Albury & District Historical Society

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Albury & District Historical Society

The Albury & District Historical Society was founded in 1960 to play a part in the preservation of t

04/07/2025

OUR JULY MEETING Our Annual General Meeting will be held on July 9 at the Commercial Club commencing at 7.30pm
After our AGM, guest speaker Nat Ward will speak on the topic ‘Commemorating Noreuil in France and Albury.’ Nat is an Albury based artist. She is primarily a painter of landscapes, with the Murray River and surrounding foreshores and wetlands providing constant inspiration. Nat has produced a series of paintings exploring the connection between Noreuil Park in Albury and the village of Noreuil in France. Noreuil was the site of intense World War I battles including an April day in 1917 when the ‘Albury Battery’ played a significant role in repelling a German advance. Nat will have just returned from being honoured in France and she will talk about the significance of her Noreuil project. ALL WELCOME

27/06/2025

In 1848 William Conley purchased the block of land on the corner of Smollett and Townsend streets and built the single storey Squatter’s Hotel. The hotel was taken over by Americans Adam Kidd and William Brickell, adding the second storey and renamed the hotel the Exchange. They retained the hotel until 1861 and with the money made from this and other business ventures in Albury, Brickell returned to America, purchased land in Florida and founded the city of Miami.
The hotel closed in 1884 and the building converted to a store. Later the site became Farmers & Graziers wool stores. The former hotel was demolished in 1933 as F & G significantly increased the size of their Albury wool store. Later business on the site included the Australian Tax Office, and more lately Quest Apartments.

20/06/2025

In the very early days, the town that we now know as Holbrook was known as Ten-Mile Creek. In 1858 the town became known as Germanton though its postal address remained Ten-Mile Creek for some time. Due to anti-German sentiment during World War I, the town name was changed to Holbrook in 1915 in honour of Lt. Norman Douglas Holbrook, a decorated wartime submarine captain and winner of the Victoria Cross.
In 1878 the NSW Government Gazette called for tenders to build a police station at Ten-Mile Creek, the tenders closing on April 23, 1878. The ‘Albury Banner’ reported on May 25, 1878 that the tender had been awarded to Albury builder Mr A (Adolph) Reiff.
The station survives and remains operational. Currently major restoration works are underway.
Photos supplied by Superintendent Paul Smith of Murray River Police District.

13/06/2025

Hume Weir Racing Circuit - the Albury and District Car Club formed in 1954, the final car race meeting was held in March 1977. Australia’s Formula 1 Champions Jack Brabham and Alan Jones both drove at the “Weir” as well as all the great Australian drivers of the sixties and seventies including Moffat, Geoghegan, Brock, Beechey and Jane. This unique venue always produced close and exciting racing and possibly the best spectator viewing of any circuit in Australia.
Members of Albury & District Historical Society are doing some research related to the circuit. We would like information on questions such as when was the first race, who built the circuit, who provided finance, who were on the first committee, when was the last race held. You can send any information to [email protected] Greg

06/06/2025

OUR NEXT MEETING: Next Wednesday, June 11, 7.30pm, Commercial Club Albury
Topic: Uncovering Albury’s World War One Story
On Anzac Day, Albury commemorated the centenary of the dedication of the Albury War Memorial.
To prepare for the historic occasion, a series of guided tours took locals to sites with special significance to Albury’s involvement in World War I. At our June meeting at the Albury Commercial Club, a “virtual tour” will duplicate the tours. Members and visitors will “visit” sites around Albury. Society members, dressed in period and/or military costume, will share stories of those who enlisted and those who supported the enlisted from home. Letters from the front and from home will highlight the heroism and the tragedy of war.
Cast: Albury LibraryMuseum staff and Albury & District Historical Society members

30/05/2025

The sundial in Albury Botanic Gardens was presented to the City of Albury 75 years ago. A gift from Mate’s Limited, it was unveiled on June 6, 1950 to commemorate 100 years of trading by the firm.
Thomas Hodges Mate opened his first Albury store 175 years ago in 1850 on the corner of Hume and Townsend streets. In 1884 he moved into the two-storey building that still survives on that corner. Mate’s moved to the corner of Dean and Kiewa streets in 1899. That store was totally destroyed by fire in 1915 to be replaced by the building that is still there in 2025 with a few building extensions and several changes of ownership.

