The historic town of Goolwa, South Australia, which is 83 km south-east of Adelaide on the shore of Lake Alexandrina, derives its name from an Aboriginal word meaning "elbow". The name of the town describes very well its location on the last bend in the Murray River.
The Ngarrindjeri (Ramindjeri ) People
It is likely that the Aboriginal group that we call the Ngarrindjeri (Ramindjeri ) is actually made up of closely related but
district tribal groups. The name, it seems, means "belonging to people", as opposed to kringgari (whites). However, some generalisations can be made about these afflicted clans of people.
The society, laws, rights and responsibilities of the Ngarrindjeri people of the lower Murray River were very strict and religion was part of every aspect of life.
A foundational Dreaming story of the Ngarrindjeri people, tells how Ngurunderi (Nar-un-der-ie) travelled down the Murray River in a bark canoe, searching for his two wives, who had run away from him. At that time, the river was just a small stream (there are various versions). Ngurunderi, however, was seen as the main creator of the landscape, and the rules for living.
As his wives fled from him, Ngurunderi created the landscape. His wives drowned trying to get away from him and created the rocky Pages Island. Ngurunderi then entered the spirit world. He dived into the sea, before rising to become a star in the Milky Way.
Using the bark of the red river gum, the Ngarrindjeri people made bark canoes for transport.
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| Bark canoe at Currency Creek, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 16 September 1911 |
Clans were patrilineal and marriage could only take place outside the immediate clan. Brothers would give their sisters to men of other clans and would often receive wives in return.
Fred Taplin, in a letter to A.W. Howitt, spoke about the totem system:
"...natives, old and young, believe that the father only is the source from which the foetus germinates and that the male only possesses germinating powers, and that as soon as the infant is born it belongs to the father as being seed restored to him, after being cherished and nursed by the mother, and if the mother leaves her husband all children begotten by him are his and remain with him." (PMLB, 28.7.1881).
(The Reverend Taplin’s son who succeeded him as Superintendent of Point McLeay Mission)
During their life, an individual would be given different names. The first name may be derived from something that occurred at the time of birth. A second name, mostly given by the father, was the public name which could be used by anyone, A third name was given at around age 5. This would be a secret name, known only to the individual and male family members. Females would often be given names linking them to their mother's clan.
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| "King Tommy Walker, full-blood Aboriginal." Approximately 1880, SLSA |
There were various important taboos, such as male and female children not being permitted to play together after the age of about 5. And "women's business", menstruation taboos.
Sorcery and magical rituals and songs were
part of culture and
mungkumbuli, a spirit-man, wore a bunch of feathers,
kalduki, on his forehead.
Moving about with the seasons and sources of
food for hunting and gathering, the Ngarrindjeri would mostly stay at sheltered camps during winter months.
To prepare for the cold months of the year, the Ngarrindjeri built bark huts and made skin cloaks. They also rubbed their skin with the oils of animals, such as whale or shark.
Some of the food that the Ngarrindjeri collected and hunted were: grass seeds, mussels, native plums, bulrush roots, fish, snakes, goannas and kangaroos.
Fishing nets were made from bulrush-roots.
Europeans
The first European settlers in South Australia were sealers and whalers and deserters from ships. Charles Sturt later attributed the hostility of the Aboriginal people of the region to the behaviour of the sealers from Kangaroo Island, who had kidnapped Aboriginal women in the area.
In 1828 Charles Sturt explored the Darling River. In January 1830 Sturt travelled by whaleboat down the River Murray. His last campsite was at Goolwa.
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| Charles Sturt, by John Michael Crossland (died 1858), given to the National Portrait Gallery, London in 1946 |
Captain Collet Barker was sent by the New South Wales Governor in 1831, to make further explorations in the area between Gulf St. Vincent and the Murray. Though he was speared by Aborigines, he returned with favourable reports about the region.
In 1836 Captain John Hindmarsh claimed Aboriginal people should have the same protection as the rest of “His Majesty’s Subjects”. This culminated
in the first employment of a “Protector” of Aboriginal people. By 1839, a Mission school began to teach Aboriginal people to become “civilised” and ration stations were set up.
