Riverina Rewind: Should we call that overhead rail bridge in Wagga Best or Edmondson?

In a story last week on the fate of Wagga’s derelict Best Street Gatekeeper’s Cottage, I referred in one instance to the overhead rail bridge near Mount Erin as the Edmondson Street Bridge.

As one reader pointed out (with great exasperation) it was originally known as the Best Street Bridge and, while it has more recently been described as the Edmondson Street Bridge, the name was never officially changed.

Early newspaper reports from last century use ‘Best Street’ while all official documentation in recent years from ARTC, Inland Rail, Wagga Wagga City Council and the NSW Government refer to ‘Edmondson’.

Whatever you call it, the bridge that opened in 1925 will soon be demolished to make way for a new, taller structure that will accommodate double-stacked freight trains and is referred to in Inland Rail planning documents as the Edmondson Street Bridge.

So why the confusion, and what should the bridge be named?

The overhead rail bridge marks the transition point between Best Street in the old South Wagga precinct and Edmondson Street that runs along the front of Mount Erin convent and was a later addition as ‘new’ suburbs such as Turvey Park began to take shape.

Best Street was named after Robert Holt Best who lived on the original ‘Wogo Wogo’ run and is often described as the first settler in Wagga.

The Bests were certainly the first Europeans to lay claim to Crown land south of the river and it was Robert’s brother William who is first documented to have ‘squatted’ on the land in 1832 and later took up the licence to lawfully depasture (graze) on the run.

Robert oversaw the running of the property and the settlers were in frequent conflict with the local Wiradjuri who had been displaced and took out their anger on the herds.

In 1846, Robert moved his family to the area from Sydney and settled at Flowerdale near the Horseshoe Lagoon. The Best Family Cemetery remains at Ashmont and is one of the oldest colonial monuments in the region.

Best Street was part of the ‘Newtown’ subdivision south of Wollundry Lagoon that was surveyed in 1858, just three years after Robert’s death in a riding accident in 1855.

You can read more about the Best Family in an excellent article by Wagga Wagga and District Historical Society President Geoff Burch.

The origins of Edmondson Street are much more recent and it was named in honour of Corporal John Hurst Edmondson who was killed in World War II and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

Best Street had originally terminated in a close on the southern side of the tracks near the gatekeeper’s cottage. When the new overhead bridge was proposed to replace the dangerous level crossings in the 1920s, land was resumed from the Catholic Church and a dirt track was overhauled to link Sturt and Coleman streets.

This was originally named Best Street South, but in 1945 the Wagga Wagga Municipal Council proposed it be renamed in honour of “Wagga’s native-born Victoria Cross winner”.

Originally from Wagga, ‘Jack’ Edmondson was 26 years old when he was killed at Tobruk in North Africa in April 1941.

He was the first Australian of the war to be awarded the VC and the citation submitted by his commanding officer vividly captured his bravery and sacrifice.

“On the night of 13-14 April, a party of German infantry broke through the wire defences at Tobruk and established itself with at least six machine guns, mortars and two small field pieces,” it reads.

“It was decided to attack the party with bayonets, and a party consisting of one officer, Corporal Edmondson, and five privates took part In the charge.

“During the counterattack, Corporal Edmondson was wounded in the neck and stomach but continued to advance under heavy fire and killed one of the enemy with his bayonet.

“Later his officer had his bayonet in one enemy and was grasped about the leg by him when another attacked him from behind.

“He called for help and Corporal Edmondson, who was some yards away, immediately came to his assistance and, in spite of his wounds, killed both of the enemy.

“His action undoubtedly saved his officer’s life. Shortly afterwards, returning from this successful counterattack, Corporal Edmondson died of his wounds.”

So – after whom should we name the rebuilt bridge at the point where Best and Edmondson meet? The squatter or the war hero? Or is there another name we should consider?