Local Attractions
Bushranger Ben Hall and Kate Kelly (Ned's sister) are both buried here and Frank Gardiner staged New South Wales's only gold escort robbery east of the town. Today, Forbes is a prosperous farming town.
Our Local Highlights
- Forbes Township: Forbes is a substantial rural settlement of some 10,.000 people on the Lachlan River. It is 245 m above sea-level and 387 km west of Sydney on the Newell Highway between West Wyalong and Parkes.
Forbes has some fine parks and gardens associated with a large lagoon known as Lake Forbes which bisects the town. The rural economy is based around a major saleyards complex, feed lots, beef and hay exports, wool, wheat, grain seed crops, oil seed crops, fruit and vegetables.
- Ben Hall Bushranger: Ben Hall was born in Breeza, NSW in 1837. He was the son of ex-convicts, though there is no official record of his birth. At first Hall was a stockman, leasing land at Sandy Creek. In 1856 he married Bridget Walsh, but in 1860 she left him, taking with her his infant son. In 1862 he was arrested for armed robbery, but was acquitted. He was then detained for having a share of the Eugowra gold escort robbery.
He was not committed for trial but upon his return to his farm he found that all his animals had been killed and his home burnt down. Hall then joined John Gilbert and became the leader of a gang of bushrangers. Hall's men were well led, well armed and their stolen race horses easily outraced the poorer police horses. In October 1863 they made a daring raid on Bathurst and in 1864 they concentrated on the Sydney-Melbourne road south of Goulburn.
Following the shooting of two police constables by the gang, a reward of 1,000 pounds was offered on Hall's head. Betrayed by an informer, Hall was ambushed on 5 May 1865 and shot by police near Goobang Creek on the Lachlan Plain. His body, riddled with gunshot wounds, was buried in Forbes Cemetary. He was 27. His funeral was well attended for his reckless courage, courtesy to women, sense of humour and hatred of informers had won him much public sympathy.