The Point McLeay Mission was established by the Aborigines' Friends Association (AFA), a group founded in 1858 specifically to promote the spiritual and physical wellbeing of the Ngarrindjeri. In 1859 the AFA appointed George Taplin (1831-79) as their first missionary-teacher. He
chose the site for the Mission, a traditional camping ground called Raukkan (The Ancient Way), 32 km east of Goolwa.
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| Children swimming at Point McLeay Mission Station, circa 1875, SLSA |
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| Portrait of two young women A. and Eggie Sumner at Point McLeay, circa 1895, SLSA |
Not far from the Goolwa area, John Bull's 1837 water exploration party observed the "Encounter Bay blacks" holding a full moon ceremony at Onkaparinga.
The first through exploration of the Goolwa area was made by T.B. Strangways and Y.B. Hutchinson in December, 1837, when they were sent by Governor Hindmarsh to see if Sturt's channel was the only outlet to the sea.
By 1839-40, parts of the district were being used by pastoralists. Dr John Rankine settled "Strathalbyn" in 1839 and farmed sheep and cattle across a large area.
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| Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 6 April 1933 |
One of the earliest settlers in the Goolwa districts was Thomas Higgins, whose property on Section 2147 Hundred of Goolwa, was named "Higginsbrook" after his grandfather’s
estate in County Meath, Ireland.
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| Lieut Col. Thomas Walker Higgins (1840-1899) (Goolwa Volunteer Cavalry). He is wearing a Gambaldi jacket. In 1861 he became a volunteer in the Goolwa and Port Elliot Rifle Brigade. Before this he was a clerk at the Adelaide Post Office. He bought land at Currency Creek and named the property Higginsbrook after the family home in Ireland. He had cattle, sheep and cereal crops. He was respected by the local Aboriginals. He became Lieut. Colonel in 1867 and was given the rank of Colonel in Charge of the Voluntary Cavalry. He is buried in the Currency Creek Cemetery. Approximately 1866, SLSA |
Violence
One of the most documented examples of frontier violence in South Australia is the alleged murder of the passengers of the
Maria, which was wrecked on the journey to Adelaide, on 28 June 1840. Aboriginal people massacred some or all of the 17 survivors of the wreck. The government responded by executing two Aboriginal people allegedly involved.
Following the massacre, police were stationed at Goolwa from 1840. A police station built in 1850.
The Town Laid Out
A "special survey" was undertaken in 1839–40 and the township laid out.
Sir Henry Fox Young travelled the lower reaches of the Murray River in 1850 and in 1853, accompanied Francis Cadell on his steamer,
Lady Augusta. He was convinced that vessels on the river could
open up the interior development of the Murray trade, which led to the building of a railway from Goolwa to the coast, in 1854.
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| Captain Cadell's steamer the Lady Augusta, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 6 April 1912 |
Governor Young offered a prize of £2000 in 1851 for the first person to travel up the Murray River to its junction with the Darling River in a paddle steamer. The prize was claimed in 1853 by Francis Cadell with his steamer Lady Augusta (named for Sir Henry's wife). However, as the passage at the Murray Mouth was dangerous, Young
supported building a canal, road and later, a railway from the river port of Goolwa to the new sea-port at Port Elliot.
The building of the railway between Goolwa and Port Elliot commenced in 1851 and large store sheds
were built at each end of the line.
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| Goolwa to Port Elliot tramway, the first South Australian tramway. Photo taken between 1854, when the line was opened, and 1871, when Jones vacated the position of Traffic Manager. SLSA |
Public money began flowing into the region and by 1852, the Government had completed jetties at Port Elliot and Goolwa.
Goode, a chemist from Hereford, England, opened Goolwa’s first chemist shop and general store in Cadell Street in 1852.
