History Hay, New South Wales

1 history

1.1 lang’s crossing place
1.2 hay s first decades: 1859 1880
1.3 consolidation: 1881 1914
1.4 great war , afterwards
1.5 internees , pows

history

aboriginal communities in western riverina traditionally concentrated in more habitable river corridors , amongst reedbeds of region.  district surrounding hay occupied @ least 3 separate aboriginal groups @ time of european settler expansion onto lands.  area around present township appears have been site of interaction between nari-nari people of lower murrumbidgee , wiradjuri inhabited vast region in central-western inland of new south wales.

in late 1829 charles sturt , men passed along murrumbidgee river on horses , drays. launched whale-boat near murrumbidgee-lachlan junction , continued journey boat murray river , sea @ lake alexandrina (before returning same route). during late-1830s stock regularly overlanded south australia via lower murrumbidgee.  @ same time stockholders edging westward along , lachlan, murrumbidgee, billabong , murray systems.  1839 of river frontages in vicinity of present-day hay occupied squatters. mid-1850s pastoral runs in western riverina well-established , prosperous. nearby victorian gold-rushes provided expanding market stock. prime fattening country of riverina became sort of holding centre, victorian market supplied required.  1 of popular routes established in mid-1850s crossed murrumbidgee river @ lang’s crossing-place.

lang’s crossing place

a sculpture john wooller titled lang s crossing on murrumbidgee river bank

the locality hay township developed known lang’s crossing place (named after 3 brothers named lang leaseholders of runs on southern side of river).  crossing on murrumbidgee river of well-travelled stock-route (known great north road ) leading markets of victoria.  in 1856-7 captain francis cadell, pioneer of steam-navigation on murray river, placed manager @ lang’s crossing-place task of establishing store (initially in tent).  in december 1857 thomas simpson re-located deniliquin establish blacksmith shop , residence @ lang’s crossing-place.  6 months later canadian shipwright henry leonard arrived; commenced building hotel , dwelling-house near simpson’s buildings , launched punt on river.  in august 1858 steamers owned rival owners, francis cadell , william randell, travelled murrumbidgee far lang’s crossing-place (with cadell’s steamer albury continuing up-river gundagai).

henry jeffries, leaseholder of illilawa station (which included lang’s crossing-place @ western extremity), vehemently opposed henry leonard s operations; threats against punt caused leonard stand guard loaded gun. attempt jeffries pull down leonard’s hotel being constructed caused outcry advocating settlement @ location. in consequence nsw government sent surveyor map out new township. henry leonard completed inn , opened on 30 october 1858.  murrumbidgee punt hotel described large size weatherboard building shingled roof , fine verandah along front . mid-1859 department of lands had proclaimed reservations on either side of river @ lang s crossing-place , henry shiell appointed police magistrate. october 1859 township had been named hay after john hay (later sir john), wealthy squatter upper murray, member of nsw legislative assembly , former secretary of lands , works. later same month successful land-sales held @ hay.

hay s first decades: 1859 1880

the hay court house, erected in 1860.

lang’s crossing place post office opened on 16 april 1859 , renamed hay in 1861. in 1860 brick court-house , lock-up built @ hay (at site of present post office).

the census taken in april 1861 revealed there 172 people living @ hay township, consisting of 115 males (of whom 25 aged 15 years or under) , 57 females (of whom 23 aged 15 years or under). of 90 males aged 16 years or more, 38% married or widowed; of 34 females in category, 76% married or widowed. census enumerated buildings @ new township: 4 brick structures; 17 of weatherboard, slab or inferior ; and, 14 tents.

in april 1861 2 new hotel licences granted @ hay: caledonian hotel (thomas e. blewett , george dorward) , argyle hotel (thomas simpson).  2 hotels located side-by-side in lachlan street.  during 1862 argyle closed doors, , offered sale.  in september 1865 george maiden briefly re-opened royal mail hotel.  in february 1866, christopher ledwidge, landlord of caledonian hotel since 1864, purchased royal mail , incorporated 2 1 hotel.  regrettably, caledonian hotel badly damaged fire in 2006, , demolished in 2007.

according 1871 census of colony of new south wales there 664 people living @ hay township: 388 males , 276 females.  proportion of in hay community aged less 16 years had increased 28% in 1861 38% in 1871.

in november 1871 petition prepared residents of hay requesting township granted municipal status.  elections aldermen held in august 1872.  @ first municipal meeting local businessman, frank johns, elected mayor.

