My Armidale Cosmopolitan City of the North Maria Hitchcock OAM
Armidale is situated on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales at an elevation of approx. 1000m. It has a cool temperate climate suited to growing many European plants and is noted for its Autumn colour. It has been called the 'Cambridge of the North' because it is home to the University of New England. It has also been called 'The City of the Arts' because of its vibrant cultural offerings. Armidale has many identities but our citizens are proud of its relaxed and cosmopolitan lifestyle.
Prior to European settlement, the Armidale Region was home to a number of indigenous tribes and clans now called First Nations in line with international trends. The Anaiwan claim the western part of the region while the Gumbayngirr lay claim to the eastern part including Ebor. The Banbai (closely related to the Gumbayngirr) were active in the north eastern section. One of their words 'Gayarr' meaning White cockatoo is the symbol for Guyra. The Dhungutti roamed along the valley and headwaters of the Macleay River. Descendants of all four Nations plus the Kamilaroi (Gomeroi), Yukumbal and Ngarabal Nations reside in the region and maintain their indigenous identities through art and other cultural activities.
Dual naming of landmarks is underway with Bulagaranda (Mt Yarrowyck) already signposted. The name is Anaiwan for 'turkey dreaming'. This cave painting site (pictured left) is approximately 30 mins drive west of Armidale along Bundarra Rd (then turn right into Thunderbolts Way). Tuembandian (Duembandian) is an Anaiwan name for Mt. Duval. It appears on old colonial maps. Rock art at Bulagaranda Image: Don Hitchcock
For more on dual naming the report below was published in July 2021.
European settlement developed quickly as squatters headed north from Sydney after 1815 in search of land to claim. Colonel Henry Dumaresq came to NSW in 1825 as a private secretary to his brother-in-law Governor Darling and in 1833 was appointed Commissioner in charge of the Australian Agricultural Company based at Port Stephens and Stroud. With his brother Captain William Dumaresq, he was responsible for the earliest European settlement of land on the tablelands near the later established town of Armidale. Saumarez Station was one of the first major holdings in the region. Named after the Dumaresq’s Estate in Jersey in the Channel Islands, Saumarez Station was the last stopping point to get supplies for settlers moving north ‘beyond the boundaries’. It had a well supplied store selling tools, clothing and basic food.
Saumarez was a squatting run of about 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) for which Captain William Dumaresq held a 10 pounds license from 1837. The run extended from Uralla to north of Mount Duval and included the Rocky River goldfields. The Dumaresq family had built slab houses and huts, a store, yards, woolsheds, washpool and cultivated small paddocks for wheat and oats. Pictured left are the remnants of a bark hut in Oxley Wild Rivers NP. Image: npwsnorthernculture
This is a later design as it has an iron roof. The earlier huts had stringybark slabs on the roof. Stringybark was the favoured material which resulted in most of the trees being felled in the vicinity of Armidale.
Some of the run was later taken for development of the town of Armidale (pictured left), which was founded in 1839 by G.J. Macdonald, Commissioner of Crown Lands, who named it for his father’s Scottish baronial estate on the Isle of Skye. The town situated on the banks of Dumaresq Creek, soon developed a pastoral-agricultural economy. As well as sheep runs, wheat, maize, oats and potatoes were being grown and by the 1860s, apples and cherries were being harvested. Image: Illustrated Sydney News (NSW 1853 - 1872)
Armidale's 19th Century history The town was noted for the large number of inns and drunkenness no doubt due to the imbalance of males to females and the goldrush years. Gradually services were introduced as the population grew and families moved in. As in many other places, the indigenous population was dispossessed of their tribal lands and moved to the fringes of European settlement. Some lived in squalid conditions on the edge of town (Dark Town, later called the Mission) while others worked on pastoral properties. Armidale became a very progressive town due to wealth created by the goldfields and the pastoral industry.
