Inverell, New South Wales
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Inverell is a large town in northern
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, situated on the
Macintyre River The Macintyre River, a perennial river that forms part of the Border Rivers group, is part of the Barwon catchment of the Murray-Darling basin, located in the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes regions of New South Wales, and the So ...
, close to the
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the Northern Tablelands. It has a temperate climate. In the , the population of Inverell was 12,057 and the Inverell Shire population was 17,853.


History

Prior to British colonisation, the Jukambal and Weraerai Aboriginal peoples lived in and occupied this region. Around 1838, colonist Peter MacIntyre directed his employee, Alexander Campbell, to take up land in the area for his sheep and cattle. Campbell subsequently laid claim to a large section of pastureland along the
Macintyre River The Macintyre River, a perennial river that forms part of the Border Rivers group, is part of the Barwon catchment of the Murray-Darling basin, located in the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes regions of New South Wales, and the So ...
, which he called 'Byron Plains' after Peter Byron, one of MacIntyre's stockmen. Campbell later staked out 50,000 acres for himself on the southern side of Byron Plains. He named his run 'Inverell', the word being of Gaelic origin, and signifies "meeting place of the swans"; from ''Inbhir'', a
confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...
, and ''eala'', a swan. In the initial years, the local Aboriginal people resisted this occupation by spearing MacIntyre's shepherds and taking his livestock. Inverell is at the junction of the MacIntyre River and Swanbrook Creek and was also known as "Green Swamp" in the 1850s. Wheat growers, Colin and Rosanna Ross established a store there in 1853, and it was proposed that a town be surveyed. In 1858, this was done and in the following years the plan was approved and the first land sale was held. ''Byron'' Post Office (open since 1855) was replaced by the Inverell Post Office on 15 September 1859. The municipality was proclaimed in March 1872. The last section of the Inverell branchline, from Delungra to Inverell, was opened on 10 March 1902. The last train ran to Inverell on 22 June 1987, and the Delungra to Inverell section of the line was closed on 2 December 1987. In 1871, the population of Inverell was 509, this increased to 1,212 in 1881. After Federation, the population of Inverell was 1,230 in 1911, and grew to 6,530 (1947) and 8,209 (1961 census).


Myall Creek Massacre

The massacre of at least 28 Wirrayaraay people by European convicts and settlers took place at Myall Creek near Inverell on 10 June 1838 was notable in that it was one of the very rare cases in colonial Australia for which white people were subsequently executed for the murder of Indigenous people. The crime became known as the Myall Creek Massacre. On 18 December 1838, seven men were publicly hanged at the Sydney Gaol for the atrocity. Every year on the Sunday of the June long weekend, hundreds of people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, gather at the Myall Creek Massacre and Memorial Site to attend an annual memorial service.


Mining

Diamonds were discovered at Copes Creek in 1875 and were mined at Copeton from 1883 to 1922. Commercial sapphire mining was commenced in 1919 at Frazers Creek near Inverell. Rich alluvial deposits in streams were worked initially by hand miners, but this ceased in the 1930s due to the economic effects of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. There was little recorded production up until approximately 1960, when commercial sapphire mining resumed due to a worldwide sapphire shortage. During the 1970s there were over 100 active mining operations 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, however this number declined significantly in the 1980s due to weakening demand and exhaustion of the previously rich alluvial sources. Currently there are only a small number of commercially active mines in the area.New England Holiday, New England Regional Tourist Zone Association, n.d.


Heritage listings

Inverell has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 56 Byron Street: Inverell Shire Council Building * 97 Otho Street: Inverell Post Office * Flepper Place


Population

According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 11,660 people in Inverell. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 9.5% of the population. * 86.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were Philippines 1.4% and England 1.2%. * 89.8% of people spoke only English at home. * The most common responses for religion were Anglican 28.8%, Catholic 22.9% and No Religion 20.2%.


Industry

The Inverell district is in a fertile agricultural region which produces a wide range of crops, including
wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
,
barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
,
oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seed ...
,
sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...
,
wine grapes This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimportant to agriculture, see '' ...
and
maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...
. There are also some mining activities with tin,
sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...
s,
zircon Zircon () is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates and is a source of the metal zirconium. Its chemical name is zirconium(IV) silicate, and its corresponding chemical formula is Zr SiO4. An empirical formula showing some of th ...
s and
diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...
s (mainly industrial) being found. Inverell is known as the "Sapphire City" because of the sapphires that have been found throughout the local district, which contributed a significant amount of Australia's sapphire production in the 1970s. Copeton Dam, the region's main water supply, was completed in 1976. While being smaller than Sydney Harbour, it can hold nearly 2 times the capacity of
Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...
(Sydney Harbour). The Inland Fishing Festival is held there every year.


