Goulburn was proclaimed Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victoria in 1863.
The plains of Goulburn and the Wollondilly River provided important
food sources for many Aboriginal groups, such as the Mulwaree, Tarlo, Burra
Burra, Wollondilly, Wiradjuri, Gundungurra, Dharrook, Tharawal, Lachlan,
Pajong, Parramarragoo, Cookmal and
Gnunawal
people. The Goulburn area also served as a meeting place for these tribes.
the Gundangara people, however, encompassed Goulburn and Berrima.
Archaeologists have found Aboriginal stone artefact scatters across the Goulburn region, predominantly on basal slopes adjacent to watercourses. Higher artefact density sites are generally found near permanent water sources.
On the Goulburn outskirts, on the river flats at Bungonia Road, Aboriginal
people conducted corroborees. Other places in the district also held great significance.
For example, initiations were held at Rocky Hill and Lansdowne Park Estate
was
an important burial site.
In 1836 assistant-surveyor William Romaine Govett described an Aboriginal funeral near Goulburn, NSW:
".
.. I was struck with the peculiarity of the noise ... I soon perceived before me three native black women, and rode up to them. They were sitting around a mound of earth, with their heads depressed and nearly touching one another ... I waited some time in astonishment observing their actions, and listening to their horrid lamentable yells. They were each of them striking their heads with a tomahawk, holding the instrument in the right hand, and wounding particularly the upper part of the back of the head ... They weep this way, wailing and cutting their heads, until they become perfectly exhausted, and can shed tears no longer ... The trees all round the tomb were marked in various peculiar ways, some with zigzags and stripes, and pieces of bark otherwise cut ..."
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Taphoglyphs (Aboriginal carved trees) NSW, n.d. State Library of NSW |
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Mr. Colten [i.e. Cotten] - age 90 - "Bandowick" Goulburne [Goulburn] Tribe. The oldest [aboriginal] in the Colony [picture] Presented by the Commissioners of the Intercolonial Exhibition, Melbourne, 1866. |
The influenza epidemic of 1846-47 devastated the Aboriginal population of the Goulburn area.
Irish Escapes
In 1792, 21 Irish convicts escaped Sydney, with only a hand-drawn paper compass and started walking to China. Two died, and four were seriously injured.
Governor John Hunter reported in 1798, that many Irish convicts believed “that there was a colony of white people at no very
great distance in the back country – 150 or 200 miles – where there was abundance of every sort of provision without the necessity of so much labour”.
To put an end to the escapes and attempts to reach a "New World", Governor Hunter sent John Wilson, an ex-convict and a party of convicts to see what they would find.
The Irishmen had tired of the venture by the time they reached just beyond where Picton is now situated, and they returned with the soldiers to Port Jackson, but Wilson and two companions pushed on into
On this journey, Wilson's party passed about six miles in a direct line easterly from Goulburn. And they found the upper portion of the Wollondilly River.
Governor Macquarie requested that Hamilton Hume in 1818, accompanied by Charles Throsby and James Meehan
journey to the "New Country". Only Hume and Meehan reached the Goulburn plains, naming them after Henry Goulburn, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies.
In 1819, the Great South Road (the basis of the Hume Highway) was cleared, running from Picton to the Goulburn Plains.
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Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 3 August 1901 |
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Truth (Perth, WA : 1903 - 1931), Saturday 13 September 1913 |
1820: Tour of Inspection
In October 1820, Governor Lachlan Macquarie, on a Tour of Inspection, passed through the Goulburn Plains.
Travelling in his carriage, Macquarie came upon another
exploration party travelling from Bathurst. The explorer and surveyor-general, John Oxley accompanied by the British government commissioner, John Bigge, made an inspection of Lake Bathurst and Lake George, with Macquarie.
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Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), Saturday 28 October 1820 |
Opened For Settlement
After this, the area opened for settlement. The first recorded settler in Goulburn, Andrew Allen, established "Strathallan" in 1825 (on the site of the present Police Academy).
Matt Healy’s shanty, interestingly, became the Headquarters of the Mounted Police at Old Goulburn, as well as providing for the needs of travellers and settlers. Healy built the slab-hut public house in the 1820s and the kitchen and stable. Healy later sold out to Anne and John Richards who ran an inn. The stables at Riversdale, at Twynam Drive Goulburn, were built by Matthew Healy and are said to be the oldest stone structure built in the township of Goulburn. The building was named "Riversdale" in the 1860s by John Fulljames.
