Bingara, New South Wales

Location

Bingara is located 141 km north of Tamworth, 54 km west of Inverell, 449 km north of Sydney and 358 km south west of Brisbane. Bingara is located very close to Myall Creek, the site of the massacre of 27 to 30 Indigenous Australians.

History

Before British colonisation the Bingara region was within the country of the Wirraayaraay people.

In 1827, British explorer Allan Cunningham crossed the Gwydir River near Bingara. At the time he mistook the river to be the Peel River, but realised his mistake on his return journey.

British colonisation at Bingara began in 1836 with the arrival of the pastoralist squatter Thomas Simpson Hall. Hall established the Bingara leasehold as a sheep and cattle station. The local Aborigines initially resisted Hall's incursion and both Aboriginal and Europeans were killed in the resulting skirmishes. Hall himself received a spear wound to his head during one of these battles. A detachment of New South Wales Mounted Police under Sergeant John Temple were dispatched to the area and, accompanied by Hall's armed stockmen, exacted a "terrible retribution upon the blacks". The creek running through Bingara is named Hall's Creek after Thomas Simpson Hall.

The discovery of gold in 1852 brought prospectors to the area. In the 1880s, copper and diamonds were discovered also, causing a rapid development of the town. Bingara is one of the few places in Australia where diamonds have been found. In fact, Bingara was the largest producer of diamonds in Australia at that time. Bingara changed the spelling of its name from Bingera to Bingara in 1890. The first Bingera Post Office opened on 1 January 1853 and was renamed Upper Bingera in 1862 and closed in 1868. The second Bingera office opened in 1862 and was renamed Bingara in 1890.

Heritage listings

Bingara has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• 74 Maitland Street: Roxy Theatre and Peters Greek Cafe Complex
• Bingara Delungra Road, Myall Creek: Myall Creek Massacre and Memorial Site

Population

|1921|1014 |1933|1448 |1947| |1954|1465 |1961|1485 |1966|1504 |1971|1401 |1976|1295 |1981|1257 |1986|1363 |1991|1231 |1996|1236 |2001|1172 |2006|1207 |2011|1093 |2016|1074 |2021|1028

According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 1,428 people in Bingara. 82.7% of people were born in Australia and 88.2% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were Anglican 38.6%, Catholic 16.8% and No Religion 15.2%.

It is a popular site for retirement with 57% of the population aged 55 years and over, compared to the national average of 27.6% and a median age of 61. The median weekly household income for Bingara is $743 which is lower than the national median of $1,438.

Sport

Bingara sporting life consists of the Bingara Bullets (rugby league), Gwydir River Rats (rugby union) and the Bingara District Cricket Association (cricket) with the representative team being Gwydir First XI. Notable sporting people include Andrew Hart (ex St George), sports broadcaster David Fordham, and Sydney jockey Adrian Robinson also originates from Bingara.

Climate

Bingara has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa, Trewartha: Cfak/Cfal), with hot summers and cool winters.

|Jan record high C = 40.6 |Feb record high C = 41.7 |Mar record high C = 39.4 |Apr record high C = 35.6 |May record high C = 29.1 |Jun record high C = 25.0 |Jul record high C = 25.5 |Aug record high C = 27.7 |Sep record high C = 35.0 |Oct record high C = 39.4 |Nov record high C = 42.8 |Dec record high C = 41.7 |Jan record low C = 10.8 |Feb record low C = 9.2 |Mar record low C = 6.7 |Apr record low C = 2.2 |May record low C = -3.3 |Jun record low C = -6.9 |Jul record low C = -6.7 |Aug record low C = -6.1 |Sep record low C = -1.7 |Oct record low C = 0.0 |Nov record low C = 3.3 |Dec record low C = 5.7

Notable people

• Nate Butler
• Andrew Cowper
• John Fordham

References

References

1. (25 February 2016). "Profile of the electoral division of Parkes (NSW)". [[Australian Electoral Commission]].
2. "Bingara, New South Wales".
3. "Great Circle Distance between BINGARA and SYDNEY". [[Geoscience Australia]].
4. "Great Circle Distance between BINGARA and BRISBANE". [[Geoscience Australia]].
5. (1992). "Waterloo Creek". McPhee Gribble.
6. (1993). "Reader's Digest Illustrated Guide to Australian Places". Reader's Digest.
7. Phoenix Ayctions History. "Post Office List". Phoenix Auctions.
8. {{cite NSW SHR. 5061432. Roxy Theatre and Peters Greek Cafe Complex
9. {{cite NSW SHR. 5056626. Myall Creek Massacre and Memorial Site
10. "Statistics by Catalogue Number". Australian Bureau of Statistics.
11. "Search Census data". Australian Bureau of Statistics.
12. {{Census 2016 AUS
13. Fordham, John. (27 December 2011). "Sports presenter had best seat in the house". theaustralian.com.au.
14. Ricketts, Steve. (16 December 2011). "Sports commentator David Fordham dies of prostate cancer". couriermail.com.au.
15. "Bingara Post Office, NSW Climate (1878-present normals and extremes)". [[Australian Bureau of Meteorology]].
16. A. D. Parsons. "Butler, Athol Patrick (1902–1961)".
17. Bennet, Darryl. (1993). "Cowper, Andrew King (1898–1980". ANU.
18. "Who’s who farewells beloved ‘boy from Bingara’ John Fordham".