WOOL

Bales of LGC Gulgong wool in a woolstore, Yennora

Source: SLNSW, Date: Sep 1974 Author/creator: Jack Hickson

Local intel: LGC is Leslie Gordon Campbell of 'Argyll'

Bill Jones, Barry Hollow, John Rayner, John O'Brien, Roger Starr, Malcolm Dorman, Dallas Campbell all learned wool classing and the venue for the classes was the Gulgong Showground Pavilion.

Source: Ailsa Campbell

Wool display at Gulgong Show

L to R: Andrew Rayner, Clyde Donnelly and Percy Thompson

Source: Mudgee Guardian via Janice Donnelly Moore

CHARLES LONERAGAN

Charles Adrian Loneragan was born in the Mudgee district on 30 September 1913 to Richard J and Lulita M Loneragan (NSW BDM 51964/1913). He married Kathleen Brigid Shannon in 1936 in Sydney (NSW BDM 17192/1936). Their children included:

• Richard John - born 23.8.31
• Mary - born 25.10.39
• Michael Charles - born 2.11.42

Prior to joining the RAAF (called up under AFR 445, 11/3/1940), he was a farmer/grazier at "The Lagoon", Gulgong. He served in the Northern Territory north of parallel 14.5°  south latitude from 23 June 1944 to 2 July 1944 and from 3 July 1944 to 23 Jan 1945 with No 2 Squadron and No 1 Squadron.

He carried out 29 Operational Missions - total of 200 Operational Hours. For his Operational Service he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross; the 1939-45 Star and the Pacific Star.

Source: NAA: DGPS Records NSW 992/76.

GONDOLIERS

The Gondoliers was a popular band in Gulgong in the 1960s. Members included George Vukovich, Wayne Jones and Bob Carpenter.

NEWS ITEMS

2013 - Gondoliers to reunite, 45 years on

A favourite local band of the mid-1960s will reunite for the Back to Gulgong weekend.

The Gondoliers, consisting of Dave Brooker, George Vukovich, Wayne Jones, Bob Carpenter, Neville Roach and Peter Harkins, will play at the Prince of Wales Hotel on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as performing on the back of a truck in Saturday morning's parade.

It will be the first time the band has played together in around 45 years.

The Gondoliers began in the early 1960s with Peter Harkins, who now operates Tamworth's Cheapa Music, and George Vukovich, who is now a station manager in outback Queensland.

The duo was dubbed The Gongdalairs by Frank Halloran, a journalist at the Mudgee Guardian, where Harkins was an apprentice letterpress printer.

As the band grew, new lead singer Dave Brooker said the name didn't sound sophisticated, and the group developed into The Gondoliers.

Brooker, the band's blind sax-playing frontman, came from Muswellbrook, and worked at 2MG as a radio announcer and ad salesman.

He and Bob Carpenter lived in Mudgee, and would jump in Carpenter's MG to join the rest of the band in Gulgong for rehearsals.

The Gondoliers played B&S balls, weddings, dances and corporate events from Mudgee and Gulgong into the Hunter and as far west as Warren, and early in their career travelled to Canberra to take third place in the country championships of the 'Battle of the Sounds'.

The owners of the Prince of Wales Hotel invited the band to re-form for this weekend's reunion, and for the first time all six members - including drummers who served at different times - were brought together.

'I'm excited about getting together again,' said Carpenter, who hadn't picked up his bass guitar for 45 years until three weeks ago.

'Who would have thought there'd be an opportunity for the band to get together, not just to see each other, but to play together'?

He said his playing skills were coming back 'surprisingly well' - the brain knows what to do, and the fingers just have to catch up.

Carpenter said audiences could look forward to plenty of classic rock and roll from the '50s and '60s, with Brooker doing great versions of Roy Orbison's songs, as well as tracks from groups including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Band members began arriving in Gulgong on Thursday, and while Carpenter said the town had changed for the better, Harkins easily recognised his mother's old house and said Gulgong hadn't changed at all.

Source: Mudgee Guardian, October 3, 2013

GARDAM

Railey Gardam arrived in NSW aboard the "Herefordshire" in December 1853, aged 20. He was brought to Sydney by the Sydney Railway Company to work on the Sydney to Parramatta Railway which opened in 1855.

He met Elizabeth Walters at Cadia, the site of a copper mine and a copper smelter, marrying in 1862. Around 1867/8 the world price for copper declined and while the women stayed in Cadia, their men left to find work. 

In 1876, Elizabeth  Gardam nee Walters remarried in Newcastle, giving her conjugal status as "widowed" and her age as 31 (she was really 34). She never signed her name to any documents e.g. wedding and children's birth certificates which could suggest she was unsure about whether her first husband, Railey, was alive or dead.

In fact, Gardam had been living with Mary Jane McNamara near Gulgong and was charged with her murder at Yamble in 1873. The couple had produced two children:

• Stephen Gardam (NSW BDM 12951/1870)
• James Gardasm (NSW BDM 19124/1872)

After Railey Gardam was charged and presumably imprisoned awaiting trial, the two little boys were placed in care.

