Binalong

Binalong is a small town in New South Wales, Australia. It is 37 km north-west of Yass. 
History
The Aboriginal people who lived in the area were part of the Ngunnawal people.  The first Europen to visit the area was Hamilton Hume in 1821. The name of the town is believed to come from either an Aboriginal word meaning 'towards a high place' or from 'Bennelong', the name of a famous Aborigine.

Binalong was outside the legal limits of European settlement in New South Wales. However farmers settled in the area before the law changed to allow settlement in 1839.  From 1847 there was a police camp at Binalong and a court. The old Cobb and Co inn was built at that time as a staging post for Cobb and Co coaches.

The town was officially listed in 1850. It was an important stop on the way for people going to look for gold at Lambing Flat. The school was started in 1861.  Gold also meant that there were bushrangers in the area.  The grave of John Gilbert is near the town in the field where the police kept their horses.  He was a member of Frank Gardiner's gang  and later Ben Hall's gang. He was shot dead by police in 1865.  

Railway
The first railway station opened in 1875. The railway arrived in 1876.  The current building was put up when the railway line was moved in 1916. The station and the signal box are now closed.

Banjo Paterson
The family of the poet Banjo Paterson moved to the Binalong area in 1869 when he was five years old.  He went to the primary school in Binalong but later went to boarding school in Sydney. He only came home in the holidays.  Binalong features in a number of his poems, for example, Pardon, the son of Reprieve .  Paterson's father is buried in the local cemetery.

References

 Other websites 
Banjo Paterson's story of the place where he spent his childhood 
Binalong Public School
History of Binalong 

Category:Towns in New South Wales