Old news from Armidale and New England

Tuesday 7 February 1865, The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser

One of the most violent and terrific hailstorms, accompanied with thunder and lightning, ever known in Tenterfield, commonly named a “southerly buster,” occurred here on Thursday, 26th instant. It commenced about 3pm, and lasted twenty-five minutes. Some of the hail stones were of an enormous size, measuring 4 inches, 5¼ inches, and 6¼ inches in circumference. The corn is in blossom, and is almost stripped of its leaves, and in many instances destroyed. Potato stalks previously had a vigorous appearance, but were levelled to the ground, and mangled in such a manner that you would find it difficult to know what they are like. The above disaster will cause a serious injury to the free selectors and other inhabitants whose sole dependence is their crops; and bad the storm fallen more westerly, the damage would have been far greater to behold. Windows were smashed in every part of the township, and hardly a house escaped the fury of the storm.

Anniversary Day[1] was kept up as a general holiday. A respectable pic-nic [sic][2] party, consisting of Mr. George Willson’s family and a few friends, in all about thirty persons, left in the morning for Glenlyon, about 8 miles from the township, and returned in the evening, when a subscription was opened to pay for fireworks, in all about £12 expended, in order to pass off the evening merrily, which was kept until a late hour. At the Royal Hotel, a German subscription-ball was announced ; about fifty persons attended, and they all danced merrily until five o’clock in the morning. The refreshments consisted of coffee and cake laid out in the German style.

POLICE COURT, 26TH JAN – Patrick Whelan was fined £3 for assaulting B. A. Kemp, butcher, who was in the street and on horseback at the time. Whelan was intoxicated.

Bridge will be completed on the 5th proximo. Tenterfield, Jan. 28

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[1] “Anniversary Day”, now known as Australia Day

[2] Pic-nic, hyphenated. Perhaps due to being written as “picque-nique” in the original French.