| Historical notes: | Wiljakali (Wilyagali) land
There were some fifteen groups of Aboriginal people traditionally living in the huge area bisected by the Darling River in the western plains of NSW. The principal group around Broken Hill was the Wiljakali. Their occupation of the area is thought to have been intermittent due to the scarcity of water. The same scarcity of water made the area unattractive for European occupiers and traditional Aboriginal ways of life continued longer there than in many other parts of NSW, into the 1870s. As Aboriginal people were increasingly deprived of the full range of their traditional options, they were obliged to come into stations or missions in times of drought to avoid starvation. By the 1880s many Aboriginal people were working on stations or within the mining industry. Some people ended up living in reservations created under the Aborigines' Protection Act of 1909. The influenza epidemic of 1919 had a further significant impact upon the indigenous population (HO, 1996, 192-193) as did the twentieth century federal government policy of removing Aboriginal children from their families. (HO, 1996).
The Wiljakali people who occupied the area when Charles Sturt arrived in 1845 (and first referred to it as 'broken hill') faced less immediate settler agression than tribal groups who lived on the rivers, including the Darling (Spearitt, 2018, 73).
In 1883, when boundary rider Charles Rasp formed a small syndicate to mine a great ironstone outcrop in the far west of NSW, they thought they would find tin. Instead, they ended up having leases over some of the world's richest silver, lead and zinc deposits. Unlike gold, these metals were not simply there for the taking. BHP (Broken Hill Proprietory Ltd.), formed in 1885, faced technical and logistical challenges in mining and processing ore bodies (ibid, 2018, 73).
Broken Hill grew quickly. A population of 17,000 in 1889 had more than doubled to 35,000 in 1914, putting it on the map as the then third-largest city in NSW. In today's terms, it could be described as Australia's most multicultural city of the time (ibid, 2018, 73).
Trade Unions quickly formed around the mine and extraction processing industries. The Trades Hall, built between 1891 and 1905, became the first building in Australia owned by unions, who also purchased the local newspaper 'The Barrier Times' in 1908. This strong union tradition permeated all aspects of life in Broken Hill. The city's unionists won a 35-hour week in 1920, the first to do so in Australia (ibid, 2018, 74).
The city is full of surprises, including a mosque, founded by Afghan cameleers in the early 1890s, and a synagogue built in 1910. The cameleers flourished in the later decades of the 19th century, transporting wool as well as construction materials for the Overland telegraph line from Darwin to Port Augusta. The Jewish population mainly came from Eastern Europe. While the synagogue closed in 1962, the mosque is still used for worship. BHP ceased operations in Broken Hill in the late 1930s, by which time other mining companies had formed, leaving behind an open-cut mine that writer George Farwell described in 1948 as, 'forlorn as a dead planet. It has the air of a crater on the moon... Massive boulders and abandoned machinery sprawl down its flanks as though flung down the sheer sides of a mountain gorge. Upon the crest old iron lies everywhere' (ibid, 2018, 74).
Mining history in Broken Hill
The term Broken Hill was first used by the early British Explorer Charles Sturt in his diaries during his search for an inland sea in 1844. Western plains towns far away from the major rivers, such as Broken Hill, owe their existence to the mineral discoveries made in the decade after 1875, when spectacular deposits of gold, silver, copper and opal were found (HO, 1996, 198). The township of Broken Hill was developed in the "Broken Hill Paddock" which was part of Mt Gipps Station. George McCulloch, the station manager employed many men; it was in 1883 that three of his workers pegged the first mineral lease on his property, they were Charles Rasp, David James and James Poole(Drewery 1985; Camilleri, 2009). The Syndicate of Seven was formed, and consisted of: George McCulloch, Charles Rasp, David James, James Poole, George Urquhart and George Lind. These men pegged out the remaining six mineral leases which are now known as the Line of Lode. It was the seventh member of the Syndicate, Philip Charley, who found the first amount of silver in 1885 (Drewery 1985: Camilleri, 2009). A township was soon surveyed and Broken Hill was initially known as a shanty town with an entire suburb named 'Canvas Town' for its temporary buildings.
This syndicate floated a company in 1883, the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, or BHP as it is known today and a township was soon surveyed. Broken Hill was initially a shanty town with an entire suburb named 'Canvas Town' for its temporary buildings. The streets in the centre of the town were named after minerals, Argent (i.e. Silver) and Chloride being important cross streets. The living and working conditions of the miners were harsh, largely due to the climatic extremes of the outback. Photographs of the township of Broken Hill and the mining activities were exhibited in London at the 1908 Franco-British exhibition.
Wesleyan Church and Hall
The Church was designed by architect Frederick William Dancker of Adelaide and it has the capacity to accommodate 880 people. The building contractors were Walter & Morris of Adelaide and Broken Hill (Stoneman, 1997). The Foundation stone was laid for the Wesleyan Church on the corner of Sulphide and Cobalt Streets, Broken Hill on 31 July 1888. Those involved in the laying ceremony were Mrs Charles Drew, who laid the foundations stone, Rev. S. Rossiter and Rev. A.S.J Fry. Mr Hebbard, secretary to the trustees, placed a glass jar with documents pertaining to the building underneath the foundation stone.
A little more than four months later, on 9 December 1888, the Rev. James Haslam, Chairman of the South Australian Methodist Conference, officially opened the church. The building measuring 22m by 18m had a ceiling height of 9m and a spire 18m high. The original design had provision for a gallery, however, the seating capacity at the time of building was already 600 people. In October 1889 the large stone lecture hall behind the Wesleyan Church was officially opened. The total cost of the church and hall was 6000 pounds, including the buildings, church furnishings and vestments.
The first Willyama High School commenced instruction in the Wesleyan Hall and continued there for five years. In 1895-6 the hall was used as the first primary school while the Burke Ward school was being built.
During the 1920s the short gallery fronting the choir loft in the church was removed along with pews in the body of the church to allow for the choir to be held in the body of the church.
In 1963 for its 75th anniversary, the church had works done at a cost of 1200 pounds. This included installation of a wooden cross 4m in length. It is assumed that at this time the choir loft was bricked in to make the place where the new cross was hung.
In June 1981 regular worship services at Wesley Uniting Church were ceased.
From November 1986 to December 1987 some restorations were carried out on the buildings. These included the removal of the bricked in archway to expose the original choir loft. These works were designed to bring the group back as close as possible with the original layout of the buildings.
In 1988 the interior of the Wesleyan Church Hall featured in a commercial in which the famous artist of Broken Hill, Pro Hart, slapped food onto a carpet to create a painting of a dragonfly (which in the narrative of the commercial was successfully wiped off by a cleaning lady). This has been described as 'one of the most popular TV commercials ever made in Australia' (Groves). A slap of blue paint remains on the exterior brick work of the hall near its entrance to Sulphide Street.
Although on 31 July 1988, on the anniversary of its centenary, the Wesley Uniting Church was rededicated, by 20 August 1995 the last Wesleyan service was held there. Two months later, in October 1996, worship at the Broken Hill Uniting Church was transferred to the church, which was remnamed the 'Wesleyan Uniting Church'. The church and its hall remains in religious use by the Uniting Church. |