Lismore & District Centenary of SettlementPrint Page

The marble tablet commemorates the centenary of the settlement of Lismore and District from 1844 to 1944 and is in honour of the pioneers. 

The unveiling ceremony which was to be held on the 20th October 1944 was postponed due to the death of the husband of Mrs. Teresa Graves. The tablet was unveiled on the 29th November. 

The European history of the city begins in circa 1843: a pastoral run covering an area of 93 square kilometres (36 sq mi) was taken up by Captain Dumaresq at this time covering the Lismore area and was stocked with sheep from the New England area. Ward Stephens took up the run in the same year, but the subtropical climate was unsuited for sheep grazing, so it was eventually abandoned. In January 1845, William and Jane Wilson took it over. The Wilsons were Scottish immigrants, who arrived in New South Wales in May 1833. Mrs. Wilson named the property after the small island of Lismore, one of the Inner hebrides in Loch Linnhe, Argyleshire.

In 1855, the surveyor Frederick Peppercorne was instructed by Sir Thomas Mitchel to determine a site for a township in the area. Peppercorne submitted his map of the proposed village reserve on 16 February 1856.The chosen site was William Wilson's homestead paddock and the area was proclaimed the "Town of Lismore" in the NSW Government Gazette on 1 May 1856. The township was soon settled and its post office was opened on 1 October 1859.

 
On Friday Mrs Teresa M. E. Graves, of Monaltrie, grand daughter of the first settler in Lismore (Mr. William Wilson), will unveil a tablet set in a column in the vestibule of the Council Chambers, to commemorate the centenary of the town. After the unveiling the tablet will be dedicated by Ven. Archdeacon Benyon. A copper box containing historical documents, photographs, and records of Lismore will be set in the wall behind the tablet.
Tweed Daily (Murwillumbah, NSW), 19 October 1944.

The unveiling of the centenary tablet in the vestibule of the Council Chambers, Lismore, which was to take place today, has been postponed to a later date owing to the death of Mr. E. H. Graves, husband of Mrs. Teresa M K Graves, of Monaltrie, who was to have performed the ceremony. The tablet, which is set in a column, has been erected to commemorate the centenary of the town. 
Northern Star (Lismore, NSW), 20 October 1944.

To mark the centenary ot the settlement of Lismore and district and perpetuate the memory of the pioneers, a memorial plaque will be unveiled in the vestibule of the Council Chambers, Lismore, at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, November 29. The unveiling ceremony will be performed by Mrs. T. M. E. Graves, of Monaltrie, who is a grand-daughter of the first settler in the district, the late Mr. William Wilson. The dedication ceremony, which will follow, will be conducted by the Venerable Archdeacon Benyon. The plaque takes the form of a marble tablet suitably inscribed and inset in a pillar in the vestibule. A brass plate with bronze finish will be later affixed to the memorial to mark the dedication. The Town Clerk (Mr. L. Allan) has made arrangements for a large sized framed photograph of the late Mr. William Wilson and also a similarly framed photograph of the discoverer of the Richmond River (Admiral Rous) to be hung on the wall on each side of the memorial. The picture of the admiral was enlarged from a small block illustration in the "Northern Star" and that of Mr. Wilson from a small sized cabinet photograph. Both pictures have been very artistically reproduced by Riley Studios, Lismore. The originals were supplied bv Mr. Norman Hewitt, of Tweed Heads.  They are framed in brown oak.
Northern Star (Lismore, NSW), 28 November 1944.

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