The name Bunganditj means Bung-an-ditj or “people of the reeds”.
The Aboriginal name for the wider Glencoe district was kilap meaning “deep water”.
Christina Smith, a Christian missionary who documented the lives, customs, legends, and language of the Buandig Indigenous Australians wrote (1880):
"The aborigines of the South-East were divided into five tribes, each occupying its own territory, and using different dialects of the same language. Their names were 'Booandik', 'Pinejunga', 'Mootatunga', 'Wichintunga', and 'Taloinjunga."
"The Booandik . . . was the largest and occupied that tract of country extending from the mouth of the Glenelg River to Rivoli Bay North, for about thirty miles inland. The other tribes occupied the country between Lacapede Bay and Border Town, abutting the Booandik country."
Neddy, from "The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines: A Sketch of Their Habits, Customs, Legends" ...by Christina Smith |
According To Christina Smith: "Each tribe, as I have said, is divided into two distinct classes, the Kumite and Kroke. If a man is a Kumite, his wife must be a Kroke; and if a man is a Kroke, his wife must be a Kumite. The children belong to the mother's class."
"Infants are betrothed to one another by their parents. Girls are betrothed by the father, with the concurrence of his brothers, into some family which has a daughter to give in exchange. They term this "wootambau" (exchanging)."
Within the Kumite class there were five major animal totems
boorte moola: fishhawk
boorte parangal: pelican
boorte wa: crow
boorte willer: black cockatoo
boorte karato: (harmless) snake
The Kroke class had 4 major totems:
boorte wirrmal: owl
boorte wsereoo: teatree scrub
boorte moorna: an edible root
boorte kara-al: white crestless cockatoo.Bungandidj people made digging sticks, boomerangs and throwing sticks out of wood from trees.
boorte moola: fishhawk
boorte parangal: pelican
boorte wa: crow
boorte willer: black cockatoo
boorte karato: (harmless) snake
The Kroke class had 4 major totems:
boorte wirrmal: owl
boorte wsereoo: teatree scrub
boorte moorna: an edible root
boorte kara-al: white crestless cockatoo.Bungandidj people made digging sticks, boomerangs and throwing sticks out of wood from trees.
Queen Caroline, from "The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines: A Sketch of Their Habits, Customs, Legends" ...by Christina Smith |
Tribal boundaries, according to Tindale, seemed to occur where there were topographical and environmental changes in the country.
Rock shelters and burial grounds may be found in the region.
In 1789, small-pox spread through the Aboriginal population, perhaps spread by sealers and whalers of south-eastern Australia, ahead of the appearance of Europeans in the region. Small-pox epidemics had catastrophic effects on Aboriginal people and populations.
Read (free) "The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines: A Sketch of Their Habits, Customs, Legends", by Christina Smith. (keep in mind that sources may come from a time that is very different to our own)
Rock shelters and burial grounds may be found in the region.
In 1789, small-pox spread through the Aboriginal population, perhaps spread by sealers and whalers of south-eastern Australia, ahead of the appearance of Europeans in the region. Small-pox epidemics had catastrophic effects on Aboriginal people and populations.
Read (free) "The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines: A Sketch of Their Habits, Customs, Legends", by Christina Smith. (keep in mind that sources may come from a time that is very different to our own)
British Settlement
British settlement of South Australia began in 1836.
1840s
Hostilities and outrages between Aboriginals and Europeans commenced. Aboriginal people speared stock animals, and settlers retaliated with violence. Europeans abducted Aboriginal women for illicit purposes.
Built in 1863, the Glencoe woolshed, built from locally quarried stone and hand-hewn blackwood timbers, was never converted to mechanised shearing. During its heyday, around 50,000 sheep a day would be shorn here.
South Australian (Adelaide, SA : 1844 - 1851), Friday 27 December 1844 |
The Leake brothers reported that they lost 1,000 sheep from their 16,000 flock during 1845.[18] In that same year, Leake and six other armed horsemen confronted about 200 Aboriginal people who had taken a large number of sheep, dispersing them with a few gunshots.
Hostilities are reported to have continued around the Glenelg River region for the next two years.
As hunting and gathering became more difficult due to conflicts over land use and access, many Aboriginal people began living and working on farms or living in camps on the edge of town. Later, missions and reserves were established.
By the late 1840s, some Aboriginal people were employed on the squatters' properties in a variety of occupations, men as shepherds, shearers, bullock drovers and horsebreakers. Women were often domestic workers. The Leake's employed many Aboriginal shepherds and stockmen.
