Bookham

The village of Bookham was named by Lady Jane Franklin, wife of the Governor of Van Diemens Land, Sir John Franklin whilst travelling overland from Melbourne to Sydney in 1839. Lady Jane Franklin stayed at an inn, which has since been demolished. Her diaries provide a personal record of the area and its people at the time. Formerly know as Bogolong, the grazing lands of the area were much sought after by the early pioneers. Inspiration for ﾓBanjo Paterson’s classic poem ﾓOld Pardon the Son of Reprieveﾔ, came from his childhood memories of races on the Bogalong Racetrack, which today is an open paddock a short distance from the village. Close by is the site of Julian’s old home, where bushrangers often sought or demanded food and shelter during that romantic and dangerous period of the 1860”s. There are still two fine churches constructed of locally quarried granite still in the village of Bookham. They are the Uniting Church (c1926) and the Catholic Church, St Columbas (c1910).