It is sad to think that so many people lie in unknown graves in a relatively small town such as Coonabarabran. By publishing this book, in conjunction with the Memorial Wall project, we hope we have assisted in some small way to publicly recognise these people and to tell their stories.

The idea for this book came about a few years ago when members of the Coonabarabran DPS Local & Family History Group Inc. were compiling information on people buried in unknown graves. These names have now been inscribed on plaques which are displayed on the Memorial Wall at the Old Coonabarabran Cemetery. Even though our project received much publicity on air, through the ‘Coonabarabran Times’, presentations to Community Groups, on our website and in our shopfront window, it is possible that there are more people who could have been included if our researchers had known of them.

The dates of death range from the 1860s to the 1970s and include stillbirths to the ninety year plus age group. A percentage of the records researched produced incorrect and contradictory information and some details were not possible to access for various reasons. Stories and photos were contributed from family members and others for which we thank them.

Our members have spent many hours researching information for this book. Some of the stories are amusing and some are tragic, however, we hope you will find them all interesting.

Time: 2 pm

Date: 17th September 2016

Venue: Coonabarabran General Cemetery

River Road , Coonabarabran , NSW 2357

Afternoon tea

Please join the Coonabarabran DPS Local & Family History Group Inc.

in celebrating the unveiling of

the Coonabarabran Cemetery Memorial Wall

and the launching of our latest publication "More Than a Name on a Wall".

As no seating is available please bring your own chair.

Enquiries: Coonabarabran DPS Local & Family History Group Inc.

69 John Street

Coonabarabran NSW 2357

Phone: 02 6842 5000

Email: dpscoona@bigpond.com

RSVP 10th September, 2016

The Coonabarabran DPS Local & Family History Group have just taken delivery of a new A3 Colour Inkjet Multi-Function Centre with Duplex printing, scanning up to A3 and Near Field Communication facilities. This invaluable piece of equipment was purchased with funding from the Warrumbungle Shire Council Community Financial Assistance Donation fund.

This printer allows us to copy documents up to A3 size for research purposed or for client information. Documents up to A3 size can be scanned into our computer and emailed to our customers and it also has a direct photo printing facility.

Pictures: Christine Evans, Publicity Officer.

On a very cold day in July a group of our members met our guides Paddy Chatfield and Brenda Nichols prior to our excursion to Gunnedah Hill. Little remains of the original settlement. Some concrete slabs show the previous location of the homes. Our guides could tell us who lived where, and had many stories of those times to tell us.

Paddy showed us bush tucker plants that seemed to be everywhere, and described some of the lifestyle of the people in those times past. The water supply was originally bucketed from a well down the hill. One of the residents worked for the Shire council and a single tap was installed from the town water supply closer to the houses.

Paddy and his family lived there after his father accidently died in 1965. His father was a white man and not allowed to live at the Aboriginal settlement - they lived in a cottage near the Airport which was nearby.

Our group then moved to the modern Gunnedah Hill site, where there are two houses remaining. The other houses and church have gone – the driveways and kerb and gutter show where they once were.

After more stories, we made our way to a local café for refreshment and more stories with Paddy and Brenda. Many thanks to Paddy and Brenda for a very enjoyable and informative day.

Some of our members and guests enjoyed a Question and Answer session with Patrick Chatfield as our guest speaker in Neilson Park today.

It was such a relaxed atmosphere with Pat telling

us many interesting stories about Aboriginal People, culture, Coonabarabran and his own family experiences. We were also given the opportunity to ask Pat any questions which he answered willingly and with much enthusiasm.

We are all looking forward to another session later in the year.

We thank Southern Phones for their very generous grant to assist with publishing ‘More than a Name on a Wall’ which contains 766 stories of persons buried in unknown graves here in Coonabarabran.

We are very appreciative of the Southern Phones grant as it is not easy for small, non-profit organisations to achieve successful outcomes such as the publishing of these historical stories.

Thank you again Southern Phones for your generous assistance with this project.

The Coonabarabran DPS Local & Family History Group started our 2015 activities with a visit to Tibuc Gardens Café for a very enjoyable morning tea.

Do you know the members? Stop us in the street and ask how our latest project is progressing! We love to talk about it.

GREAT NEWS!

Funding has been received from Southern Phone Company under their Community Group Grants to assist with our "Not Just a Name on a Wall" Project. This generous grant will assist with the publishing of our book which tells the stories of people in unknown graves.

Huge thanks to Southern Phone - our project progresses another step!

Coonabarabran DPS have been working diligently on their latest project:

More than a Name on a Wall

This project started as a challenge to solve the mystery of so many unknown (not unmarked) graves in the Coonabarabran Cemetary. DPS members have dedicated a conservative estimate of 700 to 800 hours gathering and recording this information!

The project involves the erection of a wall at the Coonabarabran Cemetary, with plaques detailing names, the installation of park benches, the provision of space for families to record their own plaque and the publication of a book.

If you have information or ideas that you feel could enhance the project, please add your comment below or contact us.