Gundagai, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Gundagai is a town in New South Wales
, Australia
. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon
of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River
and Muniong, Honeysuckle, Kimo, Mooney Mooney, Murrumbidgee and Tumut mountain ranges, Gundagai is 390 kilometres (242.3 mi) south-west of Sydney
, the state capital and largest city in Australia. Gundagai is part of the Gundagai Shire Council
Local Government Area. At the 2006 census the population of Gundagai was 1,998. The town's population was 1,997 in 2001 and 2,064 in 1996.
used in Australia in relation to Indigenous Australian
affairs.
The Gundagai area is part of the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri
speaking people before and post Europe
an settlement, and also holds national significance to Indigenous Australians
. The floodplains of the Murrumbidgee below the present town of Gundagai were a frequent meeting place of the Wiradjuri
. One indication of the ancient, sacred
cultural landscape
that is North Gundagai is the bora ring that has been identified close to town.
The location of Gundagai on a sizeable prehistoric highway, (the Murrumbidgee River), along with the significant and sacred Aboriginal ceremonial ground across all of North Gundagai, and other ancient archaeology, indicates it would have been an important ceremonial, mining, manufacturing and trading place for Aboriginal people before the arrival of the Europeans. As with all ancient sacred places, particularly within still continuing Australian Aboriginal culture, the sacredness of Gundagai's amazing Australian Aboriginal cultural landscape
continues despite colonial and later intrusion.
Gundagai Aboriginal Elders, Jimmy Clements
and John Noble, attended the 1927 opening of the new Federal Parliament House in Canberra by the Duke of York
. Jimmy Clements also known as King Billy whose traditional name was 'Yangar', walked forward to respectfully salute the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI of the United Kingdom
and Elizabeth the Queen), and after that the two Elders were formally presented to the Royal couple as prominent citizens of Australia.
of West Australia, Lieutenant General
John Sanderson
; and current Australian business leaders, met at a remote property on the Murrumbidgee River
near Gundagai in September 2008 on the first stages of an Australian Dialogue to promote constitutional reform and structural change for Indigenous Australian
people. Galarrwuy Yunupingu
, Northern Territory
Indigenous leader, could not be at the gathering of esteemed senior Australians but was kept informed of the progress of talks.
agricultural region. The eastern part of the shire is considered part of the South Eastern Highlands bioregion.
The first moves to establish 'Gundagai' as a township were in 1838 with plans for the new settlement of Gundagae on the Murrumbidgee, about 54 miles beyond Yass ... advertised for viewing at the office of the Surveyor-General in Sydney.
The Shire has been extensively cleared for agriculture and more than 80% of the area is used for dryland cropping
and grazing. Less than 1% of the shire is managed for conservation. There are few remaining examples of the original vegetation cover.
Gundagai is a primarily rural shire with a small population. Eighty per cent of the shire's population live in the town of Gundagai. There are four villages in the Shire: Coolac
, Tumblong
, Muttama
and Nangus
, with populations ranging from 40 to 90 people.
on Saturday 21 December 1844. In 1859 the 'Aurora Australis' interfered with the operation of the Gundagai electric telegraph
. So great can be some rainfall downpours at Gundagai that old mining dams have been known to fill and burst.A meteor
seen at Gundagai on New Year's Day, 1876 was reported to have lit up the streets as though with magnesium
wire, and over four inches of rain fell in two hours during a dreadful storm at Gundagai in 1885. Very deep snowfalls and severe weather were experienced in 1899.
Similar to other inland areas in Australia, the Gundagai area has often been visited by tornadoes, particularly in dry times. There has also been numerous reports of earth tremors rattling through Gundagai since European settlement.
near Gundagai in 1876, an electric fire-ball
was seen to issue from the clouds, strike the earth, and explode with a loud noise, singeing Constable Macalister’s hair and whiskers, and leaving a blue mark on his side. A terrific thunderstorm at Gundagai in March 1877 set fire to the inside of Armour's house. In November, 1899, a man named Caigan was stuck by lightning
and killed as he sheltered in a hollow log. A boy, Patrick Vaughan, was struck by lightning in October 1904 and rendered unconscious
for a long time. Two horses were struck by lightning
in 1904 and one horse died. A few weeks later two boys were struck by lightning as they hid under a bullock hide strung over a wire fence. The electric charge travelled along the fence wire. In 1938 two dead drovers
were found under a tree south of Gundagai, again the victims of lightning. Lightning killed a horse in 1946 but the rider escaped with her life though somewhat injured. A bushfire that caused a lot of damage was started near Gundagai in February 1906 after lightning hit a tree. John Bloomquist,who was camped in a hollow tree on the Gundagai Golf links, was horribly burned and died when the tree was struck by lightning in 1932. There has been other victims of lightning in the Gundagai area due to the ferocity of thunderstorms that can happen locally.
or good bird. In that context 'Gundagai' means place of birds but that placename may refer to the area to the north of Gundagai not to Gundagai town. The word 'Gundagai' is also said to mean cut with a hand-axe behind the knee. Combining the two meanings results in the place of birds near where there is a large bend in the Murrumbidgee River that was caused by a cut in the back of the knee. This meaning presupposes that for there to be a knee there is a leg and a body which there is.
There is a large anthropomorphic figure in the landscape at Gundagai. The figure
has a kangaroo or dog like head and is several kilometres in length. It has hindquarters similar to that of an emu but with a long tail and it appears to be sitting on a bend in the river that has a box shape . The image faces to the west and its head is near the Dog on the Tuckerbox
area at Gundagai. This primary landscape figure marked out by the course of the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai, is replicated in some Sydney Rock Engravings
and recorded in local Aboriginal cultural heritage. The 'Gundagai' placename meaning further refers to the reason for the bend in the Murrumbidgee River
near the Gundagai showground at Gundagai and to the mythological landscape epic
at Gundagai. Bunyips, understood to be where streams flood out of their usual channel in wet seasons flooding surrounding land but also drowning anyone caught on the wrong side of them, are recorded on the Gundagai floodplain; opposite 'Kimo'; and at the junction of the Tumut and Murrumbidgee rivers. The Kimo bunyip is really interesting as it is accompanied by a large slash in the earth's mantle out of which the 'Jindalee Volcanics' extruded.
The area is also identified as Jones Creek diorite
. 'Kimo' is 'Mt Kimo', named for one of the Nereids
, (Nereids
, Cymatolege or 'Kymo'), that occupies the midpoint of the 'Kimo Range', facing Gundagai High School. 'Kimo' is also known as Nargun
. Charles Sturt in Chapter Two of his Murrumbidgee exploration journal, likened the 'verdant' Gundagai valley as having Diana
of Nemi
site parallels as recorded in James George Frazer's 'The Golden Bough
', when Sturt journeyed through the Gundagai area in 1829-1830. Mount Minerva
is the old name for what today is the hill known as 'Minjary'. Oak groves and muses featured in some succeeding cultural depictions of Gundagai no doubt assigned by early settlers who had received the benefits of an education in the classics
, such as Charles Tompson
, claimed to be Australia's first published native-born poet and whose father had possession of a large tract of land at Gundagai in the 1830s; and James Macarthur son of John Macarthur
, Australian wool pioneer, who met up with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Europe
and who with his brother William Macarthur
had possession of Nangus Station at Nangus, Gundagai. Goethe was one of the key figures of Classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. One pastoral holding on the western side of North Gundagai was named 'Jarno'. Jarno is a character in Goethe's, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
, a German response to the dramas of William Shakespeare
. Gundagai also has a 'Shakespeare Terrace' that runs along the Murrumbidgee floodplain below the town that may or may not refer to the amazing grand theatre corroboree
s that happened in that area, eagerly shared in the 1830s for the benefit of overlanders and travellers; or in reference to several or all works of Shakespeare. Placenames such as that of Virgil
Street that ascends Gundagai's Mount Parnassus
lead to sites in the local landscape that for example invoke Virgil
's 'Aeneid
', viz ... there the fearsome cavern of the awesome Sybil
lies, Whence came her prophecies. The name 'Warramore', is given for Stuckey's Station in 1836 at today's Gundagai. 'Warramore' is linked to 'Warrawen', which is the large cut in the western side of the Monaro Plateau from near which western travelling geological fault lines begin, and 'Warragong', which is the section of the beginning of the Australian Alps
in the Gundagai region upon which snow sometimes falls. The junction of the Murrumbidgee and Tumut River
s is named 'Bewuck' to note the numerous Murray Cod
found in that area.
As Gundagai is a place of significant Irish
, Scottish
and English settlement post the arrival of the Europeans, Celtic and English landscape understanding or dindsenchas
is also evident at Gundagai. The story of the 'Ghost of Kimo Hill', (in 'Gundagai Ghosts' below), is one example of this. Gundagai Shire Council also had a ward system of Municipal Governance till recent times. but is now composed of eight councillors elected proportionally. 'West Ward' at Gundagai is still delineated by West Street. The ward system originates from Scotland and Eastern England where wards, that are watchful spirits that protect settlements from internal troubles and external dangers, ... form nightly a ring of benevolent spiritual protection against harmful spirits. Once the spirits are driven from the landscape, the protection is no longer forthcoming and the settlement is open to psychic ills. Beating the Bounds
, the religious form of wards, is still practiced in some parishes in the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn. Cursed is he who transgresseth the bounds or doles of his neighbour. Gundagai's Anglican parish still has 'wardens'. The Right Reverend Trevor Edwards Vicar General
of the Anglican Church and Assistant Bishop
of the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn, commented in September 2011, on the stories held within the walls of St John's Church Gundagai when he led the commemoration of the laying of the foundation stone of that church in 1861 Outside the walls of the St John's church at Gundagai are also the stories of multiple events and aspects of culture not the least the two oak trees outside the Anglican Rectory. Gundagai's rich history of song, verse, epic sagas and notable events beginning first with that of Australian Aboriginal cultural heritage then on to multiple other ontologies
with the arrival of the Europeans; that are also remembered within placenames and recalled throughout landscape is evidence of the rich tapesty that is Gundagai today.
George Augustus Robinson
, Chief Protector of Aborigines
in Port Phillip
, commented that Gundagai was remarkable for its nomenclature
when passing through the town in 1844.
that removed itself from the stomach of a red-bellied black snake
after the red-belly black had eaten it. George Bennett, English born Australian physician
and naturalist
, recorded at Gundagai in the 1830s that the black snake was the wife of the brown so that may have meant in the biblical sense. In 1908 there was a snake plague at Gundagai with several crawling around the main street and one entering the barber's shop. In 1924 an eastern brown snake
that had hidden under a home, was enticed out after 'Yes, We have No Bananas', 'The Road to Gundagai' and finally 'Come Into the Garden Maud', were played on the harmonica. A man was bitten on the finger by a snake in 1929 but couldn't get the snake to let go. His dog eventually dragged the snake away. The man chopped his finger off and survived. Also in 1929, Hubert Opperman
famous cyclist, had a tiger snake encounter at Gundagai.
In 1850, there was a population of 1140 Aboriginal people left in the Murrumbidgee District. There were eight tribes one of which was the Gundagai group of forty Aboriginal people.
In 1911 the total population of Gundagai Shire was 1,921. It changed little in the course of the twentieth century being 2,308 at the time of the 1981 census
and 1,998 at the 2006 census.
period geology from which the chrysotile
asbestos
bearing Gundagai serpentinite
originates also indicating prehistoric links to the Gondwana
supercontinent
.
and British immigrant William Hovell
were the first European explorers to visit what is now Gundagai when they passed through the region between 23 October - 15 November 1824. Hovell recorded seeing trees already marked by steel tommyhawks. On the 25th September, 2011, the Right Reverend Trevor Edwards, Vicar General
of the Anglican Church and Assistant Bishop
of the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn
, dressed in traditional white mid-nineteenth century garb, led the commemorative church service for the 150th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of St John's Anglican, (formerly Church of England
), Church, Gundagai that was built on top of a sacred Aboriginal site at Gundagai. Bishop Edwards noted that following on the path of the explorers Hume and Hovell, the first Gundagai settlers found a wonderful land on which to establish a town, which was gazetted in 1838 but until 1850, relied on ministry from Yass
.
A person by the surname 'Warby' is recorded as having followed Hume and Hovell's tracks to the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Tumut Rivers and having taken up a pastoral lease of 19,200 acres ... at a rent of thirty-three pounds per annum. ... He called the property 'Minghee' later called 'Mingay'. Another source records that from June 1828 till 1836, a station run by notorious cattle thief William Warby, son of convicts John Warby and Sarah Bentley, was to the immediate north of current day Gundagai. William Warby was convicted and transported to Van Diemen's Land
in 1836, where he became a constable. All William Warby's stock and possessions were forfeited to the Crown after they had been fraudently sold on to his brother Ben Warby of Campbelltown, New South Wales
in an effort to retain possession. Valued employees of William Warby were Mr & Mrs Thomas and Caroline McAlister. Thomas McAlister's father, Robert, is believed to have taken part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798
and was transported for life on the 'Minerva'.
Whilst living and working at William Warby's establishment, Caroline McAlister gave birth to a son on the 21st June, 1832. Caroline and Thomas McAlister named this their fourth child, 'John'. John McAlister may have been one of the first known children of European descent born in the Gundagai area. This claim of first European descent does not allow for members of Hume and Hovell's exploration party, the activities of early European stockmen or earlier than that European 'wanderers' conceiving children with Gundagai area Aboriginal women in which case such offspring would also have had European descent as well as Aboriginal descent. Caroline McAlister was the sister of William Warby's wife, Jemima and Thomas McAlister's brother John was the Chief Constable at William Warby's home town of Campbelltown. The herds of M'Arthur, (John Macarthur), Throsby and Ellis, (known locally as Hillas), were along the Murrumbidgee by late 1831. 'Nangus Island' in the middle of the Murrumbidgee River
at Nangus is marked as one of the early goldfields and was previously named 'M'Arthur Island'. The island is adjacent to where the highly auriferous Adelong Creek enters the Murrumbidgee.
