By Dr Peter Woodley

We launched ‘We Are a Farming Class’: Dubbo’s Hinterland 1870–1950 into the world on 11–12 September. The Macquarie Regional Library staged a ‘meet the author’ event at the Dubbo branch, a question-and-answer session hosted by local journalist Geoff Mann and supported by the independent bookshop the Book Connection.

The Dubbo and District Family History Society hosted a launch the following day at the Western Plains Cultural Centre, which was again well attended, and presented with generous contributions from Frank Bongiorno (who had driven the five hours from Canberra to attend the events), and Josh Black, the mayor of Dubbo Regional Council.

Around eighty people turned out for these occasions, testament to their feeling of deep connection to the place’s past, and thirst for locating the surrounding farmlands in broader histories: stories of connecting the district to town, metropole, and empire through exchanges of people, produce, and ideas.