27/05/2025

Good news for researchers, The Border Post from the first issue of October 4, 1856 through to the end of 1861 is now available on the Trove website. Apart from some gaps, we now have coverage on Trove from the very first Albury newspaper through to the end of 1954. Albury & District Historical Society decided back in 2018 when the project started to have Albury’s newspapers covered on Trove through to 1954. It has cost close to $200,000.
Thank you to all the generous donors who have contributed to the project.
We hope to now complete the project by filling the gaps. It is an expensive project, each scanned page costing $1.54. So if you have liked Trove and wish to contribute to getting our project finished, go to our webpage for details https://alburyhistory.org.au/about/donations/
Browse local newspapers on Trove by following this link: https://trove.nla.gov.au/search/advanced/category/newspapers – you can start by typing ‘Albury’ in the line ‘All these words.’

23/05/2025

On Monday it will be 75 years since the “Albury Banner” newspaper ceased publication. Their last paper came off the presses on May 26, 1950 after serving the Albury and district community for the previous 90 years.
The ‘Then’ photo shows the “Albury Banner” office in Dean street. To the left of the Banner office is the second of Australian Mutual Provident Society (AMP) on that site. After that building and the Banner office were both knocked down in 1940 they were replaced by the current AMP building (the third) which opened in July 1942.
The Banner first appeared on July 4, 1860, launched by solicitor Samuel Fry Blackmore. Placed on the market for sale, in April 1862 George Adams acquired the plant and business and he guided its destiny for over 50 years. Foster Cooper became the Banner's editor in 1872 and stayed for 49 years, the longest serving newspaper editor in Australia. The Banner had a wide circulation in country districts and was sometimes referred to as ‘The Farmer’s Bible!’ Its children’s pages, under ‘Uncle Jeff,’ was a source of interest and delight to many children.
More information on local newspapers can be found under ‘History Topics’ on the A&DHS website https://alburyhistory.org.au/resources/history-topics/

16/05/2025

Top is a pic from about 1960 taken from the balcony of what is now the Northside Hotel and below a Google Earth image from above roughly the same point. In the old pic the National Bank is on the north-east corner of Mate street and Union road and just visible on the right hand side is the ‘Shell’ sign of the service station on the south-west corner. The Google Earth image was obviously taken before new construction started on the south-east corner.

02/05/2025

Frank Charles operated Townsend Motors at 491 Townsend street from October 1925, being local agents for Chevrolet and Buick cars. The business was acquired by John Swanston in 1932. General Motors-Holden appointed Townsend Motors as district dealers for Oldsmobile and Chevrolet cars in November 1935.
Preston Motors purchased Townsend Motors from John Swanston in September 1939. The Border Morning Mail, reported: “Preston Motors, of Melbourne, have purchased the Townsend Garage, of Townsend street, Albury, and will take over the business on October 9 … Mr Swanston said yesterday that Preston Motors proposed to extend the garage considerably. They would retain the Chevrolet and Oldsmobile agencies.”

24/04/2025

On Anzac Day 1925, the official opening of the Albury War Memorial by Albury born General John Jackson Paine, the son of Albury Town Clerk John Hands Paine. An impressive ceremony commemorating the centenary took place on Anzac Day 2025.
The photo shows locals arriving for the official unveiling on Anzac Day 1925.
Read more about Albury's contribution to conflicts from the Boer War to more recent conflicts at "Albury Goes to War" by following this link https://alburyhistory.org.au/albury-goes-to-war/

22/04/2025

A great drone photo by Shane McKenzie forms the back cover of Howard Jones new book honouring 100 who lost the lives in conflicts overseas and are commemorated at the Albury War Memorial. “Mud, Blood and Tears” covers four conflicts, the Boer War, World Wars 1 and 2 and the Vietnam War.
The book is published by Albury & District Historical Society in recognition of the centenary of the Albury War Memorial this Anzac Day.
Howard will be personally signing copies of the book at 2GreyBirds at the top of AMP Lane, Dean St this Saturday morning, April 26 starting at 10.30am. The books cost $20 and they are available for sale at Albury LibraryMuseum in Kiewa St, Albury Newsagency in Olive St and 2GreyBirds in Dean St.

Address

PO Box 822
Albury, NSW
2640

Website

https://www.alburyhistory.org.au/

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