Town in New South Wales, Australia
Wandsworth
is a locality on the
Northern Tablelands
in the
New England
region of
New South Wales
, Australia.
This locality is situated at the junction of Guyra and Wandsworth Roads, 63 kilometres north of
Armidale
and 54 km south of
Glen Innes
. It is in
Armidale Regional Council
local government
area, with part of the surrounding district in
Inverell Shire
. Wandsworth is situated at approximately 1,100 metres elevation and has Limestone Creek passing nearby.
History
[
edit
]
Wandsworth was so named after the English counterpart in London.
[2]
The name was originally used here for a
squatting
run in the Pastoral District of New England. In 1838 John and George Everett had taken up the
Ollera
run in the same area and later with Francis Halhed, they occupied Wandsworth Station. The station by 1850 was carrying 7,250 sheep, 1,150 cattle and 250 horses. A decade later, it carried 12,000 sheep, 2,000 cattle and 400 horses.
[3]
[4]
Ollera became essentially a semi-autonomous village with its own bakery, post office, store, bank, school (1862) and church.
Masons
,
journeymen
,
farriers
,
shepherds
,
jobbers
,
stockmen
,
sheep shearers
,
carpenters
and their families were all resident employees with their own houses. There was a medical fund and an amateur theatrical group. A cricket pitch (still in use) had been established by 1862 and it was the venue for a match with a touring English team in 1885. A wool scouring works was set up in 1895.
[5]
Ollera
Post Office opened on 1 July 1870, was renamed
Wandsworth
the same year and closed in 1968.
[6]
In 1876-77 St Bartholomew's Church, was built on Ollera Road, Wandsworth for use by both the
Anglican
, and
Presbyterian
religions, on land which had been donated by Ollera Station.
[7]
This church and Ollera Station have now been listed on the
Register of the National Estate
.
[8]
The Ollera Cemetery is one of the earliest cemeteries in the New England Region, believed to have commenced in 1843. Although now closed to general burials, it is still available to descendants of the original owners, and depicts the life of the early pioneers of the area.
[9]
Present day
[
edit
]
At the
2006 census
, the census area around Wandsworth had a recorded population of 80 of which 52.5% were males and 47.5% females. The region had 24 families and 64 private dwellings (which includes unoccupied private dwellings).
[1]
The district's primary industries are agriculture, with that being mostly dedicated to sheep and beef cattle breeding.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Australian Bureau of Statistics
(25 October 2007).
"Wandsworth (State Suburb)"
.
2006 Census QuickStats
. Retrieved
3 February
2009
.
- ^
"Wandsworth"
.
Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW
.
Geographical Names Board of New South Wales
. Retrieved
11 August
2013
.
- ^
AV Cane, 'Ollera: A Study of a Sheep Station, 1838?1900', Unpublished MA (Hons.) Thesis (Department of History: University of Sydney, 1949)
- ^
AV Cane, 'Ollera', Armidale and District Historical Society Journal and Proceedings, no.2 (October 1961); Lionel Gilbert, Address to Mark the Centenary of the Laying of the Foundation Stone of St Bartholomew’s Church, Ollera, 24 August 1976. Reprinted in Armidale and District Historical Society Journal and Proceedings, no.21 (January 1978)
- ^
Guyra ? Places to See/Sydney Morning Herald
Retrieved 2009-12-15
- ^
Premier Postal History.
"Post Office List"
. Premier Postal Auctions
. Retrieved
26 May
2011
.
- ^
"St Bartholomews Anglican Church (listing RNE327)"
.
Australia Heritage Places Inventory
.
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
. Retrieved
3 February
2009
.
- ^
"Ollera Station (listing RNE324)"
.
Australia Heritage Places Inventory
.
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
. Retrieved
3 February
2009
.
- ^
Ollera Cemetery
Retrieved 16-12-2009