The Nubrygyn Inn and Cemetery is a heritage-listed former inn and farm house located at 2531 Euchareena Road, Euchareena in the Dubbo Regional Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The inn was built between 1840 and 1850, possibly by William Brazier. The property is also known as Nubrigyn, Nubrygin, Nubrygan, Nubriggan, Newbriggan, Nubrygar, Aubrygan, Lubrygyn, Lubrycan, Yelubrygyn, Eulubrigyn 'Yulubragin, Yullubirgen (Wiradjuri)'and Lubrygee. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 20 May 2016.
History The Wellington Valley At the time of European settlement, the land between Bathurst and Wellington was occupied by the Wiradjuri people whose land extended from the Great Dividing Range in the east and bordered by the Macquarie, Lachlan and Murrumbidgee rivers. The rivers acted as an important travel and trade routes with each clan group having a clearly defined area of responsibility. The people from this area settled along the main rivers during the summer months and moved to other favoured and drier campsites in the winter months. Evidence of the occupation of the Wellington area by the Wiradjuri in pre-contact times survives in the form of rock shelters with deposits, carved trees, scarred trees, open camp sites, grinding grooves sites, bora (ceremonial) grounds and burial grounds (AHIMS). The name Nubrygyn derives from the Aboriginal name "Lubrygee", said to mean junction of the two creeks.
The first Europeans officially travelling through this country were members of the expedition party led by John Oxley, Surveyor-General for the Colony. It was during his exploration of the Lachlan Valley that he discovered the Wellington Valley on 19 August 1817, when the explorers entered the valley through Glenfinlass (Curra Creek) finding and naming the Bell and Macquarie rivers. Oxley called the valley "The Vale of Tempe" after the Duke of Wellington. Nubrygyn is situated about from Wellington and is surrounded by many hectares of farmland, producing wheat, sheep, cattle and canola. The nearby village of Euchareena was originally known as Warne, after an early settler.
Nubrygyn The locality of Nubrygyn was established in the period 1823–1830, on the original road from Bathurst to the Wellington Convict farm, and also on route from Molong to Ironbark (now Stuart Town). It is adjacent to the spring fed Nubrygyn Creek, which is a tributary of the Bell River. It became a "halting place" for soldiers and convicts travelling between the newly established depots at Bathurst and Wellington (The Land 1934, 19 Jan:3). A large gum tree on the northern side of the Nubrygyn Inn is said to have been the tree that convicts were chained to when they halted to rest.
The area was surveyed by John Rogers in 1829,CP 7:772 and Thomas Kite is noted as a landholder. Captain Charles Wray Finch (magistrate, pastoralist and later Parliamentary Sergeant-at-Arms) appears to have occupied land at Nubrygyn in 1835 (The Land 1934, 19 Jan: 3, Letters from C. W. Finch State Archives Kingswood). Another article suggests that he moved his family there in 1839 (Richmond River Herald. 1937, 6 Aug:5) and he was still occupying some land there and farming sheep in 1846 (Molong Express 1934, 12 Jan:17), later taken over by his sons.Bathurst Free Press. 1850, 2 Nov:6
The original conveyanceConveyance Book No. 6 pages 509 and 510 for the Nubrygyn area was to Charles Frederick Warne and Charles Windeyer. Warne owned and was the first recorded owner of the actual site of the Nubrygyn Inn. In 1843 Warne went bankrupt and the papers include a list of all inhabitants of Nubrygyn working for him, including William Brazier (Insolvency 685, NSW State Archives). The land then passed to Dr John Dobie (mortgagor) and then to John Maxwell, Superintendent of Stock for NSW and the Wellington Valley Settlement, and a large land holder in the Nubrygyn area.Molong Express 1934, 12 Jan:17
In 1853 William Brazier purchased including the site of the Nubrygyn Inn from John Maxwell.Conveyance Book 105 No. 67 This document includes a map and plan showing the purchased land included Nubrygyn Inn and "Braziers huts" immediately adjacent to it, thus indicating that the Braziers were already living in or adjacent to the Inn prior to their purchase of the land.
Nubrygyn Inn The actual builder of the Inn has not been identified. Possible builders include Warne, John Dobie, John Maxwell and William Brazier. Of these John Maxwell or William Brazier are the most likely (Warne leaving in 1843, and Dobie probably not being a resident). Research into the techniques used to build the mud-brick building, such as brick size and material, mortar material, stone work, etc. may clarify the date and builder (Lewis n.d.). The Brazier family history and conveyancing records demonstrate that the inn was already built in 1850, but the exact date is not known.