Lansdowne Park, dating from 1825, is Goulburn's oldest homestead and earliest farm, with convict-built servants' quarters and coach House and stables. The owner, Jonas Bradley became the first to plant and harvest tobacco as a crop in the Goulburn district. In 1836, 1.5 tons of tobacco was harvested from Lansdowne.
The census of 1828 shows a population of ten living at Goulburn. Officially, however, Hamilton Hume was the first to be granted land in the Goulburn area in 1820, while the first person to purchase
land at Goulburn, was George Johnson, sometime between 1839 and 1842. Johnson was also important in Goulburn's
development and he established a store with a liquor license in 1848.
After a survey was made of the Goulburn area in 1828, building began on the town-site situated north of Murac Street, in a bend of the Wollondilly River. However, Governor Sir Richard Bourke visited Goulburn in 1832 and objected to
the site’s location, on the grounds of flood susceptibility, and the present location of the town was then chosen.
The first courthouse that was built at Goulburn was a rough-hewn timber building constructed around 1830.
GOULBURN HAD ITS THRILLS
"A visitor in 1833 wrote of Goul-
burn: "A township has been estab-
lished, a court of justice erected, and
the very sort which but two years
before might have been admired for
its solitary natural beauties was soon
disgraced by the gibbet. On a clear
rising giound at the back of the pre-
sent township of Goulburn a gallows
and gibbet were erected m 1832."
In the early days executions were
cairied out in public, and the morbidly
curious in great numbers frequently
witnessed hangings. In the thirties
two men were hanged for murder
and their bones were allowed to re-
main bleaching in the sun for a con-
siderable time. It was only on Gov-
ernor Bourke visiting the town that
the removal and burial of the bodies
was ordered.
The triangles were in the courtyard
of the gaol in the new township, and
one writer tells how "farm constables"
were appointed to the stations round
about Goulburn employing a number
of convicts, and how a travelling
magistrate, attended bv a policeman
and a flogger, visited the stations.
In the late forties poppies were cul-
tlvated extensively in Goulburn for
the opium seeds."
(1941, December 27). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954),
The only remainder of the "Old Township" selected by Governor Macquarie at Mulwaree Ponds – Wollondilly River junction, is Riversdale, which was built in the late 1830s as a coaching inn.
The first settlers settled around Mulwaree, Grafton and Sloane streets and later, Auburn Street.
The Great South
Road was rebuilt and re-routed between Yanderra and Goulburn in 1833, by Surveyor-General Thomas Mitchell.
Old Goulburn Brewery
Australia's oldest surviving brewery, Old Goulburn Brewery, was designed by Francis Greenway and built from 1836 to 1840. The three-storey flour mill was built in 1836 and the brewing tower and malt houses were constructed in 1840. William Bradley and William Shelley were co-partners in the milling and brewing business from around 1838 to the 1840s.
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Old Goulburn Brewery, Goulburn, NSW, In 1838 William Bradley and William Shelley became co-partners in a milling and brewing venture. Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 3 February 1900 |
The first Lansdowne Bridge crossing was built about 1833. In 1843 a convict brick and timber bridge was constructed.
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Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), Sunday 17 October 1920 |
Convicts and Bushrangers
The major convict station of the Goulburn region was at Towrang Creek, which operated from 1833 to 1843 during the construction of the Great South Road (now the Hume Highway).
One convict, John Cole, was born about 1796 in England. In 1815 he was arrested for shoplifting a black lace veil from High Holborn Street, London and tried at the "Old Bailey". Cole was 19 years of age when he was sentenced to be
transported to the colonies for seven years.
In 1823 Cole was free by servitude and employed by a Mr Dickson. In the 1828 census, he was living at Goulburn, owning one horse and 20 cattle. In 1831 he married Susan Dillon, and in 1833, he obtained his first Publican's License for the hotel, “The Mounted Police Man”, Goulburn. Cole became a
successful businessman and civic leader and Cole Street, Goulburn, is named after him.
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Sticking Up of The Goulburn Mail. Ebenezer and David Syme, March 28, 1867. Woodcut |
Joseph Bull and John James Woodward, also ex-convicts, went into partnership as auctioneers and general storekeepers. They constructed the stone arch which can be seen next to the double story building below, with the inscription, “B&W 1847”, in front of their premises.
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Old gateway, Goulburn, NSW, in 1911. Georgian style sandstone arch dated 1847. Built for store keeprs and traders Joseph Bull and James Woodward, shown by B & W on the arch. This was an arch to warehouses and coach depot. |
Bushrangers and convicts who escaped the convict stockade at Towrang or who had been assigned to work in the district roamed about Goulburn. The government administration in Sydney responded to this by sending
soldiers and magistrates, who would dispense floggings and other punishments.
