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| The park and river in
Young |
Young (including Murringo, Wombat and Wallendbeen)
Interesting goldmining town now the centre of a
substantial cherry industry
Young is situated on undulating terrain in a valley
surrounded by a circle of low hills 376 km west of Sydney
via the Hume Freeway and 432 metres above sea-level. It is
71 km south-west of
Cowra and 47 km north-east of
Cootamundra. Young is the commercial centre of an
agriculturally diverse district famous for its cherries,
prunes and other stone fruits, although berries, grapes,
pigs, sheep, wheat, wool, cattle, oats, barley, eggs,
mining, steel fabrication and a pipeline authority are all
sources of local employment and income. The population is
approximately 9000.
Prior to white settlement the area was occupied by the
Burrowmunditory tribe. European exploration of the interior
occurred along the Lachlan River to the north and the
Murrumbidgee to the south but the first European to
investigate the site of Young was a pastoralist by the name
of James White who, in 1826, was directed, by the local
Aborigines, to Burrangong Creek. There he established the
Burrangong station at a time when it was beyond the declared
limits of settlement and so beyond the realm of government
protection. As such it was subjected to raids by the outlaw
Whitton who murdered the brother of noted explorer Hamilton
Hume (see entry on Gunning).
White soon brought other family members to the property
which he stocked with cattle, sheep, pigs and horses. A
sheltered flat on the station was used by pregnant ewes and
so became known as Lambing Flat. Gold was discovered here in
1860 by White's nephew and 'Alexander the Yankee' at what is
now the southern end of Main St. The discovery was published
in the Sydney Morning Herald on August 4 causing a major
rush to Lambing Flat. Within 12 months, as the diggings
spread out, it is estimated that there were 20 000 on the
fields, of which 2000 were thought to be Chinese.
Violence, theft, armed robbery and general lawlessness
developed as the goldfield was not officially proclaimed
until November. This meant no law enforcement
infrastructure, no gold escort and no security of possession
in a claim. Liquor shanties proliferated, along with the
usual array of businesses - butchers, bakers, blacksmiths,
storekeepers. Main Street began to emerge at this time,
populated first with canvas stores then bark shanties which
were gradually succeeded by timber structures.
On November 13, 1860, a group of Europeans banded
together, drove off 500 Chinese prospectors and destroyed
their tents. Consequently, on November 27, a Gold
Commissioner and three mounted troopers were appointed
although their lack of numbers and their distance from the
field rendered them ineffective.
In December, a vigilante group, to the accompaniment of a
musical band, took it upon themselves to burn down some
disreputable grog shanties and pour away the liquor which
was allegedly drugged. They also drove off some 50 Chinese.
Some accounts suggest they scalped two men and cut off the
ears of others. Police reinforcements arrived but by that
time order again prevailed and no evidence of the assault
was found.
However, on January 25, Europeans, fuelled by criticisms
about the way the Chinese managed scarce water resources,
gathered together, drove off more Chinese and threatened to
destroy the police barracks if the troopers interfered.
Reinforcements were sent for, bringing the number of law
enforcement officers to 30.
Nonetheless, European miners rallied two days later and,
ignoring police exhortations, drove off hundreds more
Chinese (some accounts claim the number to be several
thousand). They stole and destroyed Chinese property,
assaulted the miners and cut off their pigtails. When 11
perpetrators were arrested, 4000 miners gathered and
demanded their release. Disorder prevailed throughout the
night. The men were taken to court the next morning but the
evidence of the Chinese was deemed unsatisfactory and the
accused men were released with a caution. In the ensuing
weeks assaults upon the Chinese and their property
continued. All Chinese servants were dismissed, mining
ceased and a general state of disorder continued.
Captain Wilkie, the commander of the 12th Regiment, died
on February 1 when he fell from his horse during a fit. His
funeral procession was deemed spectacular and his widow
travelled to England to raise funds for a proper Anglican
Church to be erected in his memory (the memorial tablets
still decorate the walls of the present Anglican church).
At this time a Miners' Protective League was formed with
the objectives of expelling the Chinese, repealing gold
duties, obtaining parliamentary representation and police
protection of body and industry, unlocking public lands, and
promulgating Christianity throughout the mining districts.
