WYNDHAM

WYNDHAM

The area around Wyndham initially attracted the attention of Europeans in 1852 after the Rev. W.B. Clarke, a geologist, claimed to have discovered gold at nearby Honeysuckle Flat and noted the presence of molybdenite between Eden and Honeysuckle. Eager prospectors followed, but were rewarded with little gold.

To cater for the needs of these original prospectors, the Honeysuckle Inn (3½ km from Wyndham) was built in 1855. It was later to prosper when it became a significant stopping-off point for miners travelling to or from the richer Kiandra goldfields.

Meanwhile, farmers were moving to the area. John Robertson was perhaps the first when, in 1853, he purchased 52 acres of land.

On 24th July 1856 the site for a village was fixed, and a survey was undertaken. It has been suggested that the village was named after a Colonel Charles Ashe Windham who had distinguished himself at the Battle of Inkerman in the Crimean War (Raglan near Bathurst and Dundas in Sydney may also have been named after other soldiers who participated in that war).

In September 1856 the first town land was offered for sale in Eden, but little was sold, and none of those blocks was developed. A further land sale was held at Pambula on July 19th 1860 (the position of the Wyndham township by then having become attractive because it was on the popular route from Eden to the Kiandra goldfields) and most of the remaining blocks were sold, mainly to Pambula and Eden citizens.

The village developed at two ends – at Honeysuckle to the east and two miles to the west on land that had been purchased by a Ferdinand Diversi. Around 1870 he built a store there and later opened the first Post Office. A blacksmiths, assembly room and hotel were also constructed.

However, from around 1880, when the public school was built, the town developed in its current position: the cemetery was opened in 1881; the Wyndham Hall and School of Arts, a new post office, and an Anglican Church were all erected in 1888 (the Anglican Church on a different site - it was moved to its current location in 1947); The Robbie Burns Hotel (replacing one that had been built after the original Scottish Chieftain Inn was burnt down in 1865) and a Royal Hotel (which was, around 1934, pulled down and rebuilt in Candelo as a private residence) were both built in 1891; and a new police station and court house and the Catholic Church were built in 1898.

By the end of the 19th century, dairying in the area was well established (a creamery was established at Honeysuckle, opening in October 1899), a sawmill was operating (including providing boxwood timber for bridge building), and mining was being undertaken at nearby Whipstick (see separate entry).

The Wyndham area, however, has not been without its problems:

As the Melbourne Argus reported, around Wyndham ‘rabbits were so thick about 1911 that many of the farmers were in danger of having to walk off their properties and leave them to the rabbits. A co-operative rabbit canning company was formed, and a small canning factory built on the bank of the pretty Honeysuckle Creek. _(It opened in October 1908.) _Soon dozens of men were trapping rabbits for the factory, receiving 8d a pair of rabbits in good condition…this canned rabbit was an excellent product, and there was a big demand for it. Soon the rabbits were under control. Indeed, it became difficult to keep the supply of rabbits up to the factory. Motor transport was in its infancy in those days, and the rabbits had to be carted to the factory in horse-drawn vehicles. This meant that the area covered was limited…(but) the Wyndham canning factory did not last long, its failure being due to a number of factors which could easily have been avoided, and a month or so after this factory closed I actually saw rabbits living in burrows underneath the factory building.’

Bushfires, too, have been a regular occurrence, with Wyndam affected at least in 1898, 1904, 1905 (when a sawmill was destroyed), 1929 (The Sydney Morning Herald of 11th January reporting ‘Racing down to the grass plains from Mount Darragh, a bush fire swept through Wyndham, and completely wiped out the homes of Messrs. Jacob Umback and Mrs. W. Pheeney. Twenty pigs belonging to Mrs. Pheeney perished, and her motor car was destroyed. Driven by a strong wind, the fire travelled on to Whipstick mines, where every building, except the school house, was reduced to ashes. The wattle bark extraction plant, which had cost £30,000, and the dwellings of Messrs. Taylor, Jones, David Robertson, Thomas Jones, Charles Tasker, and George Grant were among those that were burned out. At Whipstick mines the wind caught up the burning debris, and carried it 10 miles away on to the properties at Lochiel of Messrs. Buckett, W. Smith, and McCabe, who saved their homes after desperately fighting the flames, but lost all their grass.’), 1993-1994, 2009 (the Eden Magnet reporting: ‘Residents of the Wyndham and Burragate areas have been watching an aerial battle unfold this week as fire-fighting activity has kept the skies abuzz above these normally quiet and peaceful rural locations. In scenes that recall airfield battle preparations, the Wyndham sports ground has become a fire staging area, helipad and refuelling site for the seven helicopters and on-ground firefighters that are engaging in battle on a daily basis…On Sunday fire retardant was being dropped by fixed wing aircraft to create fire break lines. The steep and rugged terrain has challenged pilots to lay down a good retardant line but according to those on the ground they have done a great job. On Australia Day (Monday) the sports ground was a hive of activity with helicopters landing and taking off every 10 or so minutes. Activity continued right up until 8 pm when the last water bombing runs were made’) and 2019-2020.

Photograph: Wyndham, 1958