Bushranger, Thomas Whitton, was hanged in 1840, after his gang shot and killed many innocent people, including John Kennedy Hume, who was the brother of the explorer Hamilton Hume. One newspaper report at the time wrote that "Whitton
arrived at Goulburn on Saturday the 14th under the charge of the jailor and executioner from Sydney, seven mounted police, a corporal and three privates of the 28th Foot."
Whitton travelled from Sydney to Goulburn for his hanging, inside his own coffin.
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Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser (NSW : 1838 - 1841), Wednesday 25 March 1840 |
The first post office in Goulburn was opened on 1 January 1832. The mail travelled from Sydney to Goulburn, via Liverpool, Campbelltown and Bong Bong, by mounted police once per week.
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Sydney Mounted Police, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 4 March 1916 |
Convict Labour
The town expanded rapidly and successfully developed agricultural and pastoral industries. This expansion led to the need for a road to Sydney. Gangs of convicts, many in leg irons, were sent to perform the hard labour and
construct part of what today has become the Hume Highway from Sydney to Goulburn.
The homesteads and farms of the local magistrates of Goulburn were notable too, as they often had gaol rooms built to contain the convicts of the area if needed. Such gaol rooms can be seen at Inverary Park, Lansdowne and Rossiville.
The Town Develops
By 1841 Goulburn had a population of some 1,200 people, with a courthouse, police barracks, churches, hospital and a post office, as well as a successfully developing sheep and farming industry.
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Mandelson Hotel, on the corner of Sloane and Clinton streets, Goulburn, NSW, was constructed in the 1840s by Nathan Mandelson |
A gaol existed in Goulburn since 1841 (now the site of the Goulburn Courthouse), The current correctional centre was built in 1881.
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Goulburn Gaol, NSW, n.d. NSW State Archives. The current correctional centre was built in 1881. |
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Goulburn Hospital, NSW, founded in 1849, photograph, 1870 |
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Market Street, Goulburn, looking from Dickson's Commercial Hotel towards Auburn Street (1870-75) |
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Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser (NSW : 1848 - 1859), Saturday 11 July 1857 |
Goulburn was declared a municipality in 1859.
The Rail Arrives
In Goulburn's early days, buildings were hastily constructed from any materials available. As the town developed and free settlers began to arrive, brick and stone buildings began to be erected.
In May 1869 the Main Southern railway reached Goulburn, allowing the mail to be in Sydney within seven hours.
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Freight and passenger trains back to back at Goulburn, New South Wales, circa 1870, NLAUST |
1870s
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Auburn Street, Goulburn, NSW, 1870-1875. Out of copyright
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Goulburn Railway Station, NSW, Dated: circa 31 December 1870
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1880s
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Home and family of an eccentric Goulburn identity Ellen Dawson. Royal Palace - Queen of the South's Palace in Goulburn, N.S.W. - 1880s, Kaye |
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Goulburn Post Office, NSW, dated: 1881-1885, NSW State Archives, Goulburn Post Office was built in 1880-81
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John Hunter City Boot Palace at 194 Auburn St, Goulburn, NSW, in 1882.
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Goulburn was officially proclaimed a City on 20 March 1885.
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Goulburn Hospital, NSW, main Goulburn Hospital building was designed by local architect E. C. Manfred in 1886. The official opening by mayor H.S. Gannon took place on 12 October 1889 Royal Australian Historical Society |
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Ejection of Francis Robert Louis, Comte de Rossi, from St Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn, Wednesday 12 January 1887. Francis, Comte de Rossi, was an immigrant aristocrat and a local landowner, but also a devout Anglican in the rural city of Goulburn. He attracted a crowd of over 500 police and spectators when he barricaded himself in the Cathedral late in 1886. His dispute was over the Cathedral's role as a parish church and his wish to place a family plaque in the Cathedral. He was only able to be fed by a tube under the door and could not wash so his conditions were worse than a prisoner's. Here he can be seen lying on the footpath, holding his Bible or prayer book, after being ejected much later. Litigation resulted which involved everyone up to the Archbishop and dragged on for months. When the plaque was removed he again occupied the Cathedral with a group of men in 1891, adding to the scandal and excitement. State Library of New South Wales |
1890s
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Firemen outside Fire Station on Montague Street, Goulburn, NSW, beside Betts & Son Solicitor's office circa 1890. Goulburn Fire Brigade was the first brigade to be established in NSW outside of the Metropolitan area, Goulburn Mulwaree Library |
