Sunny Corner, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Sunny Corner is a small village in the central west of New South Wales
, Australia
and former mining area located between Lithgow
and Bathurst
just north of the Great Western Highway
(Route 32). At the 2006 census
, Sunny Corner had a population of 626 people.
The township was originally called Mitchell or Mitchell's Creek but the local community always called the area Sunny Corner and the name continued in use.
The original inhabitants of the area later called Sunny Corner were Aboriginal people, probably from the Wiradjuri
tribe or nation. Although by the time written records of the area were created there were no Aboriginal people living there, Powys notes some archaeological evidence of their occupation in the form of stone axes.
The town of Sunny Corner grew up following the discovery of silver lodes in the area in 1884. This prompted a “rush” to the area, which had previously not been settled, and a town grew up on Crown Land adjacent to the mining leases.
The village of Sunny Corner was formally gazetted on 2 October 1885 (as R No 122). The gazette also revoked temporary reserves presumably gazetted to cover the rush to Sunny Corner. Immediately to the north-west a recreation reserve was gazetted, and a camping reserve was located on the southern border of the town.
In January 1886 an anonymous correspondent to the Sydney Morning Herald described Sunny Corner as having a population “anything from 1600 to 3000”. The town was described as follows:
“there is one long, comparatively straight sheet, on which most of the dwellings are built, while here and there about the ranges habitations are dotted in all sorts of nooks and corners. A galvanised iron roof is de rigueur, but the materials for the wall may be either "wattle and daub" sawn hardwood, or slabs cut with an adze. The names for such buildings as are the general resort of the public are of the most select type. There are the Royal, the Criterion, and Star Hotels, and the Carrington billiard room the Sunny Corner Boot Palace, Sunny Corner Coffee Palace and the Tattersall’s saddler's store.”
Later, on 3 September 1887, the village was gazetted as a town.
The 1885 survey plan shows a number of buildings and features in situ at the time of the survey and thus records the nature of the township at that time.
A report in the Bathurst Free Press in July 1852 of a Mr Moffitt finding gold in a quartz reef at Mitchells Creek located in the headwaters of the Turon River is likely to be in the vicinity of Sunny Corner. A newspaper description of the field in 1884 notes: “Gold was first discovered about Mitchell’s Creek in 1852, and two years afterwards it was somewhat extensively worked as an alluvial held, every watercourse about the place returning payable gold, and in some instances proving very rich. In 1856 auriferous quartz was found on the field…”
The quartz reefs were mined from the early 1860’s until the 1880’s. In 1881 assays of the ore found in association with the quartz revealed a rich concentration of silver and mining interest turned to the exploitation of the silver ores rather than the gold.
Silver, gold, zinc and antimony were mined between 1875 to 1922, during which time more than 100 tonnes of silver were won.
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...
and former mining area located between Lithgow
Lithgow, New South Wales
Lithgow is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and is the centre of the local political division City of Lithgow. It is located in a mountain valley named Lithgow's Valley by John Oxley in honour of William Lithgow, the first Auditor-General of New South Wales.Lithgow is...
and Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
just north of the Great Western Highway
Great Western Highway
The Great Western Highway is a highway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs 210 km from Sydney to Bathurst.Starting as Broadway at the intersection of City Road near the fringe of the Sydney CBD, and becoming Parramatta Road to Parramatta itself, the Great Western Highway heads due west from...
(Route 32). 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,...
, Sunny Corner had a population of 626 people.
The township was originally called Mitchell or Mitchell's Creek but the local community always called the area Sunny Corner and the name continued in use.
The original inhabitants of the area later called Sunny Corner were Aboriginal people, probably from the Wiradjuri
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales.In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith...
tribe or nation. Although by the time written records of the area were created there were no Aboriginal people living there, Powys notes some archaeological evidence of their occupation in the form of stone axes.
The town of Sunny Corner grew up following the discovery of silver lodes in the area in 1884. This prompted a “rush” to the area, which had previously not been settled, and a town grew up on Crown Land adjacent to the mining leases.
The village of Sunny Corner was formally gazetted on 2 October 1885 (as R No 122). The gazette also revoked temporary reserves presumably gazetted to cover the rush to Sunny Corner. Immediately to the north-west a recreation reserve was gazetted, and a camping reserve was located on the southern border of the town.
In January 1886 an anonymous correspondent to the Sydney Morning Herald described Sunny Corner as having a population “anything from 1600 to 3000”. The town was described as follows:
“there is one long, comparatively straight sheet, on which most of the dwellings are built, while here and there about the ranges habitations are dotted in all sorts of nooks and corners. A galvanised iron roof is de rigueur, but the materials for the wall may be either "wattle and daub" sawn hardwood, or slabs cut with an adze. The names for such buildings as are the general resort of the public are of the most select type. There are the Royal, the Criterion, and Star Hotels, and the Carrington billiard room the Sunny Corner Boot Palace, Sunny Corner Coffee Palace and the Tattersall’s saddler's store.”
Later, on 3 September 1887, the village was gazetted as a town.
The 1885 survey plan shows a number of buildings and features in situ at the time of the survey and thus records the nature of the township at that time.
Mining at Sunny Corner
Early mining in the Sunny Corner area is poorly documented, largely because it was a small field and systematic reporting by the Mines Department had not been implemented at that time (in the 1850’s). Matters are even more confused as there was another Mitchell's Creek near Wellington (located near Bodangora, to the north east of Wellington) which is mentioned in newspapers of the early 1850's as being a goldfield. Thus records of gold being found at Mitchell’s Creek could refer to several locations.A report in the Bathurst Free Press in July 1852 of a Mr Moffitt finding gold in a quartz reef at Mitchells Creek located in the headwaters of the Turon River is likely to be in the vicinity of Sunny Corner. A newspaper description of the field in 1884 notes: “Gold was first discovered about Mitchell’s Creek in 1852, and two years afterwards it was somewhat extensively worked as an alluvial held, every watercourse about the place returning payable gold, and in some instances proving very rich. In 1856 auriferous quartz was found on the field…”
The quartz reefs were mined from the early 1860’s until the 1880’s. In 1881 assays of the ore found in association with the quartz revealed a rich concentration of silver and mining interest turned to the exploitation of the silver ores rather than the gold.
Silver, gold, zinc and antimony were mined between 1875 to 1922, during which time more than 100 tonnes of silver were won.