Bathurst Agricultural Horticultural & Pastoral Association

About

For 200 years, since 1815, agriculture has been a key part of our region's life and development. The pursuit of excellence has always been a primary objective and the desire to create competitions and expositions to promote that objective have been evident in the region since the early 1850's. The Bathurst A,H&P Assoc. and its forebears have been actively pursuing the development of our rural life and industry since 1858. Like rural life through history we have had our ups and downs. Despite this the BAH&PA through its governing body the Show Council remains committed to our objectives, traditions and the pursuit of excellence. The Bathurst AH & P Association’s history can be traced back to 1855 when the first attempt to establish an Agricultural Association took place. An Agricultural Association didn’t really start to flourish however until 1860 when the “O’Connell and Macquarie Plains, Campbell and Fish River Agricultural Association” was formed and later in April 1860 held the first show at O’Connell. Subsequent shows were held at Raglan, “Alloway Banks”, George Park (the location of the racecourse in the day) and finally at the current site from 1878 on. The Bathurst Agricultural Horticultural & Pastoral Association was formed in 1862 as the result of a merger between the O’Connell Association and some influential citizens of Bathurst and vicinity. The first Show under its auspices was held in 1863. However it is unclear what name was used by the Association in the years 1863 – 1867 but in 1868 it was clearly named as the Bathurst Agricultural Horticultural & Pastoral Association in the newspapers of the day. 2010 marked the 150th year of Shows in our district – not the Association’s 150th Show – this distinction must be clearly made – meaning that there is a very long tradition in the pursuit of agricultural excellence in the Bathurst community.