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Timeline of Early European Discovery and Exploration of Australia

Analysis of maternal genetic lineages (mitochondrial DNA) shows that Aboriginal people came into Australia around 50,000 years ago.

European Discovery and Exploration


1606: Willem Janszoon, in the Duyfken, captained the first recorded European landing on the Australian continent. Making landfall near the modern town of Weipa and the Pennefather River, they were attacked by the Aboriginal people. Sailing further down the coast, Aboriginal people killed some of the crew.
Duyfken replica
1616: Dirk Hartog (Dutch sailor ) left a pewter plate at Cape Inscription after arriving on the coast of Western Australia in the Eendracht.

1618: Willem Janszoon (Dutch navigator) sailing on Mauritius landed on North West Cap. Aboriginal footprints were seen.

1618: The Zeewolf under command of Haevick Claeszoon van Hillegom sights North West Cape.

1619: Frederick de Houtman's two ships sailing to Batavia (Indonesia) encountered dangerous coral reefs. Sailed along the Western coast of Australia en route to Batavia. Called present-day Perth,  d'Edelsland.

1622.: The VOC ship Leeuwin explored the southwest coast of WA and is almost shipwrecked at what is now Cape Leeuwin.

1622: The English ship Trial was wrecked off the northwest coast of WA. The reef was named Tryal Rocks after the ship. The first recorded shipwreck in Australian waters.

1623: Jan Carstensz led an expedition, with two ships, the Pera and Arnhem, to the southern coast of New Guinea and further afield. They sailed along the south coast of New Guinea, then went south to Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf of Carpentaria. On 14 April 1623, they passed Cape Keerweer. Described Aboriginal people as "poor and miserable looking people". Fought a skirmish with 200 Aboriginal people at the mouth of a small river near Cape Duyfken. Afterwards, sighted the east coast of Arnhem Land.

1626 to 1627: Gulden Zeepaert, skippered by François Thijssen, sailed along south coast towards Great Australian Bight. The south coast of Australia had been accidentally encountered by François Thijssen and named 't Land van Pieter Nuyts.

1629: The Batavia hit Morning Reef, on the Houtman Abrolhos. Francisco Pelsaert sailed a boat to Batavia (Indonesia) for rescue. Three months later, when he returned, he found that there had been a mutiny and many survivors had been murdered.

1642: Abel Tasman's voyage was the first known European expedition to reach Van Diemen's Land (later Tasmania).

1656: The ship, Vergulde Draeck (Gilt Dragon) was shipwrecked en route to Batavia, 107 km (66 mi) north of the Swan River near Ledge Point.

1658: Three Dutch ships searching for Vergulde Draeck visited the south coast: Waekende Boey under Captain S. Volckertszoon, Elburg under Captain J. Peereboom and Emeloortunder Captain A. Joncke.

The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines of Australia and named the island continent "New Holland" during the 17th century.

1681: English navigator John Daniel, aboard, New London, charted part of the west coast of Australia, including Rottnest Island and the Wallabi Group of Houtman Abrolhos.

1688 and 1699: Englishman William Dampier, looking for the Tryall in 1688, 66 years after it was wrecked, was the first Englishman to set foot on the Australian mainland. He made notes on the fauna and flora and the Aboriginal peoples. A Voyage to New Holland (1703, 1709). Read here
William Dampier portrait, holding his book
1756: French King Louis XV sent Louis Antoine de Bougainville to look for the Southern land. He visited and surveyed Tahiti, Samoa, the New Hebrides, but due to hostility, avoided the Solomon Islands. He was the first Frenchman to circumnavigate the globe and the first European known to have seen the Great Barrier Reef. Though he did not reach the mainland.

1768: British Lieutenant James Cook was sent from England to the Pacific Ocean to observe the transit of Venus from Tahiti. Sailing in the HMS Endeavour, on 20 April 1770, Cook's expedition was the first European expedition to reach the eastern coastline of Australia.

1771: Two French ships, the Mascarin and the Marquis de Castries set off to find the hypothetical Terra Australis Incognita (unknown Southern Land), with commander, Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne. His ships spent several days in Tasmania. He was the first European to encounter the Aboriginal Tasmanians.

1772–1775: On James Cook's second voyage he was accompanied by Tobias Furneaux on Adventure. Furneaux became separated from Cook on the Resolution. In 1773, Furneaux explored much of the south and east coasts of Van Diemen's Land, and made the earliest British charts.

The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), gaining independence.

The loss of England's penal colonies in America and growing concern over French activity in the Pacific led to the British penal colony of "Botany Bay". 

The First Fleet's 11 ships led by Captain Arthur Phillip left England on 13 May 1787.

The First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay on 20 January 1788.
Colour lithograph of the First Fleet entering Port Jackson on January 26 1788, drawn in 1888. Creator: E. Le Bihan


17th-Century Australian Shipwrecks

Historic shipwrecks are like underwater museums. 

