo) in a newspaper article years later said:

"For three months I hunted Gov-
ernor through the scrub from hide-
out to hideout. I followed him by
a peculiar track. I notice a strand
of string had marked each pad, so
knew it was a human wearing
a foot pad to cover tracks."

Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW : 1949 - 1953) 9 July 1950

The lad standing by the horse to the right of the picture is Bertie Mawbey, who crawled under the bed, and escaped the Breelong massacre, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 28 July 1900

Sarah Mawbey, wife of John Mawbey of Breelong, buried at Gilgandra Cemetery, NSW, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 4 August 1900

Helen Kerz, schoolteacher, Breelong NSW, buried at Gilgandra Cemetery, NSW. Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 4 August 1900

Jacky Underwood fled Gilgandra and arrives at Mudgee lockup, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 4 August 1900

Aboriginal Australian bushranger, Jimmy Governor

Post Office at Gilgandra, N.S.W. - very early 1900s, Aussie~mobs

Gilgandra's large department store building on Miller Street street began as A.F Garling Stores. The original facade fell down 1936 and was rebuilt as The Western Stores. Castlereagh (Gilgandra, NSW : 1905 - 1907), Friday 27 September 1907

Miller Street, Gilgandra, NSW, c1910, Aussie~mobs

WWI

The Gilgandra district had 250 volunteers out of the population of 4,500 to assist with the war effort. However, after Gallipoli and the grim reality of war, there were fewer Australian volunteers.

The Coo-ee March was organised by Gilgandra resident William (Bill) Hitchen, working with Alex Miller, secretary of the local recruiting association, to encourage more volunteers to join the war effort.

On 10 October 1915, 30 Gilgandra men set off on the 320-mile (510 km) march, cheered on by a crowd of 3,000. The 30 men were joined by another 5 Gilgandra men on route. They reached Sydney a month later, with 263 recruits.

The Gilgandra recruits leaving that town on the march to Sydney, NSW. The processionAustralian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 20 October 1915

Recruitment march which began in Gilgandra and ended in Sydney, Australia. The movement was originated by the captain of the local rifle club, Mr. W.T. Hitchen, who accompanied the recruits on their journey. Aussie~mobs

Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 3 November 1915,

Gilgandra Weekly (NSW : 1915 - 1929), Friday 10 December 1915

Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), Tuesday 3 October 1916

Alvin Stanley from "Karuah", Breelong, with his brother, Robert Stanley enlisted in Sydney on 22 August 1914 and joined the 1st Light Horse Regiment, C Squadron, along with many local Gilgandra young men.

Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), Thursday 19 July 1917

1920s

St. Ambrose Anglican Church at Gilgandra was built using a gift of £1200 given to the town by St Ambrose Parish of Bournemouth in England. This gift was for being the town in the British Empire with the most outstanding war service.

Marble plaque in the south porch of St Ambrose Church, Bournemouth, UK, Alwyn Ladell

Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 21 June 1922

On the way to the timber mill, Gilgandra, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 5 September 1923

Truth (Sydney, NSW : 1894 - 1954), Sunday 12 September 1926

A fire at a store and printing office in Gilgandra. Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), Thursday 1 March 1928

Fire at Gilgandra, NSW, Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), Monday 23 December 1929

Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), Friday 2 March 1928

Miller Street, Gilgandra, NSW, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 3 March 1928

Type of home at Gilgandra, NSW, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 3 March 1928

Flying fox used by children to get to school when the Castlereagh River, NSW, was in flood, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 3 March 1928

The ABC Cafe Gilgandra, NSW. The first owner of the ABC Cafe was Stavros Baveas. Emmanuel Georgopoulos bought the cafe and operated it in partnership with Chrisyanthe (sister) and her husband, Paul Kelly (Yiannakellis). The ABC cafe closed in 1979, Gilgandra Weekly (NSW : 1915 - 1929), Thursday 24 October 1929

1930s

The railway Hotel Gilgandra NSW, built 1910. about 1930s

Gilgandra Weekly and Castlereagh (NSW : 1929 - 1942), Thursday 6 February 1930,

Daily Pictorial (Sydney, NSW : 1930 - 1931), Friday 2 January 1931

Gilgandra Weekly and Castlereagh (NSW : 1929 - 1942), Thursday 25 August 1932

Gilgandra Show, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 23 August 1933

Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 25 August 1933

CORROBOREE AT HER WEDDING (1930, August 3). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954)

Methodist Church, Gilgandra, NSW, constructed in 1910, Methodist (Sydney, NSW : 1892 - 1954), Saturday 30 March 1935

Wheat silo at Gilgandra, NSW, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 13 January 1934

Gilgandra from Fire Station Tower, NSW, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 13 January 1934

The hut where Hewett's body was found at Gilganda Common, NSW, Truth (Sydney, NSW : 1894 - 1954), Sunday 26 January 1936

Jack Hewtt in his sulky, Gilgandra, NSW, Truth (Sydney, NSW : 1894 - 1954), Sunday 26 January 1936

"MISS JEAN WILLIAMS of Gilgandra who left
with the New South Wales womens cricket
team on Saturday night for Brisbane was enter-
tained in her home town before her departure
and presented by Councillor Tibbits on behalf
of the citizens with a wallet of notes."

