Elsmore, New South Wales

Elsmore is a rural village, with a population of 327 (2006), [Census 2006 AUS | id = SSC16099 | name = Elsmore (State Suburb) | quick = on | accessdate=2008-05-12] in Gough County on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia The village is situated 10km east of Inverell, New South Wales, just north of the Macintyre River and is in the Inverell Shire Council area.

History

Elsmore (also known as Ellmore and originally Glenmore) station of about 50,000 acres was settled by John Campbell in 1838. The first official licensees of this run were Campbell & Muir in 1839. In 1843 the owners were Brown & Alcorn. The recorded stock numbers in 1850 were: 66 horses, 1300 cattle and no sheep. Alexander Campbell of Inverell Station owned Elsmore in 1852.

In c.1870, Joseph Wills a shepherd, is believed to have been the first to find tin in the New England district. These heavy black grains that he found near Elsmore aroused his curiosity. Shortly after selling these to a traveler from Sydney a rush began to search the tin fields around here, Inverell and other nearby areas. [Starr, Joan and Mike Nicholas, Pioneering New England, Rigby, Adelaide, 1978] The Elsmore mine was the first commercial tin mine in Australia and has produced tin from various alluvial deposits intermittently since 1871. The adjacent Sheep Station Hill has seen only minor scale hard rock and alluvial mining.

The main industries are mining and agriculture.

Citations

References

“Inverell Shire Information”, c.1981