Thomas Goode arrived at Goolwa in 1852, camping near the wharf and selling medicines and other products from his tent. As Goode's was a qualified chemist and there was no doctor in the district, he
was much in demand. |
| Goode's then built a hut and continued his business. later he moved the hut to Goolwa's main street and business continued to grow. During his life at Goolwa, Goode's served as town’s chief medical advisor, postmaster and mayor. Circa 1890, SLSA |
Construction of the Railway Superintendent's Cottage began in July 1852. Mr Buxton Forbes Laurie, the first superintendent of the Port Elliot Goolwa line lived in the house for only a few months; then Governor Sir Henry Fox Young used it briefly as a summer cottage.
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| Cottage at Goolwa occupied by Thomas Jones, Superintendent of the Goolwa Tramway. This unusual stone cottage has three arch shaped wings leading from the main cottage. This resembles a tram shed with its curved roofs. A pretty gazebo stands in the garden. Approximately 1869. SLSA |
Australia's first reticulated water supply to nearby Port Elliot, to provide water to shipping, was completed in 1853.
Steaming Along
Francis Cadell, river navigator and entrepreneur, along with his rival Captain William Randell, opened up the river trade in Goolwa, after Lieutenant-Governor of South Australia, Sir Henry Young offered a prize of £2,000 for each of the first two iron boats of over 40 horse-power and drawing less than 2 feet of water, to sail from Goolwa to the Darling River junction.
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| Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), Saturday 18 July 1896 |
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| Francis William Cadell (9 February 1822 – 1879) |
Australia's first public iron railway was operating by 1854, between Goolwa and Port Elliot. It opened on 18 May 1854 to transport goods down the Murray River to Goolwa and then to Port Elliot to be shipped overseas. Due to cost constraints, it was only a single track horse-drawn tramway.
River boats were also transporting wool and other products downriver to the wharf at Goolwa, where it was transported by rail to the sea ports at Port Elliot and (later) Victor Harbor.
The Port Elliot and Goolwa Railway and the growing river trade resulted in many settlers coming to the region. Houses, shops, businesses and trades were established and farming increased.
In 1853, Goolwa was surveyed again, south of the1840 survey area. This became the commercial centre. Quarter-acre blocks were auctioned in the same year.
Shipbuilding at Goolwa began with the construction of the
Eureka. Between 1853 and 1913, sixty one vessels including thirty seven paddle steamers were built at Goolwa.
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| Close view of five uniformed men who were members of the South Australian military volunteers; names not known. This is possibly the 'Goolwa Troop' (information supplied by a researcher). Circa 1855, SLSA |
Goolwa became an industrious town with breweries, a saw mill, a flour mill and ship building and repairs.
Goolwa telegraph and post office opened in 1857, with Thomas Goode as Post Master. Interestingly, the post office verandah was used as the tram station until 1872.
In 1858, the magnetic telegraph was connected via Goolwa from Adelaide to Melbourne.
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| South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889), Friday 18 November 1859 |
Church of England services were held at the courthouse until 1867, when a church was constructed.
Goolwa was proclaimed a port on 10 September 1857 and also a customs centre. A Customs House was completed in 1859 and expanded in 1864.
Captain George Bain Johnston built Cockenzie house at Goolwa and also provided
several plain, Scottish cottages for his employees in the Goolwa Extension, which was known as
''Little Scotland''. In 1856, Mr Young Bingham Hutchinson had part of his land on the south side of Goolwa subdivided.
Strathalbyn represents part of the first subdivision that created the private town of Strathalbyn.
The grand Rose Eden House was built in 1876. for the town school headmaster Mr Phillip Hill.
As the railways expanded, Goolwa's river trade was mostly conducted with South Australian ports. When the Murray Bridge line opened in 1886, trade to Goolwa fell into a decline. By 1890, the river transport was mostly over.