Culture and tourism

The Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic is an annual one day cycling race."Grafton to Inverell Bike Race 232km"
Under Armour, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, USA (mapmyride.com). Retrieved 11 November 2016
Beginning in Grafton, passing through Glen Innes and finishing in Inverell, the Classic is a 230 km ride over the demanding Gibraltar Range. The race starts at 23 metres above sea level and climbs to 1260 metres, before finishing in Inverell at 630 metres. The race is six to seven hours long, depending on weather conditions. Inverell is home to the Bruderhof, an Anabaptist community who share all their possessions. They run a publishing business. Th
National Transport Museum
comprises more than 120 vehicle exhibits ranging from vintage, veteran, classic and motorcycles in a purpose-built structure on Rifle Range Road. Inverell is the last place in Australia to have a Coles New World supermarket. It has resisted external pressure to rename the supermarket since the early 90s.


Education

There are two primary schools in Inverell; Ross Hill School and Inverell Public School. The two local high schools are Inverell High School and Macintyre High School. Holy Trinity School is a Roman Catholic School in Inverell which caters for students from Kindergarten to Year Ten.


Transport

Inverell is served by Inverell Airport. Inverell lies on the Gwydir Highway, one of the primary east–west routes through New South Wales.
Thunderbolts Way Thunderbolts Way (and at its northern end as Bundarra Road) is a country road located in the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia, linking Inverell via Bundarra, Uralla and Walcha to Gloucester The road is sealed and ...
terminates at Copes Creek, 16km south of the Gwydir Highway intersection at Inverell. Bus services in Inverell are provided by Inverell Bus Service, which operates two town loops, to the east and west. Interurban bus service is provided by Symes Coaches to Glen Innes.
NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a regional train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and into Australian Capital Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland and South Australia ...
operates three Coach services in and out of Inverell: between Moree and Grafton, between Inverell and Tamworth via Manilla and between Inverell and Armidale via Tingha.


Sports

The most popular sport in Inverell is
Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
. The local team are the Inverell RSM Hawks, who compete in the Group 19, playing out of Varley Oval. The club has won six first grade titles in the competition and its predecessor, Group 5, with the last coming in 2016. The club has produced numerous
National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...
players, including Owen Craigie and
Phil Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * Phil (film), ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as ...
and Chris Bailey. Other sports teams include the Inverell Highlanders RUFC competing in the Central Northern Rugby Union, Inverell Saints AFC competing in AFL North West NSW and Inverell FC competing in the Northern Inland Football.


Climate

Inverell, like most of the North West Slopes features a textbook subtropical climate with a marked summer peak in rainfall. The town is located on the boundary region between the cool, wet Northern Tablelands of the
Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...
and the hot, dry plains of western New South Wales, having climate characteristics of both regions. The town is quite sunny with an average of 2,930 sun hours annually. The highest maximum temperature recorded at Inverell was on 4 January 1903 at the Inverell Comparison site, while the highest minimum temperature was on 29 December 1880. The lowest temperature was on 30 July 1882 at Inverell Comparison, while the lowest maximum temperature was on 3 July 1984 at the Inverell Research Centre. In September 1892, the town had its biggest snowfall, with falling. On 5 August 1923, snow fell in parts of the Inverell district. Over the years, Inverell has had three weather stations run by government astronomers (prior to 1908) or the
Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Government of Australia, Australian Government that is responsible for providing Weather forecasting, weather forecasts and Meteorology, meteorological services to Australia a ...
(after 1908), or both. These stations are: * Inverell Comparison (began observations in 1874, ceased observations in November 1997) * Inverell Research Centre (began observations in 1949, still operational; converted to an Automatic Weather Station in recent years) * Inverell (Raglan Street) (began observations in March 1995, still operational; observations done by human observer)


Notable people

Notable people from or who have lived in Inverell include: * Chris Bailey (born 1982),
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
player * Phil Bailey (born 1980), former professional rugby league player * Owen Craigie (born 1978), former
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
player
Lucien Lawrence Cunningham
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(1889–1948), Farmer and politician * Steve Elkington (born 1962), golfer, 1995 US PGA Champion. * Susan Hampton (born 1949), poet, winner of the Judith Wright Award * Heinrich Haussler (born 1984), cyclist * Peter Hewat, former rugby union player * George Kneipp (1922–1993), a judge of the
Supreme Court of Queensland The Supreme Court of Queensland is the highest court in the Australian State of Queensland. It was formerly the Brisbane Supreme Court, in the colony of Queensland. The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court allows its trial division to ...
in Townsville, Queensland (1969–1992) * Colin Madigan (1921–2011), architect * Rick McCosker (born 1946), cricketer and Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1976 * Leon Punch (1928–1991), former Deputy Premier of New South Wales * Ivan Sen (born 1971), filmmaker * Leo Senior (1887–1975), former rugby league player * Scott Sunderland (born 1966), former cyclist. *
John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
(born 1955), NSW Nationals
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
* Bronwyn Oliver, née Gooda (1958–2006), Sculptor. Considered one of Australia’s most significant artists. Works commissioned for private, public and corporate spaces and held in the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and Art gallery of NSW.


References


External links


Inverell OnlineVisitNSW.com – Inverell
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Towns in New England (New South Wales) 1856 establishments in Australia Inverell Shire Mining towns in New South Wales