Goulburn, New South Wales
Encyclopedia : G : GO : GOU : Goulburn, New South Wales
Goulburn () is a provincial cathedral city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Goulburn Mulwaree Council. It is located 190 km south west of Sydney on the Hume Highway and 690 metres above sea-level. It has a population of approximately 25,000. It brands itself as "Australia's first inland city". Goulburn was named by James Meehan and the name was ratified by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, after Henry Goulburn, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The Aboriginal name for Goulburn is Burbong. which is a Murring/Wiradjuri word that indicates a special Indigenous cultural area.
Goulburn is a railhead and service centre for the surrounding pastoral industry and a stopover for those travelling on the Hume Highway. Goulburn was bypassed in 1992 and its particularly long main street is quieter, but still busy during Saturday morning shopping. It has a pleasant central park and many historic buildings, including old houses near the railway station on Sloane Street and two 19th century cathederals. It is home to the Big Merino, the world's largest cement sheep.
Goulburn is suffering more from the current Australian drought conditions than most cities, the last significant rain was in November 2004, the water supply for the city was last full in 2000. Goulburn may soon be the first Australian city to use recycled water.
Geography
The city is situated on the Hume Highway in southern New South Wales between Mittagong and Yass. It is one hour's drive from Canberra.
History
Goulburn is part of the the traditional land of the Gandangara people.The British Government claimed ownership of New South Wales in 1788 (see Mabo v Queensland) and to hold all of its land as crown land. The colonial government made land grants to free settlers such as Hamilton Hume in the Goulburn area from the opening of the area to settlement inabout 1820, regardless of the welfare of the indigenous population. Later land was also sold to settlers within the Nineteen Counties, including Argyle County (the Goulburn area).
This process displaced (disposessed) the local indigenous population and the introduction of exotic livestock drove out a large part of the Aboriginals' food supply. The reduction of the food supply and the accidental introduction of exotic diseases, substantially reduced the local indigenous population. Some local Aboriginals survived at the Tawonga Billabong Aboriginal Settlement established under the supervision of the Tarago police and there is no conflict recorded from this period. In the 1930s the billabong dried up and the Aboriginal people moved away although some have, over time, made their way back.
The first recorded settler in Goulburn established 'Strathallan' in 1825 (on the site of the present Police Academy) and a town was originally surveyed in 1828, although moved to the present site of the city in 1833 when Surveyor Hoddle laid it out.
George Johnson purchased the first land in the area between 1839 and 1842 and became a central figure in the town's development. He established a branch store with a liquor license in 1848. By 1841 Goulburn had a population of some 1200 people - a courthouse, police barracks, churches, hospital and post office and was the centre of a great sheep and farming area.
A telegraph station opened in 1862, by which time there were about 1500 residents, a blacksmith's shop, two hotels, two stores, the telegraph office and a few cottages. The town was a change station (where coach horses were changed) for Cobb & Co by 1855. A police station opened the following year and a school in 1858. Goulburn was proclaimed a town with municipal government in 1859.
Royal Letters Patent issued by Queen Victoria on 14 March 1863 established the Diocese of Goulburn giving Goulburn city status and making it the first inland city. The existing St Saviour's Church became the Cathedral.
The arrival of the railway in 1869, which was opened on May 27th by the Governor Lord Belmore (an event commemorated by Belmore Park in the centre of the city), along with the completion of the line from Sydney to Albury in 1893, was a boon to the city. Later branchlines were constructed to Cooma (opened in 1889) and later extended further to Nimmitabel and then to Bombala, and to Crookwell and Taralga. Goulburn became a major railway centre with a roundhouse and engine servicing facilities and a factory which made pre-fabricated concrete components for signal boxes and station buildings.
Goulburn was proclaimed a city (by the last use of letters patent for that purpose in the British Empire) on the creation of the Anglican Diocese of Goulburn in 1863. It developed as a regional centre with an impressive court house (completed in 1887) and other public buildings, as a centre for wool selling, and as an industrial town.
