Goulburn, New South Wales Totally Explained

Everything about Goulburn totally explained

Goulburn is a provincial cathedral city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Goulburn Mulwaree Council. It is located 190 km south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highway and 690 metres above sea-level. It has a population of 20,127. It brands itself as "Australia's first inland city".
   Goulburn was named by James Meehan after Henry Goulburn, Under-Secretary for War and the Colonies, and the name was ratified by Governor Lachlan Macquarie. The Aboriginal name for Goulburn is Burbong, a Murring/Wiradjuri word indicating a special Indigenous cultural area.
   Goulburn is a railhead on the Main Southern line and service centre for the surrounding pastoral industry and a stopover for those travelling on the Hume Highway. Goulburn was bypassed in 1992 and its particularly long main street is quieter, but still busy during Saturday morning shopping. It has a pleasant central park and many historic buildings, including old houses near the railway station on Sloane Street and two 19th-century cathedrals. It is home to the Big Merino, the world's largest cement sheep.
   Goulburn is suffering more from the current Australian drought conditions than most cities; the last significant rain was in November 2004, the water supply for the city was last full in 2000. Goulburn may soon use recycled water, although voters rejected the idea in a 2006 referendum. Goulburn is considering the installation of a water pipe, pumping water from the Southern Highlands.

Geography

The city is situated just off the Hume Highway in southern New South Wales between Mittagong and Yass. It is one hour's drive from Canberra. The Hume Highway used to pass through the city centre but it has since been bypassed, significantly improving tourist access. It has a station on CityRail's Southern Highlands line.
From Oberon it's around 140 km along the mostly sealed Goulburn-Oberon Road.

History

Goulburn is part of the traditional land of the Gandangara people.
   The British Government claimed ownership of New South Wales in 1788 (see Mabo v. Queensland) and to hold all of its land as Crown land. The colonial government made land grants to free settlers such as Hamilton Hume in the Goulburn area from the opening of the area to settlement in about 1820, regardless of the welfare of the indigenous population. Later land was also sold to settlers within the Nineteen Counties, including Argyle County (the Goulburn area).
   This process displaced (dispossessed) the local indigenous population and the introduction of exotic livestock drove out a large part of the Aboriginals' food supply. The reduction of the food supply and the accidental introduction of exotic diseases, substantially reduced the local indigenous population. Some local Aboriginals survived at the Tawonga Billabong Aboriginal Settlement established under the supervision of the Tarago police and there's no conflict recorded from this period. In the 1930s the billabong dried up and the Aboriginal people moved away although some have, over time, made their way back.
   The first recorded settler in Goulburn established 'Strathallan' in 1825 (on the site of the present Police Academy) and a town was originally surveyed in 1828, although moved to the present site of the city in 1833 when the surveyor Robert Hoddle laid it out. George Johnson purchased the first land in the area between 1839 and 1842 and became a central figure in the town's development. He established a branch store with a liquor licence in 1848. By 1841 Goulburn had a population of some 1,200 - a courthouse, police barracks, churches, hospital and post office and was the centre of a great sheep and farming area.
   A telegraph station opened in 1862, by which time there were about 1,500 residents, a blacksmith's shop, two hotels, two stores, the telegraph office and a few cottages. The town was a change station (where coach horses were changed) for Cobb & Co by 1855. A police station opened the following year and a school in 1858. Goulburn was proclaimed a town with municipal government in 1859.
   Goulburn holds the unique distinction of being proclaimed a City on two occasions. The first, unofficial, proclamation was claimed by virtue of Royal Letters Patent issued by Queen Victoria on 14 March 1863 to establish the Diocese of Goulburn. It was a claim made for ecclesiastical purposes, as it was required by the traditions of the Church of England. The Letters Patent also established St Saviour’s Church as the Cathedral Church of the diocese. This was the last instance in which Letters Patent were used in this manner in the British Empire, as they'd been significantly discredited for use in the colonies, and were soon to be declared formally invalid and unenforceable in this context.
   Several legal cases over the preceding decade in particular had already established that the monarch had no ecclesiastical jurisdiction in colonies possessing responsible government. This had been granted to NSW in 1856, seven years earlier. The Letters Patent held authority only over those who submitted to it voluntarily, and then only within the context of the Church – it had no legal civil authority or implications. An absolute and retrospective declaration to this effect was made in 1865 in the Colenso Case, by the Judiciary Committee of the Privy Council. However, under the authority of the Crown Lands Act 1884 (48. Vict. No. 18), Goulburn was officially proclaimed a City on 20 March 1885 removing any lingering doubts as to its status.
   This often unrecognised controversy has in no way hindered the development of Goulburn as a regional centre, with an impressive court house (completed in 1887) and other public buildings, as a centre for wool selling, and as an industrial town.
   The arrival of the railway in 1869, which was opened on 27 May by the Governor Lord Belmore (an event commemorated by Belmore Park in the centre of the city), along with the completion of the line from Sydney to Albury in 1883, was a boon to the city. Later branchlines were constructed to Cooma (opened in 1889) and later extended further to Nimmitabel and then to Bombala, and to Crookwell and Taralga. Goulburn became a major railway centre with a roundhouse and engine servicing facilities and a factory which made pre-fabricated concrete components for signal boxes and station buildings.
   Goulburn is a cathedral city. St Saviour's Cathedral, designed by Edmund Thomas Blacket, was completed in 1884 with the tower being added in 1988 to commemorate the Bicentenary of Australia. Though completed in 1884, some earlier burials are in the graveyard adjacent to the Cathedral. St Saviour's is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn. The Church of SS Peter and Paul is the former cathedral for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn.
   In 1962, Goulburn was the focus of the fight for State Aid to non-Government schools. An education strike was called in response to a demand for the installation of three extra toilets to be installed at a local Catholic Primary School, St Brigid's. The local community closed down all local Catholic primary schools and sent the children to the Government schools. The Catholic church declared they'd no money to install the extra toilets. Nearly 1,000 children turned up to be enrolled locally and the state schools were unable to accommodate them. The strike lasted only a week but generated national debate. In 1963 Prime Minister Menzies made State aid for science blocks part of his party's platform.