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Goulburn Evening Penny Post (NSW : 1881 - 1940), Tuesday 29 August 1893 |
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Gillespie's Boot Factory, Goulburn, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907), Saturday 22 April 1899 |
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Goulburn "Herald" office and Printing Works, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907), Saturday 22 April 1899 |
Early 1900s
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Staff of Argyle Flour Mill on Sloane Street, Goulburn NSW circa approximately 1900. William Cambridge, pictured in the photo owned the horse and carts. Goulburn Mulwaree Library |
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Auburn St, Goulburn, NSW (East side), Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 3 February 1900 |
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Goulburn Town Hall, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 3 February 1900 |
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Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 3 February 1900 |
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1, Bartlett and Co, Brewery, Goulburn 2. Gillespies Boots, Goulburn, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 3 February 1900 |
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Goulburn, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 3 February 1900 |
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Courthouse Goulburn, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 3 February 1900 |
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Mandelson's Hotel, Goulburn, NSW, Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), Saturday 3 February 1900 |
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Auburn Street, Goulburn, N,S.W. - early 1900s, Kaye |
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The Minister for Works announcing the Lansdowne Bridge Bridge open, Goulburn, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 15 March 1902 |
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The Lansdowne Bridge Bridge opens, Goulburn, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 15 March 1902 |
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St. Patrick's College, Goulburn, N.S.W. - 1906, Kaye |
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Commercial Hotel, Goulburn, N.S.W. - circa 1907, Kaye |
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Rosewarne & Paull display in the Eight Hour Day procession in Goulburn, N.S.W. - 1910s, Kaye |
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J. Pollard Furniture Removalist in Goulburn, N.S.W. - 1910, Kaye |
Piped Drinking Water and Innovation
Goulburn was one of the first regional towns to supply piped drinking water
to its residents, using steam power. Today, the Goulburn Historic Waterworks
operates as a museum on the banks of the Wollondilly River and the steam engine, by Appleby Bros, is still in working order.
In the 1870s and 1880s, Goulburn experienced a boom-time and many grand and
imposing buildings were constructed. The tanning and bootmaking business became important, industries in Goulburn. Notably, centring around Henry Baxter, who bought one
of the country's oldest boot
manufacturing companies, founded in
Goulburn in 1850, which supplied the boots
worn by the soldiers who fought in WW1 and WW11.
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Goulburn Evening Post (NSW : 1940 - 1954), Friday 18 April 1941 |
Goulburn can boast of the oldest theatre company in Australia, as the Lieder Theatre Company was
established in 1891 when the Liedertafel Society held its first meeting. Only ten weeks after its establishment, the theatre company held its first grand concert, giving out 800 complimentary tickets and playing to a full house. The current Lieder Theatre was built in Goldsmith St, based on the original Lieder Theatre of 1929.
Miles Franklin: Author
Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, better known as the famous author, Miles Franklin (1879 – 1954), spent 13 years growing up in the Goulburn district. Franklin's novel, My Brilliant Career, which advances a unique-style of Australian literature, was written and set near Goulburn.
Miles Franklin won awards for proficiency at the Goulburn Show during her youth. According to the Goulburn Evening Penny Post on the 11th of December 1894, she passed the Trinity College Musical Examinations (Junior Division) at Goulburn. Then there are those poetic words of hers in My Brilliant Career: "Remember me to Goulburn, drowsing lazily in its dreamy, graceful hollow in the blue distance."
The Goulburn Viaduct was built in 1915.
WW1
The Goulburn military camp was established in 1915, the showground on the north-west edge of Goulburn, used for the camp.
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1916: Goulburn NSW, Group portrait of Troops, taken outside the drill hall at Goulburn |
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Private (Pte) William Joseph Punch, 1st Battalion (1916). First World War, 1914-1918 |
Private William Joseph Punch, 1st Battalion. An Aboriginal station hand, originally from Queensland. Private Punch enlisted from Goulburn, NSW. He embarked with the 17th Reinforcements from Sydney on HMAT Ceramic on 14 April 1916. After twice being wounded in action, he was evacuated to England where, on 29 August 1917 aged 37, he died of pneumonia and endocarditis. He was buried in the East Cemetery, Bournemouth, England.
