Wellington, New South Wales

Wellington is a town in inland New South Wales, Australia, located at the junction of the Macquarie and Bell Rivers. It is within the local government area of Dubbo Regional Council. The town is 362km from Sydney on the Great Western Highway and Mitchell Highway.HistoryThe area was originally occupied by the Wiradjuri people. Explorer John Oxley was the first European to discover the area in 1817 and named it "Wellington Valley" after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.Wellington was originally established in 1823 by Percy Simpson in early 1823 as an agricultural station. Squatters started settling along the Macquarie Valley and in 1832 CMS was established in the settlement to teach Christianity to the Aboriginal people of the area. The convict settlement ceased in 1831 but a village called Montefiores was established on the north side of the Macquarie River crossing. The Town of Wellington was gazetted in 1846. On 20 March 1885, Wellington was proclaimed a town. Wellington Shire Council was established in 1949.