Buildings in Goulburn

As a major settlement of southern New South Wales, Goulburn was the administrative centre for the region and was the location for important buildings of the district.
   The first lock-up in the town was built in 1830.
   In 1832 a postal service commenced in Goulburn, four years after the service was adopted in New South Wales.
   The first town plan had been drawn up by Assistant Surveyor Dixon in 1828, but the site was moved, as it was subject to flooding. The new town plan was drawn up by Surveyor Hoddle and was gazetted in 1833.
   Goulburn's second court house was built in 1847. It was designed by Mortimer Lewis, the Colonial Architect. Image:GoulburnRiversdale.jpg|'Riversdale' a residence built around 1840 Image:Goulburn2ndCourtHouse.jpg|Goulburn's second court house designed by Mortimer Lewis and operational from 1849-85 Image:GoulburnRailwayStation.jpg|Goulburn railway station opened 1869 James Barnet, the colonial architect from 1862-90 built a number of buildings in Goulburn. These included Goulburn Gaol opened 1884, a replacement court house opened in 1887, and a post office in 1881. Image:GoulburnPostOffice.jpg|Goulburn Post Office designed by James Barnet 1880/81 Image:GoulburnGaol.jpg|Goulburn Gaol - main buildings designed by James Barnet 1884 Image:GoulburnOldPoliceStation.jpg|Former police station on Sloane Street, designed by Barnet and opened 1885 Image:GoulburnCourtHouse.JPG|The court house; Italianate style designed by Barnet; opened 1887 Barnet's successor, Walter Liberty Vernon, was responsible for the first buildings of Kenmore Hospital completed in 1894. St Saviour's Anglican Cathedral and Hall were designed by Edmund Blacket. Building started in 1874 and it was dedicated in 1884. It was finally consecrated in 1916. A tower was added in 1988 as part of a Bicentennial project but Blacket's plans included a spire which is yet to be added. Image:GoulburnKenmoreHospital.jpg|Kenmore Hospital, main buildings designed by Walter Liberty Vernon and completed 1894 Image:GoulburnStSaviour'sCathedral.jpg| St Saviour's Cathedral, designed by Edmund Blacket; building commenced in 1874 Image:GoulburnCoolavinHotelSloaneSt.jpg|The Coolavin Hotel in Sloane Street; the hotel was built in 1850 but the present facade dates from the 1880s E.C. Manfred was a prominent local architect responsible for many of the buildings in the city, including the first public swimming baths opened in 1892; the old Town Hall constructed in 1888; the Goulburn Base Hospital designed in 1886; the old Fire Station built in 1890; the Masonic Temple built in 1928; he also designed the earlier building of 1890 it replaced. Image:GoulburnOldFireStation.jpg|Goulburn's first permanent fire station built 1890 and designed by local architect E.C. Manfred Image:GoulburnMasonicTemple.jpg|Masonic Temple built in 1928 by local architect E.C. Manfred. It replaced an earlier building from 1890, also designed by Manfred Image:GoulburnWarMemorial.jpg|Rocky Hill War Memorial tower opened 1925 Image:GoulburnElmsleaChambers 001.jpg|Elmslea Chambers built in 1933 in the art deco style for a wealthy pastoralist

