Glen Innes & District Historical Society

16/06/2026

HEADS UP!
Glen Innes High School turns 100 in September 2027.
The official opening of the High School with the Minister for Education in attendance, was held on 7 September 1927 with students beginning their full year in 1928.

The High School, in collaboration with the Glen Innes & District Historical Society Inc. , is going all out for this very special occasion next year and to this end are gathering as much memorabilia as they can early!

There are many photos, but more will be needed. The photograph albums held at the High School cover from 1926 through to the 2000s and will go through to 2027.

A lot of the early albums are missing photos – either misplaced or never returned. Uniforms, badges, banners – any memorabilia you may have tucked away.

There will be history on the gaol, although never used as such as both Grafton and Armidale had gaols.

The Department of Education stepped in, and the building ultimately became the present High School, situated in Edward Street, the area being formerly known as College Hill.

Of importance also during 1945 – 1966, was the All-Schools’ Hostel which operated on the corner of Barff and Walter Sts, just near the High School.

Two photos are shown below of some of the boys and girls that attended during c.1949 and while most of these students have been named, we are hoping that you, the community, can help us with any other photos of other students you may have in your albums that were accommodated there.

Also, if you have a photo of the Hostel during that period would be greatly appreciated. The museum holds the sign of the Hostel.
Please contact Annette Fearnley at The Land of the Beardies Museum on 0408 225 041 or
Email: [email protected].
We are happy to scan and return your photos.

12/06/2026

Our Local History: Baking bread

This article first appeared in Issue 37 of Glen Innes News.

Matthew and Catherine Williamson bought the IXL Bakery from Frank Willis the day World War 1 was declared and sold it the day the end of hostilities was announced.

As well as the usual locals, Williamsons had a huge clientele to supply - the army camp at the Golf links, the Agricultural Experimental Farm and the Prison Farm.

Catherine remembered the drawn-out process:
“Bread was made by hand by placing large bags of flour, yeast and other ingredients in wooden troughs and when mixed, left to rise for several hours.
Then it was kneaded on top of the trough, and cut and rolled into different shapes and sizes, then moulded and left to rise again, then put into individual tins and left to rise again before being placed in the oven.

The fire was lit about an hour before the bread was ready - the wood was bought in cord loads, about 3 feet long.
The large brick oven was about 18-20 feet long, with a furnace at the side, about six feet.

Testing of the oven was done by scattering a handful of flour across the oven, depending on your own judgement as to how long the flour took to catch alight.

An average oven held 350 loaves and approximately 5,000 were made each week.

One bag of flour made 100 loaves, each loaf weighing 2 pounds 4 ounces before cooking – allowing 4 ounces moisture loss.

There were only two varieties brown and white. Only such makes as High Top, Married Tin, Sandwich and Vienna.

Bread was delivered all round town by horse and cart six days a week, and by mail vans to outside areas at no extra cost.
The cost of bread then was 4 ½ pence a loaf, pies 3 pence and a bun loaf 3 pence.

Pies were supplied to cafes at 2 shillings and six pence a dozen.”

Bob Irish who originally worked for Charlie Smith at 303 Grey street remembered other bakers in the town then – James Henville, Charlie Hunt, C A Pearson, Les Hill, and Charlie Leet.
Smeatons bought out C A Pearson in 1942 and later also Smiths, Henvilles, & Leets.

Carl Baer ran the bakery at Deepwater, and Jack Curnow at Emmaville (his ad mentioned he did mail order!) Bread was also commercially baked in the villages of Red Range and Ben Lomond.

08/06/2026

A huge congratulations to Bill Oates who has received an OAM for service to history preservation, recognised for more than two decades of work protecting the documentary and heritage records of the New England region.
Bill is patron of the Armidale and District Historical Society, a life member of the Glen Innes and District Historical Society, and a Crown Land Trustee for the Museum of Education. He also chaired the Australian Garden History Society’s Northern NSW sub-branch for nearly a decade and is a huge supporter of the Armidale Family History Group

03/06/2026

How long has it been since you visited
THE LAND OF THE BEARDIES MUSEUM in Glen Innes?
Corner of West Avenue and Ferguson Street.
So much to see!
Open 10am to 2pm Daily.
Level access at rear
Free tea and biscuits
Adults $10, Concession $8, Children $2.
Family and Local History Research resources
(Make an Appointment)
[email protected] 0267 321035
Here are some small glimpses of just a few of our displays.