Goolwa Scenes
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| MAJORS DEAN & LINDSAY WITH ABORIGINAL SALVATIONISTS AT GOOLWA (South Australia) in 1888 |
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| A girl in the street opposite A. Nockolds bakery, with horse and cart outside, and view up Cadell Street, Goolwa, circa 1886. SLSA |
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| Goolwa Aboriginals. Captain Johnson's house in the background, circa 1900, SLSA |
Murray River at Goolwa, S.A. - very early 1900s, "Goolwa wharf in approximately 1904. The port was one of Australia's most important river ports, the wharf was built in 1852 and later extended and rebuilt several times. This photograph shows paddle steamers moored at the wharf and Hindmarsh Island in the background." State Library of South Australia |
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| Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 10 September 1904 |
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| General view of early Goolwa with the Goolwa Hotel on the right, about 1905, SLSA |
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| "King Billy" and his wives in the bush near Goolwa, SA, Critic (Adelaide, SA : 1897-1924), Wednesday 6 February 1907 |
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| Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 27 May 1911 |
Times Change
Dairying and market gardening became more dominant as river trade declined. Some wheat growing continued around Goolwa and Currency Creek, however.
From the late nineteenth century Goolwa became a popular tourist resort.
Australia Day
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| Australian Day in Goolwa, S.A., circa 1915, Aussie~mobs |
WW1
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| Informal outdoor portrait of 2699 Private Leslie Fred Frayne, 4th Light Horse Field Ambulance. A chemists's assistant from Goolwa S A, he enlisted on 19 December 1914. Pte Frayne survived the war and arrived back in Australia on 9 May 1919. AWM |
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| Number 2200 TRELEAVEN, Alfred ErnestGRG26/5/4 Photographic Portraits of South Australian Soldiers, Sailors and Nurses who took part in World War One; Place of birth: Goolwa Residence: Goolwa |
1919
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| Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 11 January 1919 |
1920s
The Goolwa hotel in Cadell Street, Goolwa, was built in 1853, by J. Varcoe. The figurehead on the building was from the ship Mozambique, which was wrecked on the Coorong, not far from the Murray
Mouth, on 19th August 1854. The survivors were taken to the Goolwa Hotel, where they were given food and accommodation.
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| Figurehead of the shipwrecked ship "Mozambique" on the roof of the Goolwa Hotel, S.A. - circa 1928, Aussie~mobs |
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| Two of the hotels in Goolwa, South Australia - early 1900s, The Corio Hotel on the right was built in 1868 and the Australasian Hotel on the left built circa 1858. It looks like a war memorial monument between the two hotels. Aussie~mobs |
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| Commercial and residential buildings facing the Soldier's memorial gardens (out of the picture except for two cannons) at Goolwa, 'where the railway station used to be'. According to a researcher, the two "cannons" are actually the supports for a barbed wire fence top that was erected to keep the town cows from destroying the hedge around the gardens. The town cows were house cows owned by residents and registered by Goolwa Corporation and they were allowed to wander at will during the day. Each cow had a collar with a registration disc and a bell. The cows returned home for milking and yarding each afternoon. The fence along the footpath in front of the shops was to prevent the cows from straying on to the footpath or into shops, circa 1820, SLSA |
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| The Institute, Cadell Street, Goolwa, S.A. - early 1900s |
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| Australia's First Caravan, built by Mr. Kaesler at Nuriootpa. He drove the vehicle to Goolwa, and arrived during the Back to Goolwa celebrations in 1929. The Mayor, Mr. Percy Wells bought it on the spot, and it has remained in Goolwa ever since. It is now owned by the National Trust of South Australia and housed at the Goolwa History Centre and Museum. SLSA |
1930s
The Goolwa Barrage located near the top end of the Coorong National Park was built across the water between South Australia’s mainland and Hindmarsh Island, to regulate the river’s flow and reduce salinity levels .
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| News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Saturday 5 May 1934 |
1940s and WWII
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OLD GOOLWA RESIDENCE. This house at Goolwa was occupied by Thomas Jones when
the was traffic manager of the Strathalbyn-Goolwa horse tramway in the fifties and sixties
of last century. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 29 February 1940 |
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| MACHINE GUNNERS' BIG MARCH: H.M.S. KING GEORGE MORE THAN 700 A.I.F. machine gunners from the Woodside camp areengaged in a training march of about 200 miles. They started on Monday and will finish on February 14, the route traversing Meadows, Ashbourne, Goolwa, Victor Harbor, Cape Jervis, Rapia Boy, Normanville, Willunga, Echunga, and Mount Barker. LEFT—The troops passing through Currency Creek, Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), Thursday 6 February 1941 |
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AIF recruiting. PETER RIGNEY (top) and Alan Compbell, two aboriginal men
from the Point McLeoy Mission, who offered their services
today. News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Friday 1 March 1940 |
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| Captain Sturt Paddle Steamer at Goolwa, 1945, SA Water |
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| Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 7 February 1946 |
1950s
In the 1950s there was a boom in the building of holiday houses, retirement homes and caravan parks in and around Goolwa.