Charles Sturt
travelled through the area in 1829 at the start of his voyage in search of an inland sea then believed to exist in outback Australia
. Sturt again passed through Gundagai on the return leg of this journey in 1830, and returned in 1838 in company with the Hawdon and Bonney overlanding parties. At the time of Sturt's 1829-1830 journey, he found several settlers in the district: Henry O'Brien at Jugiong, William Warby at Mingay and the Stuckey Brothers, Peter and Henry at Willie Ploma and Tumblong. These settlers were beyond the limits of location as the district was not within the Nineteen Counties
. Lady Jane Franklin
, the wife of the governor of Tasmania
, Sir John Franklin
, travelled through Gundagai on 27 April 1839. Lady Jane noted Andrews' store and public house establishment, that had a neat verandah and shuttered hut. Lady Jane then walked from Andrews', on the north bank of the Murrumbidgee River on the Gundagai floodplain, to Brodribb's hut that was 1/4 of a mile to the east. Brodribb's hut was immediately adjacent to the large Aboriginal ceremonial circle on the Gundagai floodplain and that may have been what Lady Jane went to see.
Edward John Eyre
, Australian explorer and later Governor of Jamaica, left Sydney in late 1838 in an effort to find a practical route to overland stock to Adelaide, and then on to open communication between Adelaide and West Australia. Eyre left the Limestone Plains
near today’s Canberra
with stock on 5 December 1838. On reaching the Murrumbidgee River
at Gundagai Eyre, accompanied by Yarrie of the colony of New South Wales and Joey two boys aborigines of the Hume and Murrumbidgee rivers, turned down the river to the westward instead of following further south and travelled along the northern bank of the river for the better supply of water and feed available for his stock. Eyre crossed the river twice at Gundagai to avoid some ranges and crossed the North Gundagai landscape through today's High School agricultural paddock then down to the Jones Creek ford at the western end of Hanley Street. Hume & Hovell, Sturt and Eyre all took this route through North Gundagai with the notch
through the Kimo Range being pointed out to them by locals.
Mountain passes have been important since before recorded history, and have played a key role in trade, war, and migration. The mountain ranges in the Gundagai area have sometimes presented difficulty to through travellers not only because of their steep topography but also depending on the time of year, cultural activity taking place along them.
In the 1830s, Horatio Wills
and his family lived near Gundagai. The Wills' son, Thomas Wills
who was born in the Gundagai area,, is credited with co-inventing Australian Rules football
and for being coach and captain to the first Australian Aboriginal cricket team.
. There were several places at Gundagai that travellers could and did cross the river. The route eventually became the Great South Road which in 1914 was declared a main road of New South Wales and named the Hume Highway
in 1928. The Main Roads Management Act of June 1858 declared the Great Southern Road, from near Sydney through Goulburn and Gundagai to Albury, as one of the three main roads in the colony. However, its southern reaches were described as only a 'scarcely formed bullock track' as late as 1858. The road was improved in the mid 1860s with some sections near Gundagai metalled and all creeks bridged between Adelong Creek (approximately 10 kilometres south of Gundagai) and Albury. The highway bypassed Gundagai in 1977 with the opening of the Sheahan Bridge.
on the Main Southern railway line
. The branch line was extended reaching Tumut
in 1903 and Batlow and Kunama, at the end of the Tumut and Kunama railway lines, in 1923. The line was finally closed after flood damage in 1984.
The original European town that was gazetted as Gundagai in 1838 was situated on the right hand bank of the Murrumbidgee River floodplain at the place colloquially known as 'The Crossing Place'. This town was hit by several large flood
s of the Murrumbidgee River
. The Crown Commissioner for the Murrumbidgee District, Henry Bingham, praised the heroic actions of Aboriginal people at Gundagai in rescuing settlers from the 1844 flood and that letter from Commissioner Bingham, that also requested a reward for local Aboriginal people, was published in the NSW Government Gazette on the instruction of the then NSW Governor. Gundagai was still considered a frontier town in 1852. The 25 June 1852 Murrumbidgee flood swept the first colonial town of Gundagai away, killing at least 78 people (perhaps 89) of the town's population of 250 people; it is one of the largest natural disasters in Australia's history. Following an even higher flood in 1853, North Gundagai was redeveloped at its current site on Asbestos Hill and Mount Parnassus, above the river, and at South Gundagai on the slopes of Brummies Hill, using pre-existing surveyors plans.
The efforts of Yarri, Jacky Jacky, Long Jimmy and one other Indigenous man
in saving many Gundagai people from the 1852 floodwaters were heroic. Between them, these men rescued more than 40 people using bark canoes. Yarri and Jacky Jacky were honored with bronze medallions for their efforts, and were allowed to demand sixpences from all Gundagai residents, although Yarri was maltreated on at least one occasion after the flood. Long Jimmy died not long after his rescues, possibly from the effects of being exposed to the freezing cold and wet conditions.
It is claimed that the Gundagai community developed a special affinity with the Wiradjuri
people and that the flood and its aftermath was the birthplace of reconciliation.
The town commemorated the sesquicentenary of the flood in 2002.
In June 1891 there was a very high flood of the Murrumbidgee at Gundagai. Several pastoral workers became stranded in trees in a rising river just to the south of Gundagai. Four men who set out in a rescue boat from Gundagai township were also swamped and also ended up in trees in the river channel with the water level rising. A young man, Edward True, born at Gundagai in 1865, dragged a light skiff several miles over hills to the rescue site downstream after the usual road south was cut by rising floodwaters. No one else watching the unfolding tragedy that night was prepared to take the skiff onto the rising and extremely dangerous Murrumbidgee River so True, who could not swim, launched the skiff on to the river and managed to save several men from drowning. One of those men saved by Edward True was the son of police sergeant McGinnerty who was shot and killed by the bushranger, Dan Morgan
in 1864. True was awarded the Silver Medal of the Royal Humane Society of Australasia
, (RHSA), for his bravery. True was threatened by the Gundagai Police and did not accept the award though the award continues to stand with the RHSA. The part of the Kimo Range that Edward True dragged that small skiff up over was named 'Neds Gully' by a grateful community and the road through it, 'Neds Gully Lane'. True had previously been awarded a Certificate of Merit by the RHSA in 1887 after saving a young child from drowning in the bunyip
waterhole at Gundagai in 1886. The land surrounding where that bunyip rescue happened was named 'Trues Flat'. Edward True's parents, Samuel and Maryanne True, and their two eldest children were survivors of the 1852 Gundagai flood. The Trues lived immediately adjacent to the large Aboriginal ceremonial circle at section 8, allotment 3, Milton Street on the Gundagai floodplain till around 1855 then moved north but were still along the ceremonial track or 'murroo'.
As early as 1838 the Gundagai and Yass areas were being terrorised by armed bushrangers. Four men held up Robert Phillips and took a horse, the property of William Hutchinson, (who had possession of the land to the immediate north of Gundagai), of Murrumbidgee. On one occasion in 1843 a gang of five bushrangers, including the bushranger called 'Blue Cap', held up and robbed Mr Andrews, the Gundagai postmaster and innkeeper. Cushan the bushranger was known to be operating in the area in 1846, and in 1850, to the south of Gundagai near Tarcutta, two bushrangers held up the Royal Mail, stole the Albury and Melbourne mailbags and rode off with the mail coach's horses. In 1862 at Bethungra to the west of Gundagai in the Gundagai Police District, the bushranger Jack-in-the-Boots was captured. The clank of Jack-in-the-Boots' leg irons as he paced up and down at Gundagai gaol may still be heard. A plot to rescue Jack-in-the-Boots whose real name was Molloy, from police custody while he was being transferred from Gundagai to Yass gaol, was discovered. In February 1862, the bushranger Peisley was captured near Mundarlo and by that evening was lodged in the Gundagai Gaol. Peisley was later hanged at Bathurst
. In 1863, the bushrangers Stanley and Jones were arrested at Tumut after they had allegedly stolen saddles at Gundagai and hatched a plan to rob Mr. Norton's store. Stanley could not be identified. In 1864, Jones was found not guilty.
Sergeant Parry was shot and killed in 1864 by the bushranger John Gilbert
in a hold-up of the mail coach near Jugiong
. Gilbert was a member of Ben Hall's gang that was active in the district in 1863-64. Patrick Gately and Patrick Lawler held up Keane's pub at Coolac in April, 1866. Also in the 1860s, to the north of Adelong, the bushranger Hawthorne mistook a man by the name of Grant for William Williams the gold mine owner, and killed Grant. By 1869, Harry Power
, early mentor of famous Australian bushranger, Ned Kelly
, was committing holdups near Adelong and as icing on the cake, by 1874 the bushranger prettily known as Jerry Blossom, was entertaining the district. In 1880, bushrangers held up the Chinese Camp at Gundagai then fled on horseback towards Burra, a locality known to harbour louts and for the ferocious fires that roar through the area.
Ned Kelly
was considered by some merely a cold-blooded killer, while by others a folk hero
and symbol of Irish Australian
resistance against oppression by the British ruling class
for his defiance of the colonial authorities. Ned Kelly
and his lieutenant, Joe Byrne
, had family links to the Gundagai area. Dan Kelly, Ned's brother, at one point negotiated a transaction at a Gundagai bank. The first name 'Ned' became a euphemism
for the bunyip
as the sight of Ned and his men in their armour was so challenging that it had some who were at the final confrontation with police that took place at Glenrowan on 28 June 1880, thinking the Kelly Gang were bunyips. Bluey and Ned (the bunyip), are old-time Gundagai characters.
Ned Kelly, who also called himself J. Thompson, and his stepfather George King who was also known as George Stuckey, led a Victoria and New South Wales stock stealing operation stealing stock in Victoria and trading it in southern New South Wales, and stealing in New South Wales and selling it in Victoria. Early in 1879, some Gundagai residents were in fear that the Ned Kelly
gang was going to pay the town a visit. Extra rifles and ammunition to defend the town, were applied for and special constables were sworn in. Senior Constable Webb-Bowen, who was shot and killed in the battle with Captain Moonlite and his gang at Wantabadgery, was sent to Gundagai in case the Kelly Gang did turn up in the town. In Novemebr 1879, Victoria police watched the partially crippled, probably homosexual ex-convict and ex-preacher, Moonlite and his gang as they progressed north through Victoria
then on into New South Wales
on what was claimed by the gang to be a possum-hunting picnic. Superintendent John Sadlier of the Victoria Police claimed that Moonlite contacted the Kelly Gang as Moonlite and his men made that journey north through Victoria and asked to join them, which received a very, very negative response from Ned Kelly who threatened to shoot Moonlite if he came anywhere near him, Kelly. Till Victorian police arrived at Gundagai after the capture of Captain Moonlite and his surviving men in November 1879after the Wantabadgery siege and shootout, no one was sure if any of those captured or shot by police were members of Ned Kelly
's gang. When news of the Moonlite
gang's siege reached Gundagai the Gundagai court, that was just about to begin its session, was adjourned so that all the police in the town could travel to McGlede's farm. Gundagai went under the protection of the previously sworn in special constables. Police strength at McGlede's was strengthened by a contingent of armed railway workers from Junee.
Captain Moonlight/Moonlite is a name used as a euphemism
for a secret, 18th-century Irish organization often known as 'Whiteboys' or 'Levellers' that fought for social justice
through such means as agitating against the oppression of smallholder rural farmers by larger landowners, and oppression of workers by their masters. Captain Moonlite the bushranger was particularly interested in improving conditions for prisoners in Victorian and New South Wales gaols, and levelling the wealth of banks. Captain Charles Sturt
the famous Murrumbidgee River explorer who made two journeys of exploration through Gundagai, joined the British army as an ensign in 1813 and for a while served in Ireland
as well as elsewhere. In Ireland Sturt passed through some stirring experiences in connection with the Whiteboy organisation, which sprang into being as the result of numerous evictions, and spread rapidly through many counties,for a time establishing a reign of terror. Sturt was called one night to defend a farmhouse attacked by the Whiteboys, and his experience on this occasion was such as to destroy all sympathy with Irish agitators. He found among the ruins of a farmhouse the dead bodies of a beautiful girl and of other members of the family.
The North Gundagai Anglican cemetery contains the graves of two policemen shot in the district by bushranger
s. Senior Constable Webb-Bowen was killed by Captain Moonlite in November 1879 in a hostage incident at McGlede's farm. Trooper Edmund Parry, killed in an encounter with Ben Hall's gang near Jugiong lies at rest next to the grave of Senior Constable Webb-Bowen. Captain Moonlite is also buried in the North Gundagai Anglican cemetery. Captain Moonlite had been asked to be buried at Gundagai near his friends James Nesbitt and Augustus Wernicke . Both had been killed in the shoot-out at McGlede's Hut. Moonlite's request was not granted by the authorities of the time, but his remains were exhumed from Rookwood Cemetery
and reinterred at Gundagai near to the unknown location of Nesbitt's grave in January 1995. Moonlite rests in a simple grave
, some way up the hill at the Anglican cemetery at North Gundagai, under the shade of a eucalypt
tree, with a rock from the time Australia was born as his memorial, looking down the hill towards the more ostentatious, obelisk
shaped memorial of one of his nemeses
, Senior-Constable Webb-Bowen.
In the 1950s bushrangers reappeared in the Gundagai area, jumping into the trailers of heavy transports moving along the Hume Highway and throwing contents out to nearby accomplices.
In 1993 a Gundagai native, Tony Percival, was shot dead in the northern NSW mining town of Hillgrove by the perpetrators of the Cangai siege
, Len Leabeater, Raymond Bassett and Robert Steele in their nine-day, two-state murderous rampage.
