Some history about Woodsreef.

History Notes

At the beginning of settlement of the Barraba district, a large area of country east of present-day, Barraba, was taken up by John Keele. It is not known just when he took up this area as he does not appear on records until he sold the area to the Spencer family in the mid 1840s. The Spencer family were living on a small farm in the Hunter Valley and needed to expand. There two brothers and a sister married to two sisters and a brother and so at least three houses were needed to accommodate everyone.

Joseph Wood and his wife arrived in Victoria and spent some time living in Gippsland before moving north. It is thought that he was interested in finding gold and so he moved up through N.S.W. He found gold east of Barraba in the 1860s and mined a reef known as Wood's Reef. Several of his children, including son George, were born at Wood's Reef before he moved onto the properties ‘Gilgai’ and ‘Tingha’.

Woodsreef (as it is now known) surged ahead for a few years - particularly after the crushing machine was installed in 1861. Huts and tents were erected for accommodation with a few more substantial buildings.

The Post Office opened along with a butcher's shop and wine shanty and there was a real struggle to get a school for the settlement as many of the village buildings were not permanent structures. In 1883 there was a petition for a school for 15 children turned down, although a house-to- house school was tried with the Reading and Fletchers families further down lronbark Creek.

In 1887 conditions in Woodsreef had not changed and gold was difficult to find-the school closed in 1890 as no suitable room was available in the village.

In 1901 Mr. Woodhouse took charge of the school and remained until 1941. At first it was a half time school with Ironbark but as numbers improved it became full time until Mr. Woodhouse retired.

The mine was mining asbestos during this time and the village began to thrive with more homes, the post office, store, butcher, the hall and the church in the 1920s. Mr. Woodhouse was the life of the town, growing lots of vegetables, milking a cow and providing such things as good food and honey to the population. The village was very much alive.

As the years went by and the roads improved, more people had cars, the mine closed and the school bus brought the pupils into Barraba. To survive, lots of people had to move away to find work and health facilities and Woodsreef once again became a small village with a few residences. Numerous signs placed through the area provide a key to where about thirty of the old buildings were.