New South Wales Police College

The New South Wales Police College relocated to the city in 1984. At this time it was known as the New South Wales Police Academy however the name has subsequently changed. Prior to the relocation the college had previously been located in the Sydney inner city suburb of Redfern and for a short time during the war years, known as the New South Wales Police College in Penrith.
   The college has relocated to the former campus of the Goulburn College of Advanced Education located on the banks of the Wollondilly River. The New South Wales Police College is now the largest education institution for law enforcement officers in the southern hemisphere.
   Since its relocation there has been significant expansion of the facilities including a new site on the Taralga Road which houses the New South Wales Police School of Traffic and Mobile Policing.
   As the alma mater of the NSW Police Force for all NSW Police Officers, there are significant memorials to the memories and the service of the members of the New South Wales Police Force throughout the College Grounds. The College Chapel, with the two facing walls of remembrance, one paying homage to the members of the force who have died in the line of duty, and the other to NSW Police Force members who have served in peacekeeping operations as seconded members to the Australian Federal Police and to war zones as members of the Australian Defence Forces; the rose garden and eternal flame with a dedication plaque to the victims of 9/11; a detailed marble tablet representing losses of members of the NSW Police Force in the early 20th century; an honour wall depicting the award recipients of the force's highest bravery decoration, namely the NSW Police Force Commissioners Valour Award and a Dog and Horse Memorial, dedicated to the memories of the troop horses of the NSW Mounted Police and the police dogs of the NSW Police Force State Protection Group Dog Unit who have died in the line of duty.
   The central feature of the New South Wales Police College is the Parade Ground, where classes of students are attested (or sworn in) as members of the New South Wales Police Force during a traditional and large scale parade format, with supporting units from the NSW Police Force Banner Party, the NSW Police Force Band, NSW Police Pipe band, the NSW Mounted Police, and supporting members of the NSW Police Force Protocol Unit.

Goulburn Medical Clinic

The Goulburn Medical Clinic was established in 1946 making it the most longstanding medical practice in the city. Historically, it was the first group practice of any size established in New South Wales and probably only the third in Australia. The clinic has a mixture of general practitioners and specialists that provide comprehensive healthcare.

Goulburn Gaol

Goulburn is home to Goulburn Correctional Centre, more generically known as Goulburn Gaol. It is a maximum-security male prison and is the highest security prison in Australia and is home to some of the most dangerous, and infamous, prisoners.

Radio stations

1368 2GN AM (commercial)
Eagle FM 93.5(commercial)
JJJ 88.7/101.5/98.9 FM
ABC Canberra 666 AM/90.3 FM
Radio National 1098 AM
Classic FM 89.5/102.3/95.7 FM
103.3 FM (community)
Raw FM 87.6 (narrowcast)
NewsRadio 99.9 (proposed)
Racing Radio 94.3 FM
2WS (regional/metro)
Mix 106.5 (regional/metro)

In some areas, Canberra stations can also be received.

Further Information

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