Passenger carriages at Flinders Street Station, Melbourne circa 1870. Different rail gauges were used in Victoria and NSW until a standard rail was implemented between Sydney and Melbourne. Photo courtesy State Library of New South Wales.
Photo by
American & Australasian Photographic Company
This is the 16th article in a series of columns written by Alan Henderson about Deniliquin district historical events and issues. Alan’s grandfather purchased ‘Warragoon’ on the Finley Road in 1912. Alan was born in the Deniliquin Hospital in 1944 but moved to Canberra in 1967. In retirement he has written a family history, Boots, Gold and Wool, and will share some of his research in this local history column.
The recent state election reminds us that Deniliquin is in NSW, but you could be forgiven for occasionally forgetting.
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Much of my education was in Victoria.
I was always proud to inform my fellow students that I was from up north in NSW, the most populous state in the Federation.
However, in January 1965 I set off from Melbourne, north along the east coast with two friends in an FJ Holden.
At a pub in Nowra, I asked for a beer and the bartender asked “new or old?”.
I had no clue what he was talking about.
Tooheys Old is a dark ale similar to the original 1869 Tooheys product, whereas Tooheys New is a pale lager first brewed in 1930.
At age 20, my palate was not sufficiently refined to make a sensible choice.
I have no recollection what I asked for, but my ignorance did give me pause: Was I really a New South Welshman?
The beer on tap in Deniliquin was the same as at the Notting Hill Hotel, the most common watering hole for Monash University students in Melbourne.
As a student I had frequently travelled to Melbourne, without having to change trains at Echuca as you did at Albury, because the line to Deniliquin was an extension of the broad Victorian gauge railway line.
Indeed, the line was operated by the Victorian Railways.
An Irish born engineer recommended NSW adopt the Irish gauge of five feet three inches, but he resigned in 1850 because of a pay cut.
He was replaced by a Scottish engineer who recommended the British standard gauge of four feet and eight and one-half inches, which was finally adopted.
However, the Victorians persisted with the original broad gauge of five feet, three inches.
A standard gauge line from Sydney to Melbourne was not completed until 1962.
It is likely the steady flow of Victorians across the border from the latter half of the 19th century and the proximity of Melbourne, the original home of Australian Rules Football, accounts for the dominance of that code rather than the traditional NSW code of Rugby League.
The Deniliquin Rams seniors compete in the Murray Football League that comprises six teams from NSW and seven Victorian teams.
Aussie Rules versus Rugby League can be frustrating for people, including teachers and police, posted to the southern borderlands from the heart of NSW.
My nephew Philip Browne recalls high school teachers in the 1970s suggesting a game of Rugby League being greeted with a groan of non-cooperation.
Horseracing in Deniliquin originates from the 1870s.
Peter Joss explained that initially the stewards officiating were from Victoria.
Consistent with Victoria, horses raced anti-clockwise around the track.
Following Federation, local racing became subject to NSW regulations and stewards, but they continued to race anti-clockwise because of the configuration of the infrastructure.
A grandstand located beyond the finishing line is not much use.
Spectators and jockeys at Deniliquin, circa 1912. Deniliquin’s early afficilation with racing in Victoria means local races are still run anti-clockwise, while the NSW standard is clockwise. Photo courtesy State Library of New South Wales.
News media also derive from Victoria.
Regional television stations commenced broadcasting on December 21, 1961 in Shepparton and Bendigo.
The vast majority of capital city newspapers sold in Deniliquin have always been Melbourne rather than Sydney based, and freight costs now preclude the availability of any Sydney based daily newspapers.
Of course, online publications now provide an alternative.
In my childhood it seemed that general practitioners - Dr Middleton in my case - could fix everything, and if they couldn’t you had a problem.
In recent decades as medical science has flourished and become increasingly specialised, it seems that Deniliquin residents are frequently arranging appointments with specialists in Echuca, Albury, Shepparton, and Bendigo.
Landline telephone callers to Deniliquin numbers could be forgiven for thinking that the town is in Victoria because the trunk and area code is (03), generally applicable to Victoria and Tasmania, rather than (02) which generally applies for NSW and the ACT.
Deniliquin is not unique in this regard.
For example, Buronga, over the Murray from Mildura is also (03), and Wodonga in Victoria is (02).
News from Melbourne and Victoria is more readily accessed by Deniliquin district readers than publications based in Sydney. Photo courtesy James Ross/AAP.
In the late 1850s and 1860s there was agitation for the Riverina to secede from NSW and establish an independent colony, which would have eliminated the dualism that afflicts the district.
Pastoralists were concerned that democratic developments in NSW, including expanded male voting rights, would threaten the security of their land tenure.
The pastoralists were alarmed when it was discovered that some of the townsfolk favoured annexation to Victoria, which would have further reduced their security of tenure.
The movement for independence also was weakened by the unwillingness of Wagga Wagga and Albury to join. (Bushby, Saltbush Country, Chapter 16, and Buxton, The Riverina 1861-1891, page 150.)
Moves for independence have occasionally recurred, and an advocate of independence stood unsuccessfully for the seat of Murray in the recent NSW election.
However, it seems likely Deniliquin’s dual existence will continue indefinitely, but with beer brands owned by foreign corporations and marketed nationally, Aussie rules played in every state and territory, and online news services, perhaps we are becoming less parochial.
The AFL is the sport of kings in Deni and district, despite most of NSW following Rugby League. Pictured is Sean Darcy of the Dockers in the April 2 match up with West Coast Eagles. Photo by AAP Image/Richard Wainwright.