William Brazier along with his two brothers James and Francis immigrated to Australia as free settlers in 1838. They came from Little Shelford in Cambridgeshire, the same small village as Charles Wray Finch, whose father Henry Finch the Rector at Little Shelford had given the Brazier brothers references to immigrate as free settlers (Australian Town & Country Journal 1873, 7 June:9; William Brazier's immigration certificate). Upon his arrival in Australia William Brazier (who had been offered employment by Charles Wray Finch) travelled to Nubrygyn and commenced working there. In 1843 he was working for Warne at Nubrygyn. In April 1847 at Shepherds Creek, east of Nubrygyn, William Brazier married Caroline, the daughter of two convicts William Coleman and Hannah Jefferies, and almost from the date of their marriage they lived and raised a large family in the Nubrygyn Inn. The Brazier's had 11 children, and with the possible exception of the first child born in 1848, they were all born and raised at Nubrygyn Inn. It was in this beautiful and inspiring landscape that they lived and raised their family, and it is still owned by their descendants. Conveyancing documents indicate that the Inn was constructed by 1850 or before, and outbuildings associated with the Inn included a blacksmith, stables, school and bakery, with accommodation for local farmhands and shepherds. William Brazier applied for and was granted General Publican Licenses for the Nubrygyn Inn, examples of these licenses include one granted with his brother Francis in the year of 1857, and 1860 William on his own (see references). William ran the Inn until his death in 1882, and his death notice states that he had lived at Nubrygyn since 1838. Francis Brazier died at Nubrygyn Inn in 1898, aged 84 years, where he was being cared for by Caroline Brazier. His death notice says that he had lived in the area since 1849.Molong Argus, 1898, 24 June:4 The other brother James, is listed as a witness to a burial in the Nubrygyn cemetery in 1861, indicating he also spent time at Nubrygyn.
Caroline Brazier née Coleman was born at Parramatta in 1829, but she is quoted as having witnessed a severe flood around 1842 that washed away many of the fruit trees brought from England and planted by Charles Wray Finch at Nubrygyn,The Land 1934, 19 Jan:3 and was therefore living in the district by this time. Caroline's parents William and Hannah Coleman came to Australia as convicts and were living and working at Nubrygyn, and are buried there. Caroline died at her house, the Nubrygyn Inn, in 1905, and her death notice states that she had been living in that same house/inn for 55 years, i.e.. since 1850.Molong Express 1905, 30 Dec:7 After Caroline's death the shingle roof was replaced (or covered) in corrugated iron and family members continued to live in it until about 30 years ago. The Brazier family still owns the Nubrygyn Inn and farm, at least 165–8 years of continuous occupancy, plus the 10–12 years William spent before that working at Nubrygyn for Finch, Warne and probably Maxwell.
A good description of Nubrygyn Inn was written in an article published in the Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (1877, 21 April:7) by an "old" correspondent travelling from Mudgee to Molong:
"... arrive at Nubrygyn, a transition country, with the slaty shales and quartz leaders of the diggings, combined with the alluvial flats and low, grassy ridges of a farming country. There are many fine farms, and a good inn, which has been kept by Mr Brazier for about a quarter of a century; it is a pise building, the front verandah is covered by a mass of ivy, grapevines and jasmine, the garden, besides flowers contains various and numerous fruit trees, so that in their season peaches, apricots, plums, quinces, cherries, medlars, walnut and gooseberries, are obtainable and on his neighbouring farm a profusion of melons and strawberries. As we are entering on the limestone district, springs are numerous, and Nubrygyn Creek is never dry; this certainty of water has attracted many travelling stock and the grass has been eaten off to the roots. Some fine showers have lately given a green hue to the landscape."
Another description (The Empire 1874, 1 Jan:3) describes the inn garden and farm:
"Nubrygyn was once a village of some importance, having boasted a public school, a store, a blacksmiths shop, and a hotel; but of these establishments, only one, the latter, now remains. The village is now the exclusive property of Mr William Brazier, who in conjunction with his hotel business, manages a very extensive farm, and has one of the most beautiful and flourishing flower gardens and orchards in the locality. A visit to the garden or orchard will amply repay any person imbued with a taste for the beauties of nature, or a taste for delicious fruit of every variety."
On 22 April 1865 the Nubrygyn Inn was to become famous throughout the Colony of NSW and Australia. Ben Hall, John Gilbert, John Dunn and an unknown colleague arrived at the Inn that evening, held up the bar and drank and danced all night at the Brazier's expense. The event was written up in many Australian newspapers of the day, a typical article follows (Clarence & Richmond Examiner... 2 May:3):
"Gilbert, Hall and Dunn Raid the Nubriggan