. Willie wagtail
s or djirri djirris were known to listen into conversations so it was wise to not repeat confidences. A man with no head called 'Craypton' lived up on 'Killimicat' and would ride down the mountain of a night on a horse. The blue glow of the Min Min light
sometimes identified as a fata morgana
phenomenon, is also known in the Gundagai area and Aboriginal people were taught to run if they saw it.The Mirriyolla Ghost Dog is also known of in Cootamundra a few miles to the north-west of Gundagai and lives in the Bethungra Range that is partly in Gundagai Shire. This ghost dog hunts on just one night a year, the longest night.
Gundagai has recorded several ghost
and will-o'-the-wisp
sightings. Will-O'-the-Wisp
is Will the Smith. Will is a wicked blacksmith
who is given a second chance by Saint Peter
at the gates to Heaven
, but leads such a bad life that he ends up being doomed to wander the Earth. The Devil provides him with a single burning coal with which to warm himself, which he then used to lure foolish travellers into the marshes
. One tall and shadowy ... supernatural visitant that appeared from under a culvert in Gundagai in 1869, severely alarmed a horse and its rider, and exhibited a livid, phosphoric light such as a rotting fish might display.
Mrs Moroney at Jones Creek, Gundagai, was often visited by a ghost in 1873. The ghost wore a grey tweed suit and had a red beard. Sometimes one half of him would appear to those he chose to favour with his presence, and at other times, the other half was seen. Mrs Moroney spoke to her clergyman and also the Bishop and then vacated her residence. A nearby resident, Mr Carey, then began to receive visits by the same spectre. Mr Carey corroborated Mrs Moroney’s description of the ghost and dealt with it by hitting it on the head with a shovel the next time it paid him a visit. The shovel bounced off so next Mr Carey set the dogs on it and the ghost retreated through the doorway.
Co-founder of the Gundagai Museum, Oscar Bell, British Empire Medal recipient for services to the community including preserving and recording Gundagai history, and President of the Gundagai and District Historical Society, told of the ghost of a little old woman that alarmed a newly arrived in Australia, Irish pastoral worker named Dennis Kilker. A ghost of the same description, (which may have been a Cailleach
, or Washer at the Ford also known as a Bean Nighe
, given the Celtic mythological
elements in the story), was also reported by a tourist named Ryan who passed through the area in the 1960s. Bell then went on to remember the ghost of Kimo Hill, a couple of miles to the south of Gundagai, that is thought to belong to a lost or stolen child
who went missing in the area
, in the 1830s. 'Kimo Hill' is a child hill of the 'Kimo Range' that has become distanced from its mother hill, 'Mount Kimo', on the northern end of the Sheahan Bridge at North Gundagai.
A young lady was reputed to have drowned herself in Morley's Creek near the old Gundagai Flour Mill
, in 1887 and ever since, some people when walking past the mill report seeing the image of a sad young woman looking out from the upper windows of the building. More recently a Gundagai resident saw a ghost at the old Gundagai Gaol and wrote a song about her.
By 1923, there were so many ghosts and other white clad entities in Gundagai that they all got together for a ball at which they danced the hours away to weird music, cutting strange capers on the dancefloor, all the time viewed by a large audience.
s' for the swaggies
that camped there each night. 'Sam the Sundowner' a famous Australian swaggie
and principal character in the Australian comedy drama, 'The Road to Gundagai', was a regular resident at the Gundagai 'Sundowners' and was known for the rescues he made of near to drowning people from the inland rivers.
In 1901, there was a very large camp of unemployed men and their families at South Gundagai waiting for the proposed Gundagai Rail Line to begin construction. Five hundred of these men marched from south to north Gundagai accompanied by the town band, to try to move commencement of the project, forward. There was a railway worker canvas town near the Gundagai Rail Station. Rail workers and their families who moved to Gundagai to work on the rail line, lived in tents in that area into the 1950s. The Chinese camp was in the area of today's Bowls Club as were the Chinese gardens. Burials of deceased Chinese people were in the pagan ground. All mine sites, of which there were several around Gundagai such as Burra, Reno, Jackalass, Jones Creek and Coolac, had miner's camps at or near them. The hill to the north of Gundagai known as Flower Hill once had a large tent settlement that was larger than the permanent North Gundagai residential area. Likewise the Spring Flat goldfield adjacent to the North Gundagai cemetery resulted in a sizeable tent township appearing there.
ran the first steamer on the Murray River
in 1853. In 1856 the sister steamers, the 'Albury' and the 'Gundagai' were bought from Scotland
to Goolwa in pieces, by Captain Cadell, assembled at Goolwa then launched.
In 1855 Captain Cadell was aboard the paddlewheel steamer 'Gundagai' for the first journey in it north of Goolwa,, then in 1856 explored the Edward River
system as Captain of the 'Gundagai'. By 1865, the steamer 'Gundagai' under the command of Captain Cadell, was providing a transport service between Wanganui
and the Waitotara
in New Zealand
, and getting supplies to troops, in support of the British Crown and the Crown's involvement in the New Zealand Wars. Captain Cadell became 'Superintendent of Colonial Transport (water)' for New Zealand. On 25th June, 1866 near Patea
New Zealand, the little paddlewheel steamer and expert crosser of sandbars, the 'Gundagai' went onshore and broke in half. All hands were rescued.
On the 16th September, 1858, the steamer 'Albury', under the command of Captain George Johnston with Captain Cadell on board, moored at Gundagai on the north bank of the Murrumbidgee at what was hoped to be named the 'Albury Wharf', after taking a bit over a month to ascend the Murrumbidgee from Lake Alexandrina. The 'Albury' was the first steamer known to visit Gundagai. Three Gundagai Aboriginal people were very pleased to see the 'Albury'. likely considering it was a worthy competitor with their bark canoes of which they were expert boat builders and in which they were also expert rivermen especially in situations such as the horrific 1852 Gundagai flood.
The steamer 'Albury' was tied up to an old gum tree at Gundagai by Mr Norton of Gundagai who two years previously had the honour of naming the boat that set off from Gundagai to survey the Murrumbidgee under the command of Captain Robinson, the 'Explorer'. Captain Robinson's 1855 survey of the Murrumbidgee in the 'Explorer' was for the purpose of ascertaining If that river presents any serious impediments to internal navigation and the incentive for that survey came from Captain Cadell.
The steamer 'Nangus' was constructed by the engineer Mr. Chapman of Sydney, at Nangus Station near Gundagai for Mr Jenkins, owner of Nangus Station, to ply the Murrumbidgee River
between Gundagai and Hay
and she made her maiden journey in 1865. The steamer 'Nangus' was a 12 horsepower, 70 feet long iron vessel, with two side paddles and towing two iron barges.. The 'Nangus' sank near Wagga after hitting a snag in 1867.
The steamer 'J.H.P.' was launched in 1866 and sank between Hay and Balranald in October 1868. It was raised but sank twice more then was dismantled in 1879. On the 20th September 1870, the steamer 'J.H.P.' owned by Edward Warby, journeyed up the Murrumbidgee from Wagga to Gundagai without incident. On her return journey she took on bagged lime at Mundarlo, then came to grief near Yabtree after ramming into a large oak tree on the riverbank, and sank. The cargo was lost..
Captain Cadell lost all his money through trying to establish a riverboat trade on the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers. After his New Zealand experiences he purchased a small steamer called the 'Gem' and commenced mother-of-pearl shell fishing on the Nor'West coast of Australia with a Malay crew. He was returning his crew home when their time working for him had expired when they killed him to obtain access to the 'Gem's' onboard safe containing money. The British Admiralty sent out a search vessel from Chinese waters and the remains of the burned out 'Gem' and three of her crew were found and the mutiny events on board the 'Gem' and the murder of Captain Cadell, ascertained.
In 1867 a wrought iron
lattice truss bridge
, the Prince Alfred
bridge, was completed across the Murrumbidgee River
, with a timber
viaduct
leading to it across the river's flood plain. The bridge was designed by Francis Bell
. and has a total length of 921 metres and was the first iron truss bridge to be built in New South Wales. Until 1932 when the Sydney Harbour Bridge was completed, the Prince Alfred bridge was the longest bridge in New South Wales. In 1902 a second (railway) bridge was built, with a total length of 819 metres.
In 1977 the Sheahan bridge was opened, a concrete
and steel
bridge on the Hume Highway
. At 1143 metres (3,750 ft), it is the second longest bridge in Australia after the Sydney Harbour Bridge
. It replaced the Prince Alfred bridge as the crossing of the Murrumbidgee River. The bridge was named after Bill Sheahan (1895–1975), who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
for Yass
from 1941–1950 and for Burrinjuck from 1950–1973 and held various ministerial portfolios.
generated by romantic bush appeal and the historic bridges, Gundagai's economy remains driven by sheep and cattle
, as well as wheat
, lucerne
and maize
production.
As of 2005, secondary industries
in Gundagai included the Gundagai Meat Processors Plant and D J Lynch Engineering. The meatworks is the shire's largest single employer with over 100 employees. The latter firm has produced work for major construction projects, including building steel spans for the Olympic Stadium
.
at Gundagai in 1842. A gold rush
hit the area in 1858 following further discoveries of gold
and mining
continued initially until 1875 and following a second gold rush in 1894, mines operated again until well into the 20th Century with some mining activity still occurring in 2007. The best known historical mines were the 'Robinson and Rice's Mine' (Long Tunnel Mine) a few miles to the south west of Gundagai and the 'Prince of Wales Mine' (where Herbert Hoover
, the future President of the United States, was the mining engineer in about 1900) a few miles to the immediate west of Gundagai. Both mines struck the orebody in quartz reefs along serpentine/diorite contact zones with finds of gold telluride (of bismuith origin) also found.
was first mined commercially in Australia, at Gundagai. Actinolite
was mined along Jones Creek just to the west of the town but there are several deposits in the immediate area. Some fibres were two feet long. Prior to 1918 this was the only source of asbestos in New South Wales. Northern Gundagai is built on a hill sometimes known as 'Asbestos Hill' and excavations in the area free the asbestos into the air.
Chromite
, talc
, magnesite
, copper
and slate
were also mined at Gundagai.
, carved a miniature Baroque Italian palace from 20,948 pieces of marble
collected from around New South Wales. The work is 1.2 metres high and, commencing in 1910, took 28 years to complete. It can be seen in the Gundagai tourist office. Rusconi was also the sculptor of the base of the Dog on the Tuckerbox
monument. As bronze was not Rusconi's medium, the rest of the monument was cast at Oliver's Foundry in Sydney.
, John Curtin
, in 1942, with a display in the window of the cafe of the crockery used by Curtin and Curtin's link to the cafe.
A number of places in Gundagai are on the New South Wales state heritage register and on the Register of the National Estate
.
of folklore
particular to place that in no small way is due to the site of Gundagai and its many thousands of years long occupation by Australian Aboriginal people being the original foundation population that holds continuing traditional custodianship of place. In turn, as a direct result of colonialism
by England from the 1800s onward, the current culturally diverse
Celtic
and Anglo-Saxon
origin dominant in numbers population evolved at Gundagai at high cost to the original inhabitants. As well as being a site of highly significant Australian Aboriginal culture, Gundagai is also along a route that Australian explorers took to the south and south-west, and a popular meeting place in the nineteenth century for teamster
s (or bullocky
s), bush travellers, swagmen
, shearer
s and drover
s, and more recent small town cultural aspects of place. Gundagai can offer multiple layers of intangible cultural heritage
as well as tangible representations of the local story for those who seek more than a sticky bun and a mug of main street coffee.
Gundagai, perhaps more than any other Australian locality, is referenced in stories, songs and poems. These include Theta
's poem,'Ode to the Dead of Gundagai'. James Riley, 'The Gundagai Calamity', Jack Moses
and others in 'Nine Miles From Gundagai',Jack O'Hagan
songs 'Where the Dog Sits on the Tuckerbox (five miles from Gundagai)', 'Along The Road To Gundagai
', 'Snake Gully Swagger', and 'When a Boy from Alabama Meets a Girl from Gundagai,' Gundagai also features in the song 'The Grand Old Hills of Gundagai,' It is referenced in Scottish
band Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie
's song 'Dust'.
Other references in literature include Banjo Paterson
's 'The Road to Gundagai,' and the traditional ballad 'Flash Jack from Gundagai'. Additionally, the town is mentioned in Henry Lawson
's 'Scots of the Riverina
,' and C. J. Dennis
' 'The Traveller.' Miles Franklin
's 'Brent of Bin Bin,' saga is set in the area and it includes an account of the flood of 1852.
, the town's doctor, took up photography. The negatives were preserved and presented to the National Library of Australia
after his death and a selection were published in 1976 as a Gundagai Album.
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
and Muniong, Honeysuckle, Kimo, Mooney Mooney, Murrumbidgee and Tumut mountain ranges, Gundagai is 390 kilometres (242.3 mi) south-west of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, the state capital and largest city in Australia. Gundagai is part of the Gundagai Shire Council
Gundagai Shire Council
Gundagai Shire is a local government area in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Hume Highway. Gundagai was declared a Municipality in 1889, and Adjungbilly Shire Council created in 1906 to administer the district...
Local Government Area. At the 2006 census the population of Gundagai was 1,998. The town's population was 1,997 in 2001 and 2,064 in 1996.
Acknowledgement of country
Acknowledgement of Country is a protocolProtocol (politics)
Protocol can mean any logbook or other artifact of a political meeting between persons from different nations, such as the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. The most notorious example of a forged logbook is "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"....
used in Australia in relation to Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
affairs.
The Gundagai area is part of the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales.In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith...
speaking people before and post Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an settlement, and also holds national significance to Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. The floodplains of the Murrumbidgee below the present town of Gundagai were a frequent meeting place of the Wiradjuri
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales.In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith...
