Another place another time ……..
The modern town of Glossodia numbering almost 2,500 people in 2008 is a world away form the Wilberforce Labour Settlement known known as the Copeland Village which was established in a collection of tents on the banks of the Currency Creek in 1893.
The Labour Settlement movement was seen as a failure at the time but the dozens of individuals and families who made a success of living on the land through such difficult times were able to forge a strong community which may have had their differences but still worked towards establishing much needed basic services such as public school, post office, telephone, electricity, fire brigade.
The 1970s brought immense changes to the district as large tracts of land in the Golden Valley and Spinks Road were opened up for urban subdivision. The district would never be the same again and in the early 1990s the school was moved to a location in the midst of the new centre of population.
The old Currency Creek and Glossodia, a farming community made up of men and women making a living from the land is gone forever, but the courage and determination of those first settlers must not be forgotten and is celebrated and remembered by the publication of this book.
Cathy McHardy
March 2009