**Wellington** is a town in New South Wales. It is where the Macquarie and Bell Rivers join. The town is the centre of the Wellington Shire Local Government Area. The town is 362kms from Sydney on the Great Western Highway and Mitchell Highway. The average summer temperatures are between 17.5º Celsius and 31.7º Celsius. In winter the temperatures are between 1.5º Celsius and 15º Celsius. In 2001 there were 4,672 people living in Wellington. There were 9,200 people living in the Wellington Shire.

History
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The area was originally lived in by the Wiradjuri people. Explorer John Oxley was the first Europen to visit the area in 1817. He named it "Wellington Valley" after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

Wellington was settled in the 1823 by Lieutenant Percy Simpson in early 1823 as a convict settlement. Farmers started settling along the Macquarie Valley. The convict settlement closed in 1831. In 1832 a Christian mission was started in the settlement for the Aborigines. A village called Montefiores was started on the north side of the Macquarie River crossing. The village of Wellington was officially listed in 1846 and was made a town in 1879. Wellington Shire Council was started in 1947.

Wellington is the second oldest New South Wales settlement west of the Blue Mountains. A hotel that opened in 1842 is the oldest hotel west of the Blue Mountains. It was also the site of the last recorded duel fought in Australia in 1854. The railway from Sydney reached Wellington in 1880.

Economy
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Wellington is the centre of rich farm land. Lucerne and vegetables are grown on land beside the river. Wheat, wool, fat lambs and beef cattle are grown nearby. The town acts as a business centre for the district. However, now Orange and Dubbo have become bigger business centres.

In September 2008, a gaol, the Wellington Correctional Centre was opened. A Probation and Parole Office was also opened in the centre of town. Wellington Council hopes this will increase the number of jobs and bring visitors to the town.

The local newspaper *The Wellington Times*, owned by Rural Press, is printed three times a week.Home - ACM Ad Centre.

Transport
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There is a daily train, the CountryLink XPT, which runs between Sydney and Dubbo.

The closest commercial airport is at Dubbo. There are regular daily flights from Sydney. There is a small airport ( Bondangora Airport) for private planes 12 km east of Wellington.

Nearby attractions
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Lake Burrendong, a man-made lake. is 30 km south of the town. Its holds three and a half times more water than Sydney Harbour. Its water is used for farming. It is also visited by people wanting to fish, sail and water ski. Burrendong Arboretum is a sanctuary for endangered Australian plants and covers 1.60 km².

The Wellington Caves are millions of years old. The main cave is Cathedral Cave with the massive Altar Rock.

The Wellington Boot, a country racing festival is held in every year in March and April. There is also a winery, the Bell River Wine Estate. The Nangara Gallery has a collection of Aboriginal objects.

Famous people from Wellington
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* Ian O'Brien, Olympic gold medallist in the 200m breaststroke at the 1964 Summer Olympics grew up in Wellington.
* Ben Austin, Paralyimpian, grew up in Wellington.

Other websites
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to ***Wellington, New South Wales***.

* Visit Wellington - Official website for visitors
* About Wellington and District Archived 2004-08-27 at the Wayback Machine
* Travel Mate page Archived 2009-09-20 at the Wayback Machine