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4449 Private Leslie Auburn Caine, 3rd Battalion from Goulburn, NSW. He embarked for overseas with the 14th Reinforcements from Sydney on 15 January 1916 aboard RMS Osterley. Caine joined the 3rd Battalion on 8 June 1916 and was killed in action at Fleurbaix on 29 June 1916. Pte Caine is buried in Rue-David Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix, France.
| German spy caught in Goulburn, New South Wales - WW1, Kaye |
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1920s
St Patrick's Day procession, Goulburn, NSW, Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), Monday 2 April 1928
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The Goulburn Viaduct, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 27 October 1920 |
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Watching the polo at Goulburn, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 27 June 1928 |
1930s
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The Governor-General (Lord Gowrie) taking the salute at the march past of troops of the Fourth Cavalry Brigade during the Royal review at Goulburn on Saturday. Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Monday 17 February 1936 |
1940s
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Auburn Street, Goulburn, N.S.W. - 1940s, Kaye |
1950s |
Charles Rogers Store, Goulburn, NSW, circa 1950, Rogers department store display for their 91st birthday, Goulburn Mulwaree Library |
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A streetscape looking south down Auburn Street. Featuring the Post Office Clock Tower and Knowlman's store. Goulburn, NSW, c. 1950, Goulburn Mulwaree Library |
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Spiros fish café, 112 Auburn Street, the milk bar showing John Pandelakis and daughter Flora circa 1953, Goulburn Mulwaree Library |
1960s |
Toparis Bros Green Valley Fruit Merchants circa 1960, Produce truck outside store at approx 400 Auburn Street, Goulburn, Goulburn Mulwaree Library |
Lance Corporal John Hutchieson of Goulburn, NSW, a member of A Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC), served in South Vietnam.
Around Goulburn
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Goulburn Court House, NSW, which was built in 1887 |
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The Alpine Heritage Motel, Goulburn, NSW, built in 1872 |
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Australian Mutual Provident Society building at Goulburn, NSW, circa 1881 |
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The Old fire station in Goulburn, NSW, circa 1890 |
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Goulburn Town Hall, NSW, built circa 1888 |
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Fireside Inn, Goulburn, NSW, built 1934 |
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Station Master's House at Goulburn, NSW, built circa 1869 |
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Riverdale, a pioneer Georgian style
residence dating from around 1840, Goulburn, NSW
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The Coolavin Hotel in Sloane
Street, Goulburn, NSW. The hotel was built in 1850 but the present facade dates from the 1880s
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Kenmore Hospital, main buildings
designed by Walter Liberty Vernon, Goulburn, NSW, completed 1894.
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Former police station on Sloane
Street, Goulburn, NSW, designed by Barnet and opened in 1885.
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Elmslea Chambers, Goulburn, nSW, built in 1933 for
a wealthy pastoralist, in the Art Deco style.
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St. John's Orphanage, Goulburn, NSW, built in 1912
and designed by Manfred.
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Sloane Street shops, Goulburn, NSW |
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Goulburn Post Office, built 1880-1881
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Old Municipal Library building, now NAB branch and Member for Goulburn, NSW |
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St Patrick's College, Goulburn. Founded 1874 |
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Old Goulburn Brewery, NSW |
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Connolly's Mill is a heritage-listed former public baths and wheat mill, circa 1892, Goulburn, NSW |
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St Peter and Paul's Old Cathedral, built from 1871 to 1890 |
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St Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn, NSW, 1874 |
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The Goulburn Club (1883) and archway, built 1847, Market Street, Goulburn, NSW |
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This heritage-listed former coaching inn named Wanda is located on the Hume Highway, Narambulla Creek, about 15 minutes to drive to Goulburn. It was built from 1843 and is also known as Plumb's Inn, Shelleys Flats and Douglass Inn. |
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Goulburn. Riversdale House. The original stone barn from the mid 1830s. Denisbin
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The Marsden Waterworks Pump House denisbin |
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Goulburn Historic Waterworks, NSW. Built between 1883 and 1885, the steam operated pumping facility provided Goulburn's first reticulated water supply. |
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Halsbury House, Goulburn, N.S.W, built 1938 |
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The original Goulburn, NSW, fire station was built in 1890 in Montague St |
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The Catholic Church of Saints Peter & Paul (1890), Goulburn, NSW, located on the corner of Bourke and Verner Streets, is believed to be the only green sandstone cathedral in the world, with the Diorite Porphyrite stone being sourced from a local quarry |
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The Goulburn Police Barracks, erected in 1874, NSW, Mattinbgn |
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St Clair colonial cottage, Goulburn, NSW, built in 1843 by Goulburn, first recorded architect, James Sinclair |
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The Goulburn Viaduct, NSW, was built in 1915 |
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St Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn NSW, foundation stone laid, 15 January 1874 |
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Two storey stone building, Goulburn NSW, was built by convicts, circa 1840 |
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Inverary Road, Bungonia, Circa 1829 Gaolhouse, 20 mins Goulburn |
Things To Do and Places To Go
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin (read free)