Lockhart is a town and a Local Government Area in the Riverina

Riverina

The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...

 Region of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It is the location of the Lockhart Shire Council offices. 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,...

, Lockhart had a population of 837 people.

History

Lockhart was named after C.G.N. Lockhart - a commissioner for Crown Lands in the Murrumbidgee River

Murrumbidgee River

The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...

 area in the 1850s. It was originally known as Greens Gunyah, and renamed Lockhart in 1897. Greens Gunyah was so named because a Mr Green was the earliest settler and had a grog shop on the Urana

Urana, New South Wales

Urana is a small town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia.Urana is located between Lockhart and Jerilderie, about 578 kilometres southwest of Sydney. To the west lies Lake Urana and the Lake Urana Nature Reserve. To the east lies a smaller lake, Lake Uranagang.Urana in the major...

 - Wagga Wagga

Wagga Wagga, New South Wales

Wagga Wagga is a city in New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, and with an urban population of 46,735 people, Wagga Wagga is the state's largest inland city, as well as an important agricultural, military, and transport hub of Australia...

 stagecoach route.

Ferriers Post Office opened on 16 May 1882 and was renamed Lockhart in 1898.

Tim Fischer

Tim Fischer

Timothy Andrew Fischer, AC , is a former Australian politician. He served as Deputy Prime Minister in the Howard Government from 1996 before retiring from Cabinet in 1999...

, National Party leader (1990–1999) and 11th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the second-most senior officer in the Government of Australia. The Deputy Prime Ministership has been a ministerial portfolio since 1968, and the Deputy Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime...

 was born here. A railway station served the town between 1901 and 1975, it has now been restored and converted into a Rural Fire Service station. Seasonal grain trains service silos in the town.