Bingara New South Wales | |||||||||
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Coordinates | 29°52′0″S150°34′0″E / 29.86667°S 150.56667°E | ||||||||
Population | 1,428 (2016 census) [1] | ||||||||
Established | c.1840 | ||||||||
Postcode(s) | 2404 | ||||||||
Elevation | 296 m (971 ft) [2] | ||||||||
Location | |||||||||
LGA(s) | Gwydir Shire | ||||||||
County | Murchison | ||||||||
Federal division(s) | Parkes [3] | ||||||||
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Bingara (Aboriginal for 'creek' [4] ) is a small town on the Gwydir River in Murchison County in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. Bingara is currently the administrative centre for the Gwydir Shire that was created in 2003. The Gwydir River being a main highlight of the town is a main catchment of the Murray-Darling System.
Bingara is located 141 km north of Tamworth, 54 km west of Inverell, 449 km north of Sydney [5] and 358 km south west of Brisbane. [6] Bingara is located very close to Myall Creek, the site of the massacre of 27 to 30 Indigenous Australians.
Before British colonisation the Bingara region was within the country of the Wirraayaraay people. [7]
In 1827, British explorer Allan Cunningham crossed the Gwydir River near Bingara. At the time he mistook the river to be the Peel River, but realised his mistake on his return journey.
British colonisation at Bingara began in 1836 with the arrival of the pastoralist squatter Thomas Simpson Hall. Hall established the Bingara leasehold as a sheep and cattle station. The local Aborigines initially resisted Hall's incursion and both Aboriginal and Europeans were killed in the resulting skirmishes. Hall himself received a spear wound to his head during one of these battles. A detachment of New South Wales Mounted Police under Sergeant John Temple were dispatched to the area and, accompanied by Hall's armed stockmen, exacted a "terrible retribution upon the blacks". The creek running through Bingara is named Hall's Creek after Thomas Simpson Hall. [7]
The discovery of gold in 1852 brought prospectors to the area. In the 1880s, copper and diamonds were discovered also, causing a rapid development of the town. Bingara is one of the few places in Australia where diamonds have been found. In fact, Bingara was the largest producer of diamonds in Australia at that time. Bingara changed the spelling of its name from Bingera to Bingara in 1890. [8] The first Bingera Post Office opened on 1 January 1853 and was renamed Upper Bingera in 1862 and closed in 1868. The second Bingera office opened in 1862 and was renamed Bingara in 1890. [9]
Bingara has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1921 | 1,014 | — |
1933 | 1,448 | +42.8% |
1947 | — | |
1954 | 1,465 | — |
1961 | 1,485 | +1.4% |
1966 | 1,504 | +1.3% |
1971 | 1,401 | −6.8% |
1976 | 1,295 | −7.6% |
1981 | 1,257 | −2.9% |
1986 | 1,363 | +8.4% |
1991 | 1,231 | −9.7% |
1996 | 1,236 | +0.4% |
2001 | 1,172 | −5.2% |
2006 | 1,207 | +3.0% |
2011 | 1,093 | −9.4% |
2016 | 1,074 | −1.7% |
2021 | 1,028 | −4.3% |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics data. [12] [13] |
According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 1,428 people in Bingara. 82.7% of people were born in Australia and 88.2% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were Anglican 38.6%, Catholic 16.8% and No Religion 15.2%.
It is a popular site for retirement with 57% of the population aged 55 years and over, compared to the national average of 27.6% and a median age of 61. The median weekly household income for Bingara is $743 which is lower than the national median of $1,438. [1]
Bingara sporting life consists of the Bingara Bullets (rugby league), Gwydir River Rats (rugby union) and the Bingara District Cricket Association (cricket) with the representative team being Gwydir First XI. Notable sporting people include Andrew Hart (ex St George), sports broadcaster David Fordham, [14] [15] and Sydney jockey Adrian Robinson also originates from Bingara.
Bingara has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa, Trewartha: Cfak/Cfal), with hot summers and cool winters.
