Rylstone, New South Wales

Rylstone New South Wales
St Malachy's Church Rylstone
Rylstone
Coordinates	33°48′S 149°58′E / 33.800°S 149.967°E / -33.800; 149.967Coordinates: 33°48′S 149°58′E / 33.800°S 149.967°E / -33.800; 149.967
Population	615 (2006 census)
Postcode(s)	2849
Elevation	582 m (1,909 ft)
Location	241 km (150 mi) NW of Sydney 99 km (62 mi) NE of Bathurst 97 km (60 mi) N of Lithgow 54 km (34 mi) SE of Mudgee 7 km (4 mi) N of Kandos
LGA(s)	Mid-Western Regional Council
State electorate(s)	Bathurst
Federal Division(s)	Hunter
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 23.0 °C 73 °F 8.3 °C 47 °F 675 mm 26.6 in

Rylstone is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in the Central Tablelands region within the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area. It is located on the Bylong Valley Way road route. At the 2006 census, Rylstone had a population of 615 people.

The name 'Rylstone' has no clear origin; however, several possible origins are promoted.

A petition was sent to Governor Gipps asking for a village to be called Tong Bong to be established at the present site of Rylstone. Governor Gipps granted permission for the village to be surveyed but he insisted that the village be called Rylstone and not Tong Bong. There is no evidence of any connection between Governor Gipps and the English village of Rylstone.

Early maps spell Rylstone as Rylestone.

Several early explorers and settler explorers travelled this area in the early 1800s; they include Samuel Marsden, Macquarie, Edward Cox, James Blackman Jr., Jamison, FitzGerald, John Nevell and James Vincent. Several mountains in the area commemorate their journeys through the Glen Alice Valley and up the Turon River. James Blackman jnr. explored a route from Bathurst to the Cudgegong River and present site of Rylstone in 1820.Allan Cunningham, the botanist and explorer, on his first expedition to find a route from Bathurst to the Liverpool Plains noted in his diary in November 1822 being in the Tabrabucka area and on the second expedition 18 April 1823 passing through Dabee (now Rylstone).

The district was originally known as Dabee (under various spellings). There are many contemporary newspaper references to the town being referred to as Ryalston in the period 1846 to mid-1850s then referred to as Ryalstone during the late 1850s. Rylstone town was laid out in 1846 by surveyor Davidson. By the 1850s Rylstone was becoming a well established town with post office, hotels, school, mills, and police lock-up. The Rylstone district was declared as a police district in 1854. Rylstone was formally proclaimed a town on 20 March 1885.