About us
Nyabing is one of two towns making up the Shire of Kent. The Shire of Kent was first established in 1923 as the Kent Road Board. In 1955 the name was changed to the Nyabing-Pingrup Road Board and retained this name in 1961 when it became a shire.
Members of the Kent Road Board, 1934
Seated L-R: Messrs. Altham, Goddard, G. Patterson, A.J. Blundy, G. Hobley (Chairman), M.G. Manuel, W.E. Charsley, and T. Deacon. Standing: W. Colquohan, E. Keay, W. W. Moore, and R. Mitchell (Secretary).
The name was further altered in 1973 to the Shire of Kent. The name ‘Kent’ apparently comes from the commissariat officer of Dr T. Wilson’s expedition of 1829. The first white men to visit the area were sandalwood cutters, with the first lease of 2000 acres being taken around Cairlocup Lagoon by John Hassell in 1873.
The town of Nyabing was officially gazetted on December 24, 1912, after a name change from Nampup. Nyabing celebrated it’s centenary year in 2012.
The Shire of Kent is fortunate to have had a lot of history preserved within both Nyabing and Pingrup, many old buildings, halls and school sidings still exist in the shire, some of them still intact. The local community holds these historical memories close to their hearts, as many families of the district’s original settlers still reside within the shire of family farms.
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A BRIEF HISTORY
The first Europeans to visit the area were sandalwood cutters, and the first lease taken in the area was by settler John Hassell in 1873.
When the railway from Katanning to this place was planned in 1911, the siding at the terminus was named Nampup, after the Aboriginal name of a nearby soak. Even before Nampup was gazetted, the Railways Department complained that Nampup was too similar to Nannup, and an alternative name was required for the siding. (Katanning-Nampup Railway Act 1911)
The names Narrara and Wingar were suggested, before W J Rae, the District Surveyor, suggested “Naiabing”, which he advised was “the old native name of Little Nampup Soak”. The Department of Lands and Surveys decided that Nyabing was a simpler spelling, and in December 1912 changed the name of the townsite to Nyabing.
The name has been variously spelt, as Niaibing, Niabing and Nyabing, but none appear in vocabularies. It could have been derived from the Aboriginal word “ne-yameng” which is the name applied to the everlasting flower “Helipterum manglessii”. Another source states that the name comes from the Danish town of Nykobing, but this seems highly unlikely.
The area surrounding the town was established as the Kent Road Board in 1922. In 1955 the name was changed to the Nyabing-Pingrup Road Board but in 1972 it went back to the name of Kent again, but this time as a shire.
(From Western Australia for Everyone)
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RECOLLECTIONS
From PH Johnston
This article was published in The Great Southern Herald on 15 October 1948. At the Annual meeting of the Katanning branch, WA Historical Society, Mr Percy H Johnston of Nyabing, read the following interesting paper on the early settlement of the area East of Katanning, including Nyabing and Pingrup. Continue reading
From Alyson Cooper
This is a copy of Alyson’s “Forward”
in the magnificent
Nyabing Centenary book
copies of which are still available HERE:
“The Good Old Days!! Reading some of these stories – they weren’t too good!! Things that happen when you are small can sometimes stay with you throughout your life, effecting decisions and every aspect of the life you lead.
One of the main reasons we wanted to get these stories written down was so to let our kids and grandkids have a look into what life had really been like. What people had, or more to the point, didn’t have, how they survived (even if they didn’t like that sort of survival!) and how they made the community thrive. You don’t always need to have lots of money to live, just the generosity of a community that cares!
We wanted this book to tell the individual human story of growing up and living in Nyabing, and for it to be told as honestly as possible. It often happens, in today’s covetous society, that we need to be brought back to reality. Materialism and spending money for the sake of spending, the contradiction of growing up through the World Wars and then the Depression and “Make- Do” Era, is all a part of this book, and what makes our Pioneers and early Settlers such formidable & strong characters.
No such story is possible without calling on the recollections, newspaper articles, letters, diaries, Farm Journals, photographs and similar contributions of all these families listed in this book. Jo and I would like to express our most sincere appreciation to all those who responded to this appeal for information. Understandably, some have declined our offer to be involved, but that is not to say that these families did not help Nyabing evolve – much the contrary. It has been a mammoth, almost impossible task to track down and contact all families that have passed through Nyabing, but we hope this extensive collection represents the hardships our Pioneers went through building this district.
I would also like to especially thank Christie Smith, Sarah Hickey, Michaela Crosby, Linley Filmer, Kylie Freeman who contributed to the proofing and editing of our script, and Bronwyn Ferry for helping the formatting. Their gift to our community and keen eye for detail has been most valuable.
For his priceless information and advice, my grateful thanks go to Mr Peter Goodchild. As a living “Pioneer of the District” for the past 85 years, he has been in a unique position of being an eyewitness to the district’s creation and development. The random phone calls, letters and queries have always been answered promptly either in writing, or by a visit, which could last four to five hours and several cuppa’s (and bribery of Apricot jam, pickle or chutney) later!
The compiling of our history is an imperfect science. Much of what the writers draw upon is subject to human frailty. Inaccuracies or contradicting claims, the spelling of names and places, and conflicting dates often plague the anecdotes which call on fragile memories. All efforts have been made to address those that may have appeared obvious. We would be happy to hear from you in writing, so that we can inform the community of any corrections needed.
A special thanks to those community members who have provided encouragement and support for this project, to the Nyabing Historical Society Inc and the Nyabing Centenary Committee who were able to provide the starting point, and last but not least, the Shire of Kent, for the constant “borrowing” of photograph albums and copious amounts of photocopying, thank you. And most of all, to my co-conspirator, Mrs Jo Addis. Thank you!! Your letter writing, the taking of photos over many years, and general knowledge has been thoroughly needed in this project, and I can say between the two of us…. We will never be doing a project like this again!
After being declared Water Deficient in February 2011, to having the wettest harvest in 20–30 years with a New Year’s Eve Hailstorm and flash flooding, Mother Nature sure has proven her worth over & over again. As Australia celebrates the Year of the Farmer in 2012, it seems quite poignant considering this is our Centenary year, but without Mother Nature, the characters and backbone of our community certainly would not be what it is today. We have seen the highs & lows that living in the country can bring, and speaking for myself, I wouldn’t change a thing! Congratulations Nyabing for being an amazing & vibrant community for the past century, and many wishes towards a fulfilling future!
I will now leave you with a verse from Dorothy MacKellar which sums up beautifully:
I love a sun burnt country, a land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons, I love her jewel seas
Her beauty & her terror, the wide brown land for me!
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MY COUNTRY
Full Lyrics – “My Country” – CLICK HERE
Happy Reading,
Alyson Cooper,
June 2012
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