Delegate, New South Wales

Delegate is a small town in New South Wales, Australia in Bombala Shire, 523 km south of the state capital, Sydney. Delegate lies just a few kilometres from the state border between New South Wales and Victoria. At the 2006 census, Delegate had a population of 306 people. The township of Delegate lies on the Delegate River. The place name, Delegate, could have derived from an aboriginal word meaning "high mountains". The first village began in 1852 and was situated at Hayden's Bog on the property now called "Bendolba". Mount Delegate, or commonly known in the local area as "Delegate Hill", is situated across the border in Victoria and stands at approx 1325 metres above sea level. It is the only single mountain in the Great Divide and of an unusual shape. Because of its height, Mount Delegate now has several telecommunication towers servicing vital services to both NSW & Victoria.

In 1870 a petition was forwarded to the Council of Education to request some form of educational facilities at Craigie, Corrowong and Delegate. It was felt that schools were necessary as the district was rapidly growing. In 1871 Delegate Public School was opened.In 1971 Delegate celebrated 100 years of public education and the town celebrated with a street parade and the 1st Delegate Rodeo. Today Delegate Public School serves a diverse community of children made up of farmers, professional people, those employed by the timber industry and others who work locally. The geographical location of Delegate Public School enables it to draw students from both New South Wales and Victoria.The school seeks to promote lifelong learning and provide students with the opportunity to experience individual and school success in a wide range of academic, sporting and cultural activities.

The first place of worship on the Monaro (also known as Maneroo) district was the "Deligat" chapel. It was a slab building thatched with grass and stood on the bank of Church Creek and was of the Church of England denomination, now known as the Anglican Church of Australia. The site is identified in the Delegate Cemetery and marked by a shelter built during the 1988 Bicentennial Year.In October 1880 St Philip's Anglican Church in Heyden Street was licensed and consecrated in 1885.The Anglican Rectory was dedicated in 1938. In March 1978 the Anglican Parishes of Delegate and Bombala amalgamated to become the Parish of the Southern Monaro.

The original Catholic Church in Church Street, the street being appropriately named because of the church, was built in 1877 and in 1915 the present St Joseph's Catholic Church was built on the same site. The Catholic Parish of Delegate also includes St Peter's Corrowong west of Delegate.The road from Delegate to Corrowong has magnificent views to the Snowy Mountains. In 1921 the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (St Mary (MacKillop) of the Cross Order known as the "Brown Josephites") opened a school in Delegate which was first conducted in the church building. Sister Rodriguez and Sister Josephine, who in later years became Mother General of the Josephite Order, opened the school with 25 boys and 16 girls on the roll. The nuns first lived in Craigie Street on the site of the now Delegate Multi Purpose Service. A house was then purchased in Church Street for the nuns as a Convent and an adjacent outbuilding served as the school. In 1943 a new school building was constructed in the church grounds and included a small flat for the local priest to reside until a modern St Joseph's Presbytery was built in the 1950s. The Sisters raised their school to make secondary education available to the people of Delegate and many obtained their Intermediate from Delegate. With the introduction of the Wyndham Scheme and bus transport the Secondary section closed in 1963. When the Presbytery closed in 1973 the Convent was sold and the nuns moved into the Presbytery and hence it became the new St Joseph's Convent.The original stone to commemorate the opening of the first Convent remains on the front foundations of the present building. With the low numbers of Sisters to teach and an enrolment of only 31 pupils, St Joseph's Convent School closed in 1981. In 2011 the Catholic Parish of Bombala/Delegate still own and maintain the Church, Convent and School buildings and the Josephite Order located in Bombala still uphold a wonderful contribution to the Delegate Community.

St Andrew's Presbyterian Church was opened in 1878.The Church was built by William Moore and originally had a shingle roof which was replaced by an iron roof in 1912. The original organ was installed in 1901 and the bell in the church grounds was erected in 1905. Memorial tablets of those who served in the War are displayed on the walls of the Church. Families who have been prominent in the Church history are the Campbells, Rankins, Olivers, Sivewrights, Martins and others of Scotch ancestry. As numbers of Presbyterians diminished over the years the Church was to be sold in 2009. The Delegate Progress Association have taken ownership of the Church and local religious of other denominations now conduct services in the Church to keep it maintained as part of the Delegate Community.

The local School of Arts building, once falling into disrepair, is now a focal part of the community in the main street and has a museum to display the history of the area. Honour Rolls in the main part of the building record the names of locals who served in both wars as well as a memorial stone at the front of the building commemorating the original Men from Snowy River March in 1916.

Delegate was the start for the well known Men from Snowy Marches during World War I and World War II.

The Delegate Progress Association is a vital part of the community and was twice featured on Channel 9 "A Current Affair".The Association operates from part of the residence of the old bank building built by the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited in 1925.Delegate Progress Association produces a monthly newspaper known as "Delegate Doings".

In 2006 after wait of more than 130 years, the eastern straight-line portion of the NSW and Victorian border was formally recognised at an exciting historical ceremony at Delegate River, just south of Delegate. A crowd of over 300 people gathered at a site known as Allan's Peg on the Bonang Highway for the occasion, with the Governor of Victoria, Mr John Landy, and Governor of NSW, Professor Marie Bashir officiating.

The Delegate Show Society at their annual show in 2011 launched a book outlining the local history.

Delegate today remains a small community, both rich in history and in progression.