Wellington, New South Wales

Wellington is a town in inland New South Wales, Australia located at the junction of the Macquarie and Bell Rivers. The town is the administrative centre of the Wellington Shire Local Government Area. The town is 362 kilometres from Sydney on the Great Western Highway and Mitchell Highway. In January the average minimum temperature in the town is 17.5 °C and the average maximum is 31.7 °C, while in July the average minimum is 1.5 °C and the average maximum is 15 °C.

History
The area was originally occupied by the Wiradjuri people. Explorer John Oxley was the first European to discover the area in 1817 and named it "Wellington Valley" after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

Wellington was originally established in 1823 by Lieutenant Percy Simpson in early 1823 as a convict settlement. Squatters started settling along the Macquarie Valley and in 1832 a Christian mission was established in the settlement to the Aborigines. The convict settlement ceased in 1831 but a village called Montefiores was established on the north side of the Macquarie River crossing. The village of Wellington was gazetted in 1846 and was declared a town in 1879. Wellington Shire Council was established in 1947.

Wellington is the second oldest New South Wales settlement west of the Blue Mountains. A hotel established in 1842 is the oldest operating west of the Blue Mountains and was also the venue of the last recorded duel fought on Australian soil in 1854. The railway from Sydney reached Wellington in 1880.

As a regional centre Wellington benefited by the development of the gold mining industry in the district from the 1850's. Initially this was working alluvial deposits of gold but later focused on the mining of quartz reefs. Among the mining districts was Mitchells Creek located 8 miles to the north east near the present day town of Bodangora

Economy and demographics
Wellington is the centre of rich agricultural land. While lucerne and vegetables are grown on lands on the river, wheat, wool, fat lambs and beef cattle are grown on surrounding pastures. At the 2006 census, Wellington had a population of 4,660 while the population of the surrounding shire is 9200. The town acts as a commercial centre for the district; however, Wellington has been supplanted in commercial importance by Orange and Dubbo.

In September 2008, the Wellington Correctional Centre was opened. A Probation and Parole Office was also opened in the centre of town. Wellington Council hopes this will stimulate economic growth in the area, due to increasing employment opportunities and the need for non-locals to utilise Wellington facilities.

Anne Jones is the town mayor, elected in March 2004, along with her deputy Mayor Michael Augee.

The local newspaper The Wellington Times, a Rural Press title, is published three times a week with a circulation in the region of around 1500.

Transport links
The town is served by twice a day the daily Countrylink XPT service which runs between Sydney and Dubbo and return. The train stops heading to Dubbo at 12:58pm and heading to Sydney at 2:47pm.

The closest commercial airport is that of Dubbo. Qantaslink and Regional Express Airline service the airport three-five times daily from Sydney. A small airport ( Bondangora Airport) for private planes exists twelve kilometres east of Wellington.

Nearby attractions
Lake Burrendong, a man-made lake. is located 30 kilometres south of the town. Its capacity is three and a half times that of Sydney Harbour and supplies water for irrigation schemes downstream. It is also a popular location for anglers, sailors and water skiers. Burrendong Arboretum is a sanctuary for endangered Australian flora and covers 1.60 km².

The nearby Wellington Caves are millions of years old. The centrepiece is Cathedral Cave with the massive Altar Rock.

The Wellington Boot, a country racing festival is held in March and April annually. The Bell River Wine Estate is nearby as is the Nangara Gallery, it has a collection of Aboriginal artefacts.

Notable residents

 * Ian O'Brien, Olympic gold medallist in the 200m breaststroke at the 1964 Summer Olympics grew up in Wellington.
 * Ben Austin, Paralympian Ben Austin grew up in Wellington.
 * Max Cullen, Actor
 * Evander Cage, TEW veteran.