24 May 1622

Australia's oldest known shipwreck is Tryall (or Trial), a British East India Company-owned sailing ship (East Indiaman), which departed Plymouth on her maiden voyage for Bantam on 4 September 1621.

At the time, there was intense rivalry between the Dutch and the English East India Companies and the commander of Tryall, John Brookes, was instructed to sail a faster route, discovered in 1611, by a Dutch captain called Brouwer.

Instead of sailing diagonally across the Indian Ocean from the Cape of Good Hope, Brooks was instructed to sail due east into the Roaring Forties (strong westerly winds). Then turn north for several hundred nautical miles before reaching the Great Southern Land. This could save up to six months' travel.

Brookes made a navigational error and sailed too far east (a common problem at the time). The calculation of longitude was fraught with difficulty and error.

On 25 May 1622, between 10 and 11 p.m, Tryall was wrecked on the Tryal Rocks (Ritchie’s Reef), north of the northern tip of Barrow Island, off Western Australia.

The crew were the first Englishmen to sight or land on Australia.

Assumed to be Australia's oldest known shipwreck, Tryall (or Trial), found in 1985 
Assumed to be the cannon from Australia's oldest known shipwreck, Tryall (or Trial), found in 1985 from the shipwreck

June 1622


The 17th-century Dutch East India Company sailing ship (fluyt ), t Wapen van Hoorn, was built in the Dutch Republic in 1619.

This ship was the second to be shipwrecked, temporarily, in Australian waters, near Shark Bay, Western Australia.

t Wapen van Hoorn was eventually refloated and arrived in Batavia (present-day Jakarta) on 22 July 1622.

25 January 1628

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) ship Vianen sailed from Batavia on 6 January 1628.

The monsoon had set in, however, and so the ship could not take the usual route through the Sunda Strait

Travelling instead, through the Strait of Balamboan, the ship was blown so far south by strong headwinds, that the ship ran aground in the vicinity of Barrow Island (Western Australia),

Vianen, however, was also refloated and arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on 24 May. 

The following year, the ship was shipwrecked in the Sunda Strait and sunk.

4 June 1629

The Dutch East India Company ship, Batavia, sailed on her maiden voyage for Batavia on 29 October 1628.

On 4 June 1629, Batavia was wrecked on the Houtman Abrolhos, a chain of small islands some 70 kilometres off the Western Australian coast.

Commander Pelsaert and about 45 others took a longboat to search for water on the mainland. The water search was unsuccessful and so Pelsaert sailed to the city of Batavia to get help.

Pelsaert returned to the shipwreck in mid-September and found mutiny, murder and horrific cruelty. Jeronimus Cornelisz, the man he had left in charge, had murdered 115 men, women and children. 

Batavia's shipwreck was found in 1963 by fisherman and divers.

A Batavia ship replica was built from 1985 to 1995, using the same materials and methods utilized in the early 17th century.
The reconstruction of the Batavia was the brainchild of master shipbuilder Willem Vos.
The remains of the Batavia Shipwreck, at the Shipwrecks Museum in Fremantle, WA. 

28 April 1656

The Vergulde Draeck (Gilt Dragon) sailed from Texel (Holland) bound for Batavia (Jakarta) in the East Indies, under Pieter Albertsz, with a crew of about 193 men.

The route followed the Roaring Forties east towards the Southland, then north to Batavia.

On 28 April 1656, the ship struck a reef midway between what are now the coastal towns of Seabird and Ledge Point, Western Australia.

Of the 193 people on board, 118 are known to have perished.

Of the survivors, 75 people made it to shore alive.

The Gilt Dragon carried two small boats,  but one boat was lost in the waves. The second boat was sent to Batavia (Indonesia) with 7 sailors.

Sixty-eight Gilt Dragon survivors were left on the coast and never seen again.

A number of rescue attempts were conducted by the Dutch East India Company but no survivors were ever found.

In March 2015, Steve Caffery, of Gilt Dragon Research Group, claimed that copies of two letters carried by the seven survivors to Batavia in 1656, had been found. The letters, dated 5 and 7 May 1656, were said to indicate there were two separate campsites.

The wreck was discovered by five spear-fishermen (John Cowen; Jim, Alan and Graeme Henderson; and Alan Robinson ) in April 1963.
In 1931, a boy named A. Edwards found a skeleton and some old coins on a ledge of rock known as Eagle's Nest close to the Moore River. The coins were dated between the years 1618 and 1648 and were associated with the wreck of the Dutch ship "Vergulde Draeck" (Gilt Dragon). Sunday Times; 8 February 1931
The "Vergulde Draeck or "Gilt Dragon", one of the Dutch East India Trading Company's trading vessels, embarked from the Netherlands on 4 October 1655 bound for the East Indies with eight chests of silver coins on board.

