The Wilson's historical connections

Born near Aberdeen in Scotland, William and Jane Wilson arrived in the NSW colony in 1833. They sailed north from Sydney, arriving in Ballina in 1844.

By January 1845, the Wilsons had taken over a 23,000 acre sheep station on the north arm of the Richmond River. They named it Lismore after a small island in Loch Linnhe in the Scottish highlands.

They built a house at the far northern corner of the sheep station, to the east of the junction of Leycester and Wilson Creeks. A second house was built in 1851 near the corner of Ballina and Molesworth Streets. It was known as 'Lismore House'.

Neither homestead exists nowadays, but today, the Wilson Motel carries on the name and memory of the spacious hospitality provided by the original homesteads.