Wollombi - Culture and History

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Wollombi - Culture and History

The original inhabitants of the locality were either the Darkinjang, Awabakal or Wanaruah Aboriginal peoples, depending on the source. The town's name is an Aboriginal term said to mean 'meeting place of the rivers'. Whereas they apparently pronounced it 'Wu-lum-bee', it is today pronounced Wo (as in wok) - lum (as in thumb) - bi (as in buy). There are a number of historic Aboriginal sites in the surrounding countryside which is thought to have been used as a ceremonial meeting place. There are rock engravings, hand stencils, tribal markings and other images in caves, shelters and outcrops.

The village of Wollombi developed at a major junction in the Great North Road from Sydney which forked here, heading north-east to Maitland and north through Broke to Singleton. The first road into the Hunter Valley it was built by 3000 convicts under conditions of considerable severity and hardship between 1826 and 1834. Remnants such as stone culverts, bridges and retaining walls remain, particularly in the area between Wollombi and Wisemans Ferry.

Veterans of the Napoleonic Wars were granted 40-hectare lots here from about 1830 as they were discharged from NSW regiments. Some of them are buried in the cemetery.

A village site was reserved in 1833-34 and allotments became available from 1838. The settlement developed as a service centre for the farming community and for travellers on the Great North Road although the development of the steam trade along the Hunter River saw road traffic decline.

John McDougall, former convict overseer during the construction of the Great North Road, settled here as postmaster in 1838. He left that post in 1840 when he built the Governor Gipps Inn. McDougall also owned two 40-acre farms hereabouts and donated land in 1840 for the first Catholic Church which was washed away by floods in 1892.

He bought more land in the early 1840s but his inn closed in 1845 during a bout of temperance and he moved on to the Rising Sun Inn at Millfield where he had previously been lashed by bushranger Edward Davis (see entry on Cessnock).

By 1851 the population was recorded as 105. The first school opened in 1860 and the courthouse and police station in 1866. Rust destroyed the wheat industry in the 1860s and local farmers turned to grazing. By 1911 the population had reached a high of 406 but it had declined to 151 in 1961.

In recent years Wollombi has experienced something of a resurgence. The 1991 census indicated that there were 823 persons in the Yango-Coolamon Planning District which includes Laguna and Bucketty. A good number of these would live in and around Wollombi. This small regrowth is based on several factors. The village has been reoriented in recent years to the tourist trade with several shops selling gifts, clothing, bric-a-brac and second-hand goods. Furthermore it has become a desirable place to live for commuters and weekenders. There are still some small subsistence farms and some grazing in the district.


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