Gunning & District Historical Society

Gunning Memorial All Services Club. Photo: Souvenir Programme for the official opening of the club extension, 19 November 1975 This is the only historic photo I have been able to locate of the building that was the Gunning Memorial All Services (GMAS) Club.  The property was purchased by GMAS on 13 September 1950; this photo is from 1958 and shows the porch, storeroom, kitchen and snooker room extension completed earlier that year. The building was originally built by the Sons of Temperance (Albert Division) and was opened on 11 April 1882.  It was taken over by the Grand United Order of Oddfellows in 1909 and was used extensively until the late 1930s. GMAS added a dance hall extension in 1964 (between the car and main hall in the photo above) and a major expansion was completed in 1975, including a large auditorium. Extended Club Building - 1975 Photo: Souvenir Programme for the official opening of the club extension, 19 November 1975 I am intereste...

Can you visualise a bear in there?  Detail of baby blankets donated by Lindy Clancy with her beloved cot. Lindy Clancy has added  to the history of her recent donations to the Pye Cottage Museum, Yass Street, Gunning:   'The birthing cot and  spinning wheel… were located at John and Eyvonne Clancy’s residence (originally Dr Barbour’s home) in Biala Street. The cot... was very special to me and was certainly admired by all visitors to our home who sighted and marvelled at this wonderful piece of furniture – it certainly was a one of a kind.  It was extremely important to me to ensure that the cot remained in the township of Gunning… I was so delighted when Keith Brown made contact prior to the new owners taking up residence so that we could transfer this very “unique cot” to its rightful place... The Spinning Wheel I think a lot of local residents would have been safely placed in its care during their arrival into the world at “Alla...

Ambrose Alchin (1800-1877) and John Alchin (1821-1901). Land on Oolong Creek was first made available for sale by auction in 1851, although several farmers had already taken up selections there prior to that year – men such as Simeon Lord (land grant) and Thomas Brown (land purchase). Announcement of Land Auctions, Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser, 25 October 1851, p. 4. The location of land in these years was always described according to creeks, for example, near “Blackeney [Blakney] Creek”, “commencing at Pudman Creek”, “at Jerrawa Creek, near the head of Oolong Creek” or “at Oolong Creek or Chain of Ponds”. It was valuable to know where these and other water courses started and finished. Ambrose Alchin (1800-1877) and his sons John Alchin (1821-1901), William James Alchin (1827-1918) and Charles Alchin (1837-1908) were active in land transactions from the 1850s and into the 1860s at Oolong Creek. Dalton and Oolong Creek were the “seats” of the...

Gunning Courthouse 8th September 1885. Photo NSW State Archives via Flickr . The Gunning & District Historical Society (GDHS) is a small group of volunteers, covering a large area, including Dalton. We have members in Breadalbane who may be able to assist. The other local societies are in Goulburn (which also has a Family History Research Centre ) and Crookwell . Taralga 's society has an extensive family database. The Yass & District Historical Society and well-staffed archive, open one day a week. Check the websites for contact details. GDHS has members with extensive local knowledge (and others who like a challenge). To get a feel for the village, you could book a tour of the village, the general cemetery, the Pye Cottage Museum.  Members have escorted researchers to local churches and cemeteries, including outside Gunning.  Give us plenty of notice as we have occasional bus tour bookings and a program of meetings/events.  Contact us via email gun...

The first bridge over the Oolong Creek at Dalton village a few years after its official opening in 1896 [ Photo: Lisa Wiseman, Gunning Landcare Blog / CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 AU ] By Guest Blogger, Garry Norman Smith My family history research – working title: "The View Across Oolong Creek" – focusses on the Alchin family which came to the colony of New South Wales aboard the Palmyra in 1838. Ambrose Alchin (1800-1877) brought most of his family to the area towards the confluence of Jerrawa and Oolong Creeks in the early 1850s. Ambrose and his sons John Alchin (1821-1901) and William James Alchin (1827-1913) were land holders on Oolong Creek from the 1850s. The site for the town of Dalton was not yet fixed. The announcement of the town was made in 1862. Notice of Town of Dalton,  NSW Government Gazette, 27 June 1862 (No.109), p. 1143 Given the preponderance of Wesleyans in the area – including the Alchins -, the name “Wesley Vale” was suggested for the town but ...

