Bendemeer () is a village of 485 people on the Macdonald River in the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. It is situated at the junction of the

and Oxley Highways. Bendemeer is also famous for producing the number one fast bowler in the world, Josh Hazlewood.

History

The original inhabitants of the land were Aborigines of the

Kamilaroi The Gamilaraay, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Aust ...

clan. The first European settlement was in 1834, with the establishment of a sheep station at a river crossing on what would become the McDonald River. By 1851 a small village had grown around the station, which was known as ''McDonald River''. In 1854 the village was renamed ''Bendemeer'' after a line in the 1817 poem

Lalla-Rookh ''Lalla Rookh'' is an Oriental romance by Irish poet Thomas Moore, published in 1817. The title is taken from the name of the heroine of the frame tale, the (fictional) daughter of the 17th-century Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The work consis ...

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

There's a bower of roses by Bendemeer's stream; And the nightingale sings round it all day long."

Moore was referring to a stream that ran through the ruined city of

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

in modern-day

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The word "bendemeer" is a loose translation of the Persian ''bund'' (embankment) and ''amir'' (a local ruler). It was proposed as the village name by Thomas Perry, a local farmer whose grandfather had maintained a friendship with both Moore and the first New South Wales Surveyor General, Thomas Mitchell. In 1864 the bushranger

Captain Thunderbolt Frederick Wordsworth Ward (1835 – 25 May 1870), better known by the self-styled pseudonym of Captain Thunderbolt, was an Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, and also for his reputation as the "gentleman bushra ...

carried out one of his first armed robberies by holding up the northern mail as it passed through Bendemeer. The first bridge over the McDonald River was constructed in 1874, and the steel and timber truss bridge was opened on 29 September 1905. A historic engineering marker was erected near this bridge in 2005. The bridge now in use through the village is a low level concrete structure. The Macdonald River Road Bridge and Bendemeer Public Cemetery, Bendemeer Watsons Creek Rd, have been placed on the Register of the National Estate.

Demographics

The population of Bendemeer is overwhelmingly Christian (83%) and Australian-born (90%). The average age of 41 years is slightly older than the Australian average of 37. A third of Bendemeer residents are over the age of 55, compared to a national average of 24%.

Industries and services

Bendemeer is principally a business hub for local sheep and cattle graziers. The town also hosts a range of arts festivals and craft markets, as well as a triennial Tractor Muster. Town services include a general shop, a hotel and restaurant, caravan park and camping ground, and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

churches. The Bendemeer Public School caters for 33 students and is a recipient of annual funding via the Disadvantaged Schools Program administered by the New South Wales Department of Education and Training. On 10 September 2012, Bendemeer became one of the first Australian villages where

National Broadband Network The National Broadband Network (NBN) is an Australian national wholesale open-access data network. It includes wired and radio communication components rolled out and operated by NBN Co, a Government-owned corporation. Internet service provide ...

12 Mbit/s dedicated wireless broadband services can be purchased.

References

External links

Captain Thunderbolt
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Tamworth Regional Council