Tarnagulla

A history of Tarnagulla and Districts.
Centre of the Victorian Goldfields, Australia.

Tarnagulla Revisited - Oct 2018

The annual "Tarnagulla Revisited" Fair for this year is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday 20 & 21 October 2018.

A poster for the Fair is attached below and you can see that we're in for an entertaining and fun weekend.

The fully detailed brochure also provides you with everything you need to know about all the activities, but you should note that much of the action this year will be at the Tarnagulla Recreation Reserve (or reservoir sports ground) on the Saturday. That's where we will also be located with the history display, which will be a little condensed this year but will be very appropriately situated in the wonderful and historic old pavilion building.

The major attraction on the Sunday will be at the Victoria Theatre where Rachel Buckley is going to once again light up the stage with another of her very popular and professional productions, this time focusing on Dame Nellie Melba!

Strictly Vintage Fair - Sept/Oct 2017

We're proud to announce the 2017 Tarnagulla Strictly Vintage Fair will be held this year on Saturday 30th September and Sunday 1st October. We think the program of events is easily the best we've had so far, and you're assured of a very entertaining and enjoyable day or two in the old town.
The history display will have some excellent additions this year. The Tarnagulla Golf Course is celebrating its centenary with a display of memorabilia. Ken Arnold is presenting a collection of vintage teddy bears. Trevor McDougal will again have a display from his wonderful rare bottle collection and there will be many other items for you to see.
David has been able to add to the wonderful photographic collection again this year in additon to the vast material from previous years.
A very significant new feature this year will be a collection of memorabilia and material from descendants of Thomas Page, the proprietor of Tarnagulla's newspaper for many years. This will include copies of the Tarnagulla Courier from the 1880s and some of his family's collection of glass plate photographic images. A number of these photos of the town have not been seen within living memory.
We look forward to seeing you there!

Tarnagulla Strictly Vintage Fair - Oct 2016

We're proud to announce the 2016 Tarnagulla Strictly Vintage Fair will be held this year on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd October. Preparations are coming along well. As you can see, the list of events and attractions this year is long, and we should have a really enjoyable day or two in the old town. Our History Display is also coming together very well. This year, and in addition to our ever increasing displays, we will be featuring a selection of old class photos from the Tarnagulla State School and other local schools. These will definitely attract a fair bit of attention. As well as this, our friend Trevor McDougall will be showing us a nice selection of his vintage local bottle collection, and I am hopeful that others can bring similarly interesting local historical objects and artefacts for us to enjoy. Please let me know if you would like to do so – I would love to hear from you. So, I remind you once again to make sure you have Saturday and Sunday 1st and 2nd October 2016 firmly engraved in your diaries.

Tarnagulla 'Out "N" About' - 3rd & 4th October 2015.

Our 2015 Out 'n' About in Tarnagulla weekend was held on 3 and 4 October.
The Tarnagulla History Group had again been hard at it and was well prepared. There were some very interesting new historical material as well as the usual display of photographs, documents, ephemera and a wide assortment of other items. For instance, there were copies of extracts from the Borough of Tarnagulla rate books for a number of years during the late 1880s, and I know this provided hours of interesting browsing for quite a few of you. This is just a small sample of our research material.
As a special feature this year, Mary Balle come out from the USA with copies of her new book, From Ireland to Oz. Mary has a special connection with Tarnagulla. She is a great-great niece of one of Tarnagulla's first hotel-keepers, Kate Kirwan. The Rising Sun Hotel was initially licenced by Kate and her husband in 1854, followed by the Halfway Hotel near the cemetery, and finally the old Maidentown Hotel at Llanelly.
Mary has spent a lot of time in the Tarnagulla district over the years in researching her family's history, and her new book make a very welcome addition to Tarnagulla's historical records - as well as being a ripping good read.
Barbara Thomson displayed her W.M.Davies Family (of the Victoria Hotel) photographic collection, and her original old images which are in excellent condition considering their age were available to view. Of special interest were a programme of events for a fund-raising concert held at Newbridge in 1893. This beautiful program has been printed on silk cloth by Thomas Page of the Tarnagulla Courier, and is of real historical importance. Barbara also had a photograph of several of the actors in the concert, two of whom would become her great grandparents – Emma Davies and Thomas Leonard!
It was great to see very many of you in Tarnagulla for our big weekend, and it was gret to be able to catch up personally with many of you after another 12 months of exchanging e-mails, phone calls, etc.
See you there!

Tarnagulla 'Out "N" About' - 4th & 5th October 2014.

We have attached a Programme which provides you with all the details of the Out and About in Tarnagulla on 4th and 5th October 2014.
You will see from the Programme that the local Committee members have all worked long and hard at putting together an exciting schedule of events, and for our part I'm sure our History Group members will turn up in force to support our old town.
You will note from the Programme that the hall will be opened on the Saturday afternoon (4th October) during which time we will be finishing the set-up of our history display. If you're around on that day, then please drop and say hello. There might even be a cuppa available.
Our main History Day will be the Sunday 5th October, and this promises to be another special day with a lot of new material for you to look at. Interest in Tarnagulla's history remains as strong as ever, and we constantly receive queries and feedback from all over Australia.
This year will be a year of book launches. Ken Arnold will be launching his book ‘Tarnagulla Revisited’ and David Gordon’s ‘Tarnagulla's Golden History Part Two’ will also be formally launched. Pre-sales of this book are very strong and feedback has been excellent.
As well as this, Cameron Clark and David Gordon will be releasing a small book featuring the restored images of the Pioneer Portraits in the Victoria Theatre. There are 92 of these portraits, and the restorations will, I am sure, be very valuable to descendants and others who have, over the years, had real difficulty in trying to take snaps of the old portraits.

Radnell Reunion - March 8th and 9th, 2014.

An update on the Radnell reunion...
It is happening on the Long weekend in March 2014 (8th and 9th). Sat 9am-4pm and then a trivia night and Sunday 10am-3pm
We are hoping to have a great turn out.
There will be lots of activities for the kids and the young at heart. Lots of information and many stories to tell. We would like to get the community involved as much as we can. We would like to encourage shops to open and people to have garage sales if they wish. We also have the C.F.A. putting on a sausage sizzle on the Sat to help them raise some money.
Please contact Kirsty & Wendy for more information (radnell-reunion@hotmail.com)

Waanyarra Reunion - Sunday 23rd March, 2014.

The Waanyarra Reunion is on again this year in the lovely bush setting of the Waanyarra Recreation Area on Sunday 23 March 2014. Activities include the Central Goldfields Concert Band, a raffle, fresh history displays & some great memorabilia.
David Gordon will be attending with his many resources and will sell his book 'Tarnagullas Golden History Part I', Edna & Ken Arnold will have a range of their local history books for sale and Ian & Pat Belmont will also have their excellent Tarnagulla & Waanyarra cemetery CD available. It's a great opportunity to renew old acquaintances and make new friends who have an interest in Waanyarra and its history and enjoy a good day out.
For further information please contact George Swinburne at waanyarra@ozemail.com.au or via the great Waanyarra Website: www.waanyarra.com

Tarnagulla 'Out "N" About' - Sunday 6th October 2013.

Here you will find the flyers and a review of our second 'Tarnagulla Out "N" About' - 2013.
Our 2013 event was bigger and better than the last and a great day had by all.

Tarnagulla 'Out "N" About' - Sunday 30th September 2012.

The flyers and a review of the wonderful day that was 'Tarnagulla Out "N" About' 2012.
Thanks to David Gordon for the writeup.
We're looking forward to the next one already!