Kandos a Rare 20th Century Town
On 11 October of that year, 1862, 300 inhabitants of the ‘usually quiet little township’ (almost the population) celebrated the opening of their ‘beautiful new bridge’ on a ‘gloriously fine day' when ‘the heavens looked blue and the earth smiled green’.
The year St James was completed, 1858, was one of the darkest in its history.
I ask myself why am I drawn to family history, a passion I have had for forty years, a passion aroused by stories of fame (or at least brushes with fame) and fortune (or at least the desire for it). But I am not alone. Genealogy research is a booming business.
Is it any surprise then that many Australians in the nineteenth century, especially those newly arrived, saw opportunity in sheep farming? Little labour (most of the year) and big returns.
It was a familiar scene: a rough dirt road, dry creek bed, scrubby bushland. I saw no evidence of cultivation or construction, just shadows, silence, rustlings. But overwhelmingly I felt a sense of connection. I belonged there. I had sprung from this spot.
It might surprise you to learn that TSRs are part of Kandos history.
Kandos History 