100 Years of Peel and District
By Geoff Smith Published December 1998. ISBN 0-9592018-2-3
From the Introduction:
“This is not a book of detailed family histories. Nor is it a book dealing specifically with prosperous landholders. It is a book about the people who developed and agricultural and pastoral district to the north of Bathurst to the best of their ability, regardless of their station in life. It is a book about families who from choice worked against all odds to make a new life in a new country and it is about others who had no choice in their destiny, who later became worthy citizens of the district.”In roughly 100 years from 1823, when the first land grants were made in the Parish of Peel, to the mid 1920’s when motorised travel was beginning to change the world and the end was in site for the village store and post office and hotel, thousands of people made the fertile valleys surrounding Peel their home. There were assigned servants (convicts), free settlers renting small farms from the larger landholders, and following 1851 gold seekers of many creeds and nationalities. As time went by, these were the people who established hotels for the travellers, schools, churches (Peel had the first National School and the first substantial Catholic church in the County of Roxburgh) and all the service facilities required to provision a numerous but scattered population.”This book has lots of references to people and includes useful material from archives as well as many interesting photographs etc.
“This is not a book of detailed family histories. Nor is it a book dealing specifically with prosperous landholders. It is a book about the people who developed and agricultural and pastoral district to the north of Bathurst to the best of their ability, regardless of their station in life. It is a book about families who from choice worked against all odds to make a new life in a new country and it is about others who had no choice in their destiny, who later became worthy citizens of the district.”In roughly 100 years from 1823, when the first land grants were made in the Parish of Peel, to the mid 1920’s when motorised travel was beginning to change the world and the end was in site for the village store and post office and hotel, thousands of people made the fertile valleys surrounding Peel their home. There were assigned servants (convicts), free settlers renting small farms from the larger landholders, and following 1851 gold seekers of many creeds and nationalities. As time went by, these were the people who established hotels for the travellers, schools, churches (Peel had the first National School and the first substantial Catholic church in the County of Roxburgh) and all the service facilities required to provision a numerous but scattered population.”This book has lots of references to people and includes useful material from archives as well as many interesting photographs etc.
This book is listed here because it may be of interest to those who are researching people associated with the Bathurst district.
The Family History Group of Bathurst does not necessarily have access to a copy of the publication and makes no claim regarding the availability of the book.
The book may be available at your local library or through an inter-library loan or the book may be available for purchase in Bathurst but not elsewhere. In the last case, the Family History Group of Bathurst Inc. may be able to purchase the book on your behalf and post it to you at cost.