Seaside village in New South Wales, Australia
Evans Head
is a town in
Richmond Valley Council
of the
Northern Rivers
region of
New South Wales
, Australia. At the
2016 census
, Evans Head had a population of 2,843 people.
[1]
It is 726 kilometres north of
Sydney
, and 11 kilometres east off the
Pacific Highway
from
Woodburn
.
History
[
edit
]
Evans Head is situated on the traditional lands of the Bandjalang clan of the
Bundjalung people
.
[2]
Evans Head is named after a
marine surveyor
, Lt Evans, RN who carried out the first marine survey of the coastline in the area.
[3]
The
Evans Head Air Weapons Range
is located near the town. It has been used by the
Royal Australian Air Force
since 13 July 1949.
[4]
Heritage listings
[
edit
]
Evans Head has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Native title
[
edit
]
In late April 2021, the
Federal Court of Australia
convened at Evans Head, where a
native title
determination was made over 7.2 square kilometres (2.8 sq mi) of land, consisting of 52 separate areas of land. The application had been launched in 1996, and the first determination made in 2013. Included in the land is a
bora ring
of great cultural significance near
Coraki
.
[6]
Population
[
edit
]
According to the
2016 census
of Population, there were 2,843 people in Evans Head.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.5% of the population.
- 85.0% of people were born in Australia and 90.7% of people spoke only English at home.
- The most common responses for religion were No Religion 29.0%, Anglican 21.9% and Catholic 20.9%.
[1]
Historical population
Year
| Pop.
| ±%
|
---|
1966
| 1,098
| ?
|
---|
1971
| 1,315
| +19.8%
|
---|
1976
| 1,591
| +21.0%
|
---|
1981
| 1,802
| +13.3%
|
---|
1986
| 1,903
| +5.6%
|
---|
1991
| 2,375
| +24.8%
|
---|
1996
| 2,613
| +10.0%
|
---|
2001
| 2,603
| ?0.4%
|
---|
2006
| 2,630
| +1.0%
|
---|
2011
| 2,722
| +3.5%
|
---|
2016
| 2,847
| +4.6%
|
---|
2021
| 2,894
| +1.7%
|
---|
Source:
Australian Bureau of Statistics
data.
[7]
[8]
|
Attractions
[
edit
]
It is a coastal town and a holiday resort, playing host to one of the largest holiday parks in NSW. It is sandwiched between
Bundjalung National Park
and
Broadwater National Park
. There is a wide curved beach that is popular for fishing,
surfing
and
swimming
.
Evans Head is home to the Illawong Hotel, an RSL club and one of the largest holiday parks in NSW, parts of which are pet-friendly. The Evans Head Holiday Park (formerly known as 'Silver Sands Caravan Park' ) has almost 600 sites and is located within walking distance of all the town amenities. The town has two supermarkets, two butchers, a number of clothing stores, cafes and other eateries that cater for the tourist population. Whilst the population is less than 3,000 people that number swells in school holidays.
The 1874 wreck of a timber schooner,
Pilot,
is visible on the beach north of the town in times of high erosion.
[9]
The aerodrome hosts one of the few retired F-111 aircraft in Australia and a museum with a number of authentic aircraft on display.
Transport
[
edit
]
The town's
airport
, the
Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome
, formerly a
RAAF
base is heritage listed.
Northern Rivers Buslines operates two routes from Lismore, the 690 and 695, where the 695 also continues to Grafton from Evans Head. Ballina Buslines operates one route to Ballina via Woodburn, the 660.
NSW TrainLink operates a daily coach between Grafton and Byron Bay via Evans Head.
Sport
[
edit
]
The town has a bowling club and surf club. Evans Head Bombers rugby league club was established in 1999 and draws players from Broadwater, Woodburn and Coraki. The club fields junior and senior teams in the
Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League
competition.
Golf is played at the Woodburn-Evans Head course with 11 holes and 18 tees.
Industry
[
edit
]
The main industry today is
tourism
with
sugar cane
growing just inland from the town. The town has a small industrial estate near the airport.
The town was traditionally a fishing village, with snapper fishing and prawning forming the basis of the town's local economy.
The voyage of the
Friendship R
[
edit
]
From the 1950s Evans Head has been distinguished as the first dedicated base of the oftentimes perilous prawn trawling industry in Australia. There was a prawn fishing fleet permanently moored in the estuary. Messenger recalls that many fisherman lost their lives. One instance in the 1960s was the trawler
Wyowna
was lost at sea with all hands on board.
[10]
: 39
[11]
At ca. March 1963 the Fisherman’s Cooperative of Evans Head was the base starting point of the journey of the
Friendship R
, the first fishing trawler to circumnavigate Australia. It was built in nearby
Ballina
by K.F. Barlow for Rex Montford, an experienced seaman and fisherman. With crewman Ken Messenger, a grandson of
Dally Messenger
, the
rugby league
superstar of the early 20th century, Montford set out on his epic journey.
