Gunning & District Historical Society

Bushrangers Hall, Dunn and Gilbert attack police guarding the Gundagai Mail 1865. Dunn and Gilbert may have splashed out a substantial sum for lunch in the Lade Vale/Mundoonen district not long before or after this event [Picture: State Library of Victoria via Wikimedia Commons]. New Discovery About Local Bushranging History – Or Mundoonen Myth? Over the last few months lifelong Gunning and Lade Vale resident, Mr Sid Hillier, has been generously and helpfully back grounding me on local history. Among other things, Sid has told me about a family story concerning his grandmother, Ellen (Granny) Hillier, and the notorious bushrangers Dunn and Gilbert. I bring Sid’s story to you despite it leaving some important questions unanswered. The Gunning District Historical Society would not normally publish mythical tales but I believe this to be an essentially true account of an historical event. Yes, there are a few significant gaps which you may feel places it more in the ...

  Lost in Gunning's Wild and Mountainous Murriongs Sir Charles Belcher OBE 1876-1970. Know nothing about him? He certainly knew Gunning as a youngster; and remembered it fondly despite being at risk of death from thirst and exposure when lost in our “wild and mountainous Murriongs” in 1888. Photo: Wikipedia  Over the last few months I have spent too much of my life in pursuit of Sir Charles Belcher. I blame it all on Trove where I chanced upon this January 1888 report by the Gunning correspondent of the Goulburn Evening and Penny Post: “On New Year’s Eve a boy named Belcher was reported to be missing. It would seem that the lad, in the company of two or three others, went for a bird’s nest ramble in the bush. By some means the boy got so far from his companions as to be out of sight and hearing. The lad wandered through the bush until he came upon the homestead of Mr T Mooney. A search party had been organised in the meantime who were pleased to learn that the...

A Young Albert Noah Alchin (1870-1913) at about the time he began teaching (From the collection of Debbie Longhurst). Article by Garry Norman Smith My great uncle, Albert Noah Alchin is, so far, the only teacher (my own profession) I have found in my direct family line. He was born in 1870 at Araluen near Braidwood, New South Wales, the eldest child of Charles Alchin (1837-1908) and Mary Alchin (nee Stear) (1843-1897). Charles and Mary were the great, great grandparents of the author. As an eight-year-old in 1878 Albert attended the Chain of Ponds Public School, along with his siblings Percy and Martha; his cousins John, Sidney, Alfred and Margaret also attended at that time. At the age of 21 years, Albert entered the teaching profession. In 1892, while living with his parents at Pine Range, Gunning, he was “instructed to take temporary charge” of the Khalangan School near Burrowa from Miss Jeannie Yabsley.  Teacher’s Roll for Albert Noah Alchin 1892-1908. State Ar...