Guyra

History

The Gamilaaray group of Indigenous Australians were the inhabitants of the region surrounding Guyra. It was originally known as Hillgo'el or Illgoel, an Aboriginal word of the Yukambal meaning a "swamp" and was later changed to the name of Marsh's run, "Guyra". The name Guyra is said to originate from the language of the Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi, Gomeroi) people; meaning 'white cockatoo' or 'fishing place'. The Gumbaynggirr group of Indigenous Australians were the inhabitants of eastern Guyra surrounding area. Guyra was known to the Gumbaynggirr people as Black Cockatoo which can be found in the Kumbangirir Language booklet. Settlement by European farmers began in the 1835 when Alexander Campbell took up Guyra Station, which encompassed the present town area. Ollera Station was settled in 1838 and had the first church in the Guyra district when it was built in 1876. In 1840 Donald McIntyre was recorded as the lessee of "Gyra"; and in 1848 'Guyra' then , was leased by Charles William Marsh. The Great Northern Railway was extended through Guyra in 1884. Guyra was proclaimed as a village on 20 March 1885. Dairying was an important industry during the 1890s after which potato growing became more popular. Guyra Post Office opened on 1 May 1877. The railway was officially opened on 19 August 1884, as part of the Great Northern Railway extension from Armidale to Glen Innes. Guyra became the focus of national attention on 5 February 1960 when a four-year-old boy named Steven Walls wandered off from his father on a property north of the town and became lost for four days. Hundreds of volunteers searched the bush for the boy until he was discovered asleep against a log. His immediate question to searchers was 'Where's my daddy, where's my daddy?'; which gave rise to a hit song by…

Geography

Located on a volcanic uplift of the Northern Tablelands, the town is one of the highest in Australia at 1,330 metres (4,364 feet) above sea level. The town is known for its cold winters, by Australian standards, with an average of 42 nights below each year and some snowfalls. Owing to Guyra's position on a high plateau, it rarely gets above 30 °C (86 °F) during summer, which is unusual for any Australian town. The record maximum temperature for Guyra is on 11 February 2017, recorded at Guyra's current station at the hospital. On 3–4 July 1984, an intense and widespread cold snap produced moderate to heavy snowfalls throughout the Northern Tablelands, including Guyra. During the event, Guyra recorded a maximum temperature of on 3 July and on 4 July. The maximum for 3 July is the most northerly sub-zero maximum temperature recorded in Australia. On one of the days during the event, Guyra recorded a 3 pm temperature of , possibly the coldest mid-afternoon reading outside the Snowy Mountains.

Most-observed species

• koala

  Phascolarctos cinereus (Goldfuss, 1817) · Mammalia
  1,113
• Blackberry

  Rubus fruticosus L. · Magnoliopsida
  532
• spotted marsh frog

  Limnodynastes tasmaniensis Günther, 1858 · Amphibia
  496
• Brown Frog

  Limnodynastes peronii (Duméril & Bibron, 1841) · Amphibia
  466
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  396
• Crimson Rosella

  Platycercus elegans (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  292
• Broom

  Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link · Magnoliopsida
  260
• Pacific Black Duck

  Anas superciliosa J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  246

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2005-10-02
  23 km SE of Bingara, Australia