Kyalite is a village community on the Wakool River, 37 kilometres south of Balranald

Balranald, New South Wales

Balranald is a town and local government area in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census the population was 1,216....

, in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia.  It is part of the Balranald Shire Council.  Kyalite was formerly known as Wakool Crossing. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Kyalite had a population of 108.

Wakool Crossing

The village of Wakool Crossing (the site of present-day Kyalite) was founded by Henry Talbett, who in about 1848 established a punt service across the Wakool River at the location.  When he became established Talbett brought out his family from Ireland, including his parents and siblings.  His brother John came to Wakool Crossing with his family and assisted Henry Talbett to construct an inn and a general store on land Henry had purchased near his punt.

In 1854 John Talbett was the licensee of the Wakool Inn.

In 1860 Henry Talbett was the licensee of the Wakool Inn. 

Henry Talbett held the license of the Wakool Hotel between 1865 to at least 1870.  In 1882 Talbett sold the hotel to Thomas Spinks who held the license until 1889.  In 1890 the publican of the Wakool Hotel was John James, and from 1891 to 1893 it was John Spinks (possibly Thomas’ brother). The original hotel was burnt down and re-built in the 1890s by Thomas Spinks (possibly in the period 1891-3).

Wakool Crossing Post Office opened on 1 June 1911 and was renamed Kyalite in 1927.

In 1976 Kyalite was described in the following terms: “It… consists of a Post Office, Public Hall, General Store (with petrol pumps), Hotel, tennis courts, cricket oval, about five private houses and has 66 persons on the Electoral Roll”.

Burke and Wills

On 13 September 1860 the Burke and Wills expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria arrived at Wakool Crossing and dined at Henry Talbett's hotel. The next day they crossed the Wakool River by Talbett’s punt and Burke

Robert O'Hara Burke

Robert O'Hara Burke was an Irish soldier and police officer, who achieved fame as an Australian explorer. He was the leader of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled...

paid £9.6.0 “for portage, provisions &c.”.