Berry village is in the Shoalhaven region on the South Coast of NSW, 143 km (89 mi) south of Sydney.
The Wodi Wodi Clan Of The Dharawal people
The Wodi Wodi people spoke the Dharawal language, which was similar to neighbouring coastal languages. These languages are often
grouped together as dialects under the broader title of either the Yuin or Katungal language,
A.W. Howitt, a 19th-century anthropologist and explorer, documented the social structure, initiation ceremonies, and kinship systems of the Dharawal (Tharawal) people of the South Coast region of NSW in his 1904 text, 'The Native Tribes of South-East Australia.'
The Yuin are a group of Australian Aboriginal peoples from the South Coast of New South Wales, who share close cultural similarities with the Dharawal people.
Howitt often grouped the coastal clans of southern NSW under the umbrella term 'Yuin'. He noted that while 'Yuin' means 'man' to the tribes further
south, in the Dharawal language area, the word translates to 'yes.'
'When a child was born among the Yuin, its father pointed out some hills, lakes, or rivers to the men and women there present as being the bounds of his child's country, being that where his father lived, or where he himself was born and had lived. It was just the same with a girl, who had her mother's country, and also that in which she was born. Besides this, the father took the country where his child was born, if away from his own locality, and the mother took that where her daughter was born under similar circumstances.'
'.....the Yuin, who also divide their people into those who live on the coast, those who live in the forest inland from the coast, and those who live in the mountains.'
'Among the Yuin a man might not kill or eat his Jivibir, also called Budjan (totem)
. In addition to the group totem, the novice receives an individual totem at the initiation ceremonies from some one of the Gommeras. In one instance which came under my notice, this individual totem was Wombat, and the medicine-man who gave it said to the novice, 'You must not eat it.' The novice was of the
Kaualgar or Kangaroo totem hy inheritance from his father. Another man of the Kangaroo Jiinbir believed that animal gave him warnings of danger, by hopping towards him, and he said that it would not be right for a Kaualgar man to kill a kangaroo. This was the group totem of that man.'  |
| Natives of New South Wales Advancing to Combat. From an engraving in Parkinson's Journal in the British Museum. Mr. Sidney Parkinson was with Mr. (afterwards Sir) Joseph Banks on H.M.S. Endeavour.Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912) |
1800s
Nicholas Martin Petit sailed with Nicolas Baudin on the French expedition of the
Géographe and the
Naturaliste, from 1800-1804. During this time, Petit made portraits of people of the Cadigal, Dharawal, Gweagal, Kurringai and Darug language groups of the Sydney Harbour
region.
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| The natives of New South Wales, Nicholas Martin Petit, Nicolas-Martin Petit served as an artist and assistant gunner on the 1800–1804 French expedition to Australia. |
In th
e Sydney Gazette, 4 June, 1814, there are reports that the combined Jervis Bay and Mountain tribes (the Dharawal and Gundungara people) will attack settlers.'The hordes of natives that shew themselves at a distance in the environs of the Cow Pasture settlement, excite considerable alarm among the settlers. Many of their wives and children have forsaken their dwelling, and sought shelter in securer places. The natives of Jarvis's Bay are reported in good authority to have coalesced with the mountain tribes. They commit no depredations on the corn fields, but have declared a determination, that when the Moon shall become as large as the Sun, they will commence a work of desolation, and kill all the whites before them. - The full of the moon, which yesterday took place, was clearly understood to be the fixed period alluded to; and the settlers, in self defence, had formed a resolution to watch their respective farms by night, and by voice or gun communicating to each other any immediate danger of attack; in case of which all within the settlement were to repair to the place of danger.' hereCharles Throsby and Hamilton Hume explored the region in 1818.
Alexander Berry, after whom the village is named, had an adventurous life. Notably, he rescued four crew members of the Boyd after they were massacred and eaten by Māoris in 1809. He undertook a dangerous mission to save them, successfully negotiating with the chiefs involved in the massacre.
In 1822, Alexander Berry and Edward Wollstonecraft (nephew of the early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and cousin to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley), obtained a grant of 10,000 acres and 100 convicts from the NSW Government. Berry said that they settled ‘at the foot of a hill called by the natives ‘Collungatta,’ (the Aboriginal word for fine view)
An Aboriginal person named Toodwick, born in this area then known as Boon-ga-ree, showed Alexander Berry around the area. Toodwick was also known as Broughton (read
here), so the creek and township were named Broughton Creek after him. In 1890 the town was renamed Berry.
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| Portrait of Toodwick (Broughton) in 1819 by Jacques Arago |
This grant, on the north side of the river, expanded south through purchasing grants of other settlers. By 1863, this property had expanded to more than 40,000 acres (16,000 ha).
Berry referred to convicts as 'Government Men.' Theses convicts and free settlers drained swamps, grew crops, farmed animals and created a village at Coolangatta. Thoroughbred horses raised here were also exported to India.
Alexander Berry had close and respectful relationships with local Aboriginal people including, Charcoal, Broughton, Broger, Wajin, Couray and Old Settler. (
1.)
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| Shoalhaven News, Nowra (NSW : 1937 - 1945) |
From 1825, the area became a private town called Broughton Creek, part of the large pastoral holding called the Coolangatta Estate owned by Berry and Wollstonecraft. Coolangatta became a self-supporting
village, with its own mills, workshops and tradesmen.
1830s
242 men were employed by Alexander Berry by 1838.
Berry's three brothers and two sisters joined him at Coolangatta in 1836. His brother John managed the estate but then he died in a horse riding accident in 1848, and management was left to David Berry.
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Alexander Berry, a portrait reproduced from his book, 'Reminiscences of Alexander Berry.'
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1840s
A ship built at Berry,
Coolangatta, was wrecked near Point Danger off the NSW coast in 1846.
1850s
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| CONVICT CRAFTSMEN A visitor to the Shoalhaven about this period (the early 'forties) writes of Berry: "B., a Scotchman, has accumulated a large property by his own unaided exertions. He owns 70,000 acres, and employs 200 men. He has constructed a windmill and several sawmills, makes his own casks, and all his iron work, contracts largely to supply the Government with salt provisions; and the shoemakers, carpenters, smiths, butchers, and salters who are employed on his establishment were nearly all convicts." In 1851, the tenants and laborers and their families numbered 474. Shoalhaven News |
1860s
The Berry Hotel at 120 Queen Street, was established in 