Somerton

Somerton is a village between Tamworth and Gunnedah on the Oxley Highway in northern New South Wales Australia.

Somerton is a village between Tamworth and Gunnedah on the Oxley Highway in northern New South Wales Australia.In the 2016 census, there were 277 people in Somerton. Somerton Village adjoins the plentiful Peel River.

The area surrounding Somerton is an agricultural region specialising in broad-acre cropping and large scale grazing. Lucerne is grown along the fertile Peel River flats.

Services available in Somerton include a primary school, roadhouse, hotel and memorial hall. Somerton is located close to a number of key employment hubs in the New England region, including the regional cities of Tamworth and Gunnedah.

Initially known as Goora, the town of Somerton has a rich history, founded on the wealth of the Liverpool Plains. Somerton stands alone in the area as being a very old settlement, chosen by the first Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Liverpool Plains - Edward Mayne - as the headquarters for the vast Liverpool Plains Pastoral District in 1840. Somerton was established as the barracks for Commissioner Mayne and his contingent of Border Police troopers assigned to him to maintain order and consolidate British colonisation over the vast north western district. On 6 May 1856 notice was given that approved plans for the town of Somerton had been lodged in Tamworth, and the village of Somerton was officially divided into streets and town allotments in 1858.

In the early 1900s, Somerton had two general stores, one operating as a general store and post office, and the other - on Bloomfield Street - operating as David Heugh General Stores. David Heugh, born 21 May 1890, was an ambitious and optimistic young man, with consistent marketing of his wares published in local newspapers. On 31 December 1912, Heugh suffered a serious set-back in business, when his general store burnt out completely - which was found through a Coronial Inquiry to have occurred through no fault of his own. On 22 February 1913, Heugh used newspaper advertising to optimistically notify his patrons that a new store was under construction, and he would temporarily trade from his previous premises while the new store was built. After establishing the Somerton Sports Club in 1913, and registering a company David Heugh Pty Ltd in 1914, Heugh left the new general store in the responsibility of his brother, Blandford Heugh, and enlisted in the Army on 13 September 1914. David Heugh was the first person from the New England region to lose his life in Gallipoli, passing on 29 April 1915.The AIF Project also provides detailed insights into the following men of Somerton that served at war: