Upper Clarence Historical Society

Circa 1892

Urben Street, URBENVILLE NSW 2475

The Upper Clarence Historical Society was founded in 1972 and early minutes show that its members were very active in fundraising and in collecting artifacts for a future building of their own museum in which to house them. In 1975, with the opportunity to purchase a cottage with grants from both the State Government and the Tenterfield Shire Council, the Society was able to bring its dreams to fruition.

THE COTTAGE AT LEGUME

The Pioneer Cottage, originally situated in Legume, was built in 1892 for the Lamb family. The Lambs are still an integral part of the Legume community. The first Lambs to live in the house were Cuthbert and Mary. They married about 1884 and selected their land the same year. While the first house was being built they lived in Killarney and walked back and forth to the property. A fire destroyed the first house and the present building was erected to replace it. The kitchen was built separately to guard against future disaster. Many Australian homes used this style of separate living in the early years of settlement, as most meals were cooked over a open fire. The cottage was originally built on bearers; later it was raised because of white ants in the timber. The walls are single thickness hoop pine, the outer walls being horizontal chamfer boards about 30cms wide. Most interior boards are vertical and only about 15cms in width. Small amounts of Rosewood and Teak were used for trimming and for some walls. The roof was of shingles. This was later replaced by iron. The kitchen was built of local timbers also. The ceiling of the dining area is lined in an unusual manner, commonly called Mansard Style. The outside cladding of this building is Rosewood chamfer. Cuthbert and Mary Lamb lived the hard life of the early settlers. Timber getting and farming gave them their livelihood in those harsh days. The Lambs had seven children, five of them surviving to become adults. They were Amy, Arthur, Albert, Myrtle, and Bella. Mary Lamb died in June 25 1892 of pneumonia at the age of 39 years. Life was simple and day to day work was continuous. Cuthbert used to take the children up the paddock with him while he worked, young Arthur being only two years old when his mother died. As Cuthbert grew older, his children took on the work of the farm. The house had been slowly added to and the verandahs built in as was the fashion. A room on the left at the back of the main building became a rest room for Cuthbert. It was later used as a sewing room.

On the other side another room became a bathroom. There was a big long table in the dining room and a high dresser with three or four shelves. It was covered with mosquito netting. The washing was done outside in a woodburning copper. Cuthbert Lamb died 8 September 1954 aged 92 years..

THE COTTAGE AT URBENVILLE

Preparations to remove the main section of the house from the Legume site began in November 1977. The volunteer team being lead by the then society president, the late Cec Small. The four verandahs and the high pitched roof were removed and the house, looking rather forlorn, was raised with wallaby jacks and timber to allow a truck to back underneath. The truck and its load remained on site overnight. Tom Bradford with Ned Hayes as his offsider, drove the truck and its swaying load slowly over the tortuous, narrow and hilly route. Ray Mann and Cec Small drove their cars at the front and rear. They called the trip uneventful except for a few broken limbs (on roadside trees) and some close shaves on embankments. However, there were some trouble and short tempers at the Wallaby Creek bridge when the house became stuck on the top rail. An hour was lost while the truck was backed off and the load raised. The dining room and kitchen section was transferred to the site in 1980, its brick fireplace being left behind. Future plans are for the reconstruction of the fireplace and chimney. A village fair was held in 1992 to celebrate the cottages centenary. At the celebration, the Tenterfield Shire Council was presented with a model of the cottage, which was constructed by Cec Small, for display at the Tourist Information Centre. The cottage serves as a living reminder of the early pioneers of the District.

BI-CENTENNIAL MUSEUM
With the growth of their collection, the society saw the need for another building to house its collection. Therefore with a Federal Government Bi-centennial grant and additional help from the council, the Bi-centennial Museum was conceived and built. The Bi-centennial Museum was officially opened on October 1988. The museum houses the societys collection of horse drawn farm machinery, school display, hospital room and other items that reflects the areas rich history of goldmining, timber and farming.

PRESENT DAY
From minutes of the society, membership numbers were declining from the early 1990s and ways were sought to rectify this. By the end of the 90s, numbers had reached a critical point and by 2000, there was no functioning society. For the next five years, the local postmaster Mr. Bob Tenna was the caretaker and opened the cottage and museum to interested parties and had basic maintainence done. At the end of 2004, it was decided by the community that the Pioneer Cottage and Bi-centennial Museum should once again play an important part in the fabric of the community. February 2005, a new committee was elected with half being residents of Urbenville and the other from Woodenbong. The historical society also became a sub-committee of the Urbenville Progress Association, thus ensuring its long term existence The major projects undertaken by the new committee in 2005 were the installation of the gold stamper from the Payne property at the old Tooloom Gold Fields at last and with the help of a FRRR grant the replacement of the kitchen cottage roof. To celebrate the successful completion of these projects the society held a village fair in October 2005. The fair was deemed a success by the community and now is to become an annual event. The new committee also realized that a cataloguing system had to be implemented along with an oral history program. The projects for 2006 consists of the construction of skillion off the rear of the Bi-Centennial Museum to house the societys collection of horse drawn farm machinery thus freeing up more display area in the museum. The implementation of a computer cataloguing system assisted with a VIM grant from Museums and Galleries NSW which also provided a grant to help defray some of the costs involved in holding an Oral History Workshop in August. After major restructure of the committee in late 2007, in 2008 participated in the STANDARDS PROGRAM with Museum and Galleries QLD. Thru this program a 5 year action plan has been adopted.

THE FUTURE
To build on the base set by the original committee and to grow. To insulate and line the museum and to improve the societys historical displays. To look towards the centenary celebrations of the Urbenville Public School in 2010 and Urbenville (2012)
Jan 2010