Wirrabara. Side view of the original state school built in 1879. It became a private residence in 1921 when a new red brick school was built in the town. : 無料・フリー素材/写真
Wirrabara. Side view of the original state school built in 1879. It became a private residence in 1921 when a new red brick school was built in the town. / denisbin
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示-改変禁止 2.1 |
|---|---|
| 説明 | Wirrabara.A Kaurna Aboriginal name meaning “gum trees with running water” was used to name the town when it was proclaimed in 1874 although the local Aboriginal people were the Ngadjuri tribe. Before 1874 the land was firstly leased by Samuel and Frederick White from 1844 who named their run Charlton. A small and not very successful copper mine, the Charlton mine, was established in the 1850s on this run just north of the present town site. The Charlton Mine was run by the Australian Mining Company from 1854 for just a few years. White’s leasehold was purchased by Charles. B. Fisher in 1861 who renamed the property Wirrabara instead of Charlton but Charles White retained his old homestead and some acreage around it. When Surveyor General George Goyder visited Fisher’s Wirrabara run in 1864 he estimated it was carrying 50,000 sheep. In 1866 the Wirrabara run was taken over by Alexander Borthwick Murray and his three sons of Mt Crawford as a sheep stud for their Murray Merinos. When parts of the run were resumed in 1872 for closer settlement Alexander Borthwick Murray used his employees to purchase extensive areas of freehold land in a system known as dummying. The Murray family built a homestead in 1872 on the property called Avonmore shown because they then had freehold to the property. When Alexander Scott Murray married in 1874 he extended and remodelled it into a grand ten roomed house with marble fireplaces and cedar architraves and it became his family home. There is a fine stone memorial to Alexander Scott Murray near the railway station with its silo art. He was only 34 years old when he died of ill health and he was the highly respected manager of Wirrabara Station. He had a large public role and apart from supporting local organisations he did public works like laying the foundation stone of the Laura Institute etc. On his death he left a wife and four children under five years of age. The memorial was unveiled in February 1882 two years after Alexander Scott Murray’s death in 1880. After Alexander Scott Murray’s death his brother John took over Avonmore but he too died of health issues in 1884 aged 35 years. Alexander Borthwick Murray and his remaining son Malcomb of Avonmore also had lands northwards along the ranges. In 1885 A.B. Murray had some of these lands surveyed and put up for sale as a private town named Murraytown after himself. Up to 50,000 sheep were shorn on the Wirrabara run in the late 19th century which by then occupied 20,700 acres freehold. But then son Malcom Murray committed suicide in April 1900. Malcom Pulteney Murray was known for his pranks, drunkenness and rash behaviours and his depressions. Alexander Borthwick Murray died in 1903 and his estate trustees managed Avonmore and the lands at Murraytown. The 20,700 acre Wirrabara Estate was sold as part of Alexander Borthwick’s estate in 1910 for over £141,000. At that time it was known for its fruit orchards, grain paddocks and lucerne flats. It was subdivided into 47 farms. Apart from pastoralism forestry has been a major industry in the region even after grain farmers arrived in 1874. Some individual foresters were cutting timber and selling it from around 1865. Good quality straight posts were sold by them for the erection of the telegraph line to Melrose and Port Augusta in 1865. The first plantation forest in Australia was established by the SA government in 1875 at Bundaleer near Jamestown. The second forest was declared at Wirrabara in 1877. The government had resumed almost 50,000 acres in 1875 which was set aside as the Wirrabara Forest Reserve. A Forester’s residence and a Nurseryman’s residence were soon erected. The most drought resistant of the pine trees the Aleppo Pine from Syria was planted here in 1878. Tasmanian blue gum and other exotic and native trees were planted at Wirrabara. Most of the lands of the forest were about 1,700 feet above sea level (518 metres) and about 20 small leasehold farm blocks were created in it for fruit growing. The horticulturists were known as the Wirrabara Blockers. In these early years Wirrabara forest was