FORBES ... This Lachlan River town is now the centre of a prosperous farming district despite the fact that John Oxley was not impressed with the area when he explored it in May 1817. The settlers who followed him moved into a place known as 'Camp Hill'.

After a prospector known as 'German Harry' Stephens discovered gold in the 1860s, Forbes became a tent town housing nearly 30 000 hopeful miners. The notorious bushranger, Ben Hall, was shot by police just north of town on 5 May 1865 and is buried in the local Cemetery along with Ned Kelly's sister, Kate, among other historic graves. Relics of the bushranger are also on display at the Historical Museum in Cross Street. TOURIST INFORMATION Railway Art & Craft Tourist Centre Union Street, Forbes NSW Phone: 61 2 6852 4155

Lachlan Vintage Village recreates the community as it was in the 19th century, with early buildings reconstructed on the site and displays of gold mining and machinery. Included in the collection is Ben Hall's cottage and the home of the poet, Henry Lawson. South of Forbes on the Newell Highway is Gum Swamp, where a specially constructed hide allows easy viewing of the water birds. Name origin: Named after Francis Forbes, the first Chief Justice of NSW (1824-36), who did much to ensure trial by jury was introduced in the Colony.

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