Drought, floods and bushfires are part and parcel of a grazier’s life in north-western New South Wales. In the colony’s early days, if the weather didn’t get to the sheep, dingoes often did. As the settlers gradually eradicated the dingoes, rabbits spread like a veritable plague on the land, eating all the grasses. Hungry sheep […]
LJ (Les) Hibbens (1918–1988) was actively involved in all aspects of civic life in Wee Waa. In addition to being elected to the Namoi Shire Council in 1951, Les was District Grand Master of the North West District of the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Odd Fellows (1951-2). When Les Hibbens was awarded this certificate, […]
After more than a decade of fundraising and planning by the Wee Waa Historical Society, the Namoi Echo Museum, located on the lands of the Kamillaroi people, opened in 2006. In a section of the museum which highlights the local history of sheep farming, a five-panel mural takes pride of place. Conceived and painted by […]
In addition to bringing us roads, we have the Romans to thank for the humble fruit cake. When Mrs Maunder’s Boiled Fruit Cake placed second at the 1975 Wee Waa Show, she was unwittingly contributing to the legacy of an ancient cake that is so dense that it’s sometimes referred to as ‘doorstop.’ The fruit […]
David Cormie arrived in the Pilliga region in the early 1860s to manage a property for the Dangar family. His wife, Charlotte Cussen, came from a family that had settled there in the 1840s. After their marriage, David and Charlotte had seven children; their eldest, William (Bill), who made this bell, was born in 1866. […]
World War I (1914–1918) stands as Australia’s most devastating conflict when it comes to loss of life and injuries. With a population of less than five million, a staggering 416,809 men signed up to fight. Sadly, over 60,000 of them never made it home, and another 156,000 were wounded, gassed, or captured. Volunteering for someone […]
In May 1930, Mallawa Amateur Racing Club held their first Picnic Day on grazier Mathew Boland’s property, ‘Narba’ near Moree. The community was abuzz with excitement about the event, the turf received high praise and a shed formerly used by the cricket team was relocated to house the secretary and jockeys. Maude Gunthorpe, from the […]
Originally from Russia, Albert Abram Coppleson (1865-1948) was never one to shy away from a challenge. After leaving home at sixteen, walking to Hamburg, then travelling to London, he met Polish-born Woolf Ruta Cohen. In search of adventure, the pair made their way to New South Wales. Spending his first few years in the colony […]
In the early 1900s, on the Greek Island of Kythera, a little boy watched as his father, Minas Comino unloaded sacks of veggies onto a wharf. In the terrifying moment that he watched his father fall, he had witnessed the heart attack that turned his whole world upside down. Born in 1897, Andrew Comino became […]
In the 1840s, graziers in the colonies were beset by falling prices for meat exports due to a depression in Britain. A smelly solution came in the form of boiling-down – the boiling of carcasses in vats to extract tallow (animal fat). Used to make soap and candles, tallow was worth more than meat, and […]
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