Gin Gin, QLD: Wild Scotsman Country

Gin Gin is located in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia.

The name "Gin Gin" may have originated from either an Aboriginal word meaning 'thick scrub' or from a pastoral property in Western Australia.

Gureng Gureng Aboriginal People

Gin Gin is part of the traditional lands of the Gureng Gureng people. The town's name is believed to derive from local Aboriginal terms, potentially 'kwin kwin' or 'chin chin' (thick scrub/vine scrub) or 'gwin gwin' (red soil). 

The word 'gurang' translates to 'nought', 'no' or 'nothing.' Many tribal names mean 'man' or 'person', but some names are based on 'no man.' 

Traditional Aboriginal body painting uses natural materials such as ochre, charcoal, and clay.

The native tribes of South-East Australiaby Howitt, A. W. (Alfred William), 1830-1908
Moieties help define social roles and responsibilities among members. Individuals from the same moiety are typically forbidden to marry each other, reinforcing social bonds and obligations. Moieties are integral to the cultural identity and practices of Aboriginal groups, influencing various aspects of life, including ceremonies and resource management.

1840s

Gregory Blaxland (the younger) and William Forster established Tirroan pastoral run in the future Gin. Gin district in 1848.

The Gin Gin Homestead, built in 1848-9, is the oldest standing building in the Bundaberg region.

Hunter-gatherer societies are nomadic or semi-nomadic with structured gender division of labor, which require very large land areas for few people, a lifestyle which is very different from sedentary agricultural societies, which rely mainly on cultivating crops and raising domesticated animals, These differences led to tension and violence.

In 1849, two shepherds were speared by Aboriginal people which led to punitive action by pastoralists. Organized by Gregory Blaxland and his nephew William Forster, and over 50 station hands and squatters, following the killing of the Pegg brothers (shepherds) on Gin Gin station.

1850s

In 1850, Gregory Blaxland was killed.

MURDER BY THE BLACKS IN MORETON BAY -It is our melancholy task to record the murder of Mr Gregory Blaxlqnd by the aboriginal natives of the Burnett district. The only particulars at present known have been communicated in a letter to a gentleman in Brisbane. It appears that the body of the deceased was discovered by his servants within two hundred yards of his hea'd station; spear wonnds and other marks of violence showing clearly that the unfortunate gentl6man had met his death from the hands of the blacks. Captain O'Connell, Commissioner of Crown Lands for the district, hold an investigation, and came to the conclusion that the deceased had been treacherously murdered by the natives. Only a few numbers back we alluded to the probability oi some such terrible catastrophe resulting from the continued absence of the Native Police.Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1847 - 1851), Thursday 26 September 1850

About 1851, Arthur and Alfred Henry Brown bought Tirroan from William Forster and renamed the run Gin Gin. The Brown Brothers previously owned a pastoral property called Gin Gin in Western Australia.

Gin Gin Station Homestead, QLD, 1859, ttps://www.flickr.com/photos/queenslandstatearchives/  Gin Gin station was once owned by Thomas McIlwraith, a three-time premier of Queensland.

1860s

Copper discovered to the west of the district, such as Mount Perry and New Moonta, in the late 1860s and early 1870s.

Later the Gin Gin run was purchased by Sir Thomas McIlwraith, who was Premier of Queensland three times between 1879 and 1893. 

1870s

A telegraph station was established in what became the town of Gin Gin in 1874.

Gin Gin Post Office opened on 15 March 1875.

Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser (Qld. : 1860 - 1947), Tuesday 2 March 1875

The township of Gin Gin was gazetted in 1877, consisting of an area of some three thousand acres on the Gin Gin run.

1880s

Gin Gin Provisional School opened on 26 June 1882.

Gin Gin was located on the Bundaberg-Mount Perry railway, finished in 1884.

James Alpin Macpherson, known as The Wild Scotchman, was a Scottish–born Australian bushranger active in Queensland and New South Wales in the 1860s. He was captured in the Gin Gin area on 30 March 1866.

 Land was offered for selection for the establishment of small farms on 17 April 1887

1890s

Queens Hotel in Gin Gin, Queensland, 1895, SLQLD

Pugh's Queensland almanac, directory and law calendar. 1862-1866 (1897) 

1900s

Pupils at Gin Gin School, QLD, about 1900, SLQLD

Township of Gin Gin, Qld - very early 1900s, Kaye

G.C. Wilson, General Storekeeper at Gin Gin, Qld - circa 1905, https://www.flickr.com/photos/hwmobs/

Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 2 June 1906

Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), Friday 8 February 1907

Queensland Country Life (Qld. : 1900 - 1905; 1907; 1909 - 1910; 1935 - 1965), Monday 1 March 1909

Gin Gin Post Office, QLD, Bundaberg Mail and Burnett Advertiser (Qld. : 1892 - 1917), Thursday 23 September 1909

The Gaeta goldfield is north-west of Gin Gin, on the Mount Perry line some 25 miles, 850 feet above sea level, near the head waters of the Burnett, Kolan, and Boyne rivers.