. One indication of the ancient, sacred
Sacred
Holiness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy or sacred...
cultural landscape
Cultural landscape
Cultural Landscapes have been defined by the World Heritage Committee as distinct geographical areas or properties uniquely "..represent[ing] the combined work of nature and of man.."....
that is North Gundagai is the bora ring that has been identified close to town.
The location of Gundagai on a sizeable prehistoric highway, (the Murrumbidgee River), along with the significant and sacred Aboriginal ceremonial ground across all of North Gundagai, and other ancient archaeology, indicates it would have been an important ceremonial, mining, manufacturing and trading place for Aboriginal people before the arrival of the Europeans. As with all ancient sacred places, particularly within still continuing Australian Aboriginal culture, the sacredness of Gundagai's amazing Australian Aboriginal cultural landscape
Cultural landscape
Cultural Landscapes have been defined by the World Heritage Committee as distinct geographical areas or properties uniquely "..represent[ing] the combined work of nature and of man.."....
continues despite colonial and later intrusion.
Gundagai Aboriginal Elders, Jimmy Clements
Jimmy Clements
Jimmy Clements was an Aboriginal elder from the Wiradjuri tribe in Australia, and was present at the Opening of the Provisional Parliament House in Canberra on 9 May 1927....
and John Noble, attended the 1927 opening of the new Federal Parliament House in Canberra by the Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...
. Jimmy Clements also known as King Billy whose traditional name was 'Yangar', walked forward to respectfully salute the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
and Elizabeth the Queen), and after that the two Elders were formally presented to the Royal couple as prominent citizens of Australia.
Australian dialogue meeting
Aboriginal leaders Pat Dodson and Noel Pearson; the former Chief of the Australian Army and GovernorGovernor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of West Australia, Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General (Australia)
Lieutenant general is the second-highest active rank of the Australian Army and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of lieutenant general. It is also considered a three-star rank....
John Sanderson
John Sanderson
Lieutenant General John Murray Sanderson AC is a former Governor of Western Australia and a former Chief of the Australian Army.-Early life:...
; and current Australian business leaders, met at a remote property on the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
near Gundagai in September 2008 on the first stages of an Australian Dialogue to promote constitutional reform and structural change for Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
people. Galarrwuy Yunupingu
Galarrwuy Yunupingu
Galarrwuy YunupinguAM is a leader in the Australian Indigenous community, and has been involved in the fight for Land Rights throughout his career...
, Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
Indigenous leader, could not be at the gathering of esteemed senior Australians but was kept informed of the progress of talks.
Geography
Gundagai is an inland town with an elevation of 250 metres (820 ft). Almost all of the shire is located in the South-West Slopes bioregion and is part of the RiverinaRiverina
The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales , Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop...
agricultural region. The eastern part of the shire is considered part of the South Eastern Highlands bioregion.
The first moves to establish 'Gundagai' as a township were in 1838 with plans for the new settlement of Gundagae on the Murrumbidgee, about 54 miles beyond Yass ... advertised for viewing at the office of the Surveyor-General in Sydney.
The Shire has been extensively cleared for agriculture and more than 80% of the area is used for dryland cropping
Dryland farming
Dryland farming is an agricultural technique for non-irrigated cultivation of drylands.-Locations:Dryland farming is used in the Great Plains, the Palouse plateau of Eastern Washington, and other arid regions of North America, the Middle East and in other grain growing regions such as the steppes...
and grazing. Less than 1% of the shire is managed for conservation. There are few remaining examples of the original vegetation cover.
Gundagai is a primarily rural shire with a small population. Eighty per cent of the shire's population live in the town of Gundagai. There are four villages in the Shire: Coolac
Coolac, New South Wales
Coolac is a village in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia in Gundagai Shire. At the 2006 census, Coolac had a population of 386 people....
, Tumblong
Tumblong, New South Wales
Tumblong is a village community in the central east part of the Riverina and situated about 18 kilometres south east from Mundarlo and 25 kilometres north west from Adelong.-History:...
, Muttama
Muttama, New South Wales
Muttama is a rural community in the central east part of the Riverina. It is situated by road, about 24 kilometres south from Cootamundra and 17 kilometres north from Coolac....
and Nangus
Nangus, New South Wales
Nangus is a small country village on the Wagga Wagga to Gundagai Road on the north side of the Murrimbidgee river. From Nangus, Junee, Gundagai, Wantabadgery, Oura and Wagga Wagga are accessible. Nangus approximately 24 kilometres due west of Gundagai in the Riverina area of Australia and in...
, with populations ranging from 40 to 90 people.
Climate
Gundagai has a warm temperate climate.Natural phenomena
A feeling of awe and reverence for that Almighty power that formed the universe was had in Gundagai at the appearance of the cometComet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
on Saturday 21 December 1844. In 1859 the 'Aurora Australis' interfered with the operation of the Gundagai electric telegraph
Electrical telegraph
An electrical telegraph is a telegraph that uses electrical signals, usually conveyed via telecommunication lines or radio. The electromagnetic telegraph is a device for human-to-human transmission of coded text messages....
. So great can be some rainfall downpours at Gundagai that old mining dams have been known to fill and burst.A meteor
METEOR
METEOR is a metric for the evaluation of machine translation output. The metric is based on the harmonic mean of unigram precision and recall, with recall weighted higher than precision...
seen at Gundagai on New Year's Day, 1876 was reported to have lit up the streets as though with magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
wire, and over four inches of rain fell in two hours during a dreadful storm at Gundagai in 1885. Very deep snowfalls and severe weather were experienced in 1899.
Similar to other inland areas in Australia, the Gundagai area has often been visited by tornadoes, particularly in dry times. There has also been numerous reports of earth tremors rattling through Gundagai since European settlement.
Struck by lightning
During a thunderstormThunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
near Gundagai in 1876, an electric fire-ball
Ball lightning
Ball lightning is an unexplained atmospheric electrical phenomenon. The term refers to reports of luminous, usually spherical objects which vary from pea-sized to several metres in diameter. It is usually associated with thunderstorms, but lasts considerably longer than the split-second flash of a...
was seen to issue from the clouds, strike the earth, and explode with a loud noise, singeing Constable Macalister’s hair and whiskers, and leaving a blue mark on his side. A terrific thunderstorm at Gundagai in March 1877 set fire to the inside of Armour's house. In November, 1899, a man named Caigan was stuck by lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
and killed as he sheltered in a hollow log. A boy, Patrick Vaughan, was struck by lightning in October 1904 and rendered unconscious
Unconscious
Unconscious might refer to:In physiology:* unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuliIn psychology:...
for a long time. Two horses were struck by lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
in 1904 and one horse died. A few weeks later two boys were struck by lightning as they hid under a bullock hide strung over a wire fence. The electric charge travelled along the fence wire. In 1938 two dead drovers
Drover (Australian)
A drover in Australia is a person, typically an experienced stockman, who moves livestock, usually sheep or cattle, "on the hoof" over long distances. Reasons for droving may include: delivering animals to a new owner's property, taking animals to market, or moving animals during a drought in...
were found under a tree south of Gundagai, again the victims of lightning. Lightning killed a horse in 1946 but the rider escaped with her life though somewhat injured. A bushfire that caused a lot of damage was started near Gundagai in February 1906 after lightning hit a tree. John Bloomquist,who was camped in a hollow tree on the Gundagai Golf links, was horribly burned and died when the tree was struck by lightning in 1932. There has been other victims of lightning in the Gundagai area due to the ferocity of thunderstorms that can happen locally.
Etymology and dindsenchas
Some believe the name 'Gundagai' derives from the word 'Gundagair', an 1838 pastoral run in the name of William Hutchinson to the immediate north of current day Gundagai. 'Gair' was recorded at Yass in 1836 by George Bennett (naturalist) and means 'bird', as in budgerigarBudgerigar
The Budgerigar , also known as Common Pet Parakeet or Shell Parakeet informally nicknamed the budgie, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot, and the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus...
or good bird. In that context 'Gundagai' means place of birds but that placename may refer to the area to the north of Gundagai not to Gundagai town. The word 'Gundagai' is also said to mean cut with a hand-axe behind the knee. Combining the two meanings results in the place of birds near where there is a large bend in the Murrumbidgee River that was caused by a cut in the back of the knee. This meaning presupposes that for there to be a knee there is a leg and a body which there is.
There is a large anthropomorphic figure in the landscape at Gundagai. The figure
Daramulum
In several of the Aboriginal cultures of South-East Australia such as Wiradyuri, Kamilaroi, Eora, Darkinjung, and Guringai, Daramulum is a son of Baiame and his emu-wife Birrahgnooloo....
has a kangaroo or dog like head and is several kilometres in length. It has hindquarters similar to that of an emu but with a long tail and it appears to be sitting on a bend in the river that has a box shape . The image faces to the west and its head is near the Dog on the Tuckerbox
Dog on the Tuckerbox
The Dog on the Tuckerbox is an Australian historical monument and tourist attraction, located at Snake Gully, five miles from Gundagai, New South Wales...
area at Gundagai. This primary landscape figure marked out by the course of the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai, is replicated in some Sydney Rock Engravings
Sydney rock engravings
Sydney rock engravings are a form of Australian Aboriginal Rock Art consisting of carefully drawn images of people, animals, or symbols, in the sandstone around Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
and recorded in local Aboriginal cultural heritage. The 'Gundagai' placename meaning further refers to the reason for the bend in the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
near the Gundagai showground at Gundagai and to the mythological landscape epic
Epic (genre)
An epic is traditionally a genre of poetry, known as epic poetry. However in modern terms, epic is often extended to other art forms, such as novels, plays, films, and video games where the story is centered on heroic characters, and the action takes place on a grand scale, just as in epic poetry...
at Gundagai. Bunyips, understood to be where streams flood out of their usual channel in wet seasons flooding surrounding land but also drowning anyone caught on the wrong side of them, are recorded on the Gundagai floodplain; opposite 'Kimo'; and at the junction of the Tumut and Murrumbidgee rivers. The Kimo bunyip is really interesting as it is accompanied by a large slash in the earth's mantle out of which the 'Jindalee Volcanics' extruded.
The area is also identified as Jones Creek diorite
Diorite
Diorite is a grey to dark grey intermediate intrusive igneous rock composed principally of plagioclase feldspar , biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene. It may contain small amounts of quartz, microcline and olivine. Zircon, apatite, sphene, magnetite, ilmenite and sulfides occur as accessory...
. 'Kimo' is 'Mt Kimo', named for one of the Nereids
Nereid (moon)
Nereid , also known as Neptune II, is the third-largest moon of Neptune. It has a highly eccentric orbit. Nereid was discovered by Gerard Kuiper in 1949 and was the second moon of Neptune to be discovered.- Discovery and naming :...
, (Nereids
Nereids
In Greek mythology, the Nereids are sea nymphs, the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris, sisters to Nerites. They often accompany Poseidon and can be friendly and helpful to sailors fighting perilous storms. They are particularly associated with the Aegean Sea, where they dwelt with their father...
, Cymatolege or 'Kymo'), that occupies the midpoint of the 'Kimo Range', facing Gundagai High School. 'Kimo' is also known as Nargun
Nargun
According to Gunai/Kurnai tribal legends, the Nargun is a fierce half-human half-stone female creature that lived in the Den of Nargun, a cave under a rock overhang behind a small waterfall in the Mitchell River National Park, Victoria, Australia. Aboriginal legend describes the Nargun as a beast...
. Charles Sturt in Chapter Two of his Murrumbidgee exploration journal, likened the 'verdant' Gundagai valley as having Diana
Diana (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
of Nemi
Nemi
Nemi is a town and comune in the province of Rome , in the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Nemi, a volcanic crater lake. It is 6 km NW of Velletri and about 30 km southeast of Rome....
site parallels as recorded in James George Frazer's 'The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer . It first was published in two volumes in 1890; the third edition, published 1906–15, comprised twelve volumes...
', when Sturt journeyed through the Gundagai area in 1829-1830. Mount Minerva
Minerva
Minerva was the Roman goddess whom Romans from the 2nd century BC onwards equated with the Greek goddess Athena. She was the virgin goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic...
is the old name for what today is the hill known as 'Minjary'. Oak groves and muses featured in some succeeding cultural depictions of Gundagai no doubt assigned by early settlers who had received the benefits of an education in the classics
Classical education movement
The Classical education movement advocates a form of education based in the traditions of Western culture, with a particular focus on education as understood and taught in the Middle Ages. The curricula and pedagogy of classical education was first developed during the Middle Ages by Martianus...
, such as Charles Tompson
Charles Tompson
Charles Tompson was an Australian public servant and it is claimed he was the first published Australian-born poet....
, claimed to be Australia's first published native-born poet and whose father had possession of a large tract of land at Gundagai in the 1830s; and James Macarthur son of John Macarthur
John Macarthur (wool pioneer)
John Macarthur was a British army officer, entrepreneur, politician, architect and pioneer of settlement in Australia. Macarthur is recognised as the pioneer of the wool industry that was to boom in Australia in the early 19th century and become a trademark of the nation...
, Australian wool pioneer, who met up with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and who with his brother William Macarthur
William Macarthur
Hon Sir William Macarthur was an Australian botanist and vigneron. He was one of the most active and influential horticulturists in Australia in the mid-to-late 19th century...
had possession of Nangus Station at Nangus, Gundagai. Goethe was one of the key figures of Classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. One pastoral holding on the western side of North Gundagai was named 'Jarno'. Jarno is a character in Goethe's, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship is the second novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1795-96. While his first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, featured a hero driven to suicide by despair, the eponymous hero of this novel undergoes a journey of self-realization...