The government's concern at these events became apparent
when the state premier, Charles Cowper, visited the field to
placate the miners. Straddling the fence quite neatly he
professed sympathy with their grievances against the Chinese
and claimed he was in favour of restriction but asserted
that he was powerless to stop them entering the country (due
to a British treaty with the Chinese government) and
affirmed that the persons and property of the Chinese could
not be harmed. At the same time he refused to meet the
miners' leaders or hear their address.
Then , on March 11, at least 150 troops with three
12-pounder field guns arrived, setting up fortifications at
the corner of Campbell and Berthong Sts. However, they soon
became very friendly with the miners and the Chinese were
restricted to Blackguard Gully. Meanwhile, a Gold Fields
Bill, intended to separate the warring factions, lapsed when
Parliament was prorogued.
On May 24, two days after a violent confrontation at
Native Dog Creek goldfield, the troops departed, against the
advice of the gold commissioner. A rumour soon spread that
1500 Chinese had landed at Sydney, bound for the Lambing
Flat area. Consequently another 'roll-up' was called on June
30 which culminated in the greatest riot of all. 3000
Europeans, armed with pick-handles, bludgeons and whips,
assembled and, sporting British, Irish and American flags,
they marched to the Chinese encampments to the sound of a
brass band. Again, pigtails were cut off, property smashed
and huge bonfires consumed Chinese clothing, tents and
furniture. At least one European man was killed and others
were wounded. It seems unclear how many, if any, Chinese
died, though there seem to have been no reported fatalities.
Subsequently several men were arrested and on July 14
about 1000 miners laid siege to the gaol in a rescue
attempt. The Riot Act was read near what is now Carrington
Park and shots were exchanged, in which one miner was
killed. That night the police and magistrates released the
prisoners, packed up their valuables and left for Yass. The
courthouse and police camp were burned down in the evening.
The leaders of the Miners' Protective League went to
Sydney to have their grievances heard but one was arrested
at Goulburn and the Governor refused to see the others. When
a regiment of troops arrived with a howitzer on July 31,
another five men were arrested. The miners raised 400 pounds
for a defence fund and the trial was held at Goulburn at the
end of September. All were acquitted due to a perceived lack
of evidence except one man who received two years in prison.
The trial judge argued that although the Chinese were
'undesirable' they took the gold, not from British subjects,
but from the ground where it would remain but for their
exertions.
The miners celebrated and the major upshot of the riots
was, ironically, the passage, in November, of the Chinese
Immigration Restriction Act - the first legislative salvo of
the White Australia Policy.
One of the miners' leaders, William Spicer, an active
opponent of violence, was later found at Forbes and
sentenced to two years in prison, perhaps for want of a
scapegoat from among the mining leadership. He later became
a member of parliament.
Back at the fields, the Chinese were restricted to
designated fields by government decree. They were
consistently fined for working beyond their bounds while
further assaults on the Chinese went unpunished as European
juries proved unwilling to convict the assailants.
It has been argued that the general tone of lawlessness
(produced by an initial absence of authority and then by the
government's weak handling of the riots) encouraged the
emergence of bushranging in the area after a general absence
of such activities in NSW during the 1850s. One notorious
figure was Frank Gardiner who set up a butchering business
at Lambing Flat in 1860 with a man named Fogg. Gardiner
allegedly took to stealing the cattle to supply the
business. After a brawl he was forced to leave town and he
subsequently took to bailing up passers-by on the Cowra
Road. It is also claimed that, after the first race meeting
at Lambing Flat in 1861, he stole the winning horse.
Two other men with connections to Lambing Flat were the
now infamous bushrangers Ben Hall and Johnny Gilbert who
became Gardiner's closest associates. Working a large area,
which included the Lambing Flat diggings, the 'gang' (which
included John Vane, Michael Burke and John O'Meally)
committed a profusion of robberies.
In 1863 O'Meally and Burke were shot dead, Vane
surrendered and was imprisoned and Gardiner fled the state
with Ben Hall's sister-in-law, Kitty Brown. Hall then became
the de facto leader of the 'gang' which now consisted
essentially of Hall, Gilbert and John Vane. Both of the
former were killed in 1865. Dunn fled but was caught and
hanged in 1866.
Another noted bushranger, Frank Cotterell (alias Blue
Cap), was captured by the Young police and appeared at Young
police court in 1867 where he was committed to stand trial.
