Following the arrival of the railway in 1876, the area became home to a close railway community of railway men and their families, as it was near to their workplace and the rent was reasonable.

The land on which 69 Railway Parade stands was originally a 20 acre grant to Richard Mortimer. Richard married Catherine Hamilton and their son John was born in Parramatta in 1808.

Presumably the family moved to Bathurst to take up the grant in about 1830.

The western boundary of this land was the Queen Charlotte’s Vale Creek, and the eastern boundary was a grant to Sir John Jamieson which eventually became known as the South Bathurst Subdivision encompassing Havannah, Torch, Busby, Logan and Lewins streets.

Mortimer subdivided his 20 acres into eight small long portions ranging from two to five acres in size. A ninth similar portion was carved out of the adjoining Presbyterian Glebe. This portion and the one adjoining it to the south were purchased by Thomas Pye in the early 1840s.

The next four were purchased by Francis Lord, a merchant and stock holder in Bathurst, and the southernmost three were purchased by Nicholas Read, an innkeeper in Bathurst from 1840, all well-known Bathurst residents.

Thomas Pye was one of four brothers whose father, convict John Pye, arrived in Australia in 1791, and became a successful farmer. Thomas established the substantial farm, Bunnamagoo, with his brother, Joseph, near Rockley. He purchased his 10-and-a-half acres at South Bathurst in the early 1840s and eventually became the owner of over 70,000 acres of Crown Leasehold across the Central West of NSW.

When the railway line was laid, it passed through Mortimer’s subdivided blocks, including that belonging to Pye. Pye then further subdivided his land on the town side of the railway line with a small road down the centre which he named Pye Lane, and later, Pye Street.

Lots were created on both sides of this street in about 1883. Later, on September 9, 1955, Pye Street was officially changed to Railway Parade.

The railway opened on April 4, 1876 and the Locomotive Depot opened in 1879. By 1886, 255 men were employed in the workshed. There was a carpenters’ shop, fitters’ shop and blacksmiths’ shop. One hundred and eleven enginemen were employed - 38 drivers, 40 firemen and 33 engine cleaners. Top engine drivers were earning 7 shillings and five pence per day for a 12 hour shift, and firemen four shillings and sixpence per day.

During a drought around 1928, the railway was called upon to supply water to the township of Bathurst via a pump on Vale Creek used for the steam locomotives. While the township slept, the railway workers were working shifts to keep up the supply of water.

The next owners of Pye’s land that can be identified are David Campbell Williamson and his wife, Sarah Susannah. Exactly how they came to own the land is lost in history, however Sarah was the daughter of Thomas Pye, so perhaps we can assume that she either purchased the land, or was given it by her father. David Williamson arrived from Manorhamilton in Ireland. On July 1, 1874, he was appointed town clerk, treasurer and rate receiver for the Council of the Borough of Bathurst, and in February 1877 was appointed an alderman for the Macquarie Ward of Bathurst Municipal Council. In October that same year he contested the seat of Bathurst, but was defeated by Francis Bathurst Suttor.

There was a house on the land at this time, with a mortgage to The Bathurst Starr Bowkett Benefit Building Society, most likely the first one established in Bathurst in 1870. On September 5, 1874, the Williamsons sold to Joseph Bullock, who sold it to John Willis on September 9, 1881.

On November 18, 1882, Louisa Hynds, wife of William Hynds, purchased the property at auction, but it wasn’t until January 2, 1883 that the land was legally transferred to Louisa by way of John McPhillamy as trustee.

Following Louisa’s death in March 1883, William Henry Paul and Francis Benedict Kenny, executors, transferred the land to John Benjamin Hynds, who sold it on November 20, 1893 to Mary Anne Fitzpatrick, wife of James Fitzpatrick, hotel-keeper.

On December 1, 1902, Mary Anne sold to Frederic Richard Jones, a builder. She had a mortgage of £200 to the Starr Bowkett Building Society, of which she still owed £61/4/- , so Jones paid the £61/4/- to the Society, plus £204/16/- to Mary Anne. Jones subsequently sold to Walter Bailey on March 10, 1938 for £400.

Bailey rented the house to Robert Coles and his family, who then purchased the property from Bailey for £250 at the rate of £4 per week. Original receipt books are still in existence for these regular weekly payments, the money being delivered to Mr Bailey at his home at 143 Havannah Street.

The debt was paid in full by 1948, when it was transferred into the name of Robert Cole by Winnie Rebecca Bailey, widow of Walter, and William Walter Westerby Bailey, his son, as executors of the estate of Walter Bailey.

Following the death of Robert Coles, the house was transferred by his administrator, Clive Alexander Coles, to Mrs Nancy Peers, daughter of Robert and Isabella Coles. Nancy and her siblings had grown up in the house, and remembers the times when her father and other railway workers were working on the bridges out west. The wives of the workers packed food in tucker boxes and delivered them to the train each day which took them to the men. The men would return the empty tucker boxes on the night train for them to be refilled.

The National Trust acknowledges Mrs Peers for her care of this property. It has an important social history as well as being an integral part of the area’s streetscape.