Henty, New South Wales - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Henty is a town on the Olympic Highway almost midway between Albury

Albury, New South Wales

Albury is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia, located on the Hume Highway on the northern side of the Murray River. It is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Albury Local Government Area...

and Wagga Wagga

Wagga Wagga, New South Wales

Wagga Wagga is a city in New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, and with an urban population of 46,735 people, Wagga Wagga is the state's largest inland city, as well as an important agricultural, military, and transport hub of Australia...

in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Henty is situated on the border of the South West Slopes

South West Slopes, New South Wales

The South West Slopes is a region predominantly in New South Wales, Australia. It covers the lower inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range extending from north of Cowra through southern NSW into western Victoria...

and the Riverina

Riverina

The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...

districts. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Henty had a population of 863 people.

History

The first European explorer to visit and record the area was Major Thomas Mitchell in 1835. The first settlers arrived around 1850 were squatters, allowed to lease crown land. The area was known as 'Dudal Comer', Aboriginal for 'Sweet Water', with the first property station taking this name.

The village of Henty was originally called 'Doodle Cooma'. Nearby wetlands are still called Doodle Cooma Swamp; they cover 20 square kilometres and are a breeding area for waterbirds.

The post office changed its name in 1886 as the railway station's name was thought to be confused with Cooma

Cooma, New South Wales

-Education: is Cooma's only public high school, it serves the town and seven of the neighbouring rural towns and villages such as Berridale, Jindabyne, Nimmitabel, Bredbo and Dalgety....

in the Monaro district

Monaro, New South Wales

Monaro is the name of a region in the south of New South Wales, Australia. A small area of Victoria near Snowy River National Park is geographically part of the Monaro, whilst the Australian Capital Territory is frequently considered part of the region: most towns have very close links with...

. The town's new name was after the Henty family of Portland, Victoria

Portland, Victoria

The city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay.-History:...

and Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...

. Henry Henty had leased Round Hill station north of Gerogery

Gerogery, New South Wales

Gerogery is a small village in Greater Hume Shire Council in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Gerogery serves a rural farming community. The village is located on the Main South railway line between Sydney and Melbourne, where it intersects with the Olympic Way. At the 2006 census,...

(south of Henty) in the early 1860s (some suggest the lessor was Edward Henty).

Mad Dog Morgan

The bushranger

Bushranger

Bushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...

Dan 'Mad Dog' Morgan

Dan Morgan (bushranger)

John Fuller was an Australian bushranger.Fuller was born in Appin, New South Wales, Australia around 1830 to George Fuller and Mary Owen. He was their illigitimate son and from the ages of 2 to 17 he lived with an adoptive father, John Roberts...

operated in the area for a time. Two kilometres west of the town on Pleasant Hills Rd (the Lockhart

Lockhart, New South Wales

Lockhart is a town and a Local Government Area in the Riverina Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the location of the Lockhart Shire Council offices. At the 2006 census, Lockhart had a population of 837 people.-History:...

road) is a memorial stone near the site where Morgan shot Sergeant Thomas Smyth in September 1864. A more recent
plaque has been erected by the NSW Police Service and reads:

A memorial to Senior Sergeant Thomas Smyth, aged 29. A member of the NSW Police Force shot by bushranger Dan Morgan in the surrounding hills on 4 September 1864. Senior Sergeant Smyth received a gunshot wound to his left shoulder and convalesced at the Imperial Hotel, Albury until 29 September 1864 where he haemorrhaged as a result of the gunshot wound and died. He is buried in an unmarked grave in the Albury cemetery. Dan Morgan was a murderer with a £1000 price on his head. Senior Sergeant Smyth gave his life while in the pursuit of Morgan who although a tourist attraction these days put fear in the people of the district in the 1860s.

Smyth had been in pursuit of Morgan, who was wanted for several murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

s. Morgan crept into Smyth's tent at night and shot the sleeping Sergeant.

German Settlement and railway connection

Around 1868, many families of German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

extraction, following the Murray River

Murray River

The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...

, trekked from South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

towards nearby Albury eventually settling in the Henty District.