, a German response to the dramas of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. Gundagai also has a 'Shakespeare Terrace' that runs along the Murrumbidgee floodplain below the town that may or may not refer to the amazing grand theatre corroboree
Corroboree
A corroboree is a ceremonial meeting of Australian Aborigines. The word was coined by the European settlers of Australia in imitation of the Aboriginal word caribberie. At a corroboree Aborigines interact with the Dreamtime through dance, music and costume. Many ceremonies act out events from the...
s that happened in that area, eagerly shared in the 1830s for the benefit of overlanders and travellers; or in reference to several or all works of Shakespeare. Placenames such as that of Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
Street that ascends Gundagai's Mount Parnassus
Mount Parnassus
Mount Parnassus, also Parnassos , is a mountain of limestone in central Greece that towers above Delphi, north of the Gulf of Corinth, and offers scenic views of the surrounding olive groves and countryside. According to Greek mythology, this mountain was sacred to Apollo and the Corycian nymphs,...
lead to sites in the local landscape that for example invoke Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
's 'Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
', viz ... there the fearsome cavern of the awesome Sybil
Cumaean Sibyl
The ageless Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony located near Naples, Italy.The word sibyl comes from the ancient Greek word sibylla, meaning prophetess. There were many Sibyls in different locations throughout the ancient world...
lies, Whence came her prophecies. The name 'Warramore', is given for Stuckey's Station in 1836 at today's Gundagai. 'Warramore' is linked to 'Warrawen', which is the large cut in the western side of the Monaro Plateau from near which western travelling geological fault lines begin, and 'Warragong', which is the section of the beginning of the Australian Alps
Australian Alps
The Australian Alps are the highest mountain ranges of mainland Australia. They are located in southeastern Australia and straddle the Australian Capital Territory, south-eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria...
in the Gundagai region upon which snow sometimes falls. The junction of the Murrumbidgee and Tumut River
Tumut River
The Tumut River is a river in New South Wales, Australia.The Tumut River rises on the northern face of Mount Jagungal in the Snowy Mountains of southern New South Wales. It flows about 145km before joining the Murrumbidgee River, at Darbalara near the town of Gundagai...
s is named 'Bewuck' to note the numerous Murray Cod
Murray Cod
The Murray cod is a large Australian predatory freshwater fish of the Maccullochella genus and the Percichthyidae family. Although the species is a called cod in the vernacular, it is not related to the northern hemisphere marine cod species...
found in that area.
As Gundagai is a place of significant Irish
Irish diaspora
thumb|Night Train with Reaper by London Irish artist [[Brian Whelan]] from the book Myth of Return, 2007The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa,...
, Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
and English settlement post the arrival of the Europeans, Celtic and English landscape understanding or dindsenchas
Dindsenchas
Dindsenchas or Dindshenchas , meaning "lore of places" is a class of onomastic text in early Irish literature, recounting the origins of place-names and traditions concerning events and characters associates with the places in question...
is also evident at Gundagai. The story of the 'Ghost of Kimo Hill', (in 'Gundagai Ghosts' below), is one example of this. Gundagai Shire Council also had a ward system of Municipal Governance till recent times. but is now composed of eight councillors elected proportionally. 'West Ward' at Gundagai is still delineated by West Street. The ward system originates from Scotland and Eastern England where wards, that are watchful spirits that protect settlements from internal troubles and external dangers, ... form nightly a ring of benevolent spiritual protection against harmful spirits. Once the spirits are driven from the landscape, the protection is no longer forthcoming and the settlement is open to psychic ills. Beating the Bounds
Beating the bounds
Beating the bounds is an ancient custom still observed in some English and Welsh parishes. A group of old and young members of the community would walk the boundaries of the parish, usually led by the parish priest and church officials, to share the knowledge of where they lay, and to pray for...
, the religious form of wards, is still practiced in some parishes in the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn. Cursed is he who transgresseth the bounds or doles of his neighbour. Gundagai's Anglican parish still has 'wardens'. The Right Reverend Trevor Edwards Vicar General
Vicar general
A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...
of the Anglican Church and Assistant Bishop
Assistant Bishop
An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop.-Church of England:In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually are retired bishops – in which case they are honorary assistant bishops...
of the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn, commented in September 2011, on the stories held within the walls of St John's Church Gundagai when he led the commemoration of the laying of the foundation stone of that church in 1861 Outside the walls of the St John's church at Gundagai are also the stories of multiple events and aspects of culture not the least the two oak trees outside the Anglican Rectory. Gundagai's rich history of song, verse, epic sagas and notable events beginning first with that of Australian Aboriginal cultural heritage then on to multiple other ontologies
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
with the arrival of the Europeans; that are also remembered within placenames and recalled throughout landscape is evidence of the rich tapesty that is Gundagai today.
George Augustus Robinson
George Augustus Robinson
George Augustus Robinson was a builder and untrained preacher. He was the Chief Protector of Aborigines in Port Phillip District from 1839 to 1849...
, Chief Protector of Aborigines
Protector of Aborigines
The role of Protectors of Aborigines resulted from a recommendation of the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Aborigines . On 31 January 1838, Lord Glenelg, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies sent Governor Gipps the report.The report recommended that Protectors of...
in Port Phillip
Port Phillip Protectorate
The Port Phillip Protectorate was created by the British House of Commons at the instigation of Lord Glenelg. The primary directives of the Protectors was to protect the Aboriginal people in their districts and to 'civilise' them, in other words to minimize conflicts between European settlers and...
, commented that Gundagai was remarkable for its nomenclature
Nomenclature
Nomenclature is a term that applies to either a list of names or terms, or to the system of principles, procedures and terms related to naming - which is the assigning of a word or phrase to a particular object or property...
when passing through the town in 1844.
Snake Tales
Snakes do unusual things at Gundagai such as the eastern brown snakeEastern brown snake
The eastern brown snake , often referred to as the common brown snake, is a species of genus Pseudonaja. This snake is considered the second most venomous land snake based on its value in mice. It is native to Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia.-Description:Adult eastern brown snakes are highly...
that removed itself from the stomach of a red-bellied black snake
Red-bellied Black Snake
The Red-bellied Black Snake, Pseudechis porphyriacus, is a species of elapid snake native to eastern Australia. Though its venom is capable of causing significant morbidity, it is not generally fatal and less venomous than other deadly Australian snakes. It is common in woodlands, forests and...
after the red-belly black had eaten it. George Bennett, English born Australian physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
, recorded at Gundagai in the 1830s that the black snake was the wife of the brown so that may have meant in the biblical sense. In 1908 there was a snake plague at Gundagai with several crawling around the main street and one entering the barber's shop. In 1924 an eastern brown snake
Eastern brown snake
The eastern brown snake , often referred to as the common brown snake, is a species of genus Pseudonaja. This snake is considered the second most venomous land snake based on its value in mice. It is native to Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia.-Description:Adult eastern brown snakes are highly...
that had hidden under a home, was enticed out after 'Yes, We have No Bananas', 'The Road to Gundagai' and finally 'Come Into the Garden Maud', were played on the harmonica. A man was bitten on the finger by a snake in 1929 but couldn't get the snake to let go. His dog eventually dragged the snake away. The man chopped his finger off and survived. Also in 1929, Hubert Opperman
Hubert Opperman
Sir Hubert Ferdinand Opperman, OBE , referred to as Oppy by Australian and French crowds, was an Australian cyclist and politician, whose endurance cycling feats in the 1920s and 1930s earned him international acclaim....
famous cyclist, had a tiger snake encounter at Gundagai.
Demographics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics National Regional Profile of population in the Gundagai Shire states that 1.9% of the total Gundagai Shire population in 2001 was Indigenous. Thereafter the number of Indigenous people in the Gundagai Shire is noted as not applicable.In 1850, there was a population of 1140 Aboriginal people left in the Murrumbidgee District. There were eight tribes one of which was the Gundagai group of forty Aboriginal people.
In 1911 the total population of Gundagai Shire was 1,921. It changed little in the course of the twentieth century being 2,308 at the time of the 1981 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
and 1,998 at the 2006 census.
History
North Gundagai is situated on top of significant, Jindalee Group, CambrianCambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
period geology from which the chrysotile
Chrysotile
Chrysotile or white asbestos is the most commonly encountered form of asbestos, accounting for approximately 95% of the asbestos in place in the United States and a similar proportion in other countries. It is a soft, fibrous silicate mineral in the serpentine group of phyllosilicates; as such, it...
asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
bearing Gundagai serpentinite
Serpentinite
Serpentinite is a rock composed of one or more serpentine group minerals. Minerals in this group are formed by serpentinization, a hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle...
originates also indicating prehistoric links to the Gondwana
Gondwana
In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
supercontinent
Supercontinent
In geology, a supercontinent is a landmass comprising more than one continental core, or craton. The assembly of cratons and accreted terranes that form Eurasia qualifies as a supercontinent today.-History:...
.
Explorers and settlers
Australian-born Hamilton HumeHamilton Hume
Hamilton Hume was the first Australian born explorer. Along with Hovell in 1824, Hume was part of an expedition that first took an overland route from Sydney to Port Phillip near the site of present day Melbourne...
and British immigrant William Hovell
William Hovell
William Hilton Hovell was an English explorer of Australia.-Early life:Hovell was born in Yarmouth, Norfolk, England and went to sea as a boy, becoming a Royal Navy captain before settling in New South Wales, arriving in October 1813 aboard the Earl Spencer with his wife Esther née Arndell...
were the first European explorers to visit what is now Gundagai when they passed through the region between 23 October - 15 November 1824. Hovell recorded seeing trees already marked by steel tommyhawks. On the 25th September, 2011, the Right Reverend Trevor Edwards, Vicar General
Vicar general
A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...
of the Anglican Church and Assistant Bishop
Assistant Bishop
An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop.-Church of England:In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually are retired bishops – in which case they are honorary assistant bishops...
of the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn
Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn
Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn or Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn could refer to:*Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn*Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn...
, dressed in traditional white mid-nineteenth century garb, led the commemorative church service for the 150th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of St John's Anglican, (formerly Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
), Church, Gundagai that was built on top of a sacred Aboriginal site at Gundagai. Bishop Edwards noted that following on the path of the explorers Hume and Hovell, the first Gundagai settlers found a wonderful land on which to establish a town, which was gazetted in 1838 but until 1850, relied on ministry from Yass
Yass, New South Wales
Yass is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Yass Valley Shire. The name appears to have been derived from an Aboriginal word, "Yarrh" , said to mean 'running water'....
.
A person by the surname 'Warby' is recorded as having followed Hume and Hovell's tracks to the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Tumut Rivers and having taken up a pastoral lease of 19,200 acres ... at a rent of thirty-three pounds per annum. ... He called the property 'Minghee' later called 'Mingay'. Another source records that from June 1828 till 1836, a station run by notorious cattle thief William Warby, son of convicts John Warby and Sarah Bentley, was to the immediate north of current day Gundagai. William Warby was convicted and transported to Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
in 1836, where he became a constable. All William Warby's stock and possessions were forfeited to the Crown after they had been fraudently sold on to his brother Ben Warby of Campbelltown, New South Wales
Campbelltown, New South Wales
Campbelltown is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campbelltown is located 51 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Campbelltown.- History :Campbelltown...
in an effort to retain possession. Valued employees of William Warby were Mr & Mrs Thomas and Caroline McAlister. Thomas McAlister's father, Robert, is believed to have taken part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
and was transported for life on the 'Minerva'.
Whilst living and working at William Warby's establishment, Caroline McAlister gave birth to a son on the 21st June, 1832. Caroline and Thomas McAlister named this their fourth child, 'John'. John McAlister may have been one of the first known children of European descent born in the Gundagai area. This claim of first European descent does not allow for members of Hume and Hovell's exploration party, the activities of early European stockmen or earlier than that European 'wanderers' conceiving children with Gundagai area Aboriginal women in which case such offspring would also have had European descent as well as Aboriginal descent. Caroline McAlister was the sister of William Warby's wife, Jemima and Thomas McAlister's brother John was the Chief Constable at William Warby's home town of Campbelltown. The herds of M'Arthur, (John Macarthur), Throsby and Ellis, (known locally as Hillas), were along the Murrumbidgee by late 1831. 'Nangus Island' in the middle of the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
at Nangus is marked as one of the early goldfields and was previously named 'M'Arthur Island'. The island is adjacent to where the highly auriferous Adelong Creek enters the Murrumbidgee.
Charles Sturt
Captain Charles Napier Sturt was an English explorer of Australia, and part of the European Exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from both Sydney and later from Adelaide. His expeditions traced several of the westward-flowing rivers,...
travelled through the area in 1829 at the start of his voyage in search of an inland sea then believed to exist in outback Australia
Outback
The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...
. Sturt again passed through Gundagai on the return leg of this journey in 1830, and returned in 1838 in company with the Hawdon and Bonney overlanding parties. At the time of Sturt's 1829-1830 journey, he found several settlers in the district: Henry O'Brien at Jugiong, William Warby at Mingay and the Stuckey Brothers, Peter and Henry at Willie Ploma and Tumblong. These settlers were beyond the limits of location as the district was not within the Nineteen Counties
Nineteen Counties
The Nineteen Counties were the limits of location in the colony of New South Wales defined by the Governor of New South Wales Sir Ralph Darling in 1826 in accordance with a government order from Lord Bathurst, the secretary of State. Counties had been used since the first year of settlement, with...
. Lady Jane Franklin
Jane Franklin
Jane, Lady Franklin was an early Tasmanian pioneer, traveller and second wife of the explorer John Franklin....
, the wife of the governor of Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, Sir John Franklin
John Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
, travelled through Gundagai on 27 April 1839. Lady Jane noted Andrews' store and public house establishment, that had a neat verandah and shuttered hut. Lady Jane then walked from Andrews', on the north bank of the Murrumbidgee River on the Gundagai floodplain, to Brodribb's hut that was 1/4 of a mile to the east. Brodribb's hut was immediately adjacent to the large Aboriginal ceremonial circle on the Gundagai floodplain and that may have been what Lady Jane went to see.
