Come By Chance, New South Wales
Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Australian place
Come By Chance is a locality in the Pilliga district of northern New South Wales, Australia. It is located about Template:Convert north of Coonabarabran. It is in the Walgett Shire. At the 2006 census, Come By Chance had a population of 187.<ref name=Census2006Y>Template:Census 2006 AUS</ref> By the time of the 2016 census this had fallen to 125.<ref name=Census2016Y>Template:Census 2016 AUS</ref>
History
Come By Chance is located on the lands of the Ngiyampaa nation.
George and William Colless purchased a sheep station in the area in 1862, naming it "Come by Chance" to reflect their surprise at being able to make such a purchase in this area. The town was later named after this property.<ref>Template:NSW GNR</ref> It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Events
Each year it attracts several thousand spectators to the Come-By-Chance Picnic Race Meeting.
In popular culture
The town features in Banjo Paterson's wistful ballad Come-by-Chance:
But my languid mood forsook me, when I found a name that took me,
Quite by chance I came across it — `Come-by-Chance' was what I read;
No location was assigned it, not a thing to help one find it,
Just an N which stood for northward, and the rest was all unsaid.
References
External links
- Come-by-Chance - e-text of ballad