Bill InwoodPrint Page

The plaque was erected in memory of Bill Inwood for his dedication in preserving the history of the area. 

Mr Inwood passed away in 2012, but the plaque marks a fitting culmination of his work to preserve the history of the area in a detailed map, marking the areas now under water where many families used to live before the Burrendong dam was filled. 

Over 200 names have been recorded on a historical map detailing where families lived before Burrendong Dam was filled. It was completed after five years of work by Bill Inwood and at the unveiling local member for Orange Andrew Gee congratulated Mr Inwood for what he called a labour of love.

Mr Inwood, a keen fisherman, would often be asked by visitors to the dam where their families had lived. He said the process started almost by accident. He would be able to point out to the water and give a rough estimation, but he soon saw the need for a resource that people could turn to when they visited.

Listening to his father talk to Ted Hannelly’s father, he began to write the names down on a map. Mr Inwood’s grandfather lived closest to where the wall of the dam is and he recalled his grandfather talking in 1932 to the “Little Digger” Billy Hughes (former Prime Minister of Australia).

“He and my grandfather were nattering and he said he wanted to show us something. We walked to the road of Fashions Mount and he said ‘now roughly visualise all that covered in water’. My grandfather asked, ‘are you all right in the head Bill?’,” Mr Inwood said.

“He said that the back country –the wealth of the central west, would be made by the water here.” Administrator of the Burrendong Trust (of DPI), Richard Chewings recalled going to the dam in 1998 when it was 16 per cent full and looking at relics of the old homesteads. He said he felt privileged to see the old fences and roads.

“You look up and realise how full it has been –then after two rainfalls it was virtually full again,” he said.

“It’s great to have that history on show. It’s not the topography, roads and fences; it’s the community that was here that matters,” he said. Production of the map was assisted by Mr Inwood’s friends and residents of Burrendong Lyle Slim Bloomfield and Ron Foxall, Garry Braithwaite, Pam Ney and other residents of the Burrendong area.
Wellington Times, 17 May 2012. 

Location

Address:	Fashions Mount Road, Lion Island Lookout, Lake Burrendong State Park, Mumbil, 2820
State:	NSW
Area:	AUS
GPS Coordinates:	Lat: -32.681355 Long: 149.109072 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.

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Details

Monument Type:	Plaque
Monument Theme:	People
Sub-Theme:	Community

Dedication

Approx. Monument Dedication Date:	January-2015

Source: MA