The annual gold supply carried out by escort from Young
peaked in 1862 at nearly 3500 kg but it declined rapidly
thereafter - to 235 kg in 1868 and 29 kg in 1876. By that
time the number of miners was down to 400. In fact, they
began to drift away as early as 1862 in search of better
pickings at Forbes. The soldiers left in July of that year
and Lambing Flat itself was worked out by 1864.
The Chinese were forced out to Wombat, 20 km south, where
a ploughed line separated them from the Europeans. Local
businessmen were feeling the effect of a declining
population and wanted the Chinese readmitted to the business
district but the European miners resisted.
As alluvial gold declined, attempts were made to
establish quartz reef mining but returns were discouraging.
Sluicing was carried out in the 1880s and 1890s and dredging
from 1900 to 1903. The Chinese had disappeared by the turn
of the century and only about 20 miners remained by 1910
producing less than 3 kg of gold annually. In all 11 280 kg
were shipped out by escort between 1861 and 1876. From 1876
and 1910 the area yielded only another 1400 kg.
Amidst all of this the emerging township was surveyed in
March 1861. The first allotments went on sale in May and
officials named the settlement 'Young' after the governor of
NSW, although many continued to call it 'Lambing Flat' and
'Burrangong' until the end of the century. Young was not
officially gazetted until 1869.
The first hotel proper opened in December 1860 and a post
office, school, bank, newspaper, Anglican Church and
Catholic Church were established the following year. In
1862, the first hospital was built and a new courthouse
replaced the one burned down in the riots. Shop building
shifted to Boorowa St in 1862 - the year the telegraph line
arrived. A Wesleyan Church was completed in 1866, followed
by buildings for the Presbyterians and Primitive Methodists.
In most cases there was a steady upgrade from makeshift
premises to timber to brick.
The Robertson Land Act of 1861 opened the countryside up
to small landowners and, as mining declined in the area,
farming began to emerge. Wheat, maize, barley and oats were
cultivated from the 1860s and fruit-growing began to emerge
as a major industry in the 1890s, although the cherries, for
which the town is now famed, were first cultivated in 1878.
Local industries emerged such as a sawmill in 1865, a
large flour mill in 1866, a brewery in 1877, a tannery and
boot factory in the 1880s and a soap factory and brickworks.
A meat chilling works opened in 1893 and a butter factory in
1894.
Local government was established in 1883 and in 1889
Young became the first town outside the capital cities to
install electricity for the supply of streets and homes.
When the railway line arrived in 1885, it greatly enhanced
local agriculture by facilitating market access. Cherries in
particular took off, capturing the Sydney market and fruit
cultivation in general boomed. By 1923 Young reputedly had
the world's two largest cherry orchards.
The ten-day National Cherry Festival starts on the last
weekend in November.
Things to see:
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Fresh Fruit and Tourist Information
There are innumerable orchards around Young which sell
cherries, prunes, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums and
other stone fruits, apples, pears, grapes, strawberries,
raspberries, jams, spreads, preserves, pastries and juices.
Visitors are welcome in season for sales, to observe the
harvesting and packing process or, in some cases, to pick
your own fruit. The cherry harvest runs throughout November
and December and the fruit season ends in April.
Cherrygrove Orchard is the largest strawberry farm in the
area with a wide range of stone fruits and berries, wine
tasting, Devonshire teas and barbecue facilities. Golden
Glance on the Cowra Rd has orchards and a winery where
cherry wine is manufactured. For further information contact
the Young Tourist Information Centre which is located at 2
Short Street, tel: (02) 6382 3394.
Art Gallery
The Burrangong Art Gallery is located next door to the
Information Centre in Short St. It is open every day except
Monday from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. Entry is free, tel: (02)
6382 4796.
Historic Walk
Follow Short Street Lane from the Information Centre down to
the Senior Citizens' Club and the parkland adjacent
Burrangong Creek. It was in this area that the first gold of
Lambing Flat was discovered in 1860, sparking an enormous
goldrush.
It was also here, on June 30, 1861, that about 3000
miners crossed a bridge over the creek on their way to the
Chinese encampments where they engaged in the major action
of the Lambing Flat Riots. One European miner was killed and
his body carried to the Empire Hotel which then stood nearby
in Main St.
