Bathurst, city, New South Wales, south-eastern Australia, situated west of the Blue Mountains on the Macquarie River, and at the end of the Great Western Highway from Sydney. Bathurst is the service centre for a large agricultural district that produces sheep, grain, timber, fruit, and vegetables. Bathurst also has a varied industrial base, including engineering, plastics, vegetable-canning, fish-processing, ceramics, and furniture factories. Australia's oldest European inland settlement, Bathurst was founded in 1815 and named after the then British secretary of state for the colonies, the 3rd Earl of Bathurst. At that time the area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri Aborigines, who resisted the colonial invasion for many years. Bathurst's main growth was started by its proximity to the site of Australia's first gold rush, which began in 1851. Its population expanded swiftly thereafter, and in 1885 Bathurst was declared a city. Bathurst has both Roman Catholic and Anglican cathedrals and Charles Sturt University, founded in 1989 when Mitchell College of Advanced Education and Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education combined. The scenic drive from Bathurst round Mount Panorama is famous and forms part of an important motor-racing circuit. The former Australian prime minister Joseph Chifley was born in Bathurst in 1885. Population (1991 estimate) 27,207.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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