NEWS ITEMS

1873 - Willful Murder

Railey Gardam charged with the murder of May Jane McNamara, with whom he had been living as man and wife, at Yamble, Lowe’s Station on the Mudgee River, on the night of 30th December. The rum bottle was at the bottom of the mischief and it was proved from the man’s own admissions to his friends that he had struck the woman several blows on the evening of her death.

Dr. Ramsay stated the results of the post mortem showed the injuries cased by the beating was the cause of death. Remanded to Mudgee Sessions.

Source: Gulgong Guardian, Issue No 145, 4 January 1873

1873 - APPREHENSIONS

Source: New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime (Sydney : 1860 - 1930) Wed 15 Jan 1873 [Issue No.3] Page 23

Source: New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime (Sydney : 1860 - 1930) Wed 12 Feb 1873 [Issue No.7] Page 53

1873 - STATE RECORDS
GARDEM Railey
Criminal Indictments Index 1863-1919
Citation: NRS 13492 [9/2630 p.114]; Reel 1860 | 

Offence: Murder | 

Place of Trial: Mudgee Circuit Court | 

Sentence: To be imprisoned in Mudgee Gaol for 48 hours

Number	INX-86-4975
Title	GARDEM Railey
Index Name	Criminal Indictments Index 1863-1919
Name	Railey
Surname	GARDEM
Index Number	86
ECommerce	Category B
Offence	Murder
Place of Trial	Mudgee Circuit Court
Verdict	Guilty of manslaughter
Sentence	To be imprisoned in Mudgee Gaol for 48 hours
Judge	STEPHEN
Citation	NRS 13492 [9/2630 p.114]; Reel 1860
Date of Trial	17 Apr 1873

Source: NSW state archives: criminal indictments index

1873 - POLICE NOTES

Transcription

369
Record
25/1/73

Henry Garden 5 years

“ __ destitute his mother dead (murdered) and his father in gaol under committal for trial for murder"

Gulgong 17 January 1873
T A Browne PM
Henry Tebbutt __

Age 5 years _ Protestant_ Henry alias Robert

Police Department
Mudgee 23.1.73

Mems

Charles Gardem the father of the two boys forwarded from Gulgong Bench has informed the Gaolers at Mudgee that the eldest boy’s name is Robert and the younger Stephen.

Charles Gardem is now awaiting trial on a charge of murdering the mother of the boys with whom he lived in a state of adultery.

Thos H Weble

Sergeant

___ and in ___ ___ ______


The Sup.t
Ships V-----

Returned from the Industrial School for girls 14 November 1874

Source: Gregory Archbold

MEBUL SCHOOL

Once named Cudgebegong School, after 1917 it was known as Mebul School.

NEWS ITEMS

1918 - [FUNDRAISING]
The employees of the Tallewang (near Gulgong) iron mines have presented the District Hospital with a cheque for £10. The Mebul subsidised school also made an appeal for funds for the hospital. This is the first school in the district to make an attempt to raise funds for the hospital, and although there are only nine children attending the school, they collected the sum of £2 6s. 6d. from the few people residing in the locality.

Source: The Voice of the North (NSW : 1918 - 1933) Fri 9 Aug 1918 Page 8

1922 - [STAFFING]

Mr. W. F. Dunn. M.L.A., has received information from the Department of Education that a teacher will be appointed to take up duties at the Mebul school as soon as possible. There is a shortage of teachers at present and it may be some time before one is available.

When a teacher has been appointed, if the attendance fall below ten the question of closing the school will be considered.

Source:  Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 28 Sep 1922 Page 5

1923 - Hospital Social. AT MEBUL

Some weeks ago the Gulgong Hospital Committee woke up to the fact that the credit balance was fast diminishing. It was then decided to try and rouse interest in outside centres, and a special committee was appointed to do the work. Several outside centres will hold functions in the near future. The little centre of Mebul held the first one on Wednesday last, and it was a huge success.

When the news was conveved to the Mebul and district folk that hospital finances were getting low, Mr. Chas. Wright, an ardent worker for the hospital, called a meeting. Miss Gladys Wright was appointed secretary. She went to work with a will, and in just two weeks the function was organised. The hospital benefits to the extent of about £60, truly a fine result for the Mebul district, when times are so bad for everyone. Evidently the people of Mebul and district forgot the drought for the time being, and spent freely. 

The little Mebul school was the scene of the gaiety. There are some 'live wires' at Mebul, particularly Mr. C. Wright and Mr. P. Tonkyn, while the ladies are ever ready to help a deserving cause. The secretary is deserving of great praise for the splendid result of her efforts, and she and the other people of the district have the warm thanks of the committee. Dancing was commenced at 8 p.m., and continued until 3 a.m. Splendid music was supplied bv Miss Rita Watts (Gulgong), while Miss Wright played a number of extras. The ladies who prepared the supper carried out the work in an excellent manner. Mr. C. Wright thanked all helpers, and praised the hospital, adding that whereas a private hospital cost four or five guineas a week, patients could go into the Gulgong hospital for £2/2/ a week. Of course, it is not compulsory to pay anything if a patient could not afford a fee. The hospital is a public institution, and is considered one of the best institutions in the State, thanks to the sterling qualities of Matron Snelson. Other centres will need to work hard to beat Mebul. — Gulgong 'Advertiser.'

