Urana is a small town in the

Riverina The Riverina () is an agricultural list of regions in Australia, region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, a climate with significant seaso ...

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. The town is in the

Federation Council The Federation Council, unofficially Senate, is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, with the lower house being the State Duma. It was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. Each of the 89 federal s ...

local government area. Urana is located between Lockhart and

Jerilderie Jerilderie is a small, rural town in the central Riverina region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Murrumbidgee Council Local government areas of New South Wales, Local Government Area. At the , Jerilderie had a pop ...

, about southwest of the state capital,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. To the west lies Lake Urana and the

Lake Urana Nature Reserve The Lake Urana Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve situated adjacent to Lake Urana, a salt lake, that is located in the Riverina region of New South Wales in eastern Australia. The reserve is situated near the rural locality of . ...

. To the east lies a smaller lake, Lake Uranagong. Urana was the major town and headquarters of the former

Urana Shire Urana Shire was a local government area in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The Newell Highway crosses its north-west corner. The Shire included the town of Urana and the small towns of Boree Creek, Morundah, Oaklands and Ran ...

. The shire included the localities of

Boree Creek Boree Creek is a town in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located south west of the state capital, Sydney and west of the regional centre, Wagga Wagga. Boree Creek is situated in the Federation Council local gov ...

, Morundah, Oaklands and

Rand The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

. The Urana district is used for raising

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

and for growing

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

and other grain crops. In the , the population of Urana was 298, of whom 56.3% were male and 43.7% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.7% of the population. In the , the population of Urana was 248, of whom 55.1% were male and 44.9% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.6% of the population.

History

The origin of the name Urana is likely to come from a

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...

word "airana" used to describe a temporary shelter (usually consisting of a simple frame of branches covered with bark, leaves, or grass). Alternatively it comes from "aurana" for camping ground or noise of quails flying. The area was home to the Wiradjuri Aboriginal people prior to European occupation and the expansion of

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

to set up stations. Urana was first settled by Europeans during the 1850s. In May 1859 a design for the "Town of Urana" by Surveyor Hayes was approved by the New South Wales Executive Council. Urana Post Office opened on 1 January 1861. In August 1863 near Urana the notorious

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 ...

Dan Morgan Daniel Thomas Morgan Jr. (born December 19, 1978) is an American professional football executive and former linebacker who is the president of football operations and general manager for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NF ...

, and his accomplice Clarke held up the Police

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

based at

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

Henry Baylis Henry Baylis (17 April 1826 – 5 July 1905) was an Australian police officer and the first police magistrate of the Wagga Wagga district in New South Wales. He served in that position for almost forty years and helped with the development and ...

. A few days after this incident Baylis led a party of policemen to the bushrangers' camp; shots were exchanged and both Baylis and the bushranger Clarke were wounded. Morgan and Clarke both escaped on this occasion. In 1866 Urana township consisted of two public houses, the Urana Hotel and the Royal Hotel. In addition there was a post-office, two large stores, and a police-station and lock-up. A new court-house was erected at Urana in 1879. Urana Shire Council was proclaimed in 1906 and dissolved in 2016, to become part of the Federation Council.

Religion

During 1882 a Roman Catholic church was completed, with Father Burmingham celebrating the first service on 7 January 1883. The Rev. George Wilson Adam was the first Presbyterian minister of the separate parish of Urana (at that time administered from Victoria). Rev. Adam's term extended from 1878 to 1887. His successor, Rev. Matthew Bell, was a part of the Presbyterian Church of New South Wales; he was inducted in 1888 and resigned in 1904. During Rev. Bell's tenure at Urana three wooden churches were built: one at Urana, and one each at the district preaching centres, Old Goree and Boree Creek.

Sport and Recreation

The Urana Football Club was an

Australian Rules Football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

club established in April 1898 at a meeting in the Commercial Hotel. Urana's first published match was against Lockhart in August, 1898, losing by four goals to a more experienced side. In 1901, Urana won all there games they played in. In 1909 the Urana & District Football Association was formed at a meeting from the following club's - Daysdale, Oaklands and Urana. Former

Corowa Football Club The Corowa Football Club, nicknamed the Spiders, was an Australian rules football club based in Corowa, New South Wales, that competed in the Ovens & Murray Football League. The club merged with the Wahgunyah Football Club on several occasions ...

premiership coach, Ray "Nana" Baker was coach of Urana Football Club in 1934. Former Urana footballer,