Edward John Eyre
Edward John Eyre
Edward John Eyre was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and a controversial Governor of Jamaica....
, Australian explorer and later Governor of Jamaica, left Sydney in late 1838 in an effort to find a practical route to overland stock to Adelaide, and then on to open communication between Adelaide and West Australia. Eyre left the Limestone Plains
Limestone Plains
The Limestone Plains were broad, frost-hollow floodplains through which the Molonglo River flowed. Early settlers named this floodplain after the occasional small outcrops of limestone found on it. The Limestone Plains were the area Australia's capital city Canberra was built on...
near today’s Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
with stock on 5 December 1838. On reaching the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
at Gundagai Eyre, accompanied by Yarrie of the colony of New South Wales and Joey two boys aborigines of the Hume and Murrumbidgee rivers, turned down the river to the westward instead of following further south and travelled along the northern bank of the river for the better supply of water and feed available for his stock. Eyre crossed the river twice at Gundagai to avoid some ranges and crossed the North Gundagai landscape through today's High School agricultural paddock then down to the Jones Creek ford at the western end of Hanley Street. Hume & Hovell, Sturt and Eyre all took this route through North Gundagai with the notch
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
through the Kimo Range being pointed out to them by locals.
Mountain passes have been important since before recorded history, and have played a key role in trade, war, and migration. The mountain ranges in the Gundagai area have sometimes presented difficulty to through travellers not only because of their steep topography but also depending on the time of year, cultural activity taking place along them.
In the 1830s, Horatio Wills
Horatio Wills
Horatio Spencer Howe Wills , or Horace Wills, was an Australian pastoralist and politician. Born in Sydney, the son of a convict sent to Australia for highway robbery, Wills is notable as being involved in several events in Australian history...
and his family lived near Gundagai. The Wills' son, Thomas Wills
Tom Wills
Thomas Wentworth "Tom" Wills was an Australian all-round sportsman, umpire, coach and administrator who is credited with being a catalyst towards the invention of Australian rules football....
who was born in the Gundagai area,, is credited with co-inventing Australian Rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
and for being coach and captain to the first Australian Aboriginal cricket team.
Highway and river crossing place
Gundagai was located at a crossing place of the Murrumbidgee RiverMurrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
. There were several places at Gundagai that travellers could and did cross the river. The route eventually became the Great South Road which in 1914 was declared a main road of New South Wales and named the Hume Highway
Hume Highway
The Hume Highway/Hume Freeway is one of Australia's major inter-city highways, running for 880 km between Sydney and Melbourne. It is part of the Auslink National Network and is a vital link for road freight to transport goods to and from the two cities as well as serving Albury-Wodonga and...
in 1928. The Main Roads Management Act of June 1858 declared the Great Southern Road, from near Sydney through Goulburn and Gundagai to Albury, as one of the three main roads in the colony. However, its southern reaches were described as only a 'scarcely formed bullock track' as late as 1858. The road was improved in the mid 1860s with some sections near Gundagai metalled and all creeks bridged between Adelong Creek (approximately 10 kilometres south of Gundagai) and Albury. The highway bypassed Gundagai in 1977 with the opening of the Sheahan Bridge.
Fords, removed bridges and missing wetlands
There are several old fords at Gundagai including the one at the western end of Hanley Street that crosses Jones Creek. A ford on the southern continuation of Bourke Street crosses Jones Creek. One on the western end of Sheridan Lane that crosses Jones Creek. A ford on the western end of William Street that crosses Jones Creek. The Otway Street ford across Morleys Creek. A 1950s concrete ford that crosses Morleys Creek on the immediate western side of Yarri Bridge. A very old ford that crosses Morleys Creek east of the Yarri Bridge. The Warramore Ford that crosses the Murrumbidgee across to Tarrabandra between the Gundagai showground and Mingay. The Sandy Falls ford. The ford across Muttama Creek at the Nine Mile, Coolac, that is a well noted crossing place in local poetry, folklore and history. The Gundagai township ford of the Murrumbidgee in line with Otway Steet. 'Adelong Crossing Place', now 'Tumblong' where there used to be a ford across Adelong Creek. There is also the Wantabadgery crossing place that these days has been replaced by the low level Mundarlo Bridge. Often bridges have replaced fords but not always in exactly the same location as bridges require high stream banks, whereas fords favour low banks. Two known old bridges on Morleys Creek no longer exist. Learys Bridge, a wooden bridge that crossed Morleys Creek in line with Byron Street, Gundagai was burned down by Gundagai Shire Council in the 1990s. Rileys Bridge that crossed Morleys Creek at the midpoint between Byron and Homer Streets, Gundagai was washed away in the 1851 Gundagai flood. In recent years the Gundagai wetlands and marshes that were home to many bird species, have disappeared, largely as a result of ground compaction by cattle and Gundagai Shire Council diverting ground water into underground pipes. These wetlands were on the North Gundagai Common; adjacent to the Gundagai High School; between Bourke and West Streets to the north of Punch Street; to the west and north of the North Gundagai cemetery; and at Coolac.Post office
Gundagai Post Office opened on 1 April 1843 as the township (gazetted in 1838) developed.Railway
The railway reached Gundagai in 1886 with a branch line to Tumut from CootamundraCootamundra, New South Wales
Cootamundra is a town and Local Government Area in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. At the 2006 census, Cootamundra had a population of 5,566. It is located on the Olympic Highway at the point where it crosses the Muttama Creek, between Junee and...
on the Main Southern railway line
Main Southern railway line, New South Wales
The Main Southern Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes and the Riverina regions.- Description of route :...
. The branch line was extended reaching Tumut
Tumut, New South Wales
Tumut is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut is at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is referred to as the gateway to the Snowy Mountains Scheme...
in 1903 and Batlow and Kunama, at the end of the Tumut and Kunama railway lines, in 1923. The line was finally closed after flood damage in 1984.
Floods
- See also: Floods in New South WalesFloods in New South WalesThe Australian state of New South Wales, since colonisation, has been subjected to devastating flooding in its rivers.Floods were experienced early in European settlement - Gundagai's flood of the early 19th century is still one of the highest tolls of disasters of its type - see...
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
s of the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
. The Crown Commissioner for the Murrumbidgee District, Henry Bingham, praised the heroic actions of Aboriginal people at Gundagai in rescuing settlers from the 1844 flood and that letter from Commissioner Bingham, that also requested a reward for local Aboriginal people, was published in the NSW Government Gazette on the instruction of the then NSW Governor. Gundagai was still considered a frontier town in 1852. The 25 June 1852 Murrumbidgee flood swept the first colonial town of Gundagai away, killing at least 78 people (perhaps 89) of the town's population of 250 people; it is one of the largest natural disasters in Australia's history. Following an even higher flood in 1853, North Gundagai was redeveloped at its current site on Asbestos Hill and Mount Parnassus, above the river, and at South Gundagai on the slopes of Brummies Hill, using pre-existing surveyors plans.
The efforts of Yarri, Jacky Jacky, Long Jimmy and one other Indigenous man
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
in saving many Gundagai people from the 1852 floodwaters were heroic. Between them, these men rescued more than 40 people using bark canoes. Yarri and Jacky Jacky were honored with bronze medallions for their efforts, and were allowed to demand sixpences from all Gundagai residents, although Yarri was maltreated on at least one occasion after the flood. Long Jimmy died not long after his rescues, possibly from the effects of being exposed to the freezing cold and wet conditions.
It is claimed that the Gundagai community developed a special affinity with the Wiradjuri
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales.In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith...
people and that the flood and its aftermath was the birthplace of reconciliation.
The town commemorated the sesquicentenary of the flood in 2002.
In June 1891 there was a very high flood of the Murrumbidgee at Gundagai. Several pastoral workers became stranded in trees in a rising river just to the south of Gundagai. Four men who set out in a rescue boat from Gundagai township were also swamped and also ended up in trees in the river channel with the water level rising. A young man, Edward True, born at Gundagai in 1865, dragged a light skiff several miles over hills to the rescue site downstream after the usual road south was cut by rising floodwaters. No one else watching the unfolding tragedy that night was prepared to take the skiff onto the rising and extremely dangerous Murrumbidgee River so True, who could not swim, launched the skiff on to the river and managed to save several men from drowning. One of those men saved by Edward True was the son of police sergeant McGinnerty who was shot and killed by the bushranger, Dan Morgan
Dan Morgan (bushranger)
John Fuller was an Australian bushranger.Fuller was born in Appin, New South Wales, Australia around 1830 to George Fuller and Mary Owen. He was their illigitimate son and from the ages of 2 to 17 he lived with an adoptive father, John Roberts...
in 1864. True was awarded the Silver Medal of the Royal Humane Society of Australasia
Royal Humane Society of Australasia
The Royal Humane Society of Australasia, formerly the Victorian Humane Society, is an Australian charity dedicated to the recognition of those who risk their own lives in saving or attempting to save the lives of others...
, (RHSA), for his bravery. True was threatened by the Gundagai Police and did not accept the award though the award continues to stand with the RHSA. The part of the Kimo Range that Edward True dragged that small skiff up over was named 'Neds Gully' by a grateful community and the road through it, 'Neds Gully Lane'. True had previously been awarded a Certificate of Merit by the RHSA in 1887 after saving a young child from drowning in the bunyip
Bunyip
The bunyip, or kianpraty, is a large mythical creature from Aboriginal mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes....
waterhole at Gundagai in 1886. The land surrounding where that bunyip rescue happened was named 'Trues Flat'. Edward True's parents, Samuel and Maryanne True, and their two eldest children were survivors of the 1852 Gundagai flood. The Trues lived immediately adjacent to the large Aboriginal ceremonial circle at section 8, allotment 3, Milton Street on the Gundagai floodplain till around 1855 then moved north but were still along the ceremonial track or 'murroo'.
Bushrangers
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
. In 1863, the bushrangers Stanley and Jones were arrested at Tumut after they had allegedly stolen saddles at Gundagai and hatched a plan to rob Mr. Norton's store. Stanley could not be identified. In 1864, Jones was found not guilty.
Sergeant Parry was shot and killed in 1864 by the bushranger John Gilbert
John Gilbert (bushranger)
Johnny Gilbert was an Australian bushranger shot dead by the police at the age of 23 near Binalong, New South Wales on 13 May 1865.John Gilbert was the only Australian bushranger never to go to prison...
in a hold-up of the mail coach near Jugiong
Jugiong, New South Wales
Jugiong is a village community on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, in the central east part of the Riverina. It is situated just off the Hume Highway, by road, about 30 kilometres southwest from Bookham and 40 kilometres northeast from Gundagai...
. Gilbert was a member of Ben Hall's gang that was active in the district in 1863-64. Patrick Gately and Patrick Lawler held up Keane's pub at Coolac in April, 1866. Also in the 1860s, to the north of Adelong, the bushranger Hawthorne mistook a man by the name of Grant for William Williams the gold mine owner, and killed Grant. By 1869, Harry Power
Harry Power
Harry Power was an Australian Bushranger. It is believed, by some, that Ned Kelly served as his accomplice while a teenager. -Early life:...
, early mentor of famous Australian bushranger, Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly
Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish...
, was committing holdups near Adelong and as icing on the cake, by 1874 the bushranger prettily known as Jerry Blossom, was entertaining the district. In 1880, bushrangers held up the Chinese Camp at Gundagai then fled on horseback towards Burra, a locality known to harbour louts and for the ferocious fires that roar through the area.
Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly
Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish...
was considered by some merely a cold-blooded killer, while by others a folk hero
Folk hero
A folk hero is a type of hero, real, fictional, or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by...
and symbol of Irish Australian
Irish Australian
Irish Australians have played a long and enduring part in Australia's history. Many came to Australia in the eighteenth century as settlers or as convicts, and contributed to Australia's development in many different areas....
resistance against oppression by the British ruling class
Ruling class
The term ruling class refers to the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that society's political policy - assuming there is one such particular class in the given society....
for his defiance of the colonial authorities. Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly
Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish...
and his lieutenant, Joe Byrne
Joe Byrne
Joe Byrne was an Australian bushranger born in Victoria to an Irish immigrant. A friend of Ned Kelly, he was a member of the Kelly Gang, who were declared outlaws after the murder of three policemen at Stringybark Creek...
, had family links to the Gundagai area. Dan Kelly, Ned's brother, at one point negotiated a transaction at a Gundagai bank. The first name 'Ned' became a euphemism
Euphemism
A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...
for the bunyip
Bunyip
The bunyip, or kianpraty, is a large mythical creature from Aboriginal mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes....
as the sight of Ned and his men in their armour was so challenging that it had some who were at the final confrontation with police that took place at Glenrowan on 28 June 1880, thinking the Kelly Gang were bunyips. Bluey and Ned (the bunyip), are old-time Gundagai characters.
Ned Kelly, who also called himself J. Thompson, and his stepfather George King who was also known as George Stuckey, led a Victoria and New South Wales stock stealing operation stealing stock in Victoria and trading it in southern New South Wales, and stealing in New South Wales and selling it in Victoria. Early in 1879, some Gundagai residents were in fear that the Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly
Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish...
gang was going to pay the town a visit. Extra rifles and ammunition to defend the town, were applied for and special constables were sworn in. Senior Constable Webb-Bowen, who was shot and killed in the battle with Captain Moonlite and his gang at Wantabadgery, was sent to Gundagai in case the Kelly Gang did turn up in the town. In Novemebr 1879, Victoria police watched the partially crippled, probably homosexual ex-convict and ex-preacher, Moonlite and his gang as they progressed north through Victoria
Victoria
- Given name :* Victoria , word origin and list of people* Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Empress of India * Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden * Victoria of Baden , the queen-consort of Sweden as wife of King Gustaf V...
then on into New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
on what was claimed by the gang to be a possum-hunting picnic. Superintendent John Sadlier of the Victoria Police claimed that Moonlite contacted the Kelly Gang as Moonlite and his men made that journey north through Victoria and asked to join them, which received a very, very negative response from Ned Kelly who threatened to shoot Moonlite if he came anywhere near him, Kelly. Till Victorian police arrived at Gundagai after the capture of Captain Moonlite and his surviving men in November 1879after the Wantabadgery siege and shootout, no one was sure if any of those captured or shot by police were members of Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly
Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish...
