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Scottish Memorial CairnPrint Page Print this page

17-August-2023 (Sandra Brown)
17-August-2023 (Sandra Brown)

Photographs supplied by Glen Yeomans / Sandra Brown

The cairn, containing two ancient stones from the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Scotland, commemorates Scottish settlement in the area. The small cairn sits behind the Inverell Scottish Association Memorial Cairn and gives details of the construction and completion of the Inverell Scottish Association Cairn and Walls. 

Many of the early property owners came from Scotland, bringing with them their Presbyterian faith, Gaelic language and Scottish customs. One, Alexander Campbell, gave Inverell its name, made of two Gaelic words – “Inv” a meeting place and “Ell” swans, so named because of the many swans in the area at that time. Campbell arrived in Australia in 1824 and was employed by Peter Macintyre in the Hunter Valley. Macintyre, also a Scotsman, had been formerly employed by Lord Gwydir and then T.P. Macqueen – a British MP who invested large sums of money in NSW and thus received substantial land grants of 20,000 acres. Macintyre was in charge of Macqueen’s Australian ventures and arrived in NSW in 1825.

During the period Peter McIntyre owned “Byron Plains”, the Andersons had “Newstead” and the Borthwick family “Auburn Vale”. In 1853 the McIntyres invited Colin and Rosanna Ross to come to the hill overlooking Green Swamp and set up a store on Byron Station land. They did so, but soon the settlement moved onto the flat area, the present CBD, which was on Inverell Station land. The area proved to be flood-prone but was marked out as a town by Surveyor Henderson in 1856 and the first lots sold in 1859. The public school opened in 1862 and the area was incorporated as a municipality in 1872.

 

Location

Address:Gwydir Highway, Sinclair Park , Inverell, 2360
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -29.779131
Long: 151.116931
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Landscape
Sub-Theme:Settlement

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Saturday 23rd October, 1999
Front Inscription

Scottish Memorial Cairn

The creation of this cairn is a memorial to all persons of Scottish descent that have contributed to the development of Inverell and District.

The cairn features four compass point basalt rocks taken from the site of the first store built in Inverell by Mr. Colin Ross in 1850.

The structure on which this plate is mounted contains two ancient building stones sourced from the site of the new Scottish Parliament House in Edinburgh.

This project was a joint effort by the Inverell Scottish Association, Inverell Shire Council and Community.

23rd October 1999

Plaque :

Cairn Wall Details

Commenced   Dedicated 
24. 5. 1999      23. 10. 1999

The memorial cairn and walls were designed by W. Kerr and T. Shellshear and built on a voluntary basis by Noel and Wally Kerr.

Commemorative walls were constructed by K. McCosker and B. Chisholm.

Funds donated by the Inverell Scottish Ass`n Inc, Inverell Shire and public donations.

Silhouettes design be L. & E. Thomson and local landholders.

The fo9ur hewn basalt stones mark N. S. E. W.  The cairn was built in seven working days, the front kerb stones were quarried by stonemason J. Chisholm in 1873

 

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au