Callcott Family History Tripping to Lyndhurst near Carcoar in the Lachlan Valley – 11.12.2023

Lyndhurst NSW Road Trip Notes

We did a short trip over to Orange from 8.12.2023 to 12.12.2023 – sightseeing, sampling local produce & wines, plus some Callcott – Midson family history road tripping, including at Lyndhurst & Carcoar.

CALLCOTT – MIDSON FAMILY

Our grandfather, Louis Russell Freeman Callcott, son of Alfred “Alf” Freeman  Callcott & Lucy Callcott nee Midson, was born in Lyndhurst near Carcoar in 1903. His father Alf was the Post and Railway Station Master at Lyndhurst, by at least 1902, and was still there in 1909. Details of Alf Callcott’s salary and allowances for 1907 – 1908 at Lyndhurst. The Railway Station in Lyndhurst, where Alf was Railway Station Master, was approved in 1887, and opened in 1888.

Alfred Freeman “Alf ” Callcott 

Alfred Freeman “Alf” Callcott with his parents & siblings – he is in the second row far left

Lucy Callcott nee Midson wife of Alfred Freeman Callcott

After Lyndhurst, father Alf was the Post and Railway Station Master in Forbes until about 1913-1914, before retiring to Thirroul, also around 1913 – 1914. However, Alf  had acquired property in Harbord St Thirroul in the Illawarra by 1909, and  once he retired at Thirroul, he remained there until his unexpected passing in 1931.

Note – Alf Callcott may also have worked on the railways in Hermidale?.

LYNDHURST

Lyndhurst Shire which was proclaimed in 1906. Blayney and Carcoar, two former municipalities, were amalgamated with the Shire in 1935.

A 1903 Map of Lyndhurst – when it was a proposed site for Australia’s National Capital – click on this map link:  Lyndhurst. No.6 Federal Capital Proposal – also showing the location of the Railway Station.

Lyndhurst – Village Map  and Lyndhurst Village Community Plan 2018-2028 Final

Trove National Library of Australia Image – Lyndhurst Railway Station, Lyndhurst, New South Wales, c1905 [picture] / E.A. Lumme – at the time when Alf Callcott was Post Master and Railway Station Master

Trove National Library of Australia Image – Lyndhurst Railway Station in the snow, Lyndhurst, New South Wales, 1902 [picture] / E.A. Lumme

Trove National Library of Australia Image – Portrait of schoolchildren at Lyndhurst School, Lyndhurst, New South Wales, 1908 [picture] / E.A. Lumme – possibly Alf and Lucy Callcott’s children, Marjorie, Clarice and Russell may be in this picture

Lyndhurst was possibly named after John Singleton, Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer.

From Orange 360: “As the closest centre to Lyndhurst Goldfields, also now known as the Junction Reefs, the town prospered during the late 1800s and at one stage boasted three banks, three general stores, a cinema, a pub, professional photographer, farrier, baker, fruit shop, butcher, three garages, railway station, a memorial hall and showground.”

Preliminary investigation of the arachaeological remains of goidmining at Junction Reefs, Belubula River, NSW: report – 1984 – “In September 1895 the Lyndhurst Gold-fields Company Limited,
later known as the Lyndhurst Railway and Mines Limited, was formed and registered. This Company amalgamated the mines, namely the Frenchman’s, Cornishmen’s, Belubula (neighbouring the Cornishmen’s),Mandurama (the Mandurama Goldmining p Company at the Junction), and the Junction, comprising a tota1 area in excess of 272 acres. ”

Once upon a time there was the Lyndhurst Shire Chronicle which “began publication in 1897 and was produced by Blayney Newspaper Co., Blayney NSW.^[1] The Lyndhurst Shire Chronicle absorbed the newspapers Carcoar Chronicle in 1943 and Blayney West Macquarie in 1973.^[1] In 2002 the Lyndhurst Shire Chronicle ceased publication and was continued by the Blayney Chronicle”. So far only editions from the 1940’s – 1950’s have been digitised by Trove.

Today there is not much operating at Lyndhurst, a nice looking pub and a small gallery – the Lyndhurst timber Railway Station is believed to have been demolished between 1984 and 2001, possibly in the late 1980’s. Apparently some rails were auctioned off only in 2023 –  LYNDHURST STATION CLEARING SALE, COBAR, NSW – No. 745 · Fri, 17 November 2023, 9:00 AM (SYD, NSW) AEDT

Royal Hotel Lyndhurst  – Noel Butlin archives No.2 with Lyndhurst Railway in the background – Right Hand Side

Even the Lyndhurst Takeaway shop is now closed.