's gang. When news of the Moonlite
Whiteboys
The Whiteboys were a secret Irish agrarian organization in 18th-century Ireland which used violent tactics to defend tenant farmer land rights for subsistence farming...
gang's siege reached Gundagai the Gundagai court, that was just about to begin its session, was adjourned so that all the police in the town could travel to McGlede's farm. Gundagai went under the protection of the previously sworn in special constables. Police strength at McGlede's was strengthened by a contingent of armed railway workers from Junee.
Captain Moonlight/Moonlite is a name used as a euphemism
Euphemism
A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...
for a secret, 18th-century Irish organization often known as 'Whiteboys' or 'Levellers' that fought for social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
through such means as agitating against the oppression of smallholder rural farmers by larger landowners, and oppression of workers by their masters. Captain Moonlite the bushranger was particularly interested in improving conditions for prisoners in Victorian and New South Wales gaols, and levelling the wealth of banks. Captain Charles Sturt
Charles Sturt
Captain Charles Napier Sturt was an English explorer of Australia, and part of the European Exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from both Sydney and later from Adelaide. His expeditions traced several of the westward-flowing rivers,...
the famous Murrumbidgee River explorer who made two journeys of exploration through Gundagai, joined the British army as an ensign in 1813 and for a while served in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
as well as elsewhere. In Ireland Sturt passed through some stirring experiences in connection with the Whiteboy organisation, which sprang into being as the result of numerous evictions, and spread rapidly through many counties,for a time establishing a reign of terror. Sturt was called one night to defend a farmhouse attacked by the Whiteboys, and his experience on this occasion was such as to destroy all sympathy with Irish agitators. He found among the ruins of a farmhouse the dead bodies of a beautiful girl and of other members of the family.
The North Gundagai Anglican cemetery contains the graves of two policemen shot in the district by bushranger
Bushranger
Bushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...
s. Senior Constable Webb-Bowen was killed by Captain Moonlite in November 1879 in a hostage incident at McGlede's farm. Trooper Edmund Parry, killed in an encounter with Ben Hall's gang near Jugiong lies at rest next to the grave of Senior Constable Webb-Bowen. Captain Moonlite is also buried in the North Gundagai Anglican cemetery. Captain Moonlite had been asked to be buried at Gundagai near his friends James Nesbitt and Augustus Wernicke . Both had been killed in the shoot-out at McGlede's Hut. Moonlite's request was not granted by the authorities of the time, but his remains were exhumed from Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery is the largest multicultural necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
and reinterred at Gundagai near to the unknown location of Nesbitt's grave in January 1995. Moonlite rests in a simple grave
Grave
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried.Grave may also refer to:*Grave accent, a diacritical mark*Grave , a term used to classify sounds*Grave , a term for "slow and solemn" music*Grave , an old name for the kilogram...
, some way up the hill at the Anglican cemetery at North Gundagai, under the shade of a eucalypt
Eucalypt
Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...
tree, with a rock from the time Australia was born as his memorial, looking down the hill towards the more ostentatious, obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
shaped memorial of one of his nemeses
Nemesis (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Nemesis , also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris . The Greeks personified vengeful fate as a remorseless goddess: the goddess of revenge...
, Senior-Constable Webb-Bowen.
In the 1950s bushrangers reappeared in the Gundagai area, jumping into the trailers of heavy transports moving along the Hume Highway and throwing contents out to nearby accomplices.
In 1993 a Gundagai native, Tony Percival, was shot dead in the northern NSW mining town of Hillgrove by the perpetrators of the Cangai siege
1993 Cangai siege
In March 1993 Murderers Leonard Leabeater, Robert Steele and Raymond Bassett went on a nine day rampage across two States of Australia, resulting in them taking hostages in a siege in a farmhouse at Hanging Rock Station, Cangai, near Grafton, New South Wales with them threatening to kill people...
, Len Leabeater, Raymond Bassett and Robert Steele in their nine-day, two-state murderous rampage.
Spirit Dog, Djirri Djirris, Killimicat Craypton and Ghosts
To the east of Gundagai, local Aboriginal cultural tradition traditionally ran downstream into the Murrumbidgee, then on to Gundagai rather than upstream to Tumut. As well as bunyip stories, Brungle Aboriginal women relate the story of the 'Mirriyolla Dog' a spirit dog that could shapeshiftShapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
. Willie wagtail
Willie Wagtail
The Willie Wagtail is a passerine bird native to Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, and eastern Indonesia. It is a common and familiar bird throughout much of its range, living in most habitats apart from thick forest...
s or djirri djirris were known to listen into conversations so it was wise to not repeat confidences. A man with no head called 'Craypton' lived up on 'Killimicat' and would ride down the mountain of a night on a horse. The blue glow of the Min Min light
Min Min light
Min Min Light is the name given to an unusual light formation that has been reported numerous times in eastern Australia. The lights have been reported from as far south as Brewarrina in western New South Wales, to as far north as Boulia in northern Queensland...
sometimes identified as a fata morgana
Fata Morgana (mirage)
A Fata Morgana is an unusual and very complex form of mirage, a form of superior mirage, which, like many other kinds of superior mirages, is seen in a narrow band right above the horizon...
phenomenon, is also known in the Gundagai area and Aboriginal people were taught to run if they saw it.The Mirriyolla Ghost Dog is also known of in Cootamundra a few miles to the north-west of Gundagai and lives in the Bethungra Range that is partly in Gundagai Shire. This ghost dog hunts on just one night a year, the longest night.
Gundagai has recorded several ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
and will-o'-the-wisp
Will-o'-the-wisp
A will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus , also called a "will-o'-wisp", "jack-o'-lantern" , "hinkypunk", "corpse candle", "ghost-light", "spook-light", "fairy light", "friar's lantern", "hobby lantern", "ghost orb", or simply "wisp", is a ghostly light or lights sometimes seen at night or twilight over...
sightings. Will-O'-the-Wisp
Will-o'-the-wisp
A will-o'-the-wisp or ignis fatuus , also called a "will-o'-wisp", "jack-o'-lantern" , "hinkypunk", "corpse candle", "ghost-light", "spook-light", "fairy light", "friar's lantern", "hobby lantern", "ghost orb", or simply "wisp", is a ghostly light or lights sometimes seen at night or twilight over...
is Will the Smith. Will is a wicked blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
who is given a second chance by Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
at the gates to Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, but leads such a bad life that he ends up being doomed to wander the Earth. The Devil provides him with a single burning coal with which to warm himself, which he then used to lure foolish travellers into the marshes
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
. One tall and shadowy ... supernatural visitant that appeared from under a culvert in Gundagai in 1869, severely alarmed a horse and its rider, and exhibited a livid, phosphoric light such as a rotting fish might display.
Mrs Moroney at Jones Creek, Gundagai, was often visited by a ghost in 1873. The ghost wore a grey tweed suit and had a red beard. Sometimes one half of him would appear to those he chose to favour with his presence, and at other times, the other half was seen. Mrs Moroney spoke to her clergyman and also the Bishop and then vacated her residence. A nearby resident, Mr Carey, then began to receive visits by the same spectre. Mr Carey corroborated Mrs Moroney’s description of the ghost and dealt with it by hitting it on the head with a shovel the next time it paid him a visit. The shovel bounced off so next Mr Carey set the dogs on it and the ghost retreated through the doorway.
Co-founder of the Gundagai Museum, Oscar Bell, British Empire Medal recipient for services to the community including preserving and recording Gundagai history, and President of the Gundagai and District Historical Society, told of the ghost of a little old woman that alarmed a newly arrived in Australia, Irish pastoral worker named Dennis Kilker. A ghost of the same description, (which may have been a Cailleach
Cailleach
In Irish and Scottish mythology, the , also known as the Cailleach Bheur, is a divine hag, a creatrix, and possibly an ancestral deity or deified ancestor...
, or Washer at the Ford also known as a Bean Nighe
Bean Nighe
The bean nighe , is a Scottish fairy, seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. She is a type of bean sìth .-Legends:...
, given the Celtic mythological
Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...
elements in the story), was also reported by a tourist named Ryan who passed through the area in the 1960s. Bell then went on to remember the ghost of Kimo Hill, a couple of miles to the south of Gundagai, that is thought to belong to a lost or stolen child
The Stolen Child
"The Stolen Child" is a poem by William Butler Yeats, published in 1889 in The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems.-Overview:The poem was written in 1886 and is considered to be one of Yeats's more notable early poems. The poem is based on Irish legend and concerns faeries beguiling a child to come...
who went missing in the area
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
, in the 1830s. 'Kimo Hill' is a child hill of the 'Kimo Range' that has become distanced from its mother hill, 'Mount Kimo', on the northern end of the Sheahan Bridge at North Gundagai.
A young lady was reputed to have drowned herself in Morley's Creek near the old Gundagai Flour Mill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
, in 1887 and ever since, some people when walking past the mill report seeing the image of a sad young woman looking out from the upper windows of the building. More recently a Gundagai resident saw a ghost at the old Gundagai Gaol and wrote a song about her.
By 1923, there were so many ghosts and other white clad entities in Gundagai that they all got together for a ball at which they danced the hours away to weird music, cutting strange capers on the dancefloor, all the time viewed by a large audience.
Swaggies, Unemployed Camp, Chinese Camp, Railway Canvas Town & Mining Camps
The old Gundagai Flour Mill in Sheridan Lane was also known as 'The SundownerSwagman
A swagman is an old Australian and New Zealand term describing an underclass of transient temporary workers, who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying the traditional swag...
s' for the swaggies
Swagman
A swagman is an old Australian and New Zealand term describing an underclass of transient temporary workers, who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying the traditional swag...
that camped there each night. 'Sam the Sundowner' a famous Australian swaggie
Swagman
A swagman is an old Australian and New Zealand term describing an underclass of transient temporary workers, who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying the traditional swag...
and principal character in the Australian comedy drama, 'The Road to Gundagai', was a regular resident at the Gundagai 'Sundowners' and was known for the rescues he made of near to drowning people from the inland rivers.
In 1901, there was a very large camp of unemployed men and their families at South Gundagai waiting for the proposed Gundagai Rail Line to begin construction. Five hundred of these men marched from south to north Gundagai accompanied by the town band, to try to move commencement of the project, forward. There was a railway worker canvas town near the Gundagai Rail Station. Rail workers and their families who moved to Gundagai to work on the rail line, lived in tents in that area into the 1950s. The Chinese camp was in the area of today's Bowls Club as were the Chinese gardens. Burials of deceased Chinese people were in the pagan ground. All mine sites, of which there were several around Gundagai such as Burra, Reno, Jackalass, Jones Creek and Coolac, had miner's camps at or near them. The hill to the north of Gundagai known as Flower Hill once had a large tent settlement that was larger than the permanent North Gundagai residential area. Likewise the Spring Flat goldfield adjacent to the North Gundagai cemetery resulted in a sizeable tent township appearing there.
River boat trade
There were several riverboats associated with Gundagai. The 'Explorer', the 'Gundagai', the 'Albury', the 'Nangus' and the 'J.H.P.'. Captain Francis CadellFrancis Cadell (explorer)
Francis Cadell was a European explorer of Australia, most remembered for opening the Murray River up for transport by steamship.- Early life :...
ran the first steamer on the Murray River
Murray River
The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...
in 1853. In 1856 the sister steamers, the 'Albury' and the 'Gundagai' were bought from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
to Goolwa in pieces, by Captain Cadell, assembled at Goolwa then launched.
In 1855 Captain Cadell was aboard the paddlewheel steamer 'Gundagai' for the first journey in it north of Goolwa,, then in 1856 explored the Edward River
Edward River
The Edward River is a river in the south west Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The river is an anabranch of the Murray River, the longest river in Australia....
system as Captain of the 'Gundagai'. By 1865, the steamer 'Gundagai' under the command of Captain Cadell, was providing a transport service between Wanganui
Wanganui
Whanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....
and the Waitotara
Waitotara
Waitotara is a town in South Taranaki, New Zealand. Waverley is 10 km to the north-west, and Wanganui is 34 km to the south-east. State Highway 3 passes through it. The Waitotara River flows past the east side of the town....
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and getting supplies to troops, in support of the British Crown and the Crown's involvement in the New Zealand Wars. Captain Cadell became 'Superintendent of Colonial Transport (water)' for New Zealand. On 25th June, 1866 near Patea
Patea
Patea is the third-largest town in South Taranaki, New Zealand. It is on the western bank of the Patea River, 61 kilometres north-west of Wanganui on State Highway 3. Hawera is 27 km to the north-west, and Waverley 17 km to the east. The Patea River flows through the town from the...
New Zealand, the little paddlewheel steamer and expert crosser of sandbars, the 'Gundagai' went onshore and broke in half. All hands were rescued.
On the 16th September, 1858, the steamer 'Albury', under the command of Captain George Johnston with Captain Cadell on board, moored at Gundagai on the north bank of the Murrumbidgee at what was hoped to be named the 'Albury Wharf', after taking a bit over a month to ascend the Murrumbidgee from Lake Alexandrina. The 'Albury' was the first steamer known to visit Gundagai. Three Gundagai Aboriginal people were very pleased to see the 'Albury'. likely considering it was a worthy competitor with their bark canoes of which they were expert boat builders and in which they were also expert rivermen especially in situations such as the horrific 1852 Gundagai flood.