1936 'AMONG THE SPORTSWOMEN', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954)

Young dancers at the Gilgandra Catholic Church annual juvenile Ball, NSW, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 7 November 1936

1940s

Gilgandra Weekly and Castlereagh (NSW : 1929 - 1942), Thursday 15 January 1942

WWII

Rawdon MIDDLETON VC (1916–1942), was known as Ron Middleton and was the elder son of Frank Middleton and his wife Faith, née Miller. He was raised at Gilgandra as a teenager, became a bomber pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1942, serving in WWII, and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), Saturday 23 January 1943

Malcolm FORAN DFC (1922–1979), son of Herbert Foran (See 'War Heroes WW1) and Grace, née Deans, Malcolm was Gilgandra-born and raised, and was a bomber pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force serving in England in WWII. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944.Gilgandra Weekly (NSW : 1942 - 1955), Thursday 3 February 1944

Betty Maureen Adams, born Gilgandra, NSW, in the Australia, World War II Military Service Records, 1939-1945.

Uncle Ralph Naden

Uncle Ralph Naden born in Peak Hill in 1945 came to Gilgandra by horse and cart in 1948. The family settled in The Pines with other Aboriginal families. He became a well known Aboriginal Dancer, player of the Didgeridoo, sharing Dreamtime stories. Also a recipient of a 2019 Order of Australia medal for his volunteer work.

Shanty Settlements

Two shanty towns existed outside Gilgandra: Tin City was located on the eastern side of the Castlereagh River, and another camp at The Pines, on high ground at the western end of town. Tin City, which developed during the Great Depression, was so named as the huts were constructed using flattened kerosene tins. Many families, including Aboriginal families, lived at Tin City and The Pines.

Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Sunday 18 October 1953

A shack at The Pines with earth floor, Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), Wednesday 7 October 1953

Victory Day at Gilgandra Show, NSW, Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 24 August 1945,

Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 24 August 1945

Gilgandra Weekly (NSW : 1942 - 1955), Thursday 20 November 1947

Clay pigeon shooters at Gilgandra, THE CROSS BROTHERS—SLEET, COL, TED and KEN, Gilgandra Weekly (NSW : 1942 - 1955), Thursday 26 May 1949

Gilgandra Weekly (NSW : 1942 - 1955), Thursday 7 April 1949

1950s

Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 1 December 1950

Gilgandra Weekly (NSW : 1942 - 1955), Thursday 7 August 1952

Premature quadruplets were born at Gilgandra District Hospital in October 1953, to a family who lived at The Pines.

Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Thursday 8 October 1953

In the 1950s, there were over 300 windmills at Gilgandra pumping water from the sub-artesian basin.

Floods

The 1955 flood devastated Gilgandra and washed away the homes and possessions of many.

Outside Tony Shalhoub's house, Warren St, Gilgandra, NSW. Gilgandra Weekly (NSW : 1942 - 1955), Wednesday 16 March 1955

The big hole on the corner of Morris and Myrtle streets, Gilgandra, NSW. It is said that a Chinese man had a garden here in the early days and a well was on this spot. Gilgandra Weekly (NSW : 1942 - 1955), Wednesday 16 March 1955

Gilgandra Weekly (NSW : 1942 - 1955), Wednesday 16 March 1955

Swimming pool, Gilgandra NSW, about 1950s

1960s

The Shire Council built a reticulated water supply in 1966, to reduce dependency on private mills.

1990s

Golden Fleece (West) Hotel, Gilgandra, Nsw, July 1990. The hotel burned down in 2008 Jen Wood

Railway Hotel, Gilgandra, Nsw, July 1990, Jen Wood

"No Worries" (1993-4), a film about a family is forced off their farm due to drought, and move to Sydney, is set around Gilgandra.

The Royal Hotel, Gilgandra, NSW, July 1990, Jen Wood

St Josephs primary school, Gilgandra, Nsw, July 1990. Since replaced with a new school. Jen Wood

Ernie Knight Oval was named in 1995 in recognition of Aboriginal man Ernie Knight who maintained the town's parks, gardens and recreational grounds for the Gilgandra Council.

Around Gilgandra

Gilgandra Newspapers at Miller Street, Gilgandra, NSW

Federation Free Style Gilgandra Post Office, NSW, built 1911

St Ambrose Anglican church, Gilgandra, NSW, built from 1921 to 1922

Gilgandra Courthouse, Gilgandra NSW, built in the Federation Queen Anne style, opened 1884

Hitchen House Military Museum, Miller St Gilgandra, NSW, housed in an historic cottage, the home of Bill Hitchen, the originator of the Coo-ee March of 1915.

Art Deco building at Gilgandra, NSW built 1930s

Castlereagh Butchery was established by J Hundy & Sons in around 1902, Gilgandra NSW, John

The original Lodge Hall was a weatherboard building which was originally a Union Church. The Masons then built a small brick lodge building next door. Both buildings were destroyed by fire in August 1922. Meetings were held in the Church of England Hall until the present Masonic Temple, Warrumbungle No.277 was opened in 1923, Gilgandra NSW