the first bridge on murrumbidgee river @ hay built in 1872 @ cost of £20,000. structure included turntable enabled middle-section swung open allow passage of steamers.  opening of hay bridge delayed while approaches formed. opened on 31 august 1874 colonial secretary of new south wales, henry parkes.  old bridge replaced new one, opened in june 1973. old hay bridge subsequently demolished. turntable, last used in 1946, placed in river-bend north of bridge had been.

a sketch of hay gaol dating 1881

as developed hay became essential hub of surrounding district. pastoral runs surrounding township main employers of labour; stores , hotels, hospital, post-office, banks, court-house , police-station, hay became important focus rural workers , resident squatters alike. carriers, contractors, wool-buyers , dealers in stock established @ hay , township became busy port steamers plying inland rivers. stores township , district stations unloaded @ wharves @ hay, , steamers , barges loaded wool-bales return trip (usually echuca, 1864 had been connected rail melbourne).

during 1879-80 local building firm, witcombe brothers, constructed new gaol @ hay, replace old lock-up in lachlan street (at site of current post office).  new hay gaol opened in december 1880.

consolidation: 1881 1914

the hay post office in lachlan street (built in 1881)

during 1881-2 railway line extended narrandera hay , new railway station constructed @ hay. new line, connecting hay directly sydney, opened in july 1882. extension of nsw railway hay signalled decline in importance of transportation of wool river-steamer , shift in local economic focus melbourne sydney. railway sydney operated differential price structure, ensuring rail became desirable mode of transporting wool many of riverina stations.

in 1883 extensive anglican diocese of goulburn divided, western half designated major portion of newly created diocese of riverina. hay chosen episcopal seat of new diocese , bishop sydney linton consecrated on 1 may 1884 @ st paul s cathedral, london. linton , family travelled sydney , on hay, bishop enthroned on 18 march 1885 in old st paul s church.  new st. paul’s – pro-cathedral of new diocese – completed end of 1885. in 1889 residence completed bishop linton @ south hay; design , materials used in constructing corrugated-iron clad ‘bishop’s lodge’ attempt cope hay’s climatic extremes.  hay remained seat of anglican diocese of riverina until 1953 when transferred narrandera, new south wales.

the writer joseph furphy lived @ hay in 1870s while working carrier in charge of team of bullocks.  furphy later used area surrounding hay setting novel such life (published in 1903).

the great war , afterwards

during first world war 641 men enlisted service hay , surrounding district, 1 of highest per capita enlistment rates in australia.  of men enlisted one-in-six died during war, devastating effect on close-knit communities of hay district.

in 1919 proposal adopted build high school @ hay memorial died in great war.  hay war memorial high school opened on anzac day, 1923, mr. l. e. penman first headmaster.

internees , pows

hay gaol today museum displays detailing varied history prison, pow camp , girls institution.

during world war ii hay location of internment , prisoner of war camps, due in no small measure isolated location. 3 high-security camps constructed there in 1940. first arrivals on 2 thousand refugees nazi germany , austria, many of them jewish, aged between 16 , 60. had been rounded in britain when fears of invasion @ peak, , transported australia aboard hmt dunera. arrived @ hay on 7 september 1940 in 4 trains sydney , interned in camps 7 , 8 (located near hay showground) under guard of 16th garrison battalion of australian army.

later known dunera boys , internment @ hay of assemblage of refugees nazi oppression in europe important milestone in australia s cultural history. 800 of interned @ hay chose remain in australia. influence of group of men on subsequent cultural, scientific , business developments in australia difficult over-state; many became integral , celebrated part of nation’s cultural , intellectual life. dunera boys still fondly remembered in hay. every year town holds dunera day in many surviving internees return site of former imprisonment.

in november 1940 other compound @ hay, camp 6 (near hay hospital), occupied italian civilian internees. camps 7 , 8 vacated in may 1941 when dunera internees left hay; sent orange (nsw), others tatura in victoria, , others join pioneer corps of australian army. upon departure italian prisoners-of-war placed in camps 7 , 8. in december 1941 japanese internees (some broome , islands north of australia) conveyed hay , placed in camp 6. in april 1942 river farm began operating on eastern edge of town, enabling market-gardening , other farm activities carried out italian internees , pows. in august 1944, in wake of cowra pow break-out on 5 august 1944, 600 japanese pows transferred hay , placed in 2 high-security compounds 7 , 8. on 1 march 1946 last of japanese pows left hay. during 1946 italians remained there progressively released or transferred other camps, , hay camps dismantled, , building materials , fittings sold off, june following year.