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The Wearne Family Print Page Print this page

Plaque: 12-July-2016
Plaque: 12-July-2016

Photographs supplied by Sandra Brown
The portable boiler commemorates the Wearne Family who established the first flour mill (1881) and the first sawmill (1883) in Bingara.

In 2015, the boiler was restored by the Bingara Lions Club and included the boiler stack which had been lying on the family property of "Mitiamo" on Narrabri Road.  The Lions Club painted and restored the boiler with the help of the Leo’s Club, Don and Jason Mack put the stack back together and painted it and Geoff (Tex) Morton and the Gwydir Shire Council helped with the installation of the stack onto the boiler.

The portable boiler was originally connected to a Small Steam Engine which was built by Marshalls of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire England and was purchased by James Teare Wearne in early 1880s to set up a small flour mill beside his residence on the southern corner of Cunningham and Riddell Streets (CWA Park).

This would be the first flour mill in Bingara, opened in 1883.

This mill was later enlarged and moved to the opposite northern corner of Cunningham and Riddell Streets and called the Victoria Saw and Planing Mill. Here John’s son, Edwin Charles James Wearne learnt the tricks of the trade and became proprietor of the mill. It was here that the Boiler was last used when the mill was closed in the late 1930s.

Location

Address:East St (B95) & Copeton Dam Road, Cunningham Park, Bingara, 2404
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -29.864292
Long: 150.575339
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Technology
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Industry

Dedication

Approx. Monument Dedication Date:2006
Front Inscription

Plaque:
PORTABLE BOILER BUILT BY
MARSHALLS OF GAINSBOROUGH, LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGLAND

THIS BOILER WAS LAST USED AT THE
VICTORIA SAW AND PLANING MILL ON THE NORTHEAST
CORNER OF CUNNINGHAM AND RIDDELL STREETS, BINGARA
EDWARD CHARLES WEARNE - PROPRIETOR

THE MILL CLOSED IN THE LATE 1930S

JAMES TEARE WEARNE, THE FATHER OF EDWIN, IN 1881
ESTABLISHED THE FIRST FLOUR MILL IN BINGARA ON THE
OTHER SIDE OF CUNNINGHAM STREET, AND THE TOWN'S
FIRST SAWMILL, (ABOVE), IN 1883

ERECTED IN MEMORY OF THE WEARNE FAMILY 2006 


Plaque:
Restoration Of This Exhibit
Was Carried Out In 2015
By Bingara Lions Club

With The Support Of 
The Wearne And Mack Families
And Gwydir Shire Council 


 

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