Goulburn is a cathedral city. St Saviour's Cathedral, designed by Edmund Thomas Blacket, was completed in 1884 with the tower being added in 1988 to commemorate the Bicentenary of Australia. Though completed in 1884, some earlier burials are in the graveyard adjacent to the Cathedral. St Saviour's is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn. The Church of SS Peter and Paul is the former cathedral for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn.
In 1962, Goulburn was the focus of the fight for State Aid to non-Government schools. An education strike was called in response to a demand for the installation of three extra toilets to be installed at a local Catholic Primary School, St Brigid's. The local community closed down all local Catholic primary schools and sent the children to the Government schools. The Catholic church declared they had no money to install the extra toilets. Nearly 1,000 children turned up to be enrolled locally and the state schools were unable to accommodate them. The strike lasted only a week but generated national debate. In 1963, Prime Minister Menzies made State aid for science blocks part of his party's platform.
Buildings in Goulburn
As a major settlement of southern New South Wales, Goulburn was the administrative centre for the region and was the location for important buildings of the district.While the first town plan was drawn up by Assistant Surveyor Dixon in 1828, the site was moved as it was subject to flooding. The town plan drawn up by Surveyor Hoddle was gazetted in 1833.
The first lock-up was built in 1830.
In 1832 a postal service commenced in Goulburn, four years after the service was adopted in New South Wales.
Goulburn's second court house was built in 1847. It was designed by Mortimer Lewis, the Colonial Architect.
James Barnet, the colonial architect from 1862-1890 built a number of buildings in Goulburn. These included Goulburn Gaol opened 1884, a replacement court house opened in 1887, and a post office in 1881.
Barnet's successor, Walter Liberty Vernon, was responsible for the first buildings of Kenmore Hospital completed in 1894. St Saviour's Anglican Cathedral and Hall were designed by Edmund Blacket. Building started in 1874 and it was dedicated in 1884. It was finally consecrated in 1916. A tower was added in 1988 as part of a Bicentennial project but Blacket's plans included a spire which is yet to be added.
E C Manfred was a prominent local architect responsible for many of the buildings in the city, including the first public swimming baths opened in 1892; the old Town Hall constructed 1888; the Goulburn Base Hospital designed in 1886; the old Fire Station built in 1890; the Masonic Temple built in 1928, he also designed the earlier building of 1890 it replaced.
Goulburn Gaol
Goulburn is home to Goulburn Correctional Centre, more generically known as Goulburn Gaol. It is a maximum-security male prison and is the highest security prison in Australia and is home to some of the most dangerous, and famous, prisoners.New South Wales Police College
The New South Wales Police College relocated to the city in 1984. At this time it was known as the New South Wales Police Academy however the name has subsequently changed. Prior to the relocation the college had previously been located in the Sydney inner city suburb of Redfern. The college has relocated to the former campus of the Goulburn College of Advanced Education located on the banks of the Wollondilly River. The New South Wales Police College is now the largest education institution for law enforcement officers in the southern hemisphere. Since its relocation there has been significant expansion of the facilities including a new site on the Taralga Road which houses the New South Wales Police School of Traffic and Mobile Policing.Radio stations
- 1368 2GN AM (commercial)
- Eagle FM 93.5 (commercial)
- JJJ 88.7/101.5/98.9 FM
- ABC Canberra 666 AM/90.3 FM
- Radio National 1098 AM
- Classic FM 89.5/102.3/95.7 FM
- 103.3 FM (community)
- Raw FM 87.6 (narrowcast)
- NewsRadio 99.9 (proposed)
- Racing Radio 94.3 FM
See also
References
External links
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Cities of New South Wales
| Capital: |
Sydney
| Cities: |
Albury |
Armidale |
Bathurst |
Blue Mountains |
Broken Hill |
Cessnock |
Coffs Harbour |
Dubbo |
Gosford |
Goulburn |
Grafton |
Griffith |
Greater Taree |
Hawkesbury |
Lake Macquarie |
Lismore |
Lithgow |
Maitland |
Newcastle |
Orange |
Queanbeyan |
Shellharbour |
Shoalhaven |
Tamworth |
Wagga Wagga |
Wollongong
| |
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