Stuart Town, formerly known as Ironbark, is a small town on the Central Western Slopes 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 within

Dubbo Regional Council The Dubbo Regional Council is a Local government areas of New South Wales, local government area located in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West and Orana (New South Wales), Orana regions of New South Wales, Australia. The council was ...

. It is located north-west of the state capital, Sydney. At the , Stuart Town had a population of 487. The area around the town is rich in cattle farming and orchards, so the town serves as a service centre to that area. It has
public school
an
Catholic
an

churches.

History

The area now known as Stuart Town lies within the traditional lands of the

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

people. The village was formerly called Ironbark and was established following the discovery of gold in the area in the early 1850s with the heyday of gold mining being in the late 1850s and 1860s. The gold attracted

bushranger Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in The bush#Australia, the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia ...

s to the area. It was renamed Stuart Town in 1879—with the arrival of the Main Western railway from Sydney—after Sir Alexander Stuart. Gold mining in the area was revived, from 1899 and during first decade of the 20th century, when gold dredge mining of the nearby

Macquarie River The Macquarie River or Wambuul is part of the Macquarie–Barwon River (New South Wales), Barwon catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is one of the main inland rivers in New South Wales, Australia. The river rises in the central highl ...

bed and sediments was carried out. It has benefitted from its proximity to

Lake Burrendong Lake Burrendong is a man-made reservoir created by Burrendong Dam. It impounds waters on the Macquarie and Cudgegong rivers, near Wellington, in the central west region of New South Wales, Australia Australia, officially the Common ...

. Stuart Town is often claimed to be the birthplace of the former New South Wales Premier Sir Robert Askin. In fact, he was born at Glebe in Sydney, but he did spend much of his childhood at Stuart Town. Its original name, Ironbark, is used in the

Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author, widely considered one of the greatest writers of Australia's colonial period. Born in rural New South Wales, Paterson worke ...

poem " The Man from Ironbark". It conducts an annual Man from Ironbark Festival.

Heritage listings

Stuart Town has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Main Western railway: Stuart Town railway station

Transport

Stuart Town station is served by a daily

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 ...

XPT service which runs between

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

References

External links

Wellington-NSW:Stuart Town
Towns in New South Wales Towns in the Central West (New South Wales) Dubbo Regional Council Mining towns in New South Wales {{CentralWestNSW-geo-stub