Tarribelung Aboriginal People (many alternative names)
The lands of the Tarribelung Aboriginal People consists of Bundaberg; inland to about Walla; north to Rosedale; along lower reaches of Kolan River., are also known as the Taribelang Bunda people, are the northern marriage class of the Kabi tribe.
The Headman sent messengers to call people together for ceremonial purposes, and to call upon offenders to come forward and submit to punishment. At such meetings
the Headmen were present, and directed the proceedings. When men were believed
to habitually practise the injuring of others by casting magical spells upon them the
Gommera would, after consulting with the other old men, give orders for the offender to be killed, and an armed party of younger men carried out the sentence. The Gommeras were the repositories of the old customs and laws. When a number of the divisions of the tribe were collected together their Gommeras met, as occasion required, at some place apart from the camp and consulted upon such matters as required to be dealt with. I have been present at such meetings. I have observed that they were carefully guarded against the intrusion of women, or of the uninitiated. The younger men sat round at a little distance and listened attentively, but did not venture to speak. The old men spoke in turn, and the Headman spoke usually last, and his views were generally adopted. I was much struck by the profound and respectful attention with which a younger man has listened with bent head, and eyes cast down, to the directions given him at such a meeting. At such meetings offenders against custom are dealt with by the old men. The power of the old men in such tribes is riveted upon the young men by the impressive instructions as to implicit obedience due to their orders given at the initiation ceremonies, and by the apparently supernatural powers which they thereat exhibit to the novices.
Royal Society of Victoria (Melbourne, Vic.). (1888). Transactions of the Royal Society of Victoria (Vol. 1, Issue 2, p. 107). The Society. Howitt, Alfred William (1889). On the organisation of Australian tribeshttps://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36890980
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| Many Queensland Aboriginal shields were decorated in front, with distinctive bands of ochre. Whenever possible Aboriginal people carried a lighted fire-stick, swinging it and keeping it alight to start a new fire. When this is not available there were two common methods of making fire by friction. (1.) |
1800s
In 1802 Matthew Flinders sailed along the coast and named the prominent outcrop, Sloping Hummock.
1840s-50s
The first European explorer in the area was Henry Russell in 1842.
European settlement of the region began in 1848 when Gregory Blaxland Jnr (son of the explorer Gregory Blaxland) together with William Forster brought their flocks of sheep up from their squatting leases on the Clarence River. The pastoral run they selected extended all the way to the coast and they called it Tirroan. The modern town of Gin Gin is located close to where the original homestead was constructed.
At Tirroan (later Gin Gin) Station on Monday, 4 June 1849, two young brothers, John and Peter Pegg, were out shepherding sheep when they were speared to death by local Taribelang clansmen.
The local Aboriginal people murdered Blaxland in August 1850 and two shepherd boys the year previously. Two large massacres of Aboriginal people were conducted by local squatters and their stockmen as punitive measures for these deaths. More information
In 1849, Walla Station pastoral run established by Dr J. and Archibald McMurdo Thompson.1880s
Walla Provisional School opened circa 1883 and closed in 1893.
Currajong Creek Provisional School opened (renamed Cumonju Provisional School in 1892).
In 1887, 39,000 acres (16,000 ha) resumed from Walla station for small farm selection.1890s
In 1895, the town was establishment with a store and hotel.
In 1896, the Gin Gin co-operative sugar mill opened at Wallaville. During the sugar cane harvesting season, from July to December, the town's population would double.
1900s
In 1904, Ferry Hills Provisional School opens. |
| K O & K locomotive N° 3311,1909,‘Kaiser’,610mm gauge,0-6-2T, 120hp, Gin Gin Central Mill Co Ltd, Wallaville, Qld Zane TRAIN LOVER 7744 |
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| BENEFIT CRICKET MATCH AT GIN GINCENTRAL MILL.Central Mill Team.Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Saturday 16 July 1910 |
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| Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), Saturday 16 December 1911 |
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| Bundaberg Mail and Burnett Advertiser (Qld. : 1892 - 1917), Friday 14 May 1915 |
1920s
In 1920, the railway line to Wallaville opened.
