Werai

Railway, farms and the name Meryla

The locality’s earlier name connects it with a wider landscape. In a Society research presentation Philip Morton explained that Meryla was applied to a mountain, creek, valley and pass, and to a railway siding later renamed Werai. He drew on records in the Society’s collection and the work of Rachel Roxburgh and Janet Cosh.^[5]

The railway from Moss Vale towards Marulan opened in 1868, with Werai the first stop after Moss Vale in the historical account prepared for the Australian Rail Track Corporation. The same assessment dates the surviving gatehouse to 1867. A gatekeeper’s residence belonged to the working infrastructure of a railway crossing, a reminder that the line relied on people living beside it as well as trains passing through.^[4]

Werai’s passenger platform operated from 1883 until 1969. Its history therefore spans both the single-line railway and the later period of duplication. The gatehouse survives as a recognised local heritage place. It is a separate building from the former passenger facilities; researchers should distinguish the dates of each rather than use one opening date for everything at the site.^[4]

A striking sale poster promoted a proposed Village of Meryla beside the railway platform, with a dense grid of streets and lots and the promise of a southern health resort. The platform was later called Werai. The poster gives Saturday 16 December without a year; its design shows what promoters offered, not that all the streets or buildings were constructed. Comparing the proposal with parish maps, deposited plans and later aerial photographs can reveal what changed.^[7]

Schools and farming families

Werai also had a small school. The NSW education history records a provisional school from January 1912 to January 1915, followed by a half-time school partnered with Elmwood until July 1918. The changing classification is useful when looking for school records; consult the original education files for pupils, teachers and the precise school site.^[6]

A later, separate school served farming families in eastern Werai. Former pupil Kathleen Pearce recalls that neighbours built Lutwyche Public School from bush-cut timber and corrugated iron on land donated by Steve Garbutt. It opened in 1943 with retired teacher John Caradice, who painted maps on its walls and floor for lessons. Pearce describes children walking to school, community maintenance and the school’s closure at the end of 1948. Her recollection is a starting point for checking the school’s official records and site.^[8]

A July 1923 Southern Mail property-sales report records agent N. T. Cox and Co. reporting sales of a 114-acre Werai property for M. A. Clout to W. J. Sheil, and another 580 acres near Werai for W. E. Hore to J. McFarlane. These reported transactions offer names and dates for further title research; the newspaper does not identify the surveyed boundaries in this account.^[9]