31st January 2026
Compiled from the Daily Advertiser by the Wagga Wagga & District Historical Society.
25 Years Ago
- Head of Charles Sturt University’s Wagga campus, Professor David Green, welcomed almost 1000 new students at the University’s commencement celebration.
- Peter Perkins, Mark Everett, David Ashford, Pat Brassil and Lee Wright were among those celebrating with Deputy Principal of Junee High School, Barry Cottam, who has announced his retirement after teaching at the school for fifteen years.
- Wagga Selling Agents Association Secretary, Lou Cox, said that an all-time Wagga record of $110 per head paid for a pen of lambs at the Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre may even be a national record.
- AMP representatives, Pat Ingram and Doug Sutton, presented a replica Olympic torch and torchbearer uniform to Wagga Mayor, Kevin Wales, in appreciation of the Wagga community’s support of the Sydney Olympic Games.
- Mayor Kevin Wales launched the new Public Transport and Access Guide with the help of social planner Jenny Grantley and Fearne’s Coaches’ public relations officer, Shirley Doldissen.
- Well-known Wagga business operators, Brian and Colleen Lawrence, have put their business on the market with the intention of retiring.
- Yvette Howe, Kate Organ, Kylie Smith, Tracey Horrocks, Lyn Winbank and Jane Pottie are among those manning phones, ready to sell tickets in the Kurrajong Waratah annual art union.
- The $600,000 Charles Sturt University experimental winery is well on the way to completion, according to university properties director Kevin Smith.
- Former Mayor Pat Brassil and his wife, Anne, are planning to auction their historic home at 32 Collins Street next month, 29 years after purchasing it from former local historian and academic, Keith Swan.
- Riverina Water Council general manager, Gerald Pieper, engineering manager, Murray Nash and council chairman, Pat Brassil, are pictured turning on the water supply to Wagga’s new Glen Oak subdivision.
- Sacred Heart School’s new captains are Rosina Prestia and Jack Kilfoyle, and vice-captains, Sarah Penton and Thomas Brunskill.
- Daryl Bowden is pictured proudly displaying the ball he used on Monday afternoon to hole in one at the Wagga Golf Club par 3, 196 metre, ninth hole.
- Wagga police, including Detective Inspector Daryl Venables, raided a Fitzmaurice Street flat seizing more than $300,000 worth of marijuana.
- Three properties were offered for auction. Centrally located, 36 Best Street attracted a lot of interest with a crowd of 50 attending, but was passed in at $202,000, another property at 12 Grandview Avenue sold for $125,000 and a third property at Gumly was passed in at $54,500.
50 Years Ago
- The new Member for Farrer, Mr Wal Fife, is pictured in the King’s Hall at Parliament House shortly before he was sworn in as a member of the 30th Commonwealth Parliament.
- Repairs necessitating a Bailey Bridge suspension and closure of one lane on the Hampden Bridge will take at least six weeks to complete.
- Mr Wal Breust has been elected president of the Riverina and Southwest Slopes Branch of the Real Estate Institute of N.S.W.
- Commissioner of the Soil Conservation Service of N.S.W., Mr G H Knowles, presented copies of an Urban Capability Study of Cartwrights Hill to Wagga Mayor, Ald Dick Gorman and members of the City Council’s Planning Committee.
- Kathy Summons was one of the stars of the Kooringal High School swimming carnival and is pictured receiving a trophy from the headmaster, Mr Keith Potter.
- Allan Hayes, North Wagga Australian Football Club, captain-coach, is pictured with his two-year-old son, Allan, at the second Rugby League match in the Marlboro series played between Queanbeyan Blues and Wagga Kangaroos.
- Mount Austin Primary School P&C Association is hosting a farewell dinner for retiring principal Mr Doug Phipps and Mrs Phipps to be held at the Wagga City Golf Club.
- Mr and Mrs Jim Campbell celebrated their golden wedding anniversary with more than 100 guests at the home of Mr and Mrs Ted Oakman of Kennedy Avenue.
- Strandbags is advertising opening specials at 64 Baylis Street, including trendy denim clutch bags for $3.99, printed denim shoulder bags for $5.99, and canvas fun bags in colours for $1.50.
- Lullabye Baby Wear is advertising Angel Suits, Frocks, and Boys Suits for $4.00, and gabardine-style slacks from $4.50.
- Wagga Fire Brigade Station Officer, Stan Read, said that three hundred acres of grass and stubble were burned in a grass fire off Glenfield Road behind the Australian Football Club.
- Another starling shoot was held this week in Wagga streets known to be frequented by the birds.
- Mrs W. Bridle was made a life member of the Wagga R.S.L. Auxiliary.
- The secretary of the Sturt Electorate Council, Mr Ern Rockcliffe, said that the nomination of Mr Tim Fischer, who was nominated by 11 different branches, was the only one received for Country Party endorsement for Sturt when nominations closed this week.
- Mrs Pauline Harvey was made a Life Member of the Wagga Eisteddfod Society, recognising her outstanding service over the past 17 years.
- The Wagga City Library may have to close for about ten hours each week because of the City Council’s economy moves.
Membership of the Wagga Wagga and District Historical Society is open to anyone with an interest in the local and regional history of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. For more information about us and information on how to join our Society, visit our website at https://www.wwdhs.org.au/about-us/members
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