Melville Street Numurkah c1900-1910
(State Library of Victoria)
I had the basic facts about the town but I wanted to get a feel of what the area was like when Jeremiah was there and what better way than to read the local newspaper of the time. Unfortunately only a limited number of Numurkah newspapers are on Trove, so last week I made a trip to the State Library of Victoria to browse through the earliest newspaper I could find there on microfilm. I love reading the newspaper everyday, so it was far from a chore to spend the afternoon browsing through nine months worth of The Numurkah Guardian & Wunghu Observer from March to December 1884. This newspaper was the second printed in Numurkah and came out weekly, it contained advertisements, news, upcoming events and meetings, as well as a supplement containing short stories.
The same as today there were reports of road accidents and fatalities, but these involved horses, buggies and carts. An unfortunate, Mr Hanson had his leg amputated after it got caught in the wheel of the dray he was driving, when he attempted to control his bolting horse. The local state school teacher, Miss Barkley also suffered minor injuries to her knee and was severely shaken, when her horse bolted, knocked into a tree and she fell to the ground. Even the local doctor wasn't exempt from an accident:-
The same as today there were reports of road accidents and fatalities, but these involved horses, buggies and carts. An unfortunate, Mr Hanson had his leg amputated after it got caught in the wheel of the dray he was driving, when he attempted to control his bolting horse. The local state school teacher, Miss Barkley also suffered minor injuries to her knee and was severely shaken, when her horse bolted, knocked into a tree and she fell to the ground. Even the local doctor wasn't exempt from an accident:-
3 July 1884
This snippet also gives added insight into the weather at the time and the difficulties of travelling around on dirt tracks. Obviously the unpredictability of rainfall was a problem for this agricultural area as this piece shows:-
Much like today, controlling burning off was another topic of discussion. A well attended meeting of representatives from the agricultural societies of the north east region met in Murchison on 26 April to "to consider the best means to adopt for obtaining an alteration of the law relating to the use of fire or failing that, to urge the strict enforcement of the law as at present in force." This meeting had occurred because the whole district had suffered severely from fires in the previous summer. Suggestions made included not allowing burning off before the 1 March, increasing the cleared area around farms and banning farm labourers smoking in the fields. After much discussion several resolutions relating to times and notifications of burning and clearing around farms were agreed upon and were to be sent to all societies before appointing delegates to lobby the government. It came as a surprise then, when later in the year on 27 November, I found an article that the Numurkah Fire Brigade had just realized their hope of having an Engine, with the purchase of one from Benalla Brigade for 80 pound.
As expected in a new town, many new groups were formed. A popular meeting place was Gifford's Hotel, where on 21 April a meeting was held for those interested in the formation of the Numurkah Football Club with the encouragement "no more healthy or manly game can be indulged in by the young bloods of Numurkah." On 4 June, the Numurkah Rifle Club was formed with about 20 members enrolling and "it was decided to obtain a supply of Enfield rifles on loan from the government, each member to buy his own cartridges." Later in year shows a report of the Numurkah Brass Band, that had recently formed also met at Gifford's Hotel. One meeting, not held at the Hotel, was the first meeting of the The Blue Ribbon Army held at the Bible Christian Church where a good attendance was expected to hear what was to be said in favour of teetotalism! The Mutual Improvement Society debated on the subject of Bobbie Burns, the Scottish poet, the Numurkah Racing club discussed fencing in of the racecourse, the Mechanic Institute met to plan extensions to the recently built building and the annual meeting of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association was held 5 July. This Association only a few years old was ranked fourth in the State and was considered an important part of the rural community and still is today, as shown by this photo of the entrance gate taken last year.
Another reason for Numurkah's expansion was the coming of the railway in 1881. There were many articles throughout 1884 about the importance of the railway as it was where all the north-east wheat harvests were bought to be transported. However, there was much lobbying for the railway to be extended and finally on 2 October this was reported in the paper:-
Many were apprehensive that it might lead to a decline in business for Numurkah if the new Railway Bill was passed as fewer people would need to come there now. Some also wondered why improvements had been made to the station, as they might not have been necessary.
Reading the local paper certainly gives you an insight into what was happening and the concerns and interests of the inhabitants at the time. To finish on a lighter note this advertisement caught my eye and gives an insight into decorating tastes:-
Much like today, controlling burning off was another topic of discussion. A well attended meeting of representatives from the agricultural societies of the north east region met in Murchison on 26 April to "to consider the best means to adopt for obtaining an alteration of the law relating to the use of fire or failing that, to urge the strict enforcement of the law as at present in force." This meeting had occurred because the whole district had suffered severely from fires in the previous summer. Suggestions made included not allowing burning off before the 1 March, increasing the cleared area around farms and banning farm labourers smoking in the fields. After much discussion several resolutions relating to times and notifications of burning and clearing around farms were agreed upon and were to be sent to all societies before appointing delegates to lobby the government. It came as a surprise then, when later in the year on 27 November, I found an article that the Numurkah Fire Brigade had just realized their hope of having an Engine, with the purchase of one from Benalla Brigade for 80 pound.
As expected in a new town, many new groups were formed. A popular meeting place was Gifford's Hotel, where on 21 April a meeting was held for those interested in the formation of the Numurkah Football Club with the encouragement "no more healthy or manly game can be indulged in by the young bloods of Numurkah." On 4 June, the Numurkah Rifle Club was formed with about 20 members enrolling and "it was decided to obtain a supply of Enfield rifles on loan from the government, each member to buy his own cartridges." Later in year shows a report of the Numurkah Brass Band, that had recently formed also met at Gifford's Hotel. One meeting, not held at the Hotel, was the first meeting of the The Blue Ribbon Army held at the Bible Christian Church where a good attendance was expected to hear what was to be said in favour of teetotalism! The Mutual Improvement Society debated on the subject of Bobbie Burns, the Scottish poet, the Numurkah Racing club discussed fencing in of the racecourse, the Mechanic Institute met to plan extensions to the recently built building and the annual meeting of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association was held 5 July. This Association only a few years old was ranked fourth in the State and was considered an important part of the rural community and still is today, as shown by this photo of the entrance gate taken last year.
Another reason for Numurkah's expansion was the coming of the railway in 1881. There were many articles throughout 1884 about the importance of the railway as it was where all the north-east wheat harvests were bought to be transported. However, there was much lobbying for the railway to be extended and finally on 2 October this was reported in the paper:-
Many were apprehensive that it might lead to a decline in business for Numurkah if the new Railway Bill was passed as fewer people would need to come there now. Some also wondered why improvements had been made to the station, as they might not have been necessary.
Reading the local paper certainly gives you an insight into what was happening and the concerns and interests of the inhabitants at the time. To finish on a lighter note this advertisement caught my eye and gives an insight into decorating tastes:-
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