July 1656

The ships Goede Hoop and Witte Valke were sent from Batavia by the Dutch East India Company to rescue survivors of the Vergulde Draeck. 

A search party was sent ashore in Goede Hoop's boat, but the boat was smashed against rocks and sunk. Sadly, 8 sailors drowned and 3 more disappeared ashore.

22 March 1658

More ships were sent by the Dutch East India Company, from Batavia, to search for the Vergulde Draeck.

The ships Waeckende Boey and Emerloort were sent and 14 men were sent ashore in the Waeckende Boey's jawl (sailboat).

A strong wind was blowing with a "terribly high sea’".

The jawl was driven northward and was wrecked on an island. 

Giving the 14 men up as lost, the Waeckende Boey returned to Batavia. The ship was repaired and sailed north but was wrecked again on the coast of Java. The four survivors walked overland to Jepara, for five weeks through the dense jungle.

In 1834 an anonymous article by an English explorer appeared in a Perth newspaper, telling about a "lost white tribe" living in a walled settlement in the interior of Western Australia. No evidence of such a village has ever been found.
In 1834 an English newspaper (Leeds Mercury) reported that a secret English expedition in Central Australia in 1832, found a small colony descended from Dutchmen shipwrecked on Australia’s west coast in the early eighteenth century.

After 5 February 1694

On 11 July 1693, the ship, Ridderschap van Holland, departed Wielingen (Holland) on a voyage to Batavia, arriving at the Cape of Good Hope on 9 January 1694.

In the largest class of the company's ships, she sailed from the Cape with a crew of around 300, and two passengers, including Admiral Sir James Couper.

The ship did not reach her destination and was never found. It is believed that Ridderschap van Holland was actually wrecked in the Pelsaert Group of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands off the coast of Western Australia.

Remains of a shipwreck were found on Pelsaert Island in 1727.


The WA Shipwrecks Museum


List of Australian Prime Ministers

Robert Menzies and Kevin Rudd served two non-consecutive terms in office while Alfred Deakin and Andrew Fisher served three non-consecutive terms.

1.  Sir Edmund Barton: Served: 1 January 1901 -24 September 1903 (resigned), Protectionist Party. 

Sir Edmund Barton(1849–1920), NLAUST

2. Alfred Deakin: Served: 24 September1903 -27 April 1904, Protectionist Party. 

Alfred Deakin (1856–1919), SLQLD
Alfred Deakin was Australia’s second prime minister. He held the position three times.

3. Chris Watson: Served: 27 April 1904 - 18 August 1904, Labor Party.

Chris Watson (1867–1941), NLAUST

4. George Reid: Served: 18 August 1904 -5 July 1905, Free Trade Party.

George Reid (1845–1918), US Library

(2nd) Alfred Deakin: (2nd term): Served: 5 July 1905 13 November 1908.

5. Andrew Fisher: Served: 13 November  -1908 2 June 1909, Labor Party.

Andrew Fisher(1862-1928), NLAUST

(2nd) Alfred Deakin: Served: 2 June1909 29 April 1910, Fusion Liberal Party.

(5th) Andrew Fisher: 29 April 1910 -24 June 1913, Labor.

6. Joseph Cook: Served: 24 June 1913 -17 September1914, Fusion Liberal Party.

Joseph Cook (1860–1947)

(5th) Andrew Fisher: 17 September -1914 27 October 1915, Labor.

7. Billy Hughes: Served: 27 October 1915 to 9 February 1923, Labor, National Labor, Nationalist.

Billy Hughes (1862–1952), NLAUST

8. Stanley Bruce: Served: 9 February 1923 -22 October 1929, Nationalist Party (Coalition).

Stanley Bruce (1883–1967)

9. James Scullin: Served: 22 October  -1929 6 January 1932, Labor Party.

James Scullin (1876–1953), NLAUST

10. Joseph Lyons: Served: 6 January 1932 -7 April 1939, United Australia Party (Coalition post-1934).

Joseph Lyons (1879–1939), NLAUST

11. Sir Earle Page: Served: 7 April 1939 -26 April 1939, Country Party (Coalition).

Sir Earle Page (1880–1961), NLAUST

12. Robert Menzies: Served: 26 April 1939 -29 August 1941, United Australia (Coalition post-1940).

Robert Menzies (1894–1978), NLAUST

13. Arthur Fadden: Served: 29 August 1941 -7 October 1941, Country Party (Coalition).

Arthur Fadden (1894–1973), NLAUST

14. John Curtin: Served: 7 October 1945 -July1945,  Labor Party.
John Curtin (1885–1945), NLAUST

15. Frank Forde: Served: 6 July 1945 -13 July 1945, Labor.

Frank Forde (1890–1983), GOVAUST

16. Ben Chifley: Served: 13 July 1945 -19 December 1949, Labor Party.

Ben Chifley (1885–1951), NLAUST

(12th) Sir Robert Menzies: Served: 19 December 1949 -26 January 1966, Liberal (Coalition).