Evening News (Sydney) - 5 December 1905 A short note at the end of a long article about the Gunning Orchestral and Dramatic Society concert caught my attention: Goulburn Evening Penny Post - 16 November 1905 Some further Trove searches revealed an unfortunate journey that ended a promising career for a young bank clerk. On 8 November 1905, 21 year-old bank clerk, John Tom Lane, left the Gunning branch of the Commercial Bank and took the train to Sydney after 10 months of embezzlement to support a gambling habit.  He was arrested in Sydney on 21 November and, after a full confession, pleaded guilty.  He was sentenced to 9 months hard labour at Goulburn Gaol. John started gambling in September, 1904, by letter to a bookmaker in Sydney and had some early wins.  In March, 1905, he started embezzling money (£5) to continue gambling.  The amounts quickly increased to a total of £1021 before he fled in November.  Sadly, he was penniless by th...

Mayor of Upper Lachlan Shire Council, Brian McCormack OAM  (right), about to cut the ribbon with President of GDHS Graham Dyer (left) at Barbour Park on Meadow Creek, Gunning, with the RV-friendly camping area is in the background. Photo: Rosemary Spiller. Twenty people from Gunning and district came together in fine Autumn weather in a very popular location on Sunday 30 April.  The event was part of the National Trust’s Australian Heritage Festival.   Mr Graham Dyer, President of Gunning and District Historical Society, outlined the "Barbour Park Seat of Reflection Project”.   The Upper Lachlan Wood Guild and Gunning and District Historical Society (GDHS) had crafted and erected the memorial Seat of Reflection.   It became clear that a roof was required.   As well as the community grant from Energy Developments ( EDL ), operators of the Cullerin Windfarm, GDHS had contributed a donation from Ms Alison Blackbourn, daughter of Dr Barbour, and i...

Bailey's Garage, Gunning NSW. Photo by Mattinbgn via Wikimedia  ( CC BY 3.0 ) GUNNING SENSATION  Brush in Council  Councillor G. E. Ardill Resigns The matter of erecting iron buildings in the town of Gunning - twice prohibited by resolution of the Shire Council during the past year - has been before the public a good deal lately, and a climax was reached at last Tuesday's meeting of the Council when Cr. Ardill resigned his seat, on principle, rather than sit on a Council that failed to enforce its resolutions. The discussion was brief but warm. After the breach in the regulations had been referred to Cr. Ardill said that there was an excuse for a second mistake.  The President: I don't like a man to stand up and defy me.  Cr. Ardill: Neither do I. As a man told me, we might as well have six clothes pegs instead of councillors here. The Council should stand by its resolutions. I, for one, am not prepared to stay in the Council. If we do...

Gunning Uniting Church today, Warrataw Street, Gunning. Photo by  Mattinbgn  /  CC BY 3.0 Guest article by Garry Norman Smith At three o’clock on Wednesday 16 January 1849, Dr Benjamin Clayton JP laid the foundation stone for the “New Wesleyan Chapel” in Gunning. A sermon was preached on the occasion by the Reverend W.B. Boyce, General Superintendent of the Wesleyan Missions in Australia and Van Diemen’s Land. From the Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser , 13 January 1849, via Trove. Gunning Uniting Church, Built by Coates & Sons , Parramatta. Photo by Garry Smith. Despite the official opening of the chapel taking place in July 1849, the gazetting of the land grant to the church did not appear until December 1849; the bureaucracy lagged well behind. The Colonial Secretary’s Office in Sydney announced that land had been granted at the intersection of Warrataw and Cullavin Streets, Gunning for a Wesleyan Chapel, a Wesleyan School a...

Gunning Golf Club 2016. Photo by Ann Darbyshire The golfing term "links" refers to a certain type of landscape, typically Scottish, with undulating dunes and native (Scottish) vegetation, usually in a windy coastal place, used to develop a certain type of golf course. The game suits golfers who can drive long and low to stay out of the wind. Or so I am told - the only handicap I have when it comes to golf is my golfing ability. But this 1922 article from The Cootamundra Herald  about the Gunning Golf Club states that the club thanked Mr Massey "for his permission to use 'Arabula' for the purpose of making links". Could this be the name of the property on which the the Gunning Golf Club now resides? If you know more, please email us and let us know! The original article from Trove is below: Cootamundra Herald, 28 June 1922, p. 4. Via Trove .