Wellington was settled in the 1823 by Lieutenant Percy Simpson in early 1823 as a convict settlement. Farmers started settling along the Macquarie Valley. The convict settlement closed in 1831. In 1832 a Christian mission was started in the settlement for the Aborigines. A village called Montefiores was started on the north side of the Macquarie River crossing. The village of Wellington was officially listed in 1846 and was made a town in 1879. Wellington Shire Council was started in 1947.