Wilson's store and Gin Gin Hotel in Gin Gin, Qld - circa 1910, Kaye

NEW M.U. ODDFELLOWS' HALL, GINGIN, QLD. Daily Standard (Brisbane, Qld. : 1912 - 1936), Saturday 25 July 1914,

WWI

GIN GIN, QLD. C.1915. PEOPLE FROM THE VILLAGE OF GIN GIN, NEAR BUNDABERG, WATCH A RECRUITMENT RALLY AT THE LOCAL SPORTS OR SHOW GROUND, SURROUNDED BY FLAGS, BANNERS AND DECORATED CARS. COMMUNITY GROUPS PRESENT INCLUDE RED CROSS AND FREEMASONS, AS WELL AS OLDER MEN OF THE MILITIA. AWM

YOUNG GIN GIN PATRIOTS. Edward"Rohan and Maisie Edmonds, who collected £4/8/ at Mrs: and MissDuncan's concert nnddance (at which £53/0/ wa. collected) .at Gin Gin in aid of ' the Belgian and Wounded Soldiers' Funds.Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 14 August 1915

Gin Gin Cottage Hospital, QLD, no date, SLQLD

1. OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE GIN GIN -COTTAGE HOSPITAL. 2. COMMITTEE OF THE, GIN GIN COTTAGE HOSPITAL.Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), Friday 22 January 1915

Queen's Hotel at Gin Gin, Qld - circa 1916, Kaye

Servicemens' wedding at St Lukes Church, Charlotte Street Brisbane 13 December 1917, Description: The double wedding held on 13 December 1917, features two Aboriginal members of the 11th Light Horse Regiment outside St Luke’s Church of England, Charlotte Street, Brisbane. Wedding party members from left to right: Trooper James Lingwoodock, (Service number: 2433), an Aboriginal serviceman from Gin Gin, Qld, Mrs Daisy Lingwoodock (nee Roberts) from Normanton, Qld., an unidentified Bridesmaid, Trooper John Geary, (Service number: 2429), an Aboriginal serviceman from Tantitha via Bundaberg, Qld,

DISTRICT HEROES GIN GIN FAMILY'S SACRIFICE. THREE SONS KILLED. Few families are called on to make such a hcavy sacrifice as has been the Allen familv, Gin Gin. Mr. and Mrs. William Allen, of Oxhill, Gin Gin, have had three gallant sons killed while fighting thcir country's battle on the blood-soaked fields of France, 1. late Private James Edward Allen. 2. Late Private Josiah Allen. 3.  Late earnest Allan. Bundaberg Mail (Qld. : 1917 - 1925), Saturday 26 October 1918

Women members of the Gin Gin Red Cross, QLD, 1918, SLQLD

1920s

The War Memorial at Gin Gin. QLD. Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 3 January 1925

Lund's Garage, Gin Gin, ca. 1926, QLD, SLQLD (Adolf William Lund was advertising as a blacksmith and wheelwright prior to WW1. In 1916 he was the agent for Ford automobiles although still selling sulkies and buggies)

OPENING OF GIN GIN BRIDGE, OCTOBER 2nd, 1926. Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1875 - 1929), Saturday 6 November 1926

GIN GIN SCHOOL 

An Old Boy Remembers

Fun in the Long Ago

1930s

The Allen family were early farmers and graziers in the region.

William Allen, Gin Gin's "Grand Old Man," Bundaberg Daily News and Mail (Qld. : 1925 - 1940), Tuesday 19 January 1937 (William Allen migrated from England in 1862 and married Sarah Jane Childs in 1874. They had twelve children. The Allen family were early farmers and graziers in the region)

A section of teh grand parade, Gin Gin Show, QLD, Queenslander Illustrated Weekly (Brisbane, Qld. : 1927 - 1939), Thursday 14 June 1934, 

Bundaberg Daily News and Mail (Qld. : 1925 - 1940), Thursday 15 March 1934

1940s and WWII

Bundaberg Daily News and Mail (Qld. : 1925 - 1940), Tuesday 18 June 1940

ROLL OF HONOUR PTE. COLIN LYNN. Private Colin Lynn, who was killed in action at Bougainville, New Giunea, was the youngest son of Mir. Fred Lynn, of Gin Gn,. Private Lynn, who was aged 10, Joined up at an early age. He was a native of Gin Gin and worked with his father as a carrier and forwarding agent up to the time of his enlistment.Bundaberg News-Mail (Qld. : 1942 - 1961), Thursday 25 January 1945,

1950s

In 1956, Gin Gin State school expanded to offer secondary schooling.

