Bowral Southern Highlands
of New South Wales Australia.
Bowral is situated in a valley at the foot of Mt. Gibraltar, largely on land originally granted to John Oxley, famous explorer of the early colony of NSW. For a generation it was farmed by his sons.
With the coming of the railway in the 1860s, the Oxleys subdivided part of the land for a private village. On this land (not much bigger than the current shopping centre) a town grew.
Soon, there was a railway station, churches, schools and public buildings. There were also many guesthouses, and private 'holiday houses', as Bowral became a favourite place to escape to from the city.
As early as 1886 Bowral was gazetted as a Municipality, and the corporate life of the town began. Within 20 years it had over 1000 citizens and many community, social, and sporting organisations.