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| The Goolwa Hotel, SA, about 1950, State Library of South Australia |
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| Charles Sturt re-enactment, Goolwa, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 15 February 1951 |
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Pt. McLeay Mission Station on Lake Alexandria, performing their corroboree
Nureeoh,' the legend of 'A Man Who Came Down The River,' to celebrate the arrival of the whale
boat at its journey's end. Charles Sturt re-enactment, Goolwa, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 15 February 1951 |
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| Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 13 May 1954 |
1970s
1999
Travel to Hindmarsh Island from Goolwa required a journey by a cable ferry.
Then in 1999, a plan was proposed to construct a bridge from Goolwa to Hindmarsh Island. This stirred immense controversy, as many Ngarrindjeri people saw this as a desecration of the sacred site of Dreamtime figure of Ngurunderi. The bridge opened to traffic in March 2001.
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| Goolwa to Hindmarsh Island Bridge, SA |
2006
2011
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| Goolwa Train Station, SA, in 2011 |
Around Goolwa
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| The Railway Superintendent's Cottage, Construction of the residence commenced in July 1852 and after its completion it was initially occupied by Mr Buxton Forbes Laurie, the first superintendent of the Port Elliot Goolwa line, Goolwa, SA |
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| The current library and Alexandrina Council offices. The rear part was the Institute built in 1878. The front part was built in 1907 as a Council Office. It was added to later to create two identical facades, Goolwa, SA |
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| Australasian Hotel, circa 1858, at 1 Porter Street, near Goolwa wharf. On State Heritage Register. Built by Oliver Willcock who was the hotel's first publican for 21 years and during this time the cellar doubled as the town's morgue. Pub closed in 1934. Home to Freda Ogilvy from 1854-2002 |
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| The old Police Station and Courthouse. Built by the governmnet in 1859. Goolwa, SA |
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| Rose Eden House, Goolwa, SA, was built in 1876 |
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| The former Congregational Church built in 1859, Goolwa, SA |
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| The bow fronted General store with two 24 paned windows. Built around 1860, Goolwa, SA |
"Goolwa. The Model School built in 1879 and still in use. Gothic in style." by denisbin is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
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| The Goolwa, SA, Centenary Hall, located on the corner of Cadell and Dawson Streets in Goolwa, South Australia was built in 1930 |
"Goolwa. Old cottage from 1860s. Later additions made it the Maternity Hospital from 1910 to 1935." by denisbin is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
"Goolwa. Possibly the oldest house in Goolwa. Highlands House built in 1853." by denisbin is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
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| The Corio Hotel. First part built in 1857 as a singel storey hotel, Goolwa, SA |
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| Cottage in Hays St, Goolwa, SA |
"Goolwa. Graham's Castle. Bult in 1863 for Abraham Graham river boat maker and manager of Goolwa. Originally known as Nelcoongal. Restored by the WEA in 1960s." by denisbin is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
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| Bridge linking Goolwa, SA, with Hindmarsh Island |
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The Oscar W is a steam driven wood fired authentic working paddle steamer built at Echuca, Victoria in 1908. Now located at the the historic Goolwa Wharf, SA. Oscar "Charlie" Wallin (1867 – 16 August 1934), born in Sweden and naturalized as a British Subject in Australia in 1897, owned and skippered several steamboats on the Murray-Darling river system. He built the boat at Echuca in 1908
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Things To Do and Places To Go
Map of Historic Area
"Anzac Day March Goolwa 23-4-2006" by Mundoo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