Cross over the footbridge at the southern end of Main St
and turn to the right following the creek past the lookout
area to Campbell St. Cross over the road to the Young
Technology High School. The police buildings were all
located in this area in 1861. A sign indicates where the
Riot Act was read to the miners on July 14 of that year.
Walk down Campbell St towards Carrington Park, created in
1889 and named after Lord Carrington. To the left is the
striking grandiosity of the high school's assembly hall with
its enormous columns and coat-of-arms. This High Victorian
Classical building was designed by colonial architect James
Barnet and erected between 1884 and 1886 as a courthouse.
Head westwards through the park (the band rotunda dates
from 1912). To the left is the TAFE college which is
partially housed in what remains of the old red-brick gaol,
built in 1876. Until it closed in 1923 it housed 50
prisoners.
Cross over to Ripon St on the other side of the park
where you will find a complex of Roman Catholic buildings.
One school building is housed in the old convent (1892).
Adjacent is the chapel. The church itself (St Mary's) dates
from 1876.
Cross back over Campbell St to the community centre which
is situated in a large single-storey building erected in
1883 as a public school. This long U-shaped brick structure
has a courtyard and a bell-tower with arches and columns at
its base. Today it houses the Art-and-Craft Club, the Family
History Group and the Lambing Flat Folk Museum.
Lambing Flat Folk Museum
The Lambing Flat Folk Museum is open Monday to Saturday from
10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. and on Sunday from 10.45 a.m. to
4.00 p.m., tel: (02) 6382 2248. Its displays include the
remarkable 'Roll-Up' Flag which was part of the
paraphernalia used in 1860-61 to summon European miners to
assembly prior to assaults on the local Chinese community.
It still bears the large inscription 'No Chinese'. Other
exhibits include an 1862 barber's chair, a 'magic lantern'
projecting device, gold-washing implements, a small
19th-century hot-air engine, an 1867 hand-operated sewing
machine and a poker machine c.1900.
Those interested in fossicking for gold can hire the
necessary equipment from the museum. Campbell St will return
you to the Information Centre.
Also of historic interest is the attractive brick railway
station (1885) in Lovell St with its Gothic flourishes.
JD's Jam Factory
JD's Jam Factory on Grenfell Rd, at the northern edge of
town, is an award-winning tourist attraction which combines
an orchard, a fruit processing plant and a sales outlet
where you can purchase items from the Young Maid brand of
products, including 118 different varieties of jams,
preserves, sauces, pickles and chutneys and excellent cherry
pies. You can view the packing shed, the grading process,
and the manufacture of the jam. There are also free orchard
tours where, in November and December you can wander amidst
the cherry blossoms and take in the excellent views.
Devonshire teas, pies and ice-cream are available from the
tea room and fresh cherries and other stone fruits can be
purchased in season. It is open daily from 8.00 a.m. to 6.00
p.m., tel: (02) 6382 4060.
Blackguard Gully Goldmining Remnants
1 km east of the Young shopping area on the Boorowa Rd
(Whiteman Ave) is a three-hectare area dedicated to gold
prospecting (equipment can be hired from the museum). It
fronts Victoria Gully which was known as Blackguard Gully in
the goldmining days. The Chinese were consigned to this spot
in an attempt to forestall trouble during the 1861 Lambing
Flat Riots. A furrow was ploughed to mark the boundary of
their confinement. Today there is a picnic area and inside
an enclosure are the remains of pug mills, water races,
mining shafts and dams with connecting pathways. A
reconstructed pug mill can also be seen.
Pat's Doll Museum and Jack's Australiana Slab Hut
2000 antique and modern dolls, along with teddy bears,
prams, money boxes etc are housed in a former railway
carriage. Adjacent is a slab hut where you can find a
collection of antique Australiana. The two are situated in
garden surrounds in Kingsvale Rd at the south-eastern corner
of town and are open daily, tel: (02) 6382 1528.
Chinaman's Dam
Chinaman's Dam is located 4 km south-east of Young via
Kingsvale Rd. It was established in the 1860s by two Dutch
brothers to supply water for sluicing their claim. Chinese
miners purchased the dam in the 1870s and reworked the area.
The dam supplied water to steam trains at one time and, in
the 1950s, became a recreation and aquatic reserve for
swimming and picnicking. In the 1990s the area has been
upgraded. Lawns have been established and new
picnic-barbecue facilities installed. There is a bridge
across the water and a pergola.
