Tenterfield, New South Wales

Tenterfield is a town and Local Government Area (see Tenterfield Shire Council), in New South Wales, Australia. It is located in the New England region of northern New South Wales, at the intersection of the The New England and Bruxner Highways. Tenterfield is a 3 hour drive from Brisbane, 2.5 hours from Byron Bay, 2 hours from Armidale and 10 hours from Sydney. The town sits in a valley astride the Great Dividing Range. At the 2001 census, Tenterfield had a population of 3,172.^[1]

Tenterfield's proximity to many regional centres and its position on the route between Sydney and Brisbane led to it being a centre for the promotion of Federation of the Australian states.

1 Local geography
2 History
3 Media
4 Notable residents
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Local geography

The local geography is dominated by prominent granite inselbergs and mountains, the most famous being that of Bald Rock, which sits within the Bald Rock National Park.

[edit] History

Tenterfield’s first inhabitants were the Jukembal people who travelled the area from near Glen Innes to Stanthorpe, Queensland.

The railway station and line from Sydney opened in 1886.

Sir Henry Parkes delivered his Federation Speech here in 1889 while en route from Brisbane to Sydney, via the new Main North railway opened to Tenterfield and nearby Wallangarra on the Queensland border in the previous year, connecting Sydney and Brisbane, with a break-of-gauge at Wallangarra. The speech is credited with re-igniting the debate that ultimately leading to Federation on 1 January 1901. When the rail link to the Queensland border was completed in 1888, Sydney and Brisbane were linked by rail for the first time. The railway was subsequently bypassed by the fully standard gauge North Coast line between Sydney and Brisbane, completed in 1932. The Main North line is now closed north of Armidale and the Tenterfield railway station is now a museum.

[edit] Media

The Tenterfield area is served by a community radio station 2TEN FM. The station has a local focus, derived in part from the stringent rules controlling community radio stations. The station uses Maximation software for studio automation, and runs a strict controlled format.

Tenterfield's local news paper is the Tenterfield Star.

[edit] Notable residents

Major J.F. Thomas, a solicitor known for his vigorous defense of Harry "Breaker" Morant. Jack Thompson portrayed Major Thomas in the 1980 film Breaker Morant.
A.B. "Banjo" Patterson.
The entertainer Peter Allen, who was born in and spent much of his childhood in Tenterfield, where he lived with his grandfather George Woolnough (see below).
George Woolnough, Allen's grandfather, a saddlemaker, the third person to own the saddlery and the subject of Allen's song "Tenterfield Saddler".

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Australian Bureau of Statistics (9 March 2006). Tenterfield (Urban Centre/Locality). 2001 Census QuickStats. Retrieved on 2007-06-30.

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