1960s

More than 200 children received instruction at the Kolan Shire National Fitness Training Club during the past 12 months.

1970s

Gin Gin State High School was established on 1 February 1972. 

The new Bank of New South Wales; street scene in the town of Gin Gin, Queensland, about 1975, https://www.flickr.com/photos/savidgefamily/

The new Bank of New South Wales; street scene in the town of Gin Gin, Queensland, about 1975, https://www.flickr.com/photos/savidgefamily/

1990s

The Gin Gin Library opened in 1992.

The Gin Gin Railway Station and Complex, QLD, 1992, Queensland State Archives

Around Gin Gin

The Gin Gin Courthouse was built in 1935. Now part gallery, Gin Gin, QLD

The Great Northern Hotel in Gin Gin, Queensland, was built around 1920, QLD

Gin Gin Memorial & Community Hall, QLD, built 1952

Kolan Shire National Fitness Hall83A Mulgrave St. Gin Gin QLD (Google)

Gin Gin railway station is a heritage-listed railway station at Mulgrave Street, Gin Gin, Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1888 to c. 1928

Gin Gin Hotel, QLD, 

Gin Gin Historical Society Inc. Museum, QLD

Art Deco building Gin Gin, QLD

Gin Gin - St Marys Anglican Church, QLD, https://www.flickr.com/photos/gtp075/

Gin Gin Station Homestead, QLD, At various times Gingin Station was owned by William Forster (Premier of NSW, 1859-1860), Sir Thomas McIlwraith (Premier of Qld, 1879-1883, 1888, and 1893), and Sir Arthur Palmer (Premier of Queensland, 1870-1874)

Things To Do and Places To Go

Gin Gin Museum

The Wild Scotchman Festival used to be held in Gin Gin on the third week of March each year to commemorate the capture of the bushranger James MacPherson.

Allen Brothers' Slab Hut: Northern corner of Village Lane and Kookaburra Park Drive, Kookaburra Park Eco Village.

The Wild Scotchman Festival used to be held in Gin Gin on the third week of March each year to commemorate the capture of the bushranger James MacPherson.

Wallaville, QLD: Historic Sugar Cane Farming

Wallaville, a rural town in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, is 372 kilometres (231 mi) north of the Brisbane. 

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

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

BENEFIT CRICKET MATCH AT GIN GINCENTRAL MILL.Central Mill Team.Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Saturday 16 July 1910

Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), Saturday 16 December 1911

WWI

Bundaberg Mail and Burnett Advertiser (Qld. : 1892 - 1917), Friday 14 May 1915

In 1918 Dr. T. L. Bancroft of Wallaville bred some Ceratodus (extinct genus of freshwater lungfish) in captivity, and spent part of his life studying the fish,

1920s

In 1920, the railway line to Wallaville opened.

Boundary Creek Bridge on the Wallaville railway line, 1920, SLQLD

Catholic Advocate (Brisbane, Qld. : 1911 - 1934; 1936 - 1938), Thursday 19 July 1923

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

Wallaville State School, QLD, Queenslander Illustrated Weekly (Brisbane, Qld. : 1927 - 1939), Thursday 1 September 1927

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

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.

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

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

Central Queensland Herald (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1930 - 1956), Thursday 25 September 1930

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

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

Little Flower Catholic Church consecrated in 1932.

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

Bundaberg Daily News-Mail (Qld. : 1940 - 1942), Friday 30 January 1942,

Bundaberg News-Mail (Qld. : 1942 - 1961), Friday 10 September 1943

Bundaberg News-Mail (Qld. : 1942 - 1961), Friday 1 March 1946

1950s

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

Bundaberg News-Mail (Qld. : 1942 - 1961), Saturday 24 January 1953 (Our Saviour Wallaville Lutheran Church, 1950-1980)

Ferry Hills State School closed in 1956.

1990s

In 1999 Tim Fischer Bridge opens on the Bruce Highway, bypassing the old Wallaville bridge.

2010s

Wallaville Hotel, Qld. 2 Mill Street, Wallaville. QLD, 2012 https://www.flickr.com/photos/26085795@N02/

Old Burnett River Bridge, Wallaville, QLD, 2013, Andrew S

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/

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

Wallaville Hotel, Wallaville, QLD, built 1911

Wallaville Hotel, Wallaville, QLD, built 1911

General Store, Wallaville, QLD

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.