Hay Historical Society Inc.
Researching & Preserving Local & Family History
Research Services   §   Sales    §   History Pages   §   Contact Details   §   Newsletters   §   Links
ADDED MATERIAL & UPDATES

  • The Society has a new email address; all enquiries should be directed to .

  • New publication:  Hay Public School: 150 Years of History 1869-2019 - written by Ian Beissel for the school's sesquicentenary celebrations.

  • An article describing the unveiling of the Boer War Memorial at Hay in May 1903 (and other associated articles); a list of the subscribers to the memorial.

  • Hay Sesquicentenary Web-log – month-by-month accounts of the early settlement of Hay and surrounding district (from newspaper reports and other sources).

  • Publication:  A second edition of Mackenzie's Riverina: A Tour of the Hay District Pastoral Holdings of the 1890s - Harold Mackenzie’s collected writings (with an additional pictorial supplement).


  • The Hay Historical Society is concerned with the local history of Hay and surrounding district, including the villages of Booligal, Booroorban, Carrathool, Gunbar, Maude, Mossgiel and Oxley.

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    Hay is located in the western Riverina region of New South Wales.  The township began as a crossing-place on the Murrumbidgee River, for stock being driven south to markets in Victoria during the gold-rushes of the 1850s.  The site was eventually surveyed in 1859 and Hay quickly developed as an important hub for the surrounding pastoral holdings, with their fat-stock and wool production.

    Hay in the 1870's
    Hay in 1877, viewed to the south along Lachlan Street towards the newly-constructed bridge.

    During its earliest days Hay's economy was linked to the navigation by steam-boats of the Murrumbidgee, and it became an important port.  The town and district was also extensively serviced by horse- and bullock-driven waggons.  In 1882 the railway was extended to Hay, linking the town directly with regions to the east, including Sydney.  Please refer to our History Pages for more specific and detailed information about Hay and the surrounding region, as well as indexes and lists of family history interest.

    Our Research Services page outlines what is available if you require research to be carried out on your behalf.  The Society has a number of CD-ROMs and publications for sale, containing valuable material of local interest ( for details refer to the Sales page).  The Society has an ongoing Pioneers Project which seeks to document the lives of the early pioneers of the district.   Family history information is sought regarding any person born before 1880 who lived at Hay or the surrounding district.  Our Links page has connections to other web-sites of local, regional and general interest in the fields of family research and Australian history.

    Contact Details:   The Secretary, Hay Historical Society Inc., P.O. Box 467, Hay, NSW, 2711.
    E-mail:    

    © Copyright 2023, Hay Historical Society Inc.  All rights reserved.  The material on this web-site is for personal use only.  Re-publication and re-dissemination is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Hay Historical Society Inc.

    This web-site was initially developed in mid-2001 and is maintained by Ian Beissel.  The site was last updated on 10 July 2023.

    Research Services   §   Sales    §   History Pages   §   Pioneers Project   §   Links

    This page has been accessed     times since November 2002.