The origin of the name Wee Jasper is unknown but it is possibly of Aboriginal origin. It has been in use since at latest 1848 when it appeared as "Weejasper".[3][failed verification][4][5] In 1970, the place name was changed, officially, from Weejasper to Wee Jasper.[6]
History
The Ngunnawal people once lived over the site of Wee Jasper and the surrounding Goodradigbee River valley.[7] Diseases decimated aboriginal populations ahead of colonial settlement. The New South Wales colonial government ineffectually prohibited settlement in the area and others outside the Nineteen Counties but livestock herders reached the valley early. The Hume and Hovell expedition passed through the area in October 1824.[8]
In 1831, the land of "Cooradigbee", south of Wee Jasper, was granted to William Hampden Dutton. It was one of the last free land grants in the colony of New South Wales and was made only because it had been promised by Governor Darling, in October 1830.[9] In December 1848, the County of Buccleuch and neighbouring County of Cowley were proclaimed.[10] In 1866, a site for a Goodradigbee village was proclaimed but never eventuated and was cancelled in 1900.[11][12][13] A cluster of settlement, which would become Wee Jasper, developed further up the river, nearer the eventual bridge site.[14]
"Coodra Vale", a property of 40,000 acres (16,188 ha) close to Wee Jasper, was the home of pastoralist, Stewart Ryrie, Junior, from 1871 until his death in 1882.[15][16] From 1908 to 1912, "Coodra Vale" was the home of renowned Australian poet, A.B. "Banjo" Paterson,[17][18][19][20] and his poem, A Mountain Station, was informed by the time he spent there as an agriculturalist.[21]
In the 1890s, gold was mined in 'The Wee Jasper' goldfield, south of Wee Jasper, along the Goodradigbee creek of which Wee Jasper Creek is a tributary.[22][23] The Goodradigbee Goldfield, which included the area, was proclaimed in 1882 but revoked in 1897[24] and the area was never a significant goldfield.
In 1896, the bridge across the Goodradigbee River at Wee Jasper was opened, providing better connection to Yass and Tumut.[25] By 1887, Wee Jasper had a police station.[26] Wee Jasper Post Office first opened in January 1886, closed in March 1892, reopened in 1895 and remained in service until 1994.[27] in 1899, a school was opened as a provisional school and achieved public school status in 1918.[28] Wee Jasper had a Catholic church, now re-purposed.[29]
Activities
The area is known for its caves and fossils, camping, canoeing and fishing. Near the village are several camping and recreation reserves close to numerous caves. The best known cave is Carey's Cave, a system of seven caverns lying just north of the town.[2] Others lie to the north and south, including Dip, Dogleg, Punch-bowl and Signature Caves.[2] Wee Jasper is also home to the Wee Jasper Distillery.[30]
Wee Jasper has a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb) in a cold rainforest zone with mild to warm summers and chilly, very wet winters. Moderate to heavy snowfalls are common through the winter and early spring months, often the result of Northwest cloudbands colliding with cold south-westerly airmasses. Annual rainfall is in the order of 1,500 millimetres (59 in) − nearly thrice as wet as Canberra.
^ abcDow L, Guyon D, Irving R, McPhee M, Matthews A, Prineas P, Rubinich T, Simpson J (1995). Reader's Digest Illustrated Guide to Australian Places. Surry Hills, NSW: Reader's Diges t. p. 209. ISBN0-86438-399-1.
^"GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES ACT, 1966". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 29 May 1970. p. 2043. Retrieved 18 May 2022 – via Trove.
^Studies, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (5 June 2022). "Map of Indigenous Australia". aiatsis.gov.au. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
^"Bard of the Bush". Daily Mirror. Truth and Sportsman Ltd. 20 June 1956. p. 21.
^Semmler, Clement, "Paterson, Andrew Barton (Banjo) (1864–1941)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 10 May 2022
