Bingara (Aboriginal for 'creek') is a small town on the

Gwydir River Gwydir River (locally Australian English phonology, wɑe̯də, a major inland perennial stream, perennial river of the Barwon River (New South Wales), Barwon catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tableland ...

in Murchison County in the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Bingara is currently the administrative centre for the

Gwydir Shire Gwydir Shire is a local government area located in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The northern boundary of the Shire is located adjacent to the border between New South Wales and Queensland. The Shire was established on 1 ...

that was created in 2003. The Gwydir River is part of the Murray-Darling catchment area.

Location

Bingara is located 141 km north of Tamworth, 54 km west of

Inverell Inverell is a large town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River, close to the Queensland border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the ...

, 449 km north of Sydney and 358 km south west of Brisbane. Bingara is located very close to Myall Creek, the site of the massacre of 27 to 30 Indigenous Australians.

History

Before British colonisation the Bingara region was within the country of the Wirraayaraay people. In 1827, British explorer Allan Cunningham crossed the

near Bingara. At the time he mistook the river to be the Peel River, but realised his mistake on his return journey. British colonisation at Bingara began in 1836 with the arrival of the pastoralist squatter

Thomas Simpson Hall Thomas Simpson Hall (19 August 1808 – 28 May 1870) was an Anglo-Australian pastoralist who was at the forefront of British colonial expansion into what is now northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. He established large pastoral lea ...

. Hall established the Bingara leasehold as a

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

and

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

. The local Aborigines initially resisted Hall's incursion and both Aboriginal and Europeans were killed in the resulting skirmishes. Hall himself received a spear wound to his head during one of these battles. A detachment of

New South Wales Mounted Police The New South Wales Mounted Police Unit is a mounted section of the New South Wales Police Force. Founded by Governor of New South Wales, Governor Thomas Brisbane, Sir Thomas Brisbane on 7 September 1825, the Mounted Police were recruited from ...

under Sergeant John Temple were dispatched to the area and, accompanied by Hall's armed stockmen, exacted a "terrible retribution upon the blacks". The creek running through Bingara is named Hall's Creek after Thomas Simpson Hall. The discovery of gold in 1852 brought prospectors to the area. In the 1880s, copper and diamonds were discovered also, causing a rapid development of the town. Bingara is one of the few places in Australia where diamonds have been found. In fact, Bingara was the largest producer of diamonds in Australia at that time. Bingara changed the spelling of its name from ''Bingera'' to ''Bingara'' in 1890. The first ''Bingera'' Post Office opened on 1 January 1853 and was renamed ''Upper Bingera'' in 1862 and closed in 1868. The second ''Bingera'' office opened in 1862 and was renamed ''Bingara'' in 1890.

Heritage listings

Bingara has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 74 Maitland Street:

Roxy Theatre and Peters Greek Cafe Complex Roxy Theatre and Peters Greek Cafe Complex is a heritage-listed theatre and cafe at 74 Maitland Street, Bingara, Gwydir Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Mark Woodforde with construction (including significant changes to th ...

* Bingara Delungra Road, Myall Creek: Myall Creek Massacre and Memorial Site

Population

According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 1,428 people in Bingara. 82.7% of people were born in Australia and 88.2% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were Anglican 38.6%, Catholic 16.8% and No Religion 15.2%. It is a popular site for retirement with 57% of the population aged 55 years and over, compared to the national average of 27.6% and a median age of 61. The median weekly household income for Bingara is $743 which is lower than the national median of $1,438.

Sport

Bingara sporting life consists of the Bingara Bullets (rugby league), Gwydir River Rats (rugby union) and the Bingara District Cricket Association (cricket) with the representative team being Gwydir First XI. Notable sporting people include Andrew Hart (ex St George), sports broadcaster David Fordham, and Sydney jockey Adrian Robinson also originates from Bingara.

Climate

Bingara has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cfa,'' Trewartha: ''Cfak/Cfal''), with hot summers and cool winters.

Notable people

* Nate Butler * Andrew Cowper * John Fordham

References

External links

www.bingara.com.au
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Towns in New England (New South Wales) Gwydir Shire Mining towns in New South Wales