17. Harold Holt: Served: 26 January 1966 -19 December 1967, Liberal Party (Coalition).

Harold Holt (1908–1967), National Archives of Australia 

18. John McEwen: Served: 19 December 1967 – 10 January 1968, Country (Coalition). 

John McEwen (1900–1980) www.dfat.gov.au

19. John Gorton: Served: 10 January 1968 – 10 March 1971, Liberal Party (Coalition).

John Gorton (1911–2002), NLAUST

20. William McMahon: Served: 10 March 1971 – 5 December 1972, Liberal Party (Coalition).

William McMahon (1908–1988) US-PD

21. Gough Whitlam: Served: 5 December 1972 – 11 November 1975, Labor Party.

Gough Whitlam (1916-1914) Archives of Australia

22. Malcolm Fraser: Served: 11 November 1975 – 11 March 1983, Liberal Party (Coalition).

 Malcom Fraser (1930–2015), Archives of Australia

23. Bob Hawke: Served: 11 March 1983 – 20 December 1991, Labor Party. 

Bob Hawke (1929–2019), C of Aust

24. Paul Keating: Served: 20 December 1991 – 11 March 1996, Labor Party.

Paul Keating (b. 1944), C of Aust

25. John Howard: Served: 11 March 1996 – 3 December 2007, Liberal Party (Coalition).

John Howard (b. 1939) C of Aust

26. Kevin Rudd: Served: 3 December 2007 -24 June 2010, Labor Party.

Kevin Rudd (b. 1957)

27. Julia Gillard: Served: 24 June 2010 – 27 June 2013, Labor Party.

  Julia Gillard (b. 1961) MystifyMe Concert Photography (Troy)

(26) Kevin Rudd: Served: 27  June 2013 18 September 2013, Labor Party.

28.  Tony Abbott: 18 September 2013 – 15 September 2015, Liberal Party (Coalition).

Tony Abbott (b. 1957) MystifyMe Concert Photography (Troy)

29. Malcolm Turnbull: Served: 15 September 2015 – 24 August 2018, Liberal Party (Coalition).

Malcolm Turnbull (b, 1954) C of Aust

30. Scott Morrison: Served: 24 August 2018-30 May 2022, Liberal Party (Coalition).

Scott Morrison (b, 1968) User:Clrdms
31. Anthony Albanese: Served: 23 May 2022 (incumbent).  Australian Labor Party (ALP). 

Anthony Albanese (b, 1963)





Mildura, VIC: Art Deco Charm and Mediterranean-Style Climate

Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura is 541 km north-west of Melbourne, 1020 km west of Sydney and 402 km north-east of Adelaide.

With its Mediterranean-style climate, Mildura is a busy regional city offering paddle steamer cruises, surrounded by wineries and fruit farms, on the edge of the Outback.


Latji latji Aboriginal People

Latji Latji Aboriginal people had a dual-class system, divided into two moieties, the Kailpara (emu) and Makwara (eagle hawk), with matrilineal descent (through the mother). People who share the same Moiety are considered siblings and cannot marry. 

Nyeri Nyeri, Wergaia and Ngintait peoples also live in the region.

Aboriginal people lived a highly mobile lifestyle as hunter/fisher/gathers. Women were primarily the gatherers of roots, fruits, nuts, eggs and honey, and small animals like snakes and goannas.

Complex skills and knowledge for foraging and hunting foods were passed down the generations. 
 
The explorer, Edward Eyre, called the Latji Latji people the Boraipar and recorded some words from their language.

After his exploration between Adelaide and Albany in Western Australia in 1840-41, Edward Eyre was appointed Resident Magistrate and Protector of the Aborigines on the River Murray. He treated the Aboriginal people in a fair and humane way and this reduced tensions between Aboriginal people and Europeans. After Eyre returned to England, he published his work, Manners and customs of the Aborigines of Australia (1845). Read here (p. 356-7)

Eyre wrote of the language of the Latji Latji, "The Boraipar or language of the Arkatko tribe, who inhabit the scrub to the east of the Murray, and the Aiawong or river dialect, extending, with slight variations, from the junction of the Murray and Lake Alexandrina to the Darling."

Eyre said of Aboriginal people: "I have ever found them of a lively, cheerful disposition, patiently putting up with inconveniences and privations, and never losing that natural good temper which so strongly characterizes them." Read more here

Experts say that Latji Latji is a western Kulin language and the name of the clan comes from the word "no". There are various other "tribes" named after their own words for "no".
19th century hardwood shields from South Eastern Australia near the borders of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, National gallery of Australia.
A spear thrower is also commonly known as a Woomera or Miru. Used for warfare, hunting prey, rituals and ceremonies
Robert Brough Smyth describes how the Aboriginal people of Victoria would make fire here. Fire was important for light, warmth, social gatherings and was believed to provide protection from evil spirits. 

