Tenterfield, New South Wales

Tenterfield is a town in New South Wales, Australia. It is located in the New England region at the intersection of the New England and Bruxner Highways. Tenterfield is a three-hour drive from Brisbane, 2.5 hours from Byron Bay, two hours from Armidale, New South Wales and 10 hours from Sydney. The town sits in a valley astride the Great Dividing Range. At the 2006 census, Tenterfield had a population of 3,130 people.^[1]

Tenterfield's proximity to many regional centres and its position on the route between Sydney and Brisbane led to its development as a centre for the promotion of the federation of the Australian colonies.

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.

History

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

In 1841 Sir Stuart Donaldson was running 18,000 sheep on a property that he named Tenterfield Station, after a family home in Scotland. Donaldson was the first premier of NSW and made biannual trips to Tenterfield to inspect his holdings there, which covered 100,000 acres (400 km²) of unfenced land. Tenterfield Post Office opened on 1 January 1849 ^[2] and the township was gazetted in 1851 with allotments being sold in 1854. In 1858 gold was discovered at Drake (Fairfield) and shortly afterwards at Timbarra and Boonoo Boonoo.^[3] During 1859 an AJS Bank opened and an Anglican Church was built the following year. In the 1860s The Tenterfield Chronicle was published, the district court was established; the building of a hospital commenced and a public school was opened. In 1870 the population was less than 900, but the town had five hotels, a school of arts and three churches. The existing Tenterfield Post Office was constructed in 1881.

Railway

The railway opened to Tenterfield on 28 October 1884^[4] and in 1886 to nearby Wallangarra on the Queensland border, connecting Sydney and Brisbane, with a break-of-gauge at Wallangarra. When the rail link to the Queensland border was completed, 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.

Break of Gauge

There was considerable debate about whether the break of gauge should take place at the existing town of Tenterfield, or at a whole new town at the border at Wallangarra. ^[5]

Federation Speech

Sir Henry Parkes delivered his Federation Speech here in the Tenterfield School of Arts on 24 October 1889.^[6] He was travelling from Brisbane to Sydney, via the new Main North railway. The speech is credited with re-igniting the debate that ultimately leading to Federation on 1 January 1901.

During World War II Tenterfield was earmarked as a key battleground if the Japanese should invade Australia. During 1942 thousands of soldiers were set up in emergency camps, unbeknown to the locals, to cope with such an event. Overgrown tanks traps and gun emplacements can still be seen on the Travelling Stock Route near the New England Highway. ^[7] The highway was until the early 1950s the only all-weather road from Sydney to Brisbane.

Sporting records

• The first campdraft ever held (to rules) was held in Tenterfield in c.1885.^[8]
• The Australian showjumping record was broken at Tenterfield in 1926 Mrs AA Laidlaw’s “Lookout”, ridden by A McPhee jumped 7’10¼”.^[9]
• The world showjumping record was broken at Tenterfield in 1936 by CH Perry’s “Lookout”, ridden by W Marton when he jumped 8’3½”.^[10]

Heritage

The following buildings and sites are listed on the Register of the National Estate.^[11]

• Ayrdrie, Casino Road, country house built circa 1860
• Tentertfield Post Office, built 1881
• Court House, Gaol and Police Buildings, Molesworth Street, 1874–1882
• Tenterfield School of Arts, 203 Rouse Street, 1876
• Bald Rock National Park, 25 km north of Tenterfield
• Toolooom Falls Area, south-west of Urbenville
• Wellington Rock Aboriginal Site, Tenterfield area

Industries

The main industries in the Tenterfield district are beef cattle breeding and superfine wool production through the breeding of Merino sheep. There are ten State Forests in the Tenterfield district covering 7540ha.^[12]

Media

Rebel FM 93.7 MHz has a new & classic rock music format. The Breeze broadcasts on 102.5 MHz with an easy adult contemporary & classics hits format. They are the only commercial radio stations serving Tenterfield and are part of the Rebel Media group.

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

Tenterfield's local newspaper is the Tenterfield Star.

Notable residents

• Henry George Chauvel. Sir Harry (born at nearby Tabulam) was the first Australian to command a military Corps.^[13]
• Major J.F. Thomas, a solicitor known for his vigorous defense of Harry "Breaker" Morant once owned and operated the “Tenterfield Star” newspaper.^[14] Jack Thompson portrayed Major Thomas in the 1980 film Breaker Morant.
• A.B. "Banjo" Paterson.
• 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 saddler, the third person to own the saddlery and the subject of Allen's song "Tenterfield Saddler".
• Bronwyn Bancroft, Indigenous Australian artist.^[15]
• William Blakely, born in Tenterfield in 1875. Botanist and plant collector

Notes

References

• Donald, J.Kay, Exploring the North Coast and New England, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, 1987.

External links

• WikiTravel – Tenterfield
• Local government site
• Tenterfield Business & Tourism Gateway