01/06/2026

Our Local History: The Brickworks

*This article first appeared in Issue 36 of the Glen Innes News.

The original brickworks in Glen Innes were started by John Faconer Willis and W Newman in about 1872 at Bell Rock, on what was formerly known as the Common, where they quarried with shovels, and pugged and moulded the bricks by hand.

‘Commons’ on the outskirts of towns were originally set aside in the 19th and 20th centuries so that people who lived in a town had somewhere to graze their stock -mostly milking cows, and horses for transport .

It is great news that the New England Heritage Traction Club Inc has been appointed Crown Land Managers of the Heritage listed later Brickworks established about the turn of the century when John Willis and his son Athur Bickham moved the business to Thomas Street.

Clays have been quarried from behind the Thomas street factory, an ironstone clay quarry on Strathbogie road and cream clay from dumps of overburden belonging to tin mines at Emmaville.

Blue was considered the highest quality of all bricks produced in Glen Innes and they varied from grey blue to deep blue black.
Some of the largest local buildings built of Glen Innes bricks include portions of the old hospital, now museum, Convent - 220,000 bricks, District Services Club, Bowling Club, Presbyterian Manse and Hall, and, 1956 Glen Innes Hospital - 1,330,000 bricks.

In a heritage study the brickworks were described as…
‘a rare example of early industrial enterprise reflecting not only technological innovation, but also the social and economic history of regional NSW… holding an exceptional significance as the only surviving intact steam-powered brickworks in Australia, making it a site of national technical, industrial, and social heritage importance.

It stands as a rare example of early industrial enterprise, reflecting not only technological innovation but also the social and economic history of regional New South Wales’…

The Traction Club’s initial focus on ‘repairing and replacing damaged roofing and guttering is both practical and vital. Without this work, further deterioration could endanger the survival of this irreplaceable site’.

The Open Day on Sunday June 14 will be a great opportunity to see brickmaking machinery, steam engine and kilns with guided tours and a 1985 film of it all working etc., and much more!

Thomas street was named after Follet Johns Thomas (1863 -1942) - Chemist & partner in Thomas & Howard (site of Amcal). He was an Alderman, Mayor, & MLA.

01/06/2026

16/05/2026

Our Local History Reg O’Keefe - the ‘Big Fella’.
*This article first appeared in Issue 35 of Glen Innes News.
With permission I quote from an article John Hamilton wrote about Reg O’Keefe in The Glen Innes Examiner 15 March 1990.
‘Reg O’Keefe strode over the league scene like a Colossus in a career which spanned 27 seasons and saw Reg pull on his boots for an incredible 578 A grade matches.
The stories of his heroic deeds on the football fields of the New England area number almost as many as the games he played.
Reg’s six feet frame carried almost 15 stone of great strength.
Perhaps the fact that he was at his peak during the height of the Great Depression when the folks of Glen Innes paid their two shillings admission to watch their local heroes go round and just for a moment managed to forget the terrible drudgery of their menial existence gave Reg and his team mates something of a larger than life reputation.
Reg O’Keefe delighted the fans of Glen Innes with one astonishing performance after another.
‘There were 22 paid players in the Glen Innes competition around that time. And the standard was pretty good. A lot of the paid boys were from the city, Sydney first graders who came to the bush because they could make more money up here than in the city.
At one stage Arthur Pivetta and I were the only two blokes in the rep side not getting paid.’
And Reg continued to play the game for the love of it, repeatedly turning down good offers to play in Sydney and other cities.
He claims this was the reason that he never reached the pinnacle of being selected to play for his country, an honour many said he richly deserved. O’Keeffe earned a reputation as a fearsome tackler and a fine runner with the ball, with pace the equal of anyone in the game.
Because of his isolation from the rest of his team Reg usually trained on his own in Deepwater and always trained in his hobnailed work boots.
During his career Reg represented NSW Country six times and lined up for Northern NSW against the English tourists in the 1936 and as a second rower in 1946…’

13/05/2026

Photos please !
Can anyone help with photos for:
High School 1971 4th Form and 1972 5th Form for a school reunion mid May this year. Please email [email protected] with photo and names if possible. Thank you.

04/05/2026

RED CROSS MOTHER'S DAY STALL
FRIDAY 8 MAY From 8.15am
Dont miss the chance to buy delicious, scrumptious delights !
Also plants.