Glen Innes Removals – You found Us!

Glen Innes is a parish and town on the Northern Tablelands, in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the centre of the Glen Innes Severn Shire Council. The town is located at the intersection of the New England Highway and the Gwydir Highway. At the 2016 census, Glen Innes had a population of 6,155.^[2]

History

The original owners of Glen Innes and surrounding areas are the Ngarabal people.^[3] The Ngarabal name of the township of Glen Innes is Gindaaydjin, meaning “plenty of big round stones on clear plains”.^[4] The arrival of European settlers saw the significant disruption of the life of Ngarabal people. Many Ngarabal people continue to live in the Glen Innes area, still practising many aspects of their traditional culture and way of life.^[5]

In about 1838 Archibald Boyd registered the first run in the Glen Innes district. Two stockmen known as “the Beardies” because of their long beards took Boyd to this area to establish his run. The Beardies later introduced other squatters to the best runs in the area to become known as the Land of the Beardies or Beardie Plains.^[6]

Furracabad Station was suggested by John James Galloway as an alternative to Wellingrove for a new town. However Furracabad Station was sold in the 1840s depression and passed to Major Archibald Clunes Innes, then to the Bank of Australasia, then to John Major, who sold it to Archibald Mosman. The name Glen Innes is believed to be bestowed by Mosman in honour of Innes. Glen Innes was gazetted as a town in 1852 and the first lots were sold in 1854.^[6] The post office was established in August 1854 and the court in 1858 when they replaced the Wellingrove offices.^[7] In 1866 the population was about 350, with a telegraph station, lands office, police barracks, courthouse, post office and two hotels.^[8] There was still no coach service at this time, but in the 1870s a road was constructed to Grafton.

Tin was first discovered at Emmaville in 1872 and Glen Innes became the centre of a mining bonanza during the late 19th century. In 1875, the population had swelled to about 1,500 and the town had a two-teacher school, three churches, five hotels, two weekly newspapers, seven stores and a variety of societies and associations.^[8] On 19 August 1884 the new Main North railway from Sydney opened.^[9] The arrival of the rail service and the expansion of mining contributed a new prosperity in the town, which is reflected in some of the beautiful buildings there.

The centre of the town retains some of its federation buildings and the owners have painted these buildings in the traditional colours. Many of these buildings have been placed on the Register of the National Estate.

The town boasts a railway station that was once part of the Main North Line. Today, the line is closed so the station is not in use and the buildings have been repurposed.

Demographics

According to the 2021 census of Population, there were 6,219 people in Glen Innes.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 6.8% of the population.
• 82.1% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 2.0%.
• 88.0% of people spoke only English at home.
• The most common responses for religion were Anglican 29.0%, Catholic 21.0% and No Religion 19.5%.^[2]

Industries

The Glen Innes district has been a producer of wool, sheep and beef cattle since it was first settled. Sapphires are mined in the creek valleys immediately west of town, and while tin is no longer commercially mined, mineral exploration is ongoing. The town holds regular livestock sales in the local saleyards. The town contains all of the regular service industries required by the community. Notable individual businesses include a photographic processing facility, an exporter of waste material balers, a large cattle feedlot, and transport depots. Sawmilling was historically a major industry of the district but is now only conducted on a reasonable scale by the local minimum-security prison. The conversion of State Forests into National Parks has led to tourism becoming an important employer.

External links

• Glen Innes events and information
• VisitNSW.com – Glen Innes

Glen Innes travel guide from Wikivoyage
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Glen Innes, New South Wales.