1850s
The original Glencoe Sation in 1854, built in the 1840s without a nail, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931) |
Lake Leake in 1854, SA, Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Tuesday 3 December 1940 |
John Bull and Paunchey. Two noted Lake Leake Aboriginals of the fifties, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931) |
1860s
Robert Leake died in 1860, and his brother, Edward took over management.
The Glencoe property was leased by John McIntyre from 1867 and later by John Tilley.
Glencoe developed from the early days, not as a town, but as two localities, known as Glencoe and Glencoe West.
The Glencoe area, however, did have a bakery, a hardware store, a mechanic, two cheese factories, two halls, two post offices, two sawmills, two shops, two schools and four churches.
1880s
In 1882 the majority of the Glencoe station was bought by the Riddoch family.
Frontier House : l-r Mrs Laird, Mr Laird, Frank Laird, Sophie Larid, - Harper, ?, Glencoe, SA. 1890, SLSA |
With the influx of families into the area, a school was established in 1894.
Shearers assembled by the woolshed, Glencoe, SA. 1893, SLSA |
1900s
The Mount Gambier railway was extended to Glencoe in 1904.
The Parliamentary Party and Prominent residents of the South East at Glencoe., SA. Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), Saturday 3 September 1904 |
The Glencoe Post Office, near the Railway Terminus, SA, Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), Saturday 3 September 1904 |
In 1904, a man named J. Medhurst was driving his horse and buggy near his property while it was raining, when Mr Medhurst heard "thump, thump" sounds around him in the cart. He was surprised to find it was raining frogs in Glencoe.
The strange "shower of frogs" at Glencoe may have been due to frogs from a nearby waterhole being caught up in a whirlwind during a storm and dropping to the ground as the storm abated.
Glencoe West Presbyterian Church was built in 1906.
Glencoe Racing club was established in 1909.The Glencoe Football Club was in existence in 1910 and the original colours of the club were red, white and blue.
Glencoe West Hall was built in 1911 and opened by George Riddoch.
A timber Methodist church opened 1911, a Catholic Church (Saint Brendans ) in 1911, and an Anglican church (Saint Pauls) 1913.
Group at the recent celebration of the Golden Wedding of Mr. and Mrs. W. Sporer, of Glencoe, SA. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 11 January 1913 |
Opening ceremony of Public Hall at Glencoe, SA. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 25 May 1912, |
WWI
Number 1105 BROOKS, Gordon Raymond. GRG26/5/4 Photographic Portraits of South Australian Soldiers, Sailors and Nurses who took part in World War One. Number 1105 BROOKS, Gordon Raymond. 43rd Battalion. Place of birth: Millicent. Residence: Glencoe West. SRSA ref GRG26/5/4/1105, State Records of SA |
As Glencoe had never had a hotel, in 1917, a vote was held on whether to establish a hotel in the town. The poll result was 34 in favour and 149 against.
1920s
Farmers and dairymen delivering their supplies to the Co-operative Cheese and Butter Factory at Glencoe, SA. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 22 May 1926 |
1930s
Laying the foundation stone of the Methodist Church Hall, Glencoe, SA. Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Saturday 1 April 1933 |
Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Tuesday 13 March 1934 |
WWII
Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954), Tuesday 13 May 1941 |
1950s
A South Australian Railways Y class locomotive departs Glencoe, SA, for the final time in 1957 (John Masson) |
1970s
2000s
2016: Glencoe Guernsey steer Big Moo is perhaps Australia's biggest cow.
Tourists were attracted by the glow-in-the-dark poisonous mushrooms (fan-shaped Omphalotus nidiformis ) growing in Glencoe Forest.
Tourists were attracted by the glow-in-the-dark poisonous mushrooms (fan-shaped Omphalotus nidiformis ) growing in Glencoe Forest.
Around Glencoe
Glencoe was first established in 1844 by Edward and Robert Leake as a sheep shearing station. The Glencoe Woolshed wash built in 1863 |
St Paul's Anglican Church, Glencoe, South East Region, South Australia, built in 1913 |
St Brendan's RC Church, Glencoe, South East Region, South Australia, foundation stone laid, 1910 |
Glencoe General Store, Glencoe, SA |
Glencoe Woolshed, SA. The Glencoe Woolshed wash built in 1863 |
Glencoe West, SA. The Hall in classical style opened by George Riddoch in 1911. it is in a sorry state of disrepair. denisbin |
Heritage house at Lake Edward Road, Glencoe, SA |
Things To Do and Places To Go