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 7 Jun 1923 Page 9

1923 - MY HOME.
Nellie Lett writes: —

Dear Editor,—

My home is at Mebul, 16 miles West of Gulgong and 34 miles east of Wellington, which are our nearest towns. Mebul has an area of about 36 sq. miles, most of which is rich agricultural land, the remainder being good pasture land.

On this land many thousands of sheep and cattle graze peacefully through the day except in a drought such as we have just experienced, when the men have to lop oak, kurrajong, and other trees for them. The Mebul Creek has never been known to go dry by our oldest residents, so we always have a water supply for our stock, but it is too brackish for household use. We have a post and telegraph office about four miles from my home and two subsidised schools. The one I attend, at Upper Mebul, has nine pupils and the Mebul subsidised school has six. When the first public school was opened at Mebul (Cudgebegong, as it was then called), over 40 years ago, the class roll numbered 54. The population then was nearly 200, but death has claimed all but two of the early pioneers, while the younger people seek new homes near the towns or in the city. As a result our population is now only 80.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Mon 24 Sep 1923 Page 1

BUSH

Nicholas Bush was the brother of Magdalena Williardt nee Bush. Nicholas married Sarah A Gallimore in 1892 (NSW BDM 5255/1892) and they lived at Kurri and had 12 children. These included:

• ISAAC C - born 1894
• HAROLD V - born 1895
• NOEL K - born 1896
• ALLEN L - born 1899
• WILLIAM H - born 1900 (maternal grandfather of ex Knights NRL player Paul Harragon)
• EDITH M - born 1902
• DULCIE M - 1903 - 1942
• DOUGLAS R - born 1905
• MURIEL E - 1909 - 1947
• VERA E - 1911-1981
• SARAH A (SADIE) - born 1912

In 1912, Sarah died in childbirth, delivering Sadie. Three of the children, Vera, Muriel and a boy were sent to live with their cousin Rosina O'Connell nee Williardt on a property outside Gulgong. Rosina had married Eugene O'Connell in 1904 and had no children in the intervening eight years. Another sibling, Dulcie Bush, went to Gulgong Convent to be raised by the nuns.

VERA

Vera Bush was 15 months old when her mother died. She lived at Goodiman with the O'Connells from 1912 to 1927. She grew up calling her cousin Rosina, "Madame". Rosina is said to have been very strict, and a bit mean to the girls, but they loved Rosina's mother, Christina and called her "Nanny" (actually their aunt). Vera had very long hair as a child and wore it in plaits. She went to a Catholic school and walked or rode 4 miles to get there [possibly Beryl?].

Wilfred O'Brien with a young girl - possibly Vera Bush.
Source: VO

Vera was very close to her sisters - Muriel and Dulcie - and despite the early tragic loss of their mother, they seem to have had happy childhood memories of Gulgong.

When she was 16, Vera moved to Balmain to live with her sister Dulcie. The following year, 1928, she married Samuel Lewis Solomons in Granville (NSW BDM 15833/1928). Samuel and Vera had 6 children and 14 grandchildren.

DULCIE

Dulcie died suddenly on 16 November 1942 at the age of 39. She lived at Merrylands, having married Stanley A Taylor at Kurri Kurri in 1922 (NSW BDM 3596/1922).

WILFRED O'BRIEN

In 1913, Wilfred's older brother, Eugene O'Brien, was working as overseer at Goodiman (listed on Census) but he later lived in Marrickville, Sydney, after their father (John Michael O'Brien) got a teaching transfer to Sydney. John Michael had taught for 28 years at Tallawang and the family was well known in the Gulgong district. Wilfred had a bank job lined up in Sydney but broke his arm so stayed with the O'Connell's at Goodiman while it mended. His brother Charles took the bank job. Wilfred stayed on at Goodiman, ultimately taking over management of the farm after Eugene O'Connell died in 1930. Wilfred's time at Goodiman would have overlapped with some of the years that the Bush children lived there but stories of their existence were not passed on in the family. There is one remaining photo that is thought to depict Vera Bush with Wilfred.

CRICK

Birth:1834, England

Death:12 Mar 1902 (aged 67–68) at  Petersham, Inner West Council, NSW, Australia

Burial: Rookwood General Cemetery, Plot Zone B Anglican Section AAA Grave 667-668

NEWS ITEMS

1902 - Death of an Old Gulgongite.

On Tuesday afternoon there passed away an old mining pioneer in the person of Mr. Robert Crick. The deceased gentleman had been ailing for a long time, the trouble being a cancer in the stomach. He was a familiar figure in Gulgong in the golden seventies, when the precious metal was taken to the banks in spring carts. For some years past he has been residing in his comfortable home near Sydney. Mr. Richard White (one of his old mining mates) was with him in his last moments.

The remains were interred in the Necropolis at Rookwood. One by one the hardy pioneers are crossing the Great Divide.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 13 Mar 1902 Page 11