Henry Angel Trackhead

23 May

Closest Town: Tumbarumba

Toilets: Yes

Water: Yes, tank (plus hot water from the hand basin!)

Includes: Electric BBQ’s, campsites and covered seating areas

Cost: Free, no booking required

Access: Henry Angel Trackhead / accessed off Tooma Road, 8kms south-east of Tumbarumba. The Hume and Hovell Track crosses Tooma Road at Henry Angel Trackhead.

The southernmost Trackhead on the Hume and Hovell Track, Henry Angel is only 8kms from Tumbarumba via the Tooma Road. It has plenty of camping space by the Burra Creek. Please note, this campsite has been impacted by flooding during current the La Nina rain events and there may be high water levels surrounding the campsite and soft grounds when camping , you will need to be prepared for wet conditions.

This trackhead is named after Henry Angel, one of Hume’s assigned convicts. Angel continued to work for Hume and accompanied him and Charles Sturt on the 1828-29 expedition to the Darling River. As the servant/ master relationship fell away and was replaced by friendship, Hume helped Angel get his ticket-of-leave in 1832 and subsequently his conditional pardon. Angel took up a block of land on the Illawarra Coast. In 1834 he married a widow, Mary Ledwidge, and they had 16 children. Later he took up ‘Wardry’, a block on the lower Murrumbidgee River near Hay. This is now called “Uardry” and was the home of the famous Peppin Merino stud. Following Hume’s lead, Angel learnt to converse with the Indigenous Peoples, offering friendship and assistance. In 1866 he purchased land near Wagga Wagga where he became a respected and wealthy citizen. He died in 1881, aged 91.