The steamer 'Albury' was tied up to an old gum tree at Gundagai by Mr Norton of Gundagai who two years previously had the honour of naming the boat that set off from Gundagai to survey the Murrumbidgee under the command of Captain Robinson, the 'Explorer'. Captain Robinson's 1855 survey of the Murrumbidgee in the 'Explorer' was for the purpose of ascertaining If that river presents any serious impediments to internal navigation and the incentive for that survey came from Captain Cadell.
The steamer 'Nangus' was constructed by the engineer Mr. Chapman of Sydney, at Nangus Station near Gundagai for Mr Jenkins, owner of Nangus Station, to ply the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
between Gundagai and Hay
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
and she made her maiden journey in 1865. The steamer 'Nangus' was a 12 horsepower, 70 feet long iron vessel, with two side paddles and towing two iron barges.. The 'Nangus' sank near Wagga after hitting a snag in 1867.
The steamer 'J.H.P.' was launched in 1866 and sank between Hay and Balranald in October 1868. It was raised but sank twice more then was dismantled in 1879. On the 20th September 1870, the steamer 'J.H.P.' owned by Edward Warby, journeyed up the Murrumbidgee from Wagga to Gundagai without incident. On her return journey she took on bagged lime at Mundarlo, then came to grief near Yabtree after ramming into a large oak tree on the riverbank, and sank. The cargo was lost..
Captain Cadell lost all his money through trying to establish a riverboat trade on the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers. After his New Zealand experiences he purchased a small steamer called the 'Gem' and commenced mother-of-pearl shell fishing on the Nor'West coast of Australia with a Malay crew. He was returning his crew home when their time working for him had expired when they killed him to obtain access to the 'Gem's' onboard safe containing money. The British Admiralty sent out a search vessel from Chinese waters and the remains of the burned out 'Gem' and three of her crew were found and the mutiny events on board the 'Gem' and the murder of Captain Cadell, ascertained.
Bridges of Gundagai
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
lattice truss bridge
Truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...
, the Prince Alfred
Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the third Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and reigned from 1893 to 1900. He was also a member of the British Royal Family, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha...
bridge, was completed across the Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
, with a timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
leading to it across the river's flood plain. The bridge was designed by Francis Bell
Francis Bell (engineer)
Francis Bell CE MICE , was a British railway engineer, who worked extensively in Australia, and was involved in a number of important railway construction projects and bridges....
. and has a total length of 921 metres and was the first iron truss bridge to be built in New South Wales. Until 1932 when the Sydney Harbour Bridge was completed, the Prince Alfred bridge was the longest bridge in New South Wales. In 1902 a second (railway) bridge was built, with a total length of 819 metres.
In 1977 the Sheahan bridge was opened, a concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
and steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
bridge on the Hume Highway
Hume Highway
The Hume Highway/Hume Freeway is one of Australia's major inter-city highways, running for 880 km between Sydney and Melbourne. It is part of the Auslink National Network and is a vital link for road freight to transport goods to and from the two cities as well as serving Albury-Wodonga and...
. At 1143 metres (3,750 ft), it is the second longest bridge in Australia after the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...
. It replaced the Prince Alfred bridge as the crossing of the Murrumbidgee River. The bridge was named after Bill Sheahan (1895–1975), who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
for Yass
Electoral district of Yass
Yass was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales between 1894 and 1920. It largely replaced the electoral district of Yass Plains. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed along with Burrangong into...
from 1941–1950 and for Burrinjuck from 1950–1973 and held various ministerial portfolios.
Economy
Other than tourismTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
generated by romantic bush appeal and the historic bridges, Gundagai's economy remains driven by sheep and cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
, as well as wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, lucerne
Lucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
and maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
production.
As of 2005, secondary industries
Secondary sector of industry
The secondary sector of the economy or industrial sector includes those economic sectors that create a finished, tangible product: production and construction.-Function:...
in Gundagai included the Gundagai Meat Processors Plant and D J Lynch Engineering. The meatworks is the shire's largest single employer with over 100 employees. The latter firm has produced work for major construction projects, including building steel spans for the Olympic Stadium
Telstra Stadium
Stadium Australia, currently also known as ANZ Stadium due to naming rights, formerly known as Telstra Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park precinct of Homebush Bay...
.
Gold mining
Gold was identified by the geologist Rev. W. B. ClarkeWilliam Branwhite Clarke
William Branwhite Clarke, FRS was an English geologist and clergyman, active in Australia.-Early life and England:...
at Gundagai in 1842. A gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
hit the area in 1858 following further discoveries of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
continued initially until 1875 and following a second gold rush in 1894, mines operated again until well into the 20th Century with some mining activity still occurring in 2007. The best known historical mines were the 'Robinson and Rice's Mine' (Long Tunnel Mine) a few miles to the south west of Gundagai and the 'Prince of Wales Mine' (where Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
, the future President of the United States, was the mining engineer in about 1900) a few miles to the immediate west of Gundagai. Both mines struck the orebody in quartz reefs along serpentine/diorite contact zones with finds of gold telluride (of bismuith origin) also found.
Asbestos mining
AsbestosAsbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
was first mined commercially in Australia, at Gundagai. Actinolite
Actinolite
Actinolite is an amphibole silicate mineral with the chemical formula .-Etymology:The name actinolite is derived from the Greek word aktis , meaning "beam" or "ray", because of the mineral's fibrous nature...
was mined along Jones Creek just to the west of the town but there are several deposits in the immediate area. Some fibres were two feet long. Prior to 1918 this was the only source of asbestos in New South Wales. Northern Gundagai is built on a hill sometimes known as 'Asbestos Hill' and excavations in the area free the asbestos into the air.
Chromite
Chromite
Chromite is an iron chromium oxide: FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. Magnesium can substitute for iron in variable amounts as it forms a solid solution with magnesiochromite ; substitution of aluminium occurs leading to hercynite .-Occurrence:Chromite is found in...
, talc
Talc
Talc is a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula H2Mg34 or Mg3Si4O102. In loose form, it is the widely-used substance known as talcum powder. It occurs as foliated to fibrous masses, its crystals being so rare as to be almost unknown...
, magnesite
Magnesite
Magnesite is magnesium carbonate, MgCO3. Iron substitutes for magnesium with a complete solution series with siderite, FeCO3. Calcium, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may also occur in small amounts...
, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
were also mined at Gundagai.
Rusconi's marble masterpiece
Local monumental mason, Frank RusconiFrank Rusconi
Frank Rusconi was a quarry owner and monumental mason of Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia.He was born at Araluen near Braidwood, New South Wales, the son of a Swiss goldminer and monumental mason. After his mother's death, the family returned to Switzerland while Frank was a child...
, carved a miniature Baroque Italian palace from 20,948 pieces of marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
collected from around New South Wales. The work is 1.2 metres high and, commencing in 1910, took 28 years to complete. It can be seen in the Gundagai tourist office. Rusconi was also the sculptor of the base of the Dog on the Tuckerbox
Dog on the Tuckerbox
The Dog on the Tuckerbox is an Australian historical monument and tourist attraction, located at Snake Gully, five miles from Gundagai, New South Wales...
monument. As bronze was not Rusconi's medium, the rest of the monument was cast at Oliver's Foundry in Sydney.
Niagara cafe
The Niagara cafe opened in 1938 and was a notable stop on the Hume Highway. The cafe makes much of a brief visit by then Prime MinisterPrime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
, John Curtin
John Curtin
John Joseph Curtin , Australian politician, served as the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Labor under Curtin formed a minority government in 1941 after the crossbench consisting of two independent MPs crossed the floor in the House of Representatives, bringing down the Coalition minority...
, in 1942, with a display in the window of the cafe of the crockery used by Curtin and Curtin's link to the cafe.
Heritage listed items
Register of the National Estate
The Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...
.
- Gundagai rail bridge over Murrumbidgee River
- Gundagai Railway Station and yard group
- Gundagai Courthouse
- Gundagai District Hospital
- Murrumbidgee River Underbridge, Gundagai
- Gundagai Rail Bridge Approaches
- Old Gundagai Town Site
- Prince Alfred Bridge
Gundagai as an iconic Australian town
Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers, including writers of poems and songs, and has become the representation of the typical Australian country town. Gundagai also has a long and strong oral traditionOral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
of folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
particular to place that in no small way is due to the site of Gundagai and its many thousands of years long occupation by Australian Aboriginal people being the original foundation population that holds continuing traditional custodianship of place. In turn, as a direct result of colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
by England from the 1800s onward, the current culturally diverse
Cultural diversity
Cultural diversity is having different cultures respect each other's differences. It could also mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole...
Celtic
Celtic
The words Celt and Celtic can refer to:In ethno-linguistics:*Celts, a people of the Celtic nations*Celts , the modern Celtic identity*Celtic languages...
and Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
origin dominant in numbers population evolved at Gundagai at high cost to the original inhabitants. As well as being a site of highly significant Australian Aboriginal culture, Gundagai is also along a route that Australian explorers took to the south and south-west, and a popular meeting place in the nineteenth century for teamster
Teamster
A teamster, in modern American English, is a truck driver. The trade union named after them is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters , one of the largest unions in the United States....
s (or bullocky
Bullocky
A bullocky is an Australian English term for the driver of a bullock team. Bullock drivers were also known as teamsters or carriers. The American term for a bullocky is a bullwhacker.-History:...
s), bush travellers, swagmen
Swagman
A swagman is an old Australian and New Zealand term describing an underclass of transient temporary workers, who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying the traditional swag...
, shearer
Sheep shearer
A sheep shearer is a worker who uses -blade or machine shears to remove wool from domestic sheep during crutching or shearing.-History:...
s and drover
Drover (Australian)
A drover in Australia is a person, typically an experienced stockman, who moves livestock, usually sheep or cattle, "on the hoof" over long distances. Reasons for droving may include: delivering animals to a new owner's property, taking animals to market, or moving animals during a drought in...
s, and more recent small town cultural aspects of place. Gundagai can offer multiple layers of intangible cultural heritage
Intangible cultural heritage
The concept of intangible cultural heritage emerged in the 1990s, as a counterpart to the World Heritage that focuses mainly on tangible aspects of culture...
as well as tangible representations of the local story for those who seek more than a sticky bun and a mug of main street coffee.
Theta
Theta is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, derived from the Phoenician letter Teth...
's poem,'Ode to the Dead of Gundagai'. James Riley, 'The Gundagai Calamity', Jack Moses
Jack Moses
Jack Moses was an Australian outback bush poet who wrote the poems "Bullocky Bill" and "The Dog Sat on the Tuckerbox" and many other famous verses from which the well-known Dog on the Tuckerbox monument and the Nine and Five Mile legend of Gundagai were inspired...
and others in 'Nine Miles From Gundagai',Jack O'Hagan
Jack O'Hagan
John Francis O'Hagan was an Australian musician.O'Hagan was born in Fitzroy, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne. He was the son of Pat O'Hagan, a hotelkeeper and Alice née Quinlan. He went to school at St Patrick's College and then later at Xavier College in Melbourne...
songs 'Where the Dog Sits on the Tuckerbox (five miles from Gundagai)', 'Along The Road To Gundagai
Along the Road to Gundagai
-External links:* Listen to an excerpt of on ....
', 'Snake Gully Swagger', and 'When a Boy from Alabama Meets a Girl from Gundagai,' Gundagai also features in the song 'The Grand Old Hills of Gundagai,' It is referenced in Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
band Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie
Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie
Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie were a Scottish 1980s and 1990s rock group formed in Bathgate, near Edinburgh, Scotland...
's song 'Dust'.
Other references in literature include Banjo Paterson
Banjo Paterson
Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, OBE was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood...
's 'The Road to Gundagai,' and the traditional ballad 'Flash Jack from Gundagai'. Additionally, the town is mentioned in Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson was an Australian writer and poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period and is often called Australia's "greatest writer"...
's 'Scots of the Riverina
Scots of the Riverina
Scots of the Riverina is an Australian bush poem by Henry Lawson. It is set in the Riverina, New South Wales in the town of Gundagai. It tells of a boy who leaves home at the start of the harvest to move to the city, an unheard of and unforgivable thing for a Scot to do in the early 1900's,...
,' and C. J. Dennis
C. J. Dennis
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis, better known as C. J. Dennis, was an Australian poet known for his humorous poems, especially "The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke", published in the early 20th century...
' 'The Traveller.' Miles Franklin
Miles Franklin
Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, known as Miles Franklin was an Australian writer and feminist who is best known for her novel My Brilliant Career, published in 1901...
's 'Brent of Bin Bin,' saga is set in the area and it includes an account of the flood of 1852.
Photographs of Gundagai
In the early twentieth century, Louis GabrielLouis Gabriel
Charles Louis Gabriel was an Australian photographer and medical practitioner. He was born in Kempsey, a remote New South Wales settlement, to Dr. Charles Gabriel and Emma Rudder. Despite his upbringing in this remote colonial and coastal fringe, like his father and grandfather before him, Louis...
, the town's doctor, took up photography. The negatives were preserved and presented to the National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
after his death and a selection were published in 1976 as a Gundagai Album.
Cultural events
- The Snake Gully Cup festival is held each November featuring the Snake Gully Cup two-day Racing Carnival. It is one of southern New South Wales' premier race events. It is named for the Snake Gully Cup featured in the Dad and Dave 'On Our Selection' stories by Steele RuddSteele RuddSteele Rudd was the pseudonym of Arthur Hoey Davis an Australian author, best known for On Our Selection.-Early life:...
. The theme music to this serial was Along The Road To GundagaiAlong the Road to Gundagai-External links:* Listen to an excerpt of on ....
.
- The Turning Wave Festival is a music and cultural festival held each September and celebrates Irish and Celtic migration to Australia.