Coranderrk was an Indigenous Australian mission station set up in 1863 to provide land under the policy of concentration, for Aboriginal people who had been dispossessed by the arrival of Europeans to the state of Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 30 years prior. The mission was formally closed in 1924 with most residents removed to Lake Tyers Mission. Five older people refused to move and continued living there until they died. James Wandin

James Wandin

James Wandin , also known as Jim, Jimmy, or Juby, was the ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri till his death in February 2006...

 was the last person born at Coranderrk Station, in 1933, in the home of his grandmother, Jemima Wandin.

Settlement

In February 1859 some Wurundjeri

Wurundjeri

The Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...

 elders, led by Simon Wonga

Simon Wonga

Simon Wonga ngurungaeta and son of Billibellary, was an elder of the Wurundjeri indigenous people who lived in the Melbourne area of Australia.In 1840 Simon Wonga injured his foot in the Dandenongs...

 (aged 35) and brother Tommy Munnering (aged 24) petitioned Protector William Thomas

William Thomas (Australian settler)

William Thomas represented Aboriginal people in various roles in the Port Phillip district during his lifetime.-Various official roles:...

 to secure land for the Kulin

Kulin

The Kulin nation, was an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations in Central Victoria, Australia, prior to European settlement. Their collective territory extended to around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys. To their...

 at the junction of the Acheron and Goulburn rivers. Initial representations to the Victorian Government were positive, however the intervention of the most powerful squatter in Victoria, Hugh Glass, resulted in their removal to a colder site, Mohican Station, which was not suitable for agricultural land and had to be abandoned.

In March 1862 after three years of upheaval, the surviving leaders, among them Simon Wonga and William Barak

William Barak

William Barak , was the last traditional ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, based around the area of present-day Melbourne, Australia...

, led forty Wurundjeri, Taungurong (Goulburn River) and Bun warrung

Bunurong

The Bunurong are Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation, who occupy South-Central Victoria, Australia. Prior to European settlement, they lived as all people of the Kulin nation lived, sustainably on the land, predominantly as hunters and gatherers, for tens of thousands of years...

 people over the Black Spur

Black Spur

The Black Spur is a road between the towns of Healesville and Marysville in Victoria, Australia.-Statistics:* Length : 30* Corner Ratio: 80%* Corner Speeds: 60-120 km/h* Legal Speed Limit: 80 km/h* Traffic : 2-5* Bumpiness: Smooth...

 and squatted on a traditional camping site on Badger Creek near Healesville and requested ownership of the site. They were anxious to have the land officially approved so that they could move down and establish themselves. An area of 9.6 km² was gazetted on 30 June 1863, and called 'Coranderrk', at the Aboriginal people’s suggestion. This was the name they used for the Christmas Bush (Prostanthera lasianthos

Prostanthera lasianthos

Prostanthera lasianthos is a large shrub or small tree which is native to Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania in Australia....

), a white flowering summer plant which is indigenous to the area.

Coranderrk Station ran quite successfully for many years as an aboriginal enterprise selling wheat, hops and crafts to the growing market of Melbourne.. The produce from the farm won first prize at the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1872.

By 1874 the Aboriginal Protection Board

Aboriginal Protection Board

There was an Aboriginal Protection Board in a number of Australian States with the function of "protecting" and regulating the lives of Indigenous Australians. They were also responsible for administering the various Half-caste acts where these existed and had a key role in the Stolen generations...

 (APB) were looking at ways to undermine Coranderrk by moving people away due to their successful farming practices. The general community also wanted the mission closed as the land was too valuable for Aboriginal people.

A Royal Commission in 1877 and a Parliamentary Inquiry in 1881 on the Aboriginal 'problem' produced the Aborigines Protection Act 1886, which required 'half-castes under the age of 35' to leave, meaning around 60 residents were ejected from Coranderrk on the eve of the 1890s Depression. This made Coranderrk a non-viable enterprise, as it left only around 15 able-bodied men to work the previously successful hop gardens. Almost half the land was resumed in 1893; and by 1924 orders came for its closure as an Aboriginal Station, despite protests from Wurundjeri returned servicemen who had fought in World War I. Many people were relocated to Lake Tyers in Gippsland

Gippsland

Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...

 though a few people did refuse to move.

In 1920, Sir Colin MacKenzie

William Colin Mackenzie

Sir William Colin Mackenzie , usually known as Colin Mackenzie, was an Australian anatomist, benefactor, museum administrator and director. He was best known for creating the Healesville Sanctuary.-Early life:...

, a leading medical researcher, leased 78 acres (315,655.1 m²) from the Aboriginal Protection Board to begin his work in comparative anatomy with Australian fauna. This was the catalyst for the creation of the Healesville Sanctuary

Healesville Sanctuary

Healesville Sanctuary, or the Sir Colin MacKenzie Fauna Park, is a zoo specializing in native Australian animals. It is located at Healesville in rural Victoria, Australia, and has a history of breeding native animals. It is one of only two places to have successfully bred a platypus, the other...

.

Coranderrk eventually became unoccupied, and in 1950 the land was handed over to the Soldier Settlement Scheme.

Many Aboriginal families remain around the Upper Yarra and Healesville area. In March 1998 part of the Coranderrk Aboriginal Station was returned to the Wurundjeri Tribe Land Compensation and Cultural Heritage Council

Wurundjeri Tribe Land Compensation and Cultural Heritage Council

The Wurundjeri Tribe Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council was established in 1985 by descendants of the Wurundjeri people who are the traditional owners of the country around Melbourne...

when the Indigenous Land Corporation purchased 0.81 km².