also used to produce seedlings for plantings at Bundaleer. The first saw mill began in 1880 with another in 1902 to mill the Aleppo pines. In 1881 the Wirrabara Forest School opened as so many people lived in this area. A second Forest School was built in 1910. Forestry and saw milling remained an industry until the Bangor bushfires of 2014 destroyed large areas of the forests which the then current Labor government decided not to replant. The native trees along the ranges remain as forest or as conservation parks. Thus it is not surprising that the theme for the Wirrabara grain silo art is the forestry worker and the native birds of the forests like the red capped robin. The King Tree or Eucalyptus camaldulensis (usually called River Red Gum) is one of the main trees of the native forests. By 1889 the Blockers were under the control of the Commissioner of Crown Lands and some purchased their farms freehold. Most Blockers grew vines or fruit trees. Some blocks were sold by the government as soldier settler farms after World War One but this was not successful with farmers deserting their blocks by 1932. The town began to emerge overnight in 1874 with many buildings being erected by 1875. The first stores in the town were opened by Melrose storekeepers. They were followed by a baker, a butcher, a saddler and the hotel. In fact the Wirrabara Hotel was licensed in 1875 and the fine sandstone building opened shortly thereafter. A government school followed the Free, Compulsory and Secular Education Act for 1875 by opening in 1879. It was replaced with a larger red brick school building in 1921. The Post Office started in 1880 and the Institute foundation stone was laid in 1884. Once open it was used for Anglican and Lutheran church services. It still runs a library service, the only independent library service left in SA. In 1912 a new local Wirrabara stone institute or hall was built and opened by the Governor Sir Day Bosanquet. The War Memorial in front of the Institute was unveiled in 1921. The first courtroom operated in Wirrabara from around 1880 with a temporary police station. One of the biggest events in the town growth was the arrival of the railway line from Laura in 1910 as it pushed northwards to Booleroo Centre. Public meetings in Wirrabara had called for this from 1901. Parliament approved the line in 1908 and the work was finished to Wirrabara in 1910. In 1923 the government bought a block of land in Fifth Street for a new police station but this was not erected until 1929. Apart from industry and commercial premises the town soon churches. The Wesleyan Methodists opened their church in 1876 being the first in town. The Bible Christians Methodists opened theirs soon after. The Anglicans held early services in the first Institute until St Margaret’s Church opened in 1909 on the corner of Second and Fifth Streets. The old or first Institute was left vacant for some time after 1912 and then in 1920 it was taken over by Manning’s Furniture Store. In the early 1940s the Anglican began planning for a new and larger church. When Manning’s Furniture store came on the market in the first institute the Anglicans purchased that and it was consecrated in 1964 with the old foundation stone on the front. The Lutheran church opened in 1921. The foundation stone of Catholic Church was laid on 1 June 1930 by the Bishop of Port Augusta with the church opening in February 1931. Wirrabara received an $80,000 federal government grant through the Fund My Neighbourhood program to have their silos painted. The Mount Remarkable Council conducted a local survey to select the artist and the theme of the painting. The most favoured artist was Sam Bates, alias Smug, of Melbourne and he was awarded the task. The most popular theme voted for was forestry and woodcutters. The woodcutter depicted on the silos is Dion Lebrun of Tumby Bay and the beautiful bird is a red capped robin. Since the closure of the forests the silo art is just one of a number of measures the locals are taking to keep their town alive. A farmers’ market is held once a month on a Sunday morning, they maintain a community website, the volunteer staffed craft shop distributes tourist information and some locals still grow apricots, peaches and nectarines and one enterprising horticulturist is now growing Manuka bushes to produce Manuka honey in a few years’ time. |
| 撮影日 | 2019-09-22 13:53:42 |
| 撮影者 | denisbin |
| タグ | |
| 撮影地 | |
| カメラ | DSC-HX90V , SONY |
| 露出 | 0.003 sec (1/400) |
| 開放F値 | f/3.5 |