Fires were also used to drive game to certain areas, control pests, and enhance the growth of fresh grass to attract animals, such as kangaroos. 
Aboriginesofvictoria01-p395-fig234
Aboriginal people had many spirit beliefs which were important in the cultural landscape. Sickness was generally viewed as being caused by an evil spirit or an enemy. 
For example, Ngadhundi: A ritual from the lower River Murray. A discarded bone from food eaten by the intended victim is collected and shaped into a thin skewer. The eye of a Murray cod and flesh from a fresh corpse is coated in a paste made from fish oil and red ochre and attached to the end of the bone. The bone is then soaked in liquid from a decomposing corpse. When completed, the bone is placed near a fire until the paste melts and the lump drops off. The victim usually dies, which could be from being secretly scratched with the point causing them to die from infection.

Bark canoes were made by Aboriginal people of the area from a single piece of bark, cut from a river red gum tree (Eucalyptus camaldulensis). A man would climb a tree and cut a lozenge-shaped piece of bark, with a stone axe, or sharpened sticks. See more here
A canoe tree, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954)

1830

Charles Sturt passed through the region on his journey along the Murray River in 1830. When Sturt arrived at the junction of the Darling, he found that both rivers were too salty for the stock to drink.

1840s

Frank Jenkins established "Yerre Yerre" station in 1847, but he didn't obtain a licence. Within a few months, the Jamieson brothers took over the property. 

Hugh Jamieson wrote that Aboriginal workers were of great value to settlers and that he employed Aboriginal people exclusively for shepherding flock.

The Old Mildura Homestead is a reconstruction of the first home built in Mildura in 1847. 
MILDURA HOMESTEAD.On the Original Old Mildura Run Sunraysia Daily (Mildura, Vic. : 1920 - 1932)

1850s

Paddle steamers and paddle boats have been on the Murray River and Murray-Darling Basin since 1853. Barges and paddle steamers carried supplies, passengers and goods for market winding along the Murray-Darling and passing Mildura.
Towing wool on the Murray River, VIC, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954)
In 1858 the "Yerre Yerre" station property was renamed "Mildura". This is believed to be an Aboriginal word for "red earth" or "sore eyes caused by flies".

1860s

The alteration to food and water sources and completion for resources had great impacts on Aboriginal people.

The Anglican Yelta Mission (1855) west of Mildura was one of seven Aboriginal reserves in the colony, established by 1863. There were also depots for basic food supplies. 

Located on the Murray-Darling junction, the mission was established by missionaries Goodwin and John Bulmer. Aboriginal people of the Lower Murray people were, according to Richard Broome (1.), "encouraged by an initial supply of government rations, helped to form huts, a school, fences and gardens".

However, many Aboriginal people were working on stations, and by 1869 Yelta closed.

Aboriginal people were working as shearers, woodcutters, shepherds, fencing, stockmen, and women as servants, needleworkers and bark cutters.

1870s

The Mildura railway line began from Ballarat in 1874 and reached Mildura in 1903.

In 1874 Kulkyne Station (50km south of Mildura) was gazetted s an Aboriginal reserve. Aboriginal people from around Mildura were relocated there. The reserve existed until 1910.
An old blackfellow told Mr Thompson (manager of Kulkyne station) that the 'big fella cod' went into these hollow trees to spawn. Whether this is an actual fact or not, my friend asserts that he frequently saw the natives capture very large cod from those hollow trees. The method adopted was simple. When the flood waters were over the bends in the river the hole in the tree was below the surface of the water, and two blacks would swim or wade out and quickly run a net across the opening. If the cod did not immediately come out one of them would stir it up with his foot, and then there was a great battle in the water as they endeavoured to bring the big fish to the land. In its desperate struggles to escape it gave its captors a very difficult operation to successfully complete. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 14 January 1920
There was an Aboriginal camp at Nichols Point near what is now the Sandilong Racecourse.

In 1877 the district received better rainfall than former years.

1877-8 saw rabbit plagues in the region. The Rabbits Nuisance Suppression Bill was introduced into the Parliament of Victoria in an effort to combat the problem.

1880s

Panoramic view of Mildura, over the buildings of the town to the line of trees in background, 1882, SLSA
In 1886, Alfred Deakin, then commissioner for public works, travelled to California to observe the model irrigation settlements established in the Californian desert by Canadians William and George Chaffey. Deakin was interested to develop irrigation, in semi-arid areas, for agricultural development.

