Carroll is a parish and small village on the

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

, 20 km east of

Gunnedah, New South Wales Gunnedah () is a town in north-central New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 8,338. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains, a fertile agricult ...

. At the , Carroll had a population of 337 people. The

Namoi River The Namoi River, a major perennial river that is part of the Barwon catchment of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes districts of New South Wales, Australia. The Namoi River rises on the west ...

runs approximately parallel to the highway which is also the main street there. Periodically this river floods the town and surrounding area, forcing the closure of the Oxley Highway. The surrounding area is part of the

Liverpool Plains The Liverpool Plains are an extensive agricultural area covering about of the north-western slopes of New South Wales in Australia. These plains are a region of prime agricultural land bounded to the east by the Great Dividing Range, to the s ...

region.

History

Carroll is an Irish surname coming from the Gaelic ''O Cearbhaill'' and ''Cearbhall'', meaning "fierce in battle". In 1839 John Howe of Windsor took out a Depasturing Licence for 'Carrol'. An adjoining 'Carrol' was held by Hannah Dight in 1846. During December 1865

Captain Thunderbolt Frederick Wordsworth Ward (c. 1835 – 25 May 1870), better known by the Style (manner of address)#Self-styled, self-styled pseudonym of Captain Thunderbolt, was an Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, New South Wal ...

(Fred Ward) and two accomplices robbed the inn at Carroll then danced and drank until the police arrived. They wounded a policeman and escaped, abandoning three pack-horses. The district produces cotton, wheat, other grains, fat lambs and beef cattle. The

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

eventing Eventing (also known as three-day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where the same horse and rider combination compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...

horses, Kibah Tic-Tic, a noted dual gold medal winner and Kibah Sandstone (gold medallist in team & individual 1992, gold 2000) were bred on Kibah, a property close to the village.Bud Hyem of Kibah: According to the entry sign there are 188 people in the village. The village public school celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2019. There is also a local convenience store with fuel available.

References

External links

{{authority control Gunnedah Shire