Gunning & District Historical Society

Radical, left wing historical revisionists are questioning whether we should continue to honour Gunning founding father William Grovenor as we look back at past events in these enlightened times. An earlier article on this site,  Gunning's First Ever Magpie Shooting Competition a Banging Success , reported on a live bird shooting tournament organised by Mr William Grovenor in 1880 during which nine eminent local Knights of the Trigger shot and killed 17 or more magpies. Comments and questions on Facebook soon followed. This article attempts to address the issues  people have raised in these posts as well as adding some new information and clarification. So, here follows: Should Grovenor Street be renamed in the light of Mr Grovenor's role in initiating and managing such a barbarous magpie murdering event? Gunning's Elite - the high cost of joining the Knights of the Trigger. The culinary qualities of the Australian Magpie. Retraction and a...

Waratah St (now Warataw St) Gunning, NSW, circa early 1900s (Trove - Public Domain) This photograph dating from the early 1900s depicts Waratah Street (now Warataw Street) in historic Gunning. The former Frankfield Hotel and some of the buildings in the photograph are still standing. The photograph is from Trove , the National Library of Australia 's historical database. Photo by Mattinbgn CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons To the left is a more recent photograph of the Frankfield Hotel, now a private residence.