150th Anniversary of the Survey of WyndhamPrint Page

It was led by the Tarraganda pipers and following them was the Wyndham School of Dance, the pupils from the Wyndham Public School, a whipcracker, various floats including one from the School of Arts, families in clothes worn 150 years ago, the Wyndham Walkers, a closed wagon, old time tractors, the Wyndham Pony Club and many, many veteran cars from the Pambula and Bega clubs.NThe parade wound its way through the village and snaked back on itself to the grounds of the Uniting Church. After lunch people gathered in front of the Wyndham Hall where a ribboned stone with a plaque was about to be unveiled.

The Bega Valley Shire Mayor, Tony Allen, said what a phenomenal day it was and congratulated all those who had made it such a success, including the organising committee members Barbara and Nancy Grant, Dot Williams and Vivian Heriot.

Cr Allen said that it was believed that the village was named after a Crimean War Colonel named Charles Windham and founded indirectly when men seeking gold, mined at Honeysuckle Flat. William Thompson was the first licensee of Honeysuckle Inn, which was erected in 1855. The first 52 acres of land on the Honeysuckle Flats was purchased by John Robinson in 1853, after recognising the potential of the land for farming. The first land sale for the town was held in Eden, but little was sold. At the land sale on July 26, 1860, Robert Turbet and Emma Love were among the first land buyers. Access to Wyndham was greatly improved when wooden bridges were built at Honeysuckle in 1888 and at Pretty Point in 1896.