Deakin was impressed by the Chaffeys' model irrigation settlement, and they in turn, became excited by the idea of irrigation for the Murray River in Australia.
THE VICTORIAN IRRIGATION MISSION OF 1885. Alfred Deakin is the central figure. On the right (seated) Is E S. Cunningham, and en the left J. L. Dow, while the engineer of the party, J. D. Derry, C.E., is behind Mr. Deakin. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 23 January 1929
On October 21st 1886, after months of negotiations with Deakin, the Chaffey brothers signed an agreement for the establishment of an irrigation colony on the Mildura property.
Building a State School, Mildura, Victoria, circa 1885, Museums Victoria Collections
Group of People on Verandah of Mildura Coffee Palace, Victoria, circa 1885, Museums Victoria Collections
The Chaffey brothers came to Australia and in 1887 created the Mildura Irrigation Colony on 250,000 acres (101,170 ha) of land near Mildura.

A fruit industry, including drying and preserving, was developed.

Mildura became an irrigated oasis in a semi-arid area after the Chaffey brothers established steam-driven pumps that lifted water from the Murray River, first into King's Billabong, then to various heights to irrigate close to 33,000 acres. 

The raising of water from the Murray to land approximately 28 metres above river level was a great engineering challenge. George Chaffey designed a triple-expansion steam engine coupled to centrifugal pumps. The manufacturer of the equipment would not put its name to the engine in case it was unreliable or a failure. However, the steam engine and pumps at Psyche Bend operated successfully until 1959.
Mr George Chaffey, Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), Saturday 21 May 1887
Mr W B Chaffey, Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), Saturday 21 May 1887
Mildura was laid out, with trees planted in the style of the Chaffey's Californian irrigation colonies. 

The Chaffey brothers had 3000 migrants move to the region, and they used steamboat engines to drive the irrigation pumps. Their first crop was a resounding success.

A government school was built in 1888 and Methodist and Anglican churches the same year. The settlement had shops, two banks and a coffee palace. Mildura was planned by the Chaffey brothers as a temperance colony, to develop without a drinking culture.

In 1888 when the Chaffeys planted 150 acres of wine grapes on their vineyard at Belar Avenue, Irymple. They also invested in brickworks, an engineering firm and a timber mill.

The post and telegraph office opened at Mildura in January 1888.

By 1888 there were regular coach and steamship services to and from Mildura. 

The three pumping stations, Psyche, Billabong and Nichols Point, date from 1889.

Mr AL Reid, founder of Mildura's stationery shop and first circulating library

The Queen Ann Style house, Rio Vista, was built for William Benjamin Chaffey in 1889 and occupied by the Chaffey family from 1891 until 1950.

1890s

By December 1890, 3,300 people were living at Mildura.

Mildura Refrigerating Works was established in 1890.

In 1890 the Chaffey brothers established a plant nursery to overcome problems with the supply of fruit trees.

Psyche Pump Station was built in 1891 by the Chaffey brothers to meet the needs of the irrigation settlement.

A large wharf was built in 1892.

However, the transport system broke down, and there was an economic depression and bank failures.
Mail coach en route to Mildura, VIC, Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935), Saturday 24 March 1894
1. offices of 
Mr. F. H. Edwards, who is agent for The Age and  Leader, Mildura, VIC. 2. Harris buildings, Mildura, VIC.  Mr. E. A. Harris runs the baths, a new and unique institution at Mildura (hot and cold).  (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935), Saturday 24 March 1894
The First Mildura Irrigation Trust took charge of the town water supply in 1895.
Mildura District, Victoria, circa 1895, The Biggest Family Album in Australia
The Chaffey brother's Australian projects went bankrupt on 10 December 1895.

The Mildura Irrigation Trust took over from the Mildura Irrigation Co. in September 1895. George returned to America and became wealthy from his Californian irrigation project. William Chaffey stayed and was elected president of the Mildura Shire Council in 1903 and became mayor in 1920.

Deakin Avenue peppercorn trees replaced the Morton Bay figs in 1895.
"Old-timer", near the river at Mildura, Victoria, about 1896. State Library of South Australia

1900s

In 1901 the population was 1606.
 1. Picking zante currants., Mildura, VIC. 2. Drying raisins, Mildura, VIC, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Saturday 1 February 1902
St Margaret’s Anglican Church opened in 1902.

Mildura was connected to the Melbourne market by railway in 1903.
Efstathios Raftospoulos, a member of the Ithacan community at Mildura in about 1903. Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Saturday 29 December 1979
In 1905, the Mildura and Irymple post offices were connected by telephone.
Deakin Avenue, Mildura, VIC. c. 1905. Museums Victoria
The Mildura, VIC, premises of the Mildura Co-operative Co. as they were in 1905. Farmer and Settler (Sydney, NSW : 1906 - 1955)
Aboriginal people in the Mildura Hospital, VIC, transported from their camp  Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 8 December 1906
The Mildura port closed in 1907.
Mildura, Victoria - 1907. Kaye
THE MELBOURNE MAN IN HIS MILDURA HOME. Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 4 May 1907
Dipping and drying fruit, Mildura, VIC, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 4 May 1907
THi: STEAMER AT THE Mll.IHRA WHARF, VIC, .Kapunda Herald (SA : 1878 - 1951), Friday 11 December 1908
Mildura Ice Works and Butter Factory Proprietary Ltd. was established by Mr Hutchinson Hunt in 1908. 

