We have no definite answer to this question. However, we do know that Acting Governor, Francis Grose, awarded land grants in the area to both non-commissioned soldiers and the free settlers in 1793. The colony’s Judge Advocate, Judge Advocate David Collins, in his account of the grants, recorded at the time that the settlers, “occupied a district to be distinguished in the future, by the name of Concord”.
One suggestion has been that as the word “concord” means peace or harmony, the name expressed a hope that both the soldiers and free settlers would live together in harmony. This seems unlikely, as relations between the groups were not at all harmonious. Free settlers resented the many privileges soldiers enjoyed.
Horne(n.d.) disagrees with this reason and suggested that the name commemorates the first skirmish in the American Civil War, when British troops marched on the village of Concord to destroy an armament stockpile. Grose, a stern military man served in the Royalist army and fought that battle in the American War of Independence.
As colonies were opened up, it was constantly necessary to name new settlements and it was common to commemorate famous battles, familiar places at home, famous people or anything significant about the area. Both the Acting Governor, Francis Grose, and the colony’s Judge Advocate David Collins had fought in the American War of Independence, only twenty years earlier and the name “Concord” would have been familiar to both of them.
Bibliography
Coupe, S. (1983). Concord: A centenary history; The Council of the Municipality of Concord.
Shaw, George, M. & Mackaness, George, 1882-1968. (1933). Concord jubilee, 1883-1933 : a history of the Municipality of Concord / compiled by Geo. M. Shaw. Sydney : Canberra Press
Wallace, C.F. (1970). A history of Concord, compiled by Clarrie Wallace. [Concord, N.S.W.] : Concord Historical Society
Horne, P. (n.d.) Concord – A Link with the Past.
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Shaw, George, M. & Mackaness, George, 1882-1968. (1933). Concord jubilee, 1883-1933 : a history of the Municipality of Concord / compiled by Geo. M. Shaw. Sydney : Canberra Press
Hillary Morrissey
