Coutts Crossing (population 1,353
) is a rural village in the
Clarence Valley Council
Clarence Valley Council is a local government area in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia.
The council services an area of and draws its name from the Clarence River, which flows through most of the council area. The area ...
of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia. The village is about 18 kilometres south-west of
Grafton on the banks of the
Orara River
Orara River, a perennial stream of the Clarence River catchment, is located in the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales, Australia.
Course and features
Orara River rises on the eastern slopes of the Dorrigo Plateau, Great Dividing Range, ...
along the
Armidale
Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. I ...
–
Grafton Road.
History
The village is named after
Thomas Coutts
Thomas Coutts (7 September 1735 – 24 February 1822) was a British banker. He was a founder of the banking house Coutts, Coutts & Co.
Early life
Coutts was the fourth son of Jean (née Steuart) Coutts and John Coutts (merchant), John Coutts (1 ...
, a settler from Scotland who established the nearby Kangaroo Creek pastoral station in 1840. Coutts is best known as being the perpetrator of a
mass poisoning of Aboriginals on the Kangaroo Creek run. This occurred in late 1847 and resulted in the deaths of 23 people. Coutts was arrested and sent to Sydney for trial but the case was dismissed. He returned to the area and was able to continue acquiring pastoral properties further north.
British occupation in the immediate vicinity around Coutts Crossing began in 1840 with the arrival of
pastoral squatter William Forster. He set up a
sheep station
A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...
in the area which he named Purgatory due to the high level of Aboriginal resistance he encountered while taking possession of the land. He later changed the name of the station to Geergarow, which is commemorated today in the name of the main road heading west from the township of Coutts Crossing.
Facilities and services
The village itself was established as a service centre for the local farming community in the 1860s. However, today the village is a dormitory suburb with majority of residents commuting into Grafton. Despite this, the village boasts a tavern, general store, community hall and church.
In the last twenty-five years, a number of sporting and community services have been established, including
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
and
squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
courts as well as
football and
croquet
Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court.
Its international governing body is the W ...
grounds, a nine-hole
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
course, a
pre-school
A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary scho ...
, a heritage centre and a combined
New South Wales Rural Fire Service
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) is a volunteer-based firefighting agency and statutory body of the Government of New South Wales.
The NSW RFS is responsible for fire protection to approximately 95% of the land area of New South ...
and
State Emergency Service
The State Emergency Service (SES) is the name used by a number of organisations in Australia that provide assistance during and after major incidents. Specifically, the service deals with floods, storms and tsunamis, but can also assist in oth ...
centre, established in 1997.
School
Coutts Crossing Public School was established in 1913 and has 94
pupils enrolled.
See also
*
Clan Farquharson
Clan Farquharson () ( gd, Clann Fhearchair ) is a Highland Scottish clan based at Invercauld and Braemar, Aberdeenshire, and is a member of the Chattan Confederation.Way, George and Squire, Romily. (1994). ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyc ...
, the surname Coutts is a
sept
A sept is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used in both Scotland and Ireland, where it may be translated as ''sliocht'', meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may indicate the descendants of a person ...
of this
Scottish clan
A Scottish clan (from Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure recognised ...
References
{{authority control
Towns in New South Wales
Northern Rivers
Clarence Valley Council