From bark huts to civilisation Before the town was surveyed, laid out in a grid and gazetted in 1849, it boasted a Post Office and Courthouse. After gazettal in 1849, land was offered for sale and a building boom commenced. Many Inns were built such as the Armidale Inn, New England Hotel, Rose Inn, Crown Inn and Wellington Inn (Now Tattersalls) no doubt in response to the discovery of gold at Rocky River, Hillgrove and Gara Gorge. New businesses opened to meet the needs of a growing population such as Allingham's Mill, the Union Store, John Moore's store and Moses' tannery, boot and shoe factory. The English Church was built and the Armidale Express was founded. The newspaper had much to write about in later years such as the new gaol on South Hill later to be demolished and replaced by the Teacher's College and the pursuit and final demise of Captain Thunderbolt whose story is magnificently told in a series of paintings in McCrossin's Mill Museum at Uralla.
Armidale Public School was founded in 1861 followed by Arram House School - setting the way for Armidale to be seen as a Centre of Education. This would be built upon over the next century with the introduction of the University of New England and many private schools. The arrival of rail in 1883 opened the way for transport of produce to Sydney and later Brisbane. The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney opened its doors and work began on the two cathedrals. This allowed Armidale to be declared a city in 1885 and a huge advance was made with the opening of the Gara River Hydro Electric Scheme (first in Australia) in 1895.
The 20th Century Armidale continued to grow as a service centre for the pastoral industry during the 20th Century. It had mixed fortunes like most regional towns in Australia surviving two world wars, a series of difficult droughts which prompted the building of Malpas dam, the later collapse of the wool industry and the rise of cattle production. Two amalgamations with Dumaresq Shire Council and Guyra Shire Council expanded the borders enormously with council now taking on rural roads and bridges, the Guyra township and several villages.
The introduction of the University of New England in 1938 cemented the town's place as an Education Centre and subsequently saw the introduction of a well-educated professional class. That led to an enrichment of the local Arts scene, so much in evidence today. Unfortunately a dependence on the University for the economic development of the town was a huge mistake. Armidale was marketed as the 'City of the Arts' with potential industrial development being dismissed and sent elsewhere. Armidale became known as a Public Service town with a scarcity of private enterprise. A subsequent fall in University funding and repeated interference by successive governments in tertiary education as well as the rise in online learning has been a major blow to Armidale's fortunes in the past 20 - 30 years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_80JsfdRRM
The 21st Century Armidale's identity as a major education centre is waning. UNE is in serious competition with other universities offering similar courses. There are far fewer internal students and the lack of part time jobs in the town deters many potential students from studying here. This may change as rents in the cities become unaffordable. The private schools have all had to adapt to smaller numbers as the former pool of students from farms out west has dried up due to the ageing of farmers and the gradual corporatisation of properties. Today we have a new airport terminal due to a marked rise in passenger numbers, a business park nearby and regular upgrading of the New England Highway which has allowed for good access to Sydney and Newcastle. The Waterfall Way to the coast is a popular route and Armidale is seen as a halfway point between Sydney and Brisbane. The Great Northern rail line from Armidale to Wallangarra was closed in 1988, due to it being unviable and the corridor will be gradually developed as a rail trail, attracting thousands of visitors each year. The declaration of the New England Renewable Energy Zone is beginning to pump billions of dollars into our region and will change Armidale's identity into a Tech Hub thanks also to the widespread availability of the NBN. See the reports on the rail trail and the oven Mountain Pumped Hydro Scheme below.
Agriculture continues to be a major industry and solar farms are being seen as a way of drought proofing local properties by providing a regular income stream during dry years. This should insulate the town and region from economic downturns which have led to business closures and a loss of population at intervals. The Smart Farm at UNE is working in collaboration with local producers to improve productivity. The introduction of large scale horticulture under glass such as Costas Tomato Farm at Guyra has added employment opportunities and it is envisaged that this type of industry will expand in the future when the Malpas Dam Wall is raised.