Upper Bingara Cemetery

In August 1851 the first official discovery of gold was made in the Bingara District, followed by the development of gold fields at Cournagoura Creek (Gouron Gouron) and Bingera which later became Upper Bingara. It is reported that Paddy Read and Bob Davy where the first to find and work a payable patch in the immediate vicinity of Upper Bingara. By the early 1870’s the main gold rush was over however a number of gold fields located at Upper Bingara were intermittently mined up until the late 1940’s. The Bingara Historical Society estimates up to 500 Chinese mined in the Bingara District during this period. The 1861 census reported the total population of Upper Bingara to be 1905.

In 1862 the Gold Commission reported 350 Chinese working at the Upper Bingara Gold fields and four years later the NSW Gazette (1866) published Upper Bingara’s population to be 250, consisting primarily of Chinese. Although a large number of Chinese worked the alluvial gold fields of Upper Bingara it is uncertain how many Chinese were buried in this cemetery. No official records have survived however a number of deaths and burials are recorded in B & E Kirk “Bingara Deaths &/or Burials 1853 to 1998”, Bingara 1999. There are no stone or metal markers to indicate the graves, although a small square wooden post was found in 1970 indicating a grave site. A small number of Chinese remained in the District after the rush and became market gardeners, store keepers and labourers on rural properties. The only evidence remaining at Upper Bingara of the Chinese presence is this small cemetery enclosed by a timber post and rail fence, some scattered mine workings, water races and several stacks of stone. Chinese cemetery in Upper Bingara was a listed heritage site since 2013

Source: Gwydir Shire Council