Yass

Distinguished and Famous people from Yass

🧭 Hamilton Hume

Explorer Hamilton Hume made Yass his home after years of overland journeys. In 1839 he bought Cooma Cottage and its surrounding hundred acres for £601, then spent roughly twenty years extending the house. His additions included Palladian-style wings and a Greek Revival portico: retirement clearly left room for a substantial building project. He lived there with his wife Elizabeth until his death in 1873. Hume had travelled through the Yass plains in 1821 and co-led the 1824 expedition to Port Phillip with William Hovell. He and Elizabeth are buried in Yass, completing a long association with the district.

🐑 Sir Walter Merriman

Sir Walter Merriman was born at Yass in 1882 and educated at Murrumbateman Public School. In 1903 he established the Merryville merino stud using sheep acquired from his father, helping build a fine-wool breeding enterprise. A ram’s wool won an open-class prize at the 1904 Yass Show and went on to collect eleven more firsts. Merriman’s interests were not confined to fleece: he enjoyed sport, roses and collecting early Holdens. His later family company held properties around Yass and Boorowa. He died at Yass in 1972 and was buried at Murrumbateman, remaining closely connected to the district throughout his life.

🤝 Aunty Violet Bulger

Aunty Violet Bulger lived at Oak Hill near Yass and later at Hollywood Reserve, raising her family while working in domestic service and helping women through childbirth. Forcibly removed from her family as a child, she later learned midwifery from her mother and used it to assist women who faced restricted access to maternity hospitals. After her husband died, authorities forced her from the Yass reserve as a single mother. She rebuilt family life at Oak Hill and went on to raise grandchildren as well as her own children. Her standing as an elder grew from sustained practical care through circumstances that repeatedly made that care more difficult.