Laurieton () is a coastal town on the

Mid North Coast The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region, situated 416km north of Sydney, covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens at Hawks Nest to as far ...

of the Australian state 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 ...

. Laurieton is the largest town in the

Camden Haven Camden Haven (sometimes preceded by a definite article) is a parish in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, approximately 30 km south of the major regional centre of Port Macquarie. The harbour is located where the Cam ...

district. Laurieton is 365 kmNRMA Travel Planner
Distance by Road north of Sydney and 42 km south of

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie, sometimes shortened to Port Mac and commonly locally nicknamed Port, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane, on the Tasman Sea coast at the mouth of the ...

. It lies between the base of North Brother Mountain and the Camden Haven River. The

Birpai The Birrbay people, also spelt Birpai, Biripi, Birippi and variant spellings, are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. They share a dialect continuum with the Worimi people. Language The Gathang language (aka Gadjang or Worimi) ...

(also known as

Birrbay The Birrbay people, also spelt Birpai, Biripi, Birippi and variant spellings, are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. They share a dialect continuum with the Worimi people. Language The Gathang language (aka Gadjang or Worimi) ...

) people have lived in this area for more than 40,000 years. The largest school in the district, Camden Haven High School, is located approximately 5 km away from Laurieton's shopping and business centre.

Captain James Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

named "the Brothers" on 12 May 1770 for their resemblance to mountains in his native Yorkshire. He was unwittingly mirroring the name given to them by the Birpai. The Camden Haven area was explored on foot by

John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an English List of explorers, explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps bes ...

in 1818 and was first settled by Europeans in the early 1820s. A convict settlement was established at nearby

in 1821 and the first settlers were limeburners burning oyster shells for buildings there. Some of these lived at the foot of North Brother. There was also a small garrison of soldiers to catch escaping convicts. In 1827 the area was surveyed by Armstrong and Guilding as part of an assessment for the

Australian Agricultural Company The Australian Agricultural Company (AACo; ) is a public-listed Australian company that, as of 2018, owns and operates feedlots and farms covering around of land in Queensland and the Northern Territory, roughly one percent of Australia's land ...

."An Historical Account of Kendall & Camden Haven Area", Camden Haven Learning Exchange Inc, 1983 Joseph Laurie J.P. (1832–1904) had timber interests in the Laurieton area in partnership with his brothers Andrew and Alexander.''

The Sydney Mail ''The Sydney Mail'' was an Australian magazine published weekly in Sydney. It was the weekly edition of ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' newspaper and ran from 1860 to 1938. History ''The Sydney Mail'' was first published on 17 July 1860 by J ...

'' Wed 3 June 1903, pp 1361–1363 He moved to the area from Taree in 1872 and took charge of the Laurieton post office when it opened on 1 Oct 1875. Until the opening of the post office the area was known as Peach Orchard or Peach Grove (sources differ) and the name change recognised the Laurie family's local influence. The Laurieton timber mill, owned by Laurie Brothers and built on the river bank, officially opened on 12 January 1876 and a store was built opposite at the same time. The mill was operated initially by Joseph Laurie. Two years later a second timber mill was built by John Hibbard at Camden Haven Heads. However this mill was later moved to the Hastings River. Another mill, owned by John Rodger commenced operations soon after. Joseph Laurie operated two ketches from Laurieton. The "Mary Laurie" was built at Laurieton and launched on 11 Nov 1884. The "Annie Laurie" was built at Brisbane Water. By 1886 Laurieton had 4 timber mills operating in the vicinity. There were 3 steam punts with 2 more being built and a bakery had recently been established. Captain George De Fraine was trading to Camden Haven in his ketch "Ethel B.T." from about 1887 and later also operated a steam tug "Unique". In 1893 he entered into partnership with John Rodger. William McKay & Hugh Bibby had leased and operated Joseph Laurie's sawmill from around 1880. When Joseph Laurie sold his interests to George De Fraine in about 1896, the mill was operated as a partnership of De Fraine, McKay and Bibby until 1899 when George De Fraine took full ownership. George De Fraine also acquired the lease for the mill built by Messrs Dun and Bagan (later known as the Dun-Bagan mill) operating on land opposite Laurieton. In 1891 the Lands Department proposed changing the name of Laurieton to Camden Haven (coinciding with the change of name of the former Camden Haven to Kendall). This was extremely unpopular with Laurieton residents and the name remained unchanged. The steamship "Hastings", sailing ship "Isabella de Fraine" and steamship "Cobar" were built at Laurieton between 1901 and 1903. De Fraine oversaw his extensive business interests in the area until his death in 1907. A Catalina seaplane carrying entertainer

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

was forced to make an emergency landing on Camden Haven adjacent to Laurieton on 14 August 1944. Bob Hope was returning to Sydney after entertaining troops in

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

. The local postmaster lent him money for his hotel bills after the luggage was jettisoned. An impromptu party was held, and the next day Hope and his entourage travelled by road to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

and flew from there to Sydney. Bob Hope maintained contact with the residents of Laurieton for decades afterwards.

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 1,986 people in Laurieton. 81.9% of people were born in Australia and 93.0% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were Anglican 32.4%, No Religion 22.5% and Catholic 19.7%.

Accommodation

Diamond Waters Treehouse RetreatMariner Motel

Heritage listings

Laurieton has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Cnr Laurie and Bold Streets: Laurieton School of Arts

Climate

Laurieton has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cfa'') with warm, wet summers and cool winters. In the past it had an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(''Cfb'') based on data from the first half of the twentieth century. Despite the town's high precipitation, its rainy days are relatively low on an annual basis, meaning that the town gets heavy rainfall events a few times a month.

References

External links

Camden Haven Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Tourism
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Mid North Coast Coastal towns in New South Wales Port Macquarie-Hastings Council