A History of Hay
What we come from
Before white settlement, the Nari Nari Aborigines inhabited the area where Hay now stands. Charles Sturt passed the site during his exploration of the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers in 1829-30 and in the 1840s the first white settlers entered the area.
The present site of Hay was located at the junction of four large 'squatter' properties. These were Illiliwa, John Tooth's Station, Eli-Elwah and Mungadingadal (now Mungadal). This property was occupied by the Lang Brothers and an important river crossing was located just inside their border. Stockmen would frequently camp at this site before crossing the river in the morning with their stock and consequently the area became known as Langs Crossing.
In 1858, river steamer Captain Francis Cadell built a store at the crossing. In 1859 an American named Henry Leonard built a punt service and then a hotel. The latter was pulled down by a local squatter with a bullock team and it was Mr. Leonard's appeal to the government which led to the opening of the Murrumbidgee Punt Hotel and the gazetting of the town later in 1859. The town was named after Sir John Hay, a local pastoralist and Member of Parliament.
In 1860 the original courthouse (the site of the present post office) was built and in 1862, Cobb & Co. made Hay the headquarters for their Victoria and Riverina operations. In 1877 the company set up a coach factory at the corner of Lachlan and Randall Streets which was later recognised as the largest coach factory in Australia outside of Sydney. In 1895 the Hay Hospital was built.
The post office and lands department from the Gavin A. Johnston collection, courtesy of the Hay Historical Society
In the years between 1865 and 1900 the population of the town grew from 300 to 3000. In 1914, the beginning of World War I, the population was still at 3000, with a further 1000 on the surrounding properties. Of the 2000 males, 1300-1400 were considered either too young or too old for active service. But 641 enlisted, virtually every eligible male. The Hay War Memorial High School was built in 1922, and opened ANZAC Day 1923, as a living memorial to the men and women of WWI, and the honour boards that flank the entrance to the School list the 134 men who didn't return.
The flood in 1931 saw the Murrumbidgee River reach heights of around 29ft 1.5in, the highest yet. In 1940, the beginning of World War II, internment camps were constructed around the town, and on Saturday, 7th September, 1940, almost three thousand German and Austrian internees who had sailed from England in the HMT Dunera arrived in Hay. They would become famous as the 'Dunera Boys'. The camps operated for six years, the thousands of Italian and Japanese internees and prisoners of war doubling the town's population.
Streetscape from the Gavin A. Johnston collection, courtesy of the Hay Historical Society
The 1956 flood reached higher levels than the 1931 flood, and for the first time ever, the Hay Bridge was closed to traffic. In 1961, the former Hay Gaol was converted into a maximum security institute for girls. The famous Uardry Stud celebrated 100 years of stud breeding in 1964. In 1967, Claughton House was built, 43 years after Emily Claughton first gave her home to the Presbyterian Church of NSW to be used as a hostel at Hay. In 1976, the Hay Gaol Museum was officially opened. In 1983, the Hay Railway Station was closed after one hundred and one years of service, replaced by a road coach connection to the XPT. 1985 saw the Bishops Lodge sold to the Hay Shire Council, and the conservation and restoration of the Lodge began. Hay received filtered water in 1985.
During the nineties, the idea of an Australian Shearers' Hall of Fame was taken up by the community, and in January 2002, Shear Outback opened to an audience of more than 4000 people.
