Bathurst, New South Wales

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Image:Bathurst location map in New South Wales.PNG Bathurst is a regional centre in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It has a population of 31,564 (June 2004). It is located at latitude: 33° 25' South and longitude: 149° 34' East

1 History
2 Significant people from or associated with Bathurst
3 Radio Stations
4 External links

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History

The Bathurst area was originally occupied by the Wiradjuri Aboriginal peoples.

The government surveyor George William Evans was the first European to sight the Bathurst Plains in 1813.

Bathurst was founded in 1815 on the orders of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, and is the oldest inland town in Australia. The name Bathurst comes from the surname of the British Colonial Secretary Lord Bathurst. It was intended to be the administrative centre of the western plains of New South Wales where orderly colonial settlement was planned.

Local Wiradjuri groups under leaders such as Windradyne resisted the settlers until the Frontier Wars of the early 1820s ended the open conflict.

Image:Kelso001.jpgThe initial settlement of Bathurst was on the eastern side of the river in 1816. It is in todays suburb of Kelso. Each of 10 men were granted 50 acres (200,000 m²), five were men new born in the colony and five were immigrants. These men were William Lee, Richard Mills, Thomas Kite, Thomas Swanbrooke, George Cheshire, John Abbott, John Blackman, James Blackman, John Neville and John Godden. In 1818 Governor Lachlan Macquarie stated in his diary: This morning I inspected 10 new settlers for Bathurst. I have agreed to grant each 50 acres (200,000 m²) of land, a servant, a cow, four bushels (141 litres) of wheat, an allotment in the new town, and to provide for them for 12 months from the King's stores.

Bathurst's economy was transformed by the discovery of gold in 1851. It later became the centre of an important coal-mining and manufacturing region.

Today it is a regional services centre, the home of one of the campuses of Charles Sturt University, and a tourism centre. Bathurst is a cathedral city, being the seat for the Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops of Bathurst.

Bathurst is known as the home of Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley, who represented the area in the Federal Parliament and is buried in Bathurst. It has also become a national centre for motor-racing, particularly for the Bathurst 1000 motor race.

Bathurst is unique in that it has a collection of house museums representing different periods of its history from first settlement to the 1970s. The house museums include Old Government Cottage, Abercrombie House, Miss Traill's House and Chifley Home.

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