[10]
: 11 & 7
The
Friendship R
was originally contracted by the
CSIRO
to teach the fishermen at Shark Bay near Carnarvon WA , the art of trawling for prawns.
[10]
: 9
Leaving Evans Head the trawler journeyed south, stopping at
Coffs Harbour
,
Broken Bay
,
Sydney
,
Eden
and on to
Port Fairy
in Victoria. They then headed West to
Port Lincoln
and then across the
Great Australian Bight
to Western Australia aided only with a compass and a book of charts. They negotiated extremely hazardous reefs on their way into
Fremantle
.
[10]
: 11 & 12
As it turned out the fishermen at
Shark Bay
had already had been mentored by Jack Drinan, a skilled Queensland prawner who was in charge of six trawlers all named
Nor
but numbered one to six.
This was the same Jack Drinan who was shipwrecked on 26 April 1963 and declared lost, but was sensationally found seventeen days later, in the open sea, clinging to the trawler’s refrigerator door. Montford and Messenger were part of the search party.
[10]
: 12ff
[12]
In the company of Drinan and his surviving boats the
Friendship R
saw out the rest of the fishing and prawning season, while domiciled at the
Shark Bay
whaling station.
[10]
: 17
In October 1963 Montford and Messenger decided to leave
Carnarvon
and return to Evans Head by the top end of the Australian continent.
In the company of two other boats, the
Toowoon Bay
and the
Rambler
, they proceeded along the coastline north to
Exmouth Gulf
and then east to
Darwin
. On this leg of the trip, a crisis occurred when, in a calm sea, their engine failed. The sails, gifted by Sydney yachtsman Englebert “Boy” Messenger, were not helpful as there was no wind. Fortunately, Reg Massey, skipper of the
Rambler
sensed something was wrong, doubled back, found the
Friendship R
and towed it into the port of Darwin.
When all was repaired and overhauled in Darwin the
Friendship R
set out across the unpredictable
Gulf of Carpentaria
. They stopped at
Elcho Island
where they received enthusiastic hospitality from the locals.
They were similarly welcomed at
Thursday Island
. They then proceeded back to Evans Head via
Cairns
and
Tin Can Bay
.
[10]
: 12?30
The Friendship R was the first fishing trawler or similar vessel to circumnavigate Australia. It is considered a pioneer voyage in Australia's history. Messenger left for other pursuits and Rex Montford lived out his life in Evans Head, honoured and respected by the local population. He is buried in the local cemetery.
[10]
: 32
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Australian Bureau of Statistics
(27 June 2017).
"Evans Head (Urban Centre/Locality)"
.
2016 Census QuickStats
. Retrieved
24 January
2019
.
Material was copied from this source, which is available under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
.
- ^
Tindale, Norman Barnett
(1974).
"Badjalang (QLD)"
.
Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names
.
Australian National University Press
. p. 191.
- ^
"Evans Head"
.
Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW
.
Geographical Names Board of New South Wales
. Retrieved
20 September
2009
.
- ^
"Evans Head Air Weapons Range"
.
Defence Aircraft Noise
. Department of Defence
. Retrieved
25 December
2020
.
- ^
"Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome"
.
New South Wales State Heritage Register
.
Department of Planning & Environment
. H01649
. Retrieved
18 May
2018
.
Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under
CC-BY 4.0
licence
.
- ^
Ross, Hannah (30 April 2021).
"NSW Bandjalang people victorious after 25-year native title fight"
.
ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
. Retrieved
7 May
2021
.
- ^
"Statistics by Catalogue Number"
. Australian Bureau of Statistics
. Retrieved
18 January
2024
.
- ^
"Search Census data"
. Australian Bureau of Statistics
. Retrieved
18 January
2024
.
- ^
"Shipwrecks exposed".
Mid Coast Observer
. Rural Press. 5 August 2009. p. 6.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Messenger, Ken;
Friendship R
, Publisher Ken Messenger, Box 282 Hornsby NSW, 2020
- ^
Search for Lost Boat Extended
, The Canberra Times, 2 Jan 1964
- ^
"
Lost at Sea in an Esky
"
.
maritimemuseumsaustralia.com
. The Maritime Museum
. Retrieved
29 December
2020
.
- Sturt, Charles,'Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia during the years 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831 with Observations on the Soil, Climate and general Resources of the Colony of New South Wales,' Vol 1 London, Smith Elder and Co, 1833, map facing LXXX Map is titled: Map of the Discoveries in Australia copied from the latest M. S. Surveys in the Colonial Office, 16 Feb 1832, London, J. Arrowsmith.
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Evans Head, New South Wales
at Wikimedia Commons
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