Tia, (pronounced ‘tie ah’) is a settlement and parish located approximately 30 kilometres east of Walcha, on the

Northern Tablelands The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England regio ...

region 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.

History

Tia River Tia River , a perennial stream of the Macleay River catchment, is located in the Northern Tablelands district of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The river rises below Mount Grundy on the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range ...

Station was first settled by Richard and William Denne in 1840, then comprising an area of . It was later purchased by Augustus Hooke in 1882. It was on this station that

Blue Spec Blue Spec was an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who established a new record in winning the Melbourne Cup in 1905. He was a brown stallion bred by Augustus Hooke, jnr. and foaled in 1899 at his Tia River Station, Tia, near Walcha, New South ...

, a brown stallion foaled in 1899, was bred and who later won the Kalgoorlie Cup,

Perth Cup The Perth Cup is a Perth Racing Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race run under quality handicap conditions over a distance of at Ascot Racecourse in Perth, Western Australia in January, usually on New Year's Day. The total prize money is $400,000. ...

and the 1905

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

in record time.Binney, Keith R., Horsemen of the First Frontier (1788-1900) and the Serpents Legacy, Volcanic Productions, Sydney, 2005, In 1893 the Tia Receiving Office was opened and later became a Post Office in 1901 and closed in 1977. The school has also been closed for quite a few years. The church still remains on the Tia Diggings Road. In 1895 the following description of Tia appeared in the Uralla and Walcha Times: "Tia is situated about 25 miles from Walcha, on the

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie is a coastal town in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The town is located on the Tasman Sea co ...

road or

Oxley Highway Oxley Highway is a rural highway in New South Wales, Australia, linking Nevertire, Gilgandra, Coonabarabran, Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth, and Walcha, New South Wales, Walcha to Port Macquarie, on the coast of the Tasman Sea. It was name ...

, and may aptly be called a thorough poor man's fossicking ground, first on account of its accessibility and known auriferous character, and secondly on account of the low cost at which the necessities of life can be obtained."

Gold

The first

gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface ...

activity was recorded at Tia in 1866. In 1873 a reef was discovered at McLeod’s Creek, when a rush occurred. In 1877 two Scotsmen, Matheson and Mclntyre spent considerable effort tunnelling and digging shafts. In 1879 they erected a machine for crushing rock and constructed a race half a mile long to bring water to work the machine. After yields slightly over an ounce to the ton they sold out in 1887 to the Tia Gold Mining Company, which deepened shafts, and spent money on their operations, but with poor results. Large scale mining petered out, although fossicking continued for some years to come.

Geography

The

flows over Tia Falls and through the Tia Gorge which are part of the

Oxley Wild Rivers National Park The Oxley Wild Rivers National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia in the Port Macquarie-Hastings City Council and Walcha Shire councils. The park is situated north ...

are typical New England Tablelands country and can be accessed by a six kilometre gravel access road off the

. Two walking tracks follow the gorge rim. The Falls walk goes to the Falls lookout and Tia Gorge viewing area and is 1.5 km return. Camping, information and picnic areas are available there.

Demography

In the , there were 376 persons usually resident in the Tia area.

Economy

Fine wool, beef cattle and prime lambs sustain the local economy.

References

*Uralla and Walcha Times, 1895 *"A History of Land Use in the Walcha District" by Jillian Oppenheimer *"National Parks Along the Oxley Highway", June 2004. {{authority control Mining towns in New South Wales Towns in New England (New South Wales)