Climate data for Bingara Post Office, New South Wales, Australia (1878-present normals and extremes); 296 m AMSL | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 40.6 (105.1) | 41.7 (107.1) | 39.4 (102.9) | 35.6 (96.1) | 29.1 (84.4) | 25.0 (77.0) | 25.5 (77.9) | 27.7 (81.9) | 35.0 (95.0) | 39.4 (102.9) | 42.8 (109.0) | 41.7 (107.1) | 42.8 (109.0) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 33.6 (92.5) | 32.8 (91.0) | 30.8 (87.4) | 26.7 (80.1) | 22.1 (71.8) | 18.1 (64.6) | 17.7 (63.9) | 19.1 (66.4) | 23.2 (73.8) | 26.9 (80.4) | 30.3 (86.5) | 32.9 (91.2) | 26.2 (79.1) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 25.9 (78.6) | 25.1 (77.2) | 22.8 (73.0) | 18.4 (65.1) | 14.2 (57.6) | 10.9 (51.6) | 10.0 (50.0) | 11.3 (52.3) | 14.6 (58.3) | 18.6 (65.5) | 22.0 (71.6) | 24.7 (76.5) | 18.2 (64.8) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18.1 (64.6) | 17.3 (63.1) | 14.8 (58.6) | 10.1 (50.2) | 6.2 (43.2) | 3.7 (38.7) | 2.2 (36.0) | 3.4 (38.1) | 6.0 (42.8) | 10.2 (50.4) | 13.6 (56.5) | 16.5 (61.7) | 10.2 (50.3) |
Record low °C (°F) | 10.8 (51.4) | 9.2 (48.6) | 6.7 (44.1) | 2.2 (36.0) | −3.3 (26.1) | −6.9 (19.6) | −6.7 (19.9) | −6.1 (21.0) | −1.7 (28.9) | 0.0 (32.0) | 3.3 (37.9) | 5.7 (42.3) | −6.9 (19.6) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 90.9 (3.58) | 86.1 (3.39) | 64.0 (2.52) | 40.5 (1.59) | 48.4 (1.91) | 49.9 (1.96) | 50.4 (1.98) | 43.5 (1.71) | 45.5 (1.79) | 64.8 (2.55) | 71.8 (2.83) | 80.0 (3.15) | 735.8 (28.96) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 6.1 | 5.5 | 4.9 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 60.2 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology (temperature, precipitation- 1878-present normals and extremes) [16] |
The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region or simply Hunter, is a region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately 162 km (101 mi) to 310 km (193 mi) north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and south. Situated at the northern end of the Sydney Basin bioregion, the Hunter Valley is one of the largest river valleys on the NSW coast, and is most commonly known for its wineries and coal industry.
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Moree is a town in Moree Plains Shire in northern New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Mehi River, in the centre of the rich black-soil plains. The town is located at the junction of the Newell Highway and Gwydir Highway and can be reached by daily train and air services from Sydney.
The Waterloo Creek massacre refers to a series of violent clashes between mounted police, civilian vigilantes and Indigenous Gamilaraay peoples, which occurred southwest of Moree, New South Wales, Australia, during December 1837 and January 1838. The Waterloo Creek Massacre site is listed on the New South Wales Heritage Register as a place of significance in frontier violence leading to the murder of Gamilaraay people. The events have been subject to much dispute, due to wildly conflicting accounts by various participants and in subsequent reports and historical analyses, about the nature and number of fatalities and the lawfulness of the actions. Interpretation of the events at Waterloo Creek was raised again during the controversial "history wars" which began in the 1990s in Australia.
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The Myall Creek massacre was the killing of at least twenty-eight unarmed Indigenous Australians by twelve colonists on 10 June 1838 at the Myall Creek near the Gwydir River, in northern New South Wales. After two trials, seven of the twelve colonists were found guilty of murder and hanged, a verdict which sparked extreme controversy within New South Wales settler society. The leader of the perpetrators, a free settler, John Henry Fleming, evaded arrest and was never tried. Four were never retried following the not guilty verdict of the first trial.
Warialda is a town in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, in Gwydir Shire. It is situated on the banks of Warialda Creek. At the 2011 census, Warialda had a population of 1,120.
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Bingara Shire was a local government area located in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of Tamworth via Fossickers Way. The Shire, administered from the town of Bingara covered an area of 2,853.7 square kilometres (1,101.8 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1906 until 2004, when it was amalgamated with Yallaroi Shire and part of Barraba to form the Gwydir Shire.
Roxy Theatre and Peters Greek Cafe Complex is a heritage-listed theatre and cafe at 74 Maitland Street, Bingara, Gwydir Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Mark Woodforde with construction supervised by George Psaltis of the Greek partnership Peters and Co. in 1935-1936. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 25 August 2017.
Myall Creek Massacre and Memorial Site is the heritage-listed site of and memorial for the victims of the Myall Creek massacre at Bingara Delungra Road, Myall Creek, Gwydir Shire, New South Wales, Australia. The memorial, which was unveiled in 2000, was added to the Australian National Heritage List on 7 June 2008 and the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 12 November 2010.
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Myall Creek is a locality split between the local government areas of Inverell Shire and the Gwydir Shire in New South Wales, Australia. In the 2016 census, Myall Creek had a population of 38 people.
John Henry Fleming was an Australian-born squatter and stockman, who is best known as being the ringleader of the 1838 Myall Creek massacre which resulted in the murder of at least twenty-eight unarmed members of the Wirraayaraay people, Indigenous Australians who spoke a Gamilaraay language.
Keera is a locality on the upper Gwydir River in Murchison County in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The nearest town is Bingara which is approximately 20km to the north-west.
Thomas Simpson Hall was an Anglo-Australian pastoralist who was at the forefront of British colonial expansion into what is now northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. He established large pastoral leases in these areas on Aboriginal lands and was subsequently involved in considerable frontier conflict with these original occupants. Hall was a pioneer of the British settlements of Dartbrook, Manilla, Bingara, Moree and Surat. He also became a leading breeder of Shorthorn cattle in Australia and developed a type of working dog called the Halls Heeler, from which the Australian cattle dog is descended.
Media related to Bingara, New South Wales at Wikimedia Commons
Bingara travel guide from Wikivoyage