On January 22, 2024, the town of Leeton celebrated its "official birthday" or anniversary, which was in fact its 111th since being proclaimed a town in 1913.
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While this may be the official date, it was as early as February 1912 that the area, also known as Land District of Yanco within Yanco Irrigation Area No 1, was being referred to by the Sydney Morning Herald as Leeton.
As further evidence that Leeton actually existed before its 1913 birthdate, the first clergy to be gazetted by the government to perform marriages in Leeton was Pastor Richard Dobbinson from the Baptist Church, who was given this privilege on August 6, 1912 and gave his address as Leeton, Yanco.
Of course, the turning of the first irrigation water was on July 13, 1912 with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting the event as occurring in the Yanco area.
So, while the official date may well be January 22, the birth of the town could well be considered earlier.
Interestingly, prior to Leeton being christened, consideration was given to naming the town Talangara, which the Sydney Morning Herald reported as being "a native name ... meaning running water..."
However, Leeton shire Aboriginal man Elijah Ingram does not believe the word means running water and may have been a mistranslation.
He believes Talangara may have originated from the Wiradjuri word Dhalburagaa, which can mean the river running or the river overflowing.
The town Leeton was named after the Honourable Charles Alfred Lee, Minister of Public Works, who is credited with setting in motion the scheme to establish the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.
Mr Lee was born in Parramatta in 1841, with his father Benjamin Lee being a veteran of the Battle of Waterloo.
He became mayor of Tenterfield in 1875 and, in 1884, he succeeded Sir Henry Parkes in the NSW State Parliament, a position he was to hold for the next 35 years.
He appeared to be a very progressive politician and during a stint as Minister for Justice, he introduced lights in prison cells, prison libraries and night dresses for female inmates.
At the turning on of the water in 1912, Mr Lee commented "it was not too much to say that in 10 years we would see this a most flourishing agricultural part of NSW".
He further added he believed it would far exceed any expectations that even he had formed of it. A great prophecy and great foresight by him.
He died at the age of 84 in August, 1926 at his property "Claremont" in Tenterfield.