Mildura Telephone Exchange (1909)

"The electric lighting plant for the Mildura township is now installed, and the street lighting will be
available on the 17th inst."
Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Saturday 9 October 1909
Mildura Show Ground, NSW, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 5 October 1912
M1LDURA CO-OPERATIVE FRUIT PACKING COMPANY. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 20 November 1912
IRRIGATION: THE EXAMPLE OF MILDURA: II IT IS CLAIMED THAT THIS PUMPING PLANT HOLDS A WORLD'S RECORD FOR EFFICIENCY. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 6 November 1912
TOWN WATER SUPPLY TOWER, 155 FEE'T ABOVE SUMMER LEVE OF RIVER. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 30 October 1912

WWI

Ex-Private T. G. FACEY, who died at Mildura, as a result of head wounds received at Gallipoli. He was a nephew and ward of Mrs. E. H. Biggs, of Quarry Hill. Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918), Friday 21 June 1918

1920s

The Sunraysia Daily was formed by the amalgamation of three newspapers, the Mildura Cultivator, the Mildura Telegraph and Darling and Lower Murray Advocate and and the Merbein Irrigationist, in 1920.
MARY WHORLONG (OR WURLONG) A daughter of Wurlong, "Murray River blacks", Sunraysia Daily (Mildura, Vic. : 1920 - 1932), Thursday 1 September 1921
Red Cliffs, just south of Mildura, was established as a soldier-settlement estate, opening in 1920.
COTTAGES AT RED CLIFFS: THE POST OFFICE ON THE RIGHT OF THE PICTURE. Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 8 April 1922
In 1920, the Mildura Urban Water Trust was established.
In the 1920s the first Italian workers arrived in the Mildura area. Also, at this time, Croatian immigrants came to Mildura to work in the fruit growing industry. Mildura became known as "little Medjimurjie", after the agricultural region of Croatia from where many migrants came.
Sunraysia Daily (Mildura, Vic. : 1920 - 1932), Monday 1 January 1923

1930s

Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Friday 31 March 1933
In 1934 Mildura was officially proclaimed a city.
Langtree Avenue, Mildura, Victoria - 1930s, Kaye
In 1933 the population was 6617.
Mary Worlong is a daughter of Worlong who, when Mildura was very young, was noted on the Murray River as a maker and thrower of boomerangs. He was taken to England and presented to Queen Victoria, whom he delighted with his skill. Mary Worlong is the last of her line. Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Saturday 6 January 1934
Children Attending the High School at Mildura, VIC, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 14 April 1934
DRIED FRUIT INDUSTRY ATMILDURA. Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 31 March 1934
The Mildura Flying School, about 1935, VIC, Museums Victoria.
Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Saturday 19 December 1936,
Main Street of Mildura, Victoria, no date
The former Astor Theatre opened about 1937. 
Methodist Church, Mildura, VIC, Methodist (Sydney, NSW : 1892 - 1954), Saturday 18 September 1937
Art Deco Theatre The Ozone, built 1938, Mildura, VIC
The Mildura Working Man's Sports & Social Club built a T-shaped bar in 1938. It was believed to be the longest bar in the state of Victoria.

A Greek school commenced in 1939.
Mildura Carnival and Gala, VIC, week Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 19 August 1939
Working Man's Club, Mildura, VIC, 29 December 1939. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

1940s and WWII

Four subalterns from Mildura, who enlisted at outbreak of war and all got commissions. Lieutenants J. F. Young, S. M. Cramp, H. J. Lunn, and K. R. Walker. Central Queensland Herald (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1930 - 1956), Thursday 18 July 1940
BAGPIPES AND ALL, nine members of the Caledonian Pipe Band, Mildura, came to Melbourne today to enlist in the A.I.F. Here are five of them at Royal Park waiting for the medical examination.
From left: D. Powis, C. MacDonald, J. Hannah, R. A. Powis and J. S. Oliver. They hope to be permitted to form a pipe band of their own with a unit of the A.I.F. Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Thursday 17 April 1941
From 1942 until 1946, the Mildura Airfield was a RAAF Base and the home of the No.2 Operational Training Unit (2OTU). Of the 1,247 fighter pilots trained at 2OTU, 288 pilots and aircrew lost their lives fighting over the Pacific and Europe during World War II. 52 pilots and seven ground crew died during their training at Mildura.
1. The Apex Club woodworkers have made 4278 articles for the Red Cross, Mildura, VIC. 2. The Civic Centre in Deakin Ave, Mildura, VIC. Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 5 August 1942
Sunraysia Defence League, Mildura, VIC, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 5 August 1942
Grand Hotel, Mildura, VIC, 1940s. State Library of Victoria Image
 "THE WORKER'S," MILDURA, CELEBRATES JUBILEE, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 20 January 1945
The Mildura Working Man's Club, VIC, in 1945, bar length 91 metres (299 ft), SLVIC
After World War Two, many settlers from Greece, Italy and Yugoslavia arrived. 

