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

New England New England is a region consisting of 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 ...

region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. It is situated at the junction of the

and

Oxley Highway Oxley Highway is a rural highway in New South Wales, Australia, linking Nevertire, Gilgandra, Coonabarabran, Tamworth, and Walcha to Port Macquarie, on the coast of the Tasman Sea. It was named to commemorate John Oxley, the first European t ...

History

The original inhabitants of the land were

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

of the

Kamilaroi The Gamilaroi, 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 Australians, Indi ...

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 a romantic work by Irish poet Thomas Moore, first published in 1817. The title refers to the fictional heroine of the frame tale, depicted as the daughter of the 17th-century Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. It consists of four n ...

'' by

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...

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 Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

in modern-day

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. 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 Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in The bush#Australia, the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia ...

Captain Thunderbolt Frederick Wordsworth Ward (c. 1835 – 25 May 1870), better known by the Style (manner of address)#Self-styled, self-styled pseudonym of Captain Thunderbolt, was an Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, New South Wal ...

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 The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...

Transport

Tamworth Buslines The Buslines Group is an Australian bus operator in New South Wales and is the third largest private bus operator in New South Wales. History John A Gilbert Group The John A Gilbert group was founded in March 1926 by John A Gilbert as Reo Moto ...

operates a bus service between Bendemeer and Tamworth.

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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

churches. The Bendemeer Public School caters for 33 students and is a recipient of annual funding via the Disadvantaged Schools Program administered by the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. On 10 September 2012, Bendemeer became one of the first Australian villages where

National Broadband Network The National Broadband Network (NBN) is Australia’s 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 provid ...

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