Two historic milestones to be celebrated at Warraderry

The Warraderry Valley will come alive this October long weekend to celebrate two milestones, 102 years of St Paul's Warraderry Church and 150 years since the Jones family settled in the Valley. The celebrations will be held on Sunday 4 October with a special church service followed by morning tea and lunch. Those who are planning on attending are asked to bring a plate of finger food to share. More than 50 people are already expected to attend, including descendants of the Jones family, former parishioners, friends and others with connections to the historic church and district. The occasion will also mark a new chapter in the story of St Paul’s, which is now owned by Friends of St.Paul’s Warraderry Incorporated. The story of St Paul’s Plans for a church in the Warraderry Valley began before the First World War. Bishop Long visited the district and selected a site for a new building, but the outbreak of war brought the plans to a halt. In the meantime, services were held at Wattle Villa. As the congregation grew, services moved to the men’s quarters and later the woolshed. A determined effort was eventually made to establish a permanent church. Following discussions with Rev P.S. Moore, a substantial commitment was made to build on the site originally selected. The acre of land was sold by the Jones family for the token price of one pound, and the foundation stone was laid in January 1924. The church was subsequently built and furnished for approximately £1,200 and was opened free of debt. Many of the furnishings and features of St Paul’s were donated in memory of family members and friends who had passed away. The sanctuary was a gift from Jones brothers in memory of their father. The Warraderry Church has been freshly painted inside. Three fine windows at the eastern end of the church also carry the stories of the family. The centre window was given by Mrs Jones in memory of her husband, Charles; the left window by Mrs John Jones in memory of John; and the right window by seven surviving brothers in memory of Archibald, who was tragically killed. A new chapter In March 2024, the Anglican Diocese of Bathurst decided to sell St Paul’s. A group of determined locals, family members, friends and even strangers rallied together to raise enough money to purchase the historic building. The church is now legally owned by Friends of St Paul’s Warraderry Incorporated. The new owners hope St Paul’s can continue as a place of worship and remain available for the wider community to use for services, celebrations and other occasions. Anyone interested in using the church or becoming involved can contact Sally Jones on 0412 353 119. 150 years of the Jones family in Warraderry The church anniversary coincides with another significant milestone. This year marks 150 years since the Jones family made their home in the Warraderry Valley. William Jones arrived in Australia from Middlesex, London, in 1833, while Elizabeth Robinson, also from Middlesex, arrived independently. The pair met in Australia and married at Goulburn in 1843. The family initially established a small farm near Gunning. Their sons, William and Charles, later became carriers, transporting freight to Sydney in 1866 for £22 10 shillings per ton, a journey that could take five or six weeks. Their journeys were not without adventure. Along the roads they encountered bushrangers including Gardner, Ben Hall, Gilbert and Dun. The family would sometimes share water with the men, little knowing that the Joneses' money had been changed from cheques to notes and secretly nailed inside their water barrels. It was while carting wool from the original Warraderry Station that the Jones brothers first saw the Warraderry Valley. Not long afterwards, with the railway due to cut their Gunning farm in half, the family decided to move to the Grenfell district. It was a major undertaking. Three families set off with four vehicles, two wagons, a dray and a spring cart. Tom, aged seven, and Jack Turner, 13, rode on horseback and helped drive 65 head of cattle. Furniture was carried on the wagons, while women and children travelled in the spring cart. The journey even included the unexpected arrival of a new family member. Just after the start of the Gooloogong Road, Mrs William Jones Jnr gave birth to her fourth child, Elizabeth, in a bark hut beside the road. Mother and baby later joined the travelling party. The family's first camp was in a shepherd's hut near what is now Old Mascot, but as the site was a reserve they moved on, eventually settling along Warraderry Creek near what is now Hinemoa. The country they selected was virgin forest, so thick that the mountain now known as Kangarooby Hills could not be seen. Over the years the Jones family's holdings grew from their original property to 1340 acres and then to 3001 acres by 1901. Following the death of William senior in 1916, aged just 53, William and Charles were farming on a remarkable scale. They had 7000 acres under wheat, 1500 acres cut for hay and a further 5500 acres harvested. In one outstanding season, the family produced approximately 55,000 bags of wheat, averaging 10 bags to the acre. At 7 shillings and sixpence per bag, the harvest brought a return of around £25,000 an extraordinary sum for the time. In 1927, the brothers purchased a Sunshine Auto Header from Tresillian and Dun in Grenfell. Manufactured by H.V. McKay Pty Ltd, the machine had a 12-foot cutting width and could harvest about 40 acres a day using 12 gallons of fuel. One reported record was 400 bags harvested in eight hours. The brothers continued expanding their farming interests, working land throughout the Warraderry Valley as well as at Caragabal and Trundle. As succeeding generations grew, family members eventually established their own farms throughout the Warraderry Valley. Today, only a couple of cousins remain in the district, but the family's legacy is still woven deeply into the community, not least through St Paul’s Warraderry. This October long weekend will be an opportunity for generations of the community to come together, remember those who came before them and celebrate a remarkable piece of Warraderry history.