In 1880 the main railway line from Sydney to Albury

Main Southern railway line, New South Wales

The Main Southern Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes and the Riverina regions.- Description of route :...

passed the settlement. The first store opened in 1885 and a railway siding was constructed. In 1886, the Land Department authorised a survey of part of Doodle Cooma Station, changing the spelling from ‘Dudal Comer’. Doodle Cooma Post Office opened on 16 December 1886 at the rail platform, and was renamed Henty in 1891. The village of Henty was named in 1888.

The Doodle Cooma Arms Hotel was built in 1889. The first school was established in 1892. In 1895 'Government Dam' was excavated. The first police officer was appointed to the town in 1899. The Bank of New South Wales

Westpac

Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....

opened a branch in 1897. The bank was held up in 1901: the only bank robbery in Henty with both men captured – one later died of wounds received during the hold-up.

Combine Harvester

In 1914, a local farmer named Headlie Taylor invented the header harvester

Combine harvester

The combine harvester, or simply combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops. The name derives from the fact that it combines three separate operations, reaping, threshing, and winnowing, into a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn ,...

which revolutionised the grain industry worldwide when it became commercially available in 1916. The harvester was superior to previous harvesters as it could 'lift' the heads of damaged crops and collect grain that would otherwise be lost. It was also more efficient, cutting the wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

heads rather than beating or pulling them off. The new technology was more reliable and compact than the stripper harvester and was manufactured by the McKay Harvesting and Machinery Co

Hugh Victor McKay

Hugh Victor McKay CBE, was an Australian inventor of the Sunshine Harvester and industrialist.-Early life:...

of Sunshine, Victoria

Sunshine, Victoria

Sunshine is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia lying 11 to 13 km west of the CBD. Its Local Government Area is the City of Brimbank. At the 2006 Census, Sunshine had a population of 8,070.-History:...

. The header harvester was of significant economic value for Australia as its huge harvesting capacity aided the trend of bulk handling of wheat in Australia.

Recent History

In 1998, Henty was the first town in New South Wales to open a community bank under the Bendigo Bank

Bendigo Bank

Bendigo Bank is an Australian financial institution, operating primarily in retail banking. The company merged with Adelaide Bank in November 2007, with shareholders voting in March 2008 to change the merged company’s name to Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited.Before the merger, Bendigo Bank...

franchise. A rebuilt district hospital has opened in October 2004 and a retirement village was built in the town with approval for the project being given in late 2005.

In 1986 the Henty Centenary Committee published From Early Beginnings. Henty NSW. Home of the Header. Centenary 1886 - 1986. In 2004 Henty held its centenary show.

Demography

In 1996, the population of Henty was 878 http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3110124.NSF/0/E7735DF420BB5444CA25659B00041E58?Open. In 2001 the census counted 856 people. Of these 779 were born in Australia. 11 described themselves as Aborigines. The unemployment rate was 6.3%. The median age was 43. The mean household size was 2.3. The median weekly income for individuals was $200–299; for families was $600–699; and for households $400–499.http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@census.nsf/4079a1bbd2a04b80ca256b9d00208f92/ed17bf48e7f94bb6ca256c63002c4c58!OpenDocument

Henty Field Days

The Henty Machinery Field Days

Field day

Field days in Australia usually take place as part of an agricultural show, though field days focus on agricultural industry and equipment rather than livestock....

are held on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the third week in September each year. Over 60,000 people visit the Field Days over the two and a half day period. There are over 600 exhibitors each year. It is one of the largest in Australia and displays new agricultural equipment and technology for farmers. The first of these modern field days was held in 1963. The field days are now held at a permanent all-weather rural exhibition site with broad display avenues including a square kilometre (250 acres) of car parking and an on-site airstrip.

Transport

The local railway station

Henty railway station, New South Wales

Henty railway station is located in the Riverina town of Henty, New South Wales, Australia on the Main Southern railway line — the main line connecting Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne. The station is served by the CountryLink Melbourne - Sydney rail service.The station...

is served by the CountryLink

CountryLink

CountryLink is the operator of passenger rail services in country New South Wales, Australia and into Queensland and Victoria. It is an operating brand of the Rail Corporation New South Wales, a government-owned entity...

XPT passenger service between Melbourne and Sydney. The Olympic Highway runs though the town.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.