Information from Greg Davis – NSW Railways Past and Present – Lyndhurst

Lyndhurst Railway Station, NSW

The railway station at Lyndhurst opened in February 1888, as part of the Blayney-Demondrille Line, with a timber station building at the platform. By 1919, Lyndhurst Station had several loop sidings, a goods shed and platform, and loading bank. In the 1980s, services were suspended between Cowra and Blayney. The section was re-opened by the Lachlan Valley Railway which ran heritage trains from Cowra to Blayney for a period until the line was closed again. The only reminder of the railway at Lyndhurst are the tracks, jib crane base and loading bank.

Comment by Shane Austin

Lyndhurst was a staff and ticket station. Woodstock-Lyndhurst-Carcoar.

Comment by Lawrance Ryan

A 60′ turntable was installed in May 1944 to turn engines that had assisted Down trains from Blayney to Cowra. The assisting engines then returned to Blayney. The turntable is shown in position in Working Sketch 851W dated 15-8-1968 but as diesels had replaced steam on the Blayney – Demondrille line by this time it was probably out of use. The associated siding was removed in 1972. I don’t know if the turntable was relocated or scrapped.

Facebook – NSW Heritage Railway Stations and Infrastructure by Phil Buckley

19 December 2019  · 

LYNDHURST RAILWAY STATION

Forget stadiums, this is your taxpayer’s funds at work – the destruction of taxpayer assets long before….our state politicians are denying rural NSW towns access to rail transport.

This was once a massive heritage station but now long gone.

Australian Rail Maps 1986 view

Phil Buckley Photography 2017 – images below

NSW Heritage Railway Stations and Infrastructure by Phil Buckley

14 August 2019  · 

A very rare view of 1920s Lyndhurst railway station.

https://www.facebook.com/…/a.60638…/1243089292506255/…

Nowadays only the platform remains.

Source Carcoar & District Historical Society on Facebook 

Additional photographs of Lyndhurst may be found at the NSWRailnet website.

The following images by Kerrie Anne Christian 11/12/2023

Even the Lyndhurst Take Away is now closed

Even the Lyndhurst Take Away is now closed!

The Lyndhurst Railway Station was likely in Terminus Street, ie  possibly to the left of these buildings in the image above

From the Blayney Local and Family History Society “Land was reserved for a village in the Parish of Lyndhurst during its survey. Nearby landowner was Thomas Icely Sr. who purchased 640 acres in 1834, and soon owned the majority of land around what became the village. Early in 1861 a new township was announced to be called “Lyndhurst” at the crossing point of the Grubbenbun Creek, taking its name from the Parish. Lyndhurst’s fortunes were already rising with the discovery of gold at Junction Reefs in the early 1850s. An 1872 Post Office directory listed miners, blacksmiths, innkeepers and a storekeeper among its residents. The construction of the Blayney-Demondrille rail line had a significant impact on Lyndhurst’s future. A railway station was opened early in 1888, and later that year a school. Other institutions followed. The village’s two churches were of the Church of England and Roman Catholic persuasion. Lyndhurst was one of the proposed sites put forward for a national capital after Federation.”

From: History of Blayney and Villages – Lyndhurst

Today, it is difficult to imagine that Lyndhurst was once on a short-list of sites for the national capital, however, owing to the changing nature of the mining industry, the town has undergone many changes in fortune both ups and downs. As the closest centre to the rich Lyndhurst Goldfields, also now known as the Junction Reefs, the town prospered during the late 1800’s and at one stage boasted three banks, three general stores, a cinema, a pub, professional photographer, farrier, baker, fruit shop, butcher, three garages, railway station, a memorial hall and showground. The fourth Prime Minister of Australia, George Reid, described Lyndhurst as “a magnificent location for the capital”. It already had a large dam on the nearby Belubula River that could easily service the capital. But it wasn’t to be, with Canberra chosen.  Although it is a shadow of its former self; Lyndhurst owes a lot to the existence of a large mining company at the Junction Reefs site.  The Royal Hotel is still thriving with another popular spot in the town being the Lyndhurst Post Office and Takeaway in the old bakery building (alas the Takeaway is now closed!) . Lyndhurst  also boasts a golf club. Nearby Junction Reefs is one of nature’s gifts, not only to Lyndhurst and Mandurama but to the entire Central West, where the Belubula River has carved out a spectacular gorge complete with waterfalls and quiet water holes.  Previous mining operations have also left a rich mining heritage, including the impressive dam which has now silted up.

The former Lyndhurst Anglican Church, in Mount MacDonald Road Lyndhurst (parallel to Terminus Street) appears to have been a private home and then sold in 2021 and now an Ashram – Shiva Temple –  images by Kerrie Anne Christian