The area occupied by the original inhabitants did not have a defined area, there being no reason too. Not until the arrival of Europeans did defined areas become a necessity. Prior to the discovery of gold in the district European contact with the land was from the established pastoral leases with established stock routes and tracks leading to and from the leases and homesteads in the area and beyond.
From the time explorers Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth crossed the Blue Mountains in 1813 European expansion into the unsettled districts spread rapidly, leading this move west was agriculture, the Explorer/Surveyor Oxley (672) in his quest to follow the Macquarie downstream from Bathurst in 1818 noted numerous sightings of cattle movement (673). Eventually the Tambaroura would be occupied on a permanent basis by stock and shepherds employed by the prominent pastoralists of the surrounding districts with the first Yearly Leases of Land being put up for auction in 1834(674) and Pasturage Licenses being issued for "Depasturing Crown Lands situated beyond the boundaries of location" from January 1837(675).
Some of the names associated with the opening of the area were the Suttors, whose pastoral interests spread from Peel, Trianbil and the Meroo. The Samuel brothers, Saul (676) and Lewis had interests in Sydney, Bathurst, Tambaroura and as far afield as Nyngan and Wellington, their interests were not strictly pastoral, their portfolio included merchandising, mining, real estate and financial. One person who does stand out above the rest was William Cummings whose interests were from Peel, Bruinbun, and the tablelands of the Tambaroura at Cummings Old Station latterly known as the Paling Yards and at Bundi (Bundy Station). It was Cummings who established the original Bridle Track from Peel to Tambaroora and beyond. Cummings was known to be running stock upon the tablelands twenty-five years preceding the discovery of gold, he was later to become a member of the NSW legislative Assembly from 1859 to 1872.
Cummings applied for and purchased yearly leases by auction in 1834 in the County of Wellington which covered area's in the vicinity of the confluence of the Macquarie and Turon Rivers and the tablelands above (677) which would be later known as the Tambaroura. The reminiscences of Mr. James Collison in 1919 relates to his experiences at what was to be known as "The Stockyard" and his time with William Cummings, "Last time I told you about going to the diggings in 1852, and how I lost my bullocks and everything, Well! Before that happened, just after my 16th birthday, I drove in the stuff for the first public house on the Dirt Hole for a man named Chapman. The flash name now for 'the Dirt Hole' is Hill End, but it was always the Dirt Hole in those days. Within a week of that I drove the stuff for the first commissioner's residence and barracks built on The Stockyard another mining place afterwards called 'Tambaroora Flat'. This was where old Billy Cummins had a stockyard 25 years before, but when gold was found there, they gave it the aboriginal name for the place 'Tambaroora Flat'. There were three Cummins brothers and they were about the richest men around Bathurst in those days. Old Billy used to say to me 'Great God, Jimmy my boy, little did I think when riding about here twenty-five years ago that I was riding over thousands of ounces of gold' I asked him why he had left that place, and he explained that it was alright country in good weather, but the stock would not stay on it, and when he came to muster he found he had not as many as when he came to the place, so he took up land on the Macquarie River (Bruinbun). I said to old Billy Cummins that he must have used good wood for his stockyard, for I had pulled some post up a few days before and they were put in 25 years ago. That was in '52 when I pulled up some of the posts of the stockyard and Billy Cummins was old then, so goodness knows when those brothers came out to the colony(678) "
The Stockyards location was well known to those who travelled the stock routes through the area, this Stockyard shared the area with at least one other known Stockyard managed by Mr. Oakes.
The land taken up on the Macquarie and purchased by William Cummings in 1837 was 1064 acres known as "Bruinbun"(679). It was approximately 16 kilometres from the Stockyard, a track led from Bruinbun back across the Turon River up the tableland meeting at one of the two Rd junctions in the vicinity of the Stockyard , the track followed closely what was to be known as the Bridle Track up to Hawkins Hill.
Other land purchases in 1839 set the scene for agriculture to take a hold on the landscape, to the north west of the Stockyard approximately 12 kilometres and on the northern side of Pyramul Creek was "Tatuali", a Station of 640 acres (680). Purchased by Hall, Palmer (first names unknown) and George Aspinal in 1839(681), a Rd led from this Station back to the Stockyard via Bundy and Cummings Stations. The other Station, "Toolamanang" of 640 acres to the north east of the Stockyard approximately 21 kilometres was taken up by George Suttor in 1839(682), a Rd to the Stockyard from the Station was via Sallys Flat. The land between these Stations was acquired as pasturage leases which saw permanent occupation of the area by shepherds and drovers. The land around the future town of Tambaroora held good grazing pasture and the shepherds made suitable use of it when moving and depasturing stock.
You may ask what is the connection of these pioneering Stations, well these Stations laid the foundations for the roads and tracks that eventually cris-crossed the region giving access to the Gold Fields and settlements, see Figure 2.
The Stockyard as described by Collison above, was referred to by numerous reporters and correspondents in the early days of the gold rush, and was used by the earliest prospectors as a reference place for future miners to gather. Interestingly, Saul Samuel is noted as having an established field on the flat behind the future Commissioners Camp on Tambaroura Creek; there was also the Rd (later known as McMahon Street within the town) leading to Cummings Old Station and onward to Bundy the Run of William Cummings and further to Tatuali and Trianbil, the roads and Bridle Tracks moved stock to the further reaches of the outer districts.
An early pastoral map has also been annotated with the name Samuels Field in this area, this was Saul Samuel and his brother Lewis who were diverse in their pursuits, pastoralists, miners and various commercial interests were just some of their quests of note extending from Sydney to Bathurst and beyond, their pastoral interests extending to Wellington and Narromine. Saul Samuel was later to become a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly, the Colonial Treasurer and later Sir Saul Samuel, although little is mentioned about his early undertakings.
Samuel applied to register a quartz vein that was within the field on the 28 February 1852(683) and was the third quartz vein application on the Gold Field. This Field was to be the centre of a dispute made by prospectors later in 1852 to the Gold Commissioner in that they were unable to dig on the field (684), Samuel later relented and allowed the miners to occupy the field. Samuels Field may have been Cummings old Stockyard. Other Stockyards and Slaughterhouses occupied the area but it is not known if these preceded the discovery of gold or not.
It was 1852 and the gold rush was on, Government Gazettes were being inundated with notifications of horses being impounded at Tambaroura, Cummings runs were extensive and he continued to run stock on the Tambaroura, in August 1853 he had impounded at the Pound in Tambaroora a bay horse from his run at Paling Yard (685), again in October 1853 six horses were impounded at Tambaroura from his run at Wallen Bullen, and five geldings from his run at Bundy (686). In October 1853 Cummings had fifteen horses impounded at the Tambaroora pound from his run at Bruinbun which was on the Bridle Track from Bathurst . Horse losses of those heading for the Tambaroura were enormous and a great many were impounded at Tambaroura in those early years. They were being impounded from as far afield as the Macquarie River (Suttor), Triamble (Suttor), Bruinbun (Cummings) and the Pyramul (Doherty) and Wickets Run.
Figure 2 - Pastoral Map of Counties
The map above shows Cummings "Bruinbun" at left, Aspinals "Tatauli" at top right and Suttors "Toolangang" at bottom right with the linking roads and tracks. This map identifies the bridle tracks by the dashed lines, the solid brown lines are roads.
(County Map Courtesy of Land Registry Services)
The Narrative on the Hill End and Tambaroora Temporary Common has more detail on the development of the area post the Gold Field era.
