Dalgety, New South Wales
| Dalgety New South Wales | |
|---|---|
 Main street of Dalgety and the Buckley's Crossing Hotel | |
  Dalgety | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 36°30′0″S148°50′0″E/ 36.50000°S 148.83333°E |
| Population | 252 (SAL2021)[1] |
| Established | 1832 |
| Postcode(s) | 2628 |
| Location | |
| LGA(s) | Snowy Monaro Regional Council |
| State electorate(s) | Monaro |
| Federal division(s) | Eden-Monaro |
Dalgetyis a small town inNew South Wales,Australia, on the banks of theSnowy RiverbetweenMelbourneandSydney.
The town is located at what was once an important river crossing along the TravellingStock routefromGippslandto theSnowy MountainsHigh Country dating from the 1840s.
History
[edit]The first settlement was originally known asBuckley's Crossingafter Edward Buckley who established a farm near the river crossing in 1832.[2]It was renamedBarnes Crossingin 1848,[2]by which time it had become an important waypoint on the stock route betweenGippslandinVictoriaand theSnowy MountainsinNew South Wales.In 1874 the town was formallysurveyedand named Dalgety after the maiden name of the wife of surveyor J. R. Campbell.[3]Like thefounderofDalgety and Companyshe was a grandchild of a Colonel Alexander Dalgety.[4]
At the time of the survey the population was 23 and it was recorded that apuntwas operating across the river. ACatholic schoolopened in 1874 to cater for the children of Irish goldprospectors,and the first bridge over the river was constructed in 1888.[2]
The town also became a meeting place between white settlers and localAborigines,who would camp along the river bank on the way to the Snowy Mountains.[5]TheThaua peopleandNgarigopeople lived in this area seasonally. [6]
Location for national capital
[edit]Section 124 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth ordained that the 'Seat of Government' 'shall be in the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney', with the specific location to be decided by the Commonwealth Parliament.
In 1903 a FederalRoyal Commissionproposed Dalgety as the location for Australia's national capital city. The choice was ostensibly based on several criteria, including climate, food supply, land ownership and ability to support major industries,[7]although official investigators conceded the site was 'very rough', 'treeless', and 'somewhat exposed [to] high winds'.[8]The recommendation was implemented in theSeat of Government Act 1904,and emphatically supported by the prime minister,George Reid,and the Minister for the Interior,John Forrest,even though he had told the Federal Australasian Convention of 1897 that 'only lunatics' would site the capital in the interior of the Commonwealth.[9]
The decision was immediately opposed by theParliament of New South Waleswhich argued that Dalgety was too close toMelbourneand too far fromSydney.[10]A more practical objection was the distance to the main Sydney-Melbourne railway line and the expense involved in constructing a spur to the proposed capital.[11]Dalgety's cause had strong advocates including the local memberAustin Chapman,Andrew Fisher,andJohn Forrest,as well as more general support from Victoria.[12][13]
The matter eventually was settled, in October 1908, when parliamentarians voted on the capital site in a series of ballots, during which sites were eliminated progressively. In the ninth and last ballot, Dalgety had lost to 'Yass-Canberra' by 33 votes to 39.[14][15][16]Subsequently, theSeat of Government Act 1908was passed, andCanberrabecame the capital.[5]
Considerable planning effort was made, during the period that Dalgety was the selected site of the new capital, including planning for the water supply and hydro-electric power generation[17]—a large reservoir was proposed for the Snowy River atJindabyne[18]—and the routes for future rail lines.[19]
Geography
[edit]
Situated on theMonaro Plainsand in the rain shadow of the Snowy Mountains, Dalgety is a relatively dry area of rolling hills with granite boulders scattered across the landscape.
The town depends on theSnowy Riverfor water supplies. In October 2007 theNew South Wales Department of Water and Energyrecommended a cut in river flows through the nearbyLake Jindabyne,to a level which may require Dalgety to import drinking water.[20]
References
[edit]- ^Australian Bureau of Statistics(28 June 2022)."Dalgety (suburb and locality)".Australian Census 2021 QuickStats.Retrieved28 June2022.
- ^abc"Travel:Dalgety".Sydney Morning Herald.8 February 2004.Retrieved9 November2007.
- ^"Dalgety".Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW.Geographical Names Board of New South Wales.Retrieved4 August2013.
- ^Wynford Vaughan-Thomas.Dalgety, The Romance of a Business,Henry Melland, London 1984ISBN0907929079
- ^ab"Dalgety".Tourism New South Wales. November 2007.Retrieved9 November2007.[permanent dead link]
- ^Tindale, Norman (1974) "Thaua" in hisCatalogue of Australian Aboriginal Tribes.South Australian Museum.Archived18 April 2008 at theWayback Machine Quote: theBemerigalor mountain people at Cooma belonged to theNgarigo.
- ^"A Guide to NSW State Archives relating to Federation".State Records New South Wales. October 2001. Archived fromthe originalon 27 September 2007.Retrieved9 November2007.
- ^William Coleman,Their Fiery Cross of Union. A Retelling of the Creation of the Australian Federation, 1889-1914,Connor Court, Queensland, 2021, p.279.
- ^William Coleman,Their Fiery Cross of Union. A Retelling of the Creation of the Australian Federation, 1889-1914,Connor Court, Queensland, 2021, p424.
- ^Pegrum, Roger (1983).The Bush Capital: How Australia Chose Canberra as Its Federal City.Hale & Iremonger.ISBN0-86806-066-6.
- ^Welsh, Frank (2005).Great Southern Land: A New History of Australia.Penguin Books.ISBN0-7139-9450-9.
- ^"SEARCH FOR A CAPITAL".Goulburn Evening Penny Post.21 August 1906.Retrieved29 November2021.
- ^"FEDERAL CAPITAL SITE. - SIR JOHN FORREST'S MINUTE. DALGETY STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.: 1848 - 1957) - 28 Apr 1904".Argus.28 April 1904.Retrieved10 October2021.
- ^Sherrinton, G.E. (1969).Submitted in requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts:THE SELECTION OF THE CAPITAL SITE IN FEDERAL POLITICS 1901-1909(Thesis). UNSW Sydney. pp.202–220.doi:10.26190/unsworks/5356.hdl:1959.4/57071.Archivedfrom the original on 20 June 2020.
- ^"AUSTRALIA'S CAPITAL".Sydney Morning Herald.9 October 1908.Retrieved2 October2021.
- ^"CAPITAL SITE".Argus.9 October 1908.Retrieved10 October2021.
- ^"Dalgety gravitation scheme for water supply [cartographic material]".Trove.Retrieved11 May2022.
- ^"Proposed reservoir at Jindabyne [cartographic material]".Trove.Retrieved11 May2022.
- ^"[Dalgety region] [cartographic material]: to accompany my report of 27th October '05".Trove.Retrieved11 May2022.
- ^"Dalgety residents fear cut to Snowy flows".Australian Broadcasting Corporation.2 October 2007.Retrieved9 November2007.
External links
[edit]