Gardens
The Price of Peace Garden represents 2.5 acres of native and
exotic landscaped garden with a bird aviary and a cafe at
Lot 7, Willawong St. There is an admission fee and bookings
are appreciated, tel: (02) 6382 2465.
At Jacaranda Hill Garden (two acres) there are also tours
of beautiful private landscaped gardens. Visitations are by
appointment only. It is located in Noonans Rd (off Pestells
Lane), tel: (02) 6382 4657.
Scenic Attractions
Cobborn Jackie Weir, on the town side of the museum, in
Campbell St, is named after a local Aborigine who directed
the area's first European settler, James White, to the spot
where he established his property. White and Jackie are said
to have established an on-going relationship. Other scenic
spots are Carrington Park with its excellent gardens, the
Bicentennial Park in Campbell St, Anderson Park in Lovell
St, Captain Cook Weir in Marina St, Touts Lookout on Scenic
Rd, which heads north off Iandra St (the Olympic Way) and
Lions Lookout on the Olympic Way.
Wineries
Demondrille Vineyard is located at 97 Prunevale Rd (en route
to Harden) and it is open from 10.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. on
weekends and public holidays or by appointment. They produce
a mixture of pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, merlot, semillon, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, riesling, traminer
and aleatico and offer both excellent food and bush poetry,
tel: (02) 6384 4272.
10 km north of Young on the Olympic Way is Wodonga Hill
Winery which is open daily from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., tel:
(02) 6382 2972.
At Hanson's Hilltop Winery there are quality wines, an
orchard, highland cattle and a collection of artefacts from
the Torres Strait Islands. To get there head south-east
along Moppity Rd (which commences as Briggs St). After about
18 km turn right into Barwang Rd and the winery is to the
left about 500 m along the road.
Murringo
22 km east of Young is the small village of Murringo which
was surveyed as early as 1849 and ambitiously laid out to
generous proportions the following year. At that time it was
a resting place for teamsters headed west from Boorowa to
the Bland. A woolshed, blacksmith's shop, house and dairy
were then in existence, a post office was established in
1857 and a public school in 1860. Murringo became a flour
milling centre before the emergence of Lambing Flat,
boasting two hotels and three stores. However, the
goldfields changed the nature of local traffic and the
village went into decline. Christ Church was built in 1865,
a stone school in 1870 and a Catholic Church in 1874. All
three are still standing.
The workshop of renowned glassblower and glass engraver
Helmut Hiebl can now be found in the main street, tel: (02)
6384 6219.
Wombat
Wombat, 12 km south of Young on the Olympic Way, emerged in
the early 1860s as one of the outlying fields of the Lambing
Flat goldrush. Its name reflects the considerable population
of large furry burrowing marsupials in the area at that
time. Certainly they make a good symbol for the diggings.
The Chinese were effectively exiled to this spot after
the Lambing Flat Riots. A post office opened in 1862, a
public school was established here in a bark hut in 1867, St
Matthew's Church of England (still standing) was built in
1873 and a Catholic Church in 1875. The Wombat Hotel,
licensed in 1877, is also extant.
After goldmining died away a permanent population
remained, including some Chinese who established market
gardens. Agriculture was pursued in the area and a
racecourse was created around a circular swamp, 3 km south
of town.
The Geranium Nursery at Wombat is located just off the
Olympic Way in an old convent (1909) and is open daily, tel:
(02) 6384 3291.
Further south on the Olympic Way is Wallendbeen.
Wallendbeen
Wallendbeen, with a present population of 168, is 29 south
of Young on the Olympic Highway. Wallendbeen station, taken
up by Alexander Mackay, had several brushes with Ben Hall's
bushranging gang. A Mr Barnes was shot to death near the
Mackay home while fleeing John O'Meally and John Vane in
1863 and, six weeks before Hall was killed in 1865, the gang
held the cook and a visiting piano tuner in the dining room
of the homestead while they stole three horses.
The village was laid out after the railway arrived in
1877. Today wheat, triticale, canola and mustard seed are
grown locally, along with large numbers of sheep and cattle.
There is also a deer farm.
Yandilla has direct sales of mustard seed oil, dry
mustard, a mustard massage oil and snail deterrent. Visitors
are welcome and guided tours can be organised by appointment
with morning and afternoon tea availa
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Young
