[edit]
The region has been occupied by Indigenous Australians for tens of thousands of years, in the west by the Kamilaroi people. In the highlands, the original languages (which are now extinct) included Anaiwan to the south of Guyra and Ngarbal to the north of Guyra. The population of the tablelands has been estimated to be 1,100 to 1,200 at the time of colonisation – quite low in comparison to the Liverpool Plains and Gwydir River region, estimated to be 4,500 to 5,500. Conflict, disease and environmental damage caused the tablelands population to be reduced to 400 by the 1890s.
The first European to explore the New England area was English explorer John Oxley, who crossed the southern part of the New England Range near the Apsley Falls before he discovered and named Port Macquarie in 1818. In 1827 Allan Cunningham travelled north along the western edge of the Range until he reached the Darling Downs in Queensland. In 1831 Thomas Mitchell reached Wallamoul Station near Tamworth and explored to the Namoi River then followed it to Narrabri. Moving on, Mitchell found a deep, broad river which was the Gwydir. In 1832, Mitchell cut across the plains to the Gwydir River near Moree. The team then spent several weeks charting the tributaries between the Gwydir and the Barwon Rivers.
Hamilton Collins Sempill was the first settler in the New England area when he took up the 'Wolka' run in 1832, establishing slab huts where 'Langford' now stands close to Walcha. During the 1830s further squatters moved their sheep flocks onto the Northern Tablelands as they had been displaced by the Australian Agricultural Company, which dominated resources in the Hunter Valley. When the area was opened up for settlement in the 1830s, this led to the gazetting of nine pastoral districts. These districts had a small police force and a Commissioner of Crown Lands.
Australian red cedar (Toona ciliata) cutters moved into the headwaters of the Macleay River in the early 1830s to harvest the valuable trees. The ranges between Kempsey and Glen Innes yielded about 300,000 board feet (710 m3) in 1950.
Bingara Court House in the town of Bingara
Work commenced in 1838 with the use of convicts to build a road, then known as Major's Line, across the Great Dividing Range to link the wool-growing settlement of Walcha with Port Macquarie. This road was later named the Oxley Highway.
On 22 May 1839 the New England District was gazetted thus: New England District: Bounded on the east by a line north by compass from the top of Werrikimber Mountain which is at the head of the Hastings River; on the south by a line west by compass from the top of Werrikimber Mountain to the Great Dividing Range; on the west by the western extreme of the Great Dividing Range so as to include the Tableland and on the north the boundary is indefinite.
In 1840 there were 66 separate pastoral licences, in 1842 it rose to 98, 1845 – 116; and by 1848 there were 132. Only 10 new runs were registered between 1848 and 1855. In 1843 the Darling Downs district was separated from the New England.
This region ceased to be a statistical division after 1874, but the counties of Arrawatta, Clarke, Clive, Gough, Hardinge, Hawes, Sandon and Vernon approximated the region's limits. In 1847 these counties, with the exception of Hawes and Vernon formed part of the "Unsettled District" of the colony. By 1850 all major communication routes had been forged, with little government assistance.
During the 1860s the famous bushranger, Captain Thunderbolt, robbed properties, mail coaches and hotels throughout the region. Thunderbolt was shot dead in May 1870 by Constable Walker at Kentucky Creek, near Uralla.
The population of the New England Region, including the slopes in 1957 was 143,788 and in 1971 there were 164,128 people, according to the census data. In the 2006 census the New England region had a population of 180,000 which included the local government areas of Armidale Dumaresq, Inverell, Walcha, Glen Innes Severn, Gunnedah, Guyra, Gwydir, Liverpool Plains, Moree Plains, Narrabri, Tamworth Regional and Uralla.
Mining[edit]
Gold was discovered in 1851 at Rocky River, approximately two kilometres west of Uralla and started a rush to the area. Then gold was found at Hanging Rock and nearby Swamp Creek in 1852. In the early 1850s some alluvial gold was found at Mulla Creek and Rywung (now Weabonga) on Swamp Oak Creek. In 1852 the first licenses to prospect were taken out. In the late 19th century several gold and antimony mines were established at places such as Halls Peak and Hillgrove, as well as two ambitious hydro-electric schemes to power them, the remains of which can be seen today along the Styx River and at Gara Gorge. The first gold mining was recorded at Tia in 1866 and in 1873 a reef was discovered at McLeod's Creek, near Walcha. The discovery of the Torrington Tin Lode was made in 1881 but the small prospectors soon lost control to overseas mining companies. Tin and arsenic were mined from the 1880s at the Ottery Mine, near Emmaville. Copper was discovered at Gulf Creek, near Barraba, in 1889 and the first mine was established there in 1892. At its peak, in 1901, the copper mine was one of the largest in the state. Asbestos was first mined at Woodsreef, also near Barraba, from 1919 to the 1980s.
Mining had a major influence on the rise and fall of other towns and villages such as, Bingara, Bear Hill, Elsmore, Emmaville, Metz, Nundle, Stannifer, Tingha and Torrington.
Railway service[edit]
Construction of the Northern Tablelands railway service commenced in the 1870s and the Main North railway line reached Werris Creek and west Tamworth in 1878, Armidale in 1883 and Wallangarra on the Queensland border in 1888. The Main North railway line is now closed north of Armidale.
The Mungindi railway line from Werris Creek to Gunnedah opened in 1879, Narrabri in 1884, Moree in 1897, and Mungindi in 1914. The line is currently truncated to Weemelah between Moree and Mungindi. The line between Werris Creek and Moree is also known as the North-West line. A branch line was opened from Moree to Inverell in 1901. This line was closed in 1994. A branch line was opened between Camurra (11 km north of Moree) to North Star and Boggabilla in 1932 but it is now closed beyond North Star. Another branch was opened from Narrabri to Burren Junction in 1903.
Natural disasters[edit]
The major weather events in the region were:
June 1950 – 1 person drowned in the flooded Barwon River, and 250,000 sheep were lost in the Moree area.
October 1950 – 2 drowned in the Namoi area.
February 1955 – nearly every home in Narrabri was flooded.
February 1956 – 1 drowned in the flooded Peel River
January 1962 – Walcha's worst flood when 40 business houses and 39 residences were inundated.
February 1971 – 5 killed, $25 million damage to stock and crops in the flooded Namoi area.
January 1974 – Namoi flood area: $4 million property damage, $45 m roads and bridges. 500,000 sheep lost, worth $23m. $15m crop losses. $3 million beef cattle loss.
September 1996 – A severe storm, with strong winds, heavy rain and hail, hit Armidale and caused widespread damage.
November 2000 – The worst floods in half a century devastated Gunnedah, Narrabri and Wee Waa.
November 2008 – Devastating damage occurred in the Tamworth, Somerton, Gunnedah and Weabonga areas after flash flooding.