Max Urquhart Max Urquhart (born 7 January 1942) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s. Urquhart, a New South Welshman, who played in the 1959 Coreen & District Football L ...

was recruited to

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

in 1963. ;Competitions played in The Urana FC played in the following competitions. *1909: Urana & District Football Association *1911–1914: Lockhart & District Football Association. Premiers - 1914 *1915: Club active but did not play in any official competition. *1916–1918: Club in recess due to

World War One World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

. *1919–1920: Club active but did not play in any official competition. *1921–1922: Lockhart & District Football Association. 1921 Premiers: Pleasant Hills *1923: The Rock Oaklands Lines Football Association: Premiers - Oaklands FC *1924: The Lockhart Oaklands Lines Football Association: Premiers - Oaklands FC *1925–1926: Club in recess. *1927–1928: Club reformed in May 1927. Club active but did not play in any official competition. *1929–1930:

Coreen & District Football League The Coreen & District Football League was an Australian rules football competition in the Coreen, New South Wales, Coreen district of the Riverina in New South Wales, initially formed in 1909. The netball competition commenced in 1972 in line w ...

: Urana applied for admission into the

in 1929, but were initially knocked back. *1931:

Southern Riverina Football Association The Southern Riverina Football Association was first established in 1905 for towns in the Southern Riverina area of New South Wales, near the Murray River, which evolved into a strong and vibrant Australian rules football competition for the next 27 ...

*1932–1935: Corowa & District Football Association *1936–1937:

Faithful & District Football Association The Faithful & District Football Association was an Australian Rules Football competition, based in the Riverina region of New South Wales first established in 1920 at a meeting of club delegates from the following football clubs - Greenvale, Fait ...

*1938: Club in recess. *1939–1945: Club in recess due to

World War Two World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisi ...

. *1946–1972:

. Merged with Cullivel in 1946 and played in the

from 1946 to 1972 as Urana Cullivel FC. Premiers: 1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1966, 1967. *1973–2003:

. Played as the Urana FC. Thirds Premiers: 1989 *2004–2007:

. Merged with Oaklands FC to form the Billabong Crows in 2004. *2008–2022:

Hume Football League The Hume Australian Football Netball League (HFNL), often shortened to Hume Football League, is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing twelve clubs based in the South West Slopes and southern Riverina regions of New Sou ...

. Played as the Billabong Crows FC Urana also formerly had a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team which competed in the

Group 13 Rugby League The Group 13 Rugby league Competition is a defunct New South Wales Country Rugby League group competition which was run under the auspices of the Club Rugby League. It was disbanded after the 1991 Season. It covered an area comprising the southe ...

competition.

Heritage listings

Urana has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: *

Urana Soldiers' Memorial Hall The Urana Soldiers' Memorial Hall is a heritage-listed community hall located at Anna Street, Urana, Federation Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by George Sheppard (in 1884 as the Mechanics Institute Hall) and by Sidney Jame ...

Climate

Urana has a

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

(

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 ...

''BSk''), a little too dry to be 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 ...

, characterised by hot summers with pleasant mornings and clear skies, and cool winters with moderate cloud cover. Seasonal range is great across the year.

Notable residents

Notable people from Urana include: *

Bill Brownless Anthony William Brownless (born 28 January 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer and radio and television media personality who represented in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1980s and 1990s. Early life Brownless was b ...

, Australian rules footballer was born at the Urana Hospital * Billy Field, Singer * Fred Fox, The Queen's milliner * Alf Hacker, Australian rules footballer * Dame

Ella Macknight Dame Ella Annie Noble Macknight, DBE, MRCOG, FRCOG, FAMA, FAGO (7 August 1904, Urana, New South Wales – 1 April 1997, Malvern, Victoria) was an Australian obstetrician and gynaecologist who worked at the Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne. S ...

Norm Provan Norman Douglas Somerville Provan (18 December 1932 – 13 October 2021) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach. Also nicknamed "Sticks", he was a second-row forward with the St. George Dragons during the first ten of ...

, Rugby league player *

, Australian rules footballer

Gallery

File:Itsy Bitsy by Andrew Whitehead.jpg, Sculpture 'Itsy Bitsy' by local artist Andrew Whitehead on the water tower. File:UranaHotel1.JPG, Hotel Urana, the only remaining

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

in Urana. File:UranaPlain.JPG, The flat Urana plain File:UranaPostOffice1.JPG, Historic post office File:UranaJMSmith.JPG, JM Smith office

References

External links

{{authority control Towns in the Riverina Towns in New South Wales Federation Council, New South Wales