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| Boundary Creek Bridge on the Wallaville railway line, 1920, SLQLD |
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| Catholic Advocate (Brisbane, Qld. : 1911 - 1934; 1936 - 1938), Thursday 19 July 1923 |
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| WALLA STATION SUBDIVISION - 1924. This information from the newspaper: Some very rich land is being made available for settlement by the subdivision of Walla Station, on the Burnett River, Queensland. The area has been subdivided into 38 farms, ranging from 80 to 600 acres. The rainfall on the estate is 40 inches per annum. The property has been highly improved, is surrounded by railways, and conveniently situated to sugar mills, butter factories, produce markets and a cotton ginnery. Full particulars may be obtained from the Burnett Primary Producers' Agency Ltd., Bundaberg. Vintage Queensland |
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| Wallaville State School, QLD, Queenslander Illustrated Weekly (Brisbane, Qld. : 1927 - 1939), Thursday 1 September 1927 |
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| Situated on the banks of the Burnett River. For many years the mill was some miles from the State railways, and the sugar product was then removed by the mill tramway to a siding near Gin Gin. A few years since the branch line was constructed in Wallaville but it is still generally known as Gin Gin Mill. It is now worked on the co-operative principal by farmers of the district, 1927, Queensland Places |
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| Bundaberg Daily News and Mail (Qld. : 1925 - 1940), Wednesday 11 August 1926 In 1929, the cane train bridge over the Burnett River was modified for road traffic. After this, people could travel between Brisbane and Rockhampton without going through Bundaberg. This saved about 80 miles (129 kilometers) on the trip. |
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| MISS EDITH MAUD M'KENZIE, of Weithew, Wallaville. Bundaberg, who was awarded the Royal Humane Society's certificate of Merit for her bravery in rescuing Mrs. Jean Boyle and Jier daughter, Sylvia, font drowning in the Burnett River, on 'October 21.Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Wednesday 18 September 1929 |
1930s
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Prominent identities of Wallaville,-Left to right ; Messrs. N. Annand (secretary of the Walla-ville sugar mill), G. Stevenson (manager, Wallaville sugar mill), S. J, Thynne (cane inspector), W. A. Murray (a successful Wallaville settler), and C, M. English (chairman of the Burnett Valley Railway League, and also a prominent Wallaville settler). Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 22 November 1930 |
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| Central Queensland Herald (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1930 - 1956), Thursday 25 September 1930 |
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| THE WALLAVILLE RELIEF WORKERS : THE MEN WHO BUILT THE LINE. The last of the Wallaville relief workers who assisted to build the line to Morgan by the'voluntary' contribution of their labor and their own personal exertion. This represents the 'unofficial opening' at Morganville. At the 'official' opening the bouquets and the honors fell on other shoulders Worker (Brisbane, Qld. : 1890 - 1955), Wednesday 4 November 1931 |
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| OPENING OF THE RAILWAY EXTENSION FROM WALLAVILLE TO MORGANVILLE The Minister for Railways (Mr. Godfr ey Morgan) addressing the large gathering which assembled for the ceremonyQueenslander Illustrated Weekly (Brisbane, Qld. : 1927 - 1939), Thursday 15 October 1931 |
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| Bundaberg Daily News and Mail (Qld. : 1925 - 1940), Wednesday 26 July 1939 |
1940s and WWII
In 1940, a new concrete bridge was built. |
| The new bridge over the Burnett River at Wallaville, cutting out Bundaberg. This saves the motorist on the trip to Brisbane a distance of 32 milesCentral Queensland Herald (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1930 - 1956), Thursday 6 June 1940 |
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| Bundaberg Daily News-Mail (Qld. : 1940 - 1942), Friday 30 January 1942, |
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| Bundaberg News-Mail (Qld. : 1942 - 1961), Friday 10 September 1943 |
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| Bundaberg News-Mail (Qld. : 1942 - 1961), Friday 1 March 1946 |
1950s
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| BACHELOR BARBICUE AT WALLAVILLE. WALLA VILLE: Bachelors of Wailavllle held n barbecue on the banks of the Burnett River last Sunday night. The river'.was Illuminated by electric lights and two camp fires. Entertainments Included rowing swimming, names and singing. Supper and soft drinks were supplied to the many young people present.Later ' at the Wailaville Hall a large crowd assembled to dance the old year out and the new year in. The dance commenced at midnight with the playing of the National Anthem followed by “For Thev Are Jolly Good Fellows," and “Auld Lang Syne” then the "Hokey Fokcy” and a rnumba.Bundaberg News-Mail (Qld. : 1942 - 1961), Saturday 6 January 1951 |
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| Bundaberg News-Mail (Qld. : 1942 - 1961), Saturday 24 January 1953 (Our Saviour Wallaville Lutheran Church, 1950-1980) |
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| Wallaville Hotel, Qld. 2 Mill Street, Wallaville. QLD, 2012 https://www.flickr.com/photos/26085795@N02/ |
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| Old Burnett River Bridge, Wallaville, QLD, 2013, Andrew S |
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| The Tim Fischer Bridge and Bruce Highway, QLD, spans the anabranch and Burnett Bridge about 4.5km upstream from the old one. Photo taken during a helicopter flight to Paradise Dam, on the Burnett River. 2013, https://www.flickr.com/photos/savidgefamily/ |
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| Wallaville, QLD - General Store This section of highway was bypassed when the Tim Fisher bridge and deviation was opened in 1999. Around Oz 2015 |
2000s
Wallaville was affected by major flooding from the Kolan River and Gin Gin Creek in 2013.
In 2021, the population of Wallaville was 363 people.
Around Wallaville
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| Wallaville Hotel, Wallaville, QLD, built 1911 |
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| Wallaville Hotel, Wallaville, QLD, built 1911 |
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| General Store, Wallaville, QLD |
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| Wallaville Hall, QLD, |
Things To Do and Places To Go
The Gin Gin Historical Village, located at 85 Mulgrave Street in Queensland, is a seven-acre heritage site housed on the former Gin Gin Railway Station grounds.