The University of Melbourne established a Mildura campus from 1947.
GROUP OF STUDENTS OUTSIDE ONE OF THE GIRLS' HUTS, MILDURA UNIVERSITY, VIC, Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Wednesday 20 August 1947
Margaret Blackwood, sub-dean of women, former WAAAF officer and a Master of Science. Six hundred first year students are enrolled at Mildura and include 280 medical students, 180 engineering, 75 dental, and 30 architectural. More than 50 per cent, are ex-servicemen Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 30 April 1947
Housing Commission homes being built at Mildura, VIC, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 5 January 1949
 Mildura CWA members, VIC, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 12 January 1949

1950s

MATRON MORAN with some of his staff and patients at Olinda Hospital, Mildura. Sister McConnell (left), Sister B. J. Kemp (right) and Mrs M. Bock, from Darling River, in front Mildura Matron A . Success "Because He Mas A Wife" Mr A. W. Moran, Victoria's first, man "matron", who has ! charge of the Olinda Private Hospital, Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Thursday 14 September 1950
View from the (Carnegie) Library, Mildura, VIC. Undated image from the Rose Stereograph series of postcards, State Library of Victoria 
Mildura was connected to the State electricity grid.
The State Electricity Commission will spend £61/2 million to give more light and power to the Murray Valley, .Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Thursday 24 August 1950
From 1950-53 a migrant holding facility operated at Mildura.
Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), Sunday 8 March 1953
Shepparton Advertiser (Vic. : 1914 - 1953), Friday 27 February 1953
Royal visit to Mildura, VIC,  Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 1 April 1954
NURSES and young patients formed a strongpost at Mildura Base Hospital to greet the Queen. Matron J. Treadwell is at the centre while some of her nurses gather round Charles Addison, of Merbein, and Geoff Thomas, of Mildura, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 1 April 1954
The Mildura premises of the Mildura Co-operative, Farmer and Settler (Sydney, NSW : 1906 - 1955), Friday 11 February 1955
Rio Vista was opened as Mildura Art Gallery by Sir Dallas Brooks in May 1956.

1956 Murray River flood

The steam-powered pump at the Psyche Pump Station was replaced in 1959 by an electric pump.

The Civic Buildings opened in 1958 on the site of the original Shire Hall.

1960s

Langtree Ave, mildura, Vic, 1964, Matt W

1970s

Mildura, VIC, 1970, Matt W
Mildura, VIC, 1970s, Matt W
Mildura, VIC, 1970s, Matt W
Grand Hotel, Mildura, VIC, 1975, Matt W

1980s

In 1983, a decision was made to restore the historic engine and pumps at Psyche Bend Pumping Station.

Organised crime operations during the 1970s and '80s.

The first mosque opened in 1984.
Mildura, VIC, early 1980s. Matt W

1990s

The population doubled between 1961 and 1991.

2000s

In 2006 the population was 30,016.

2015: Suggestions that criminal gangs, such as outlawed biker groups, are running the ice trade in the region.

2016: Mildura County Koori Court opened. See here

2021: Mildura pilot restores WWII De Havilland Tiger Moth biplane.

2022: Wet and warm weather leads to cricket population explosion in Mildura


Around Mildura


Chateau Mildura, the Chaffey's original winery, was established in 1888, 191 Belar Ave, Irymple VIC 
The Astor Theatre, Mildura, VIC, was opened on 16th June 1924
Rio Vista at 199-205 Cureton Avenue, Mildura, VIC, was built in 1889 for William Benjamin Chaffey 
69 Deakin Ave constructed 1914-15, Mildura, VIC
T&G Building, 8th Street & Langtree Avenue, Mildura, built 1937
Mildura Base Hospital, was built in the 1930s, VIC
Church of Christ, Mildura, VIC, built in 1912
43 Deakin Ave, Mildura VIC, Art Deco
Etheringtons the Jewellers was established in 1932 on the site of the former Williams Store (1890)
Grand Hotel - Deakin Street, Mildura, VIC

Things To Do and Places to Go


Mildura Historic Walks


The Chaffey Trail traces the city's irrigation history, passing the Old Mildura Station Homestead, a recreation of the 19th-century original, and the 1889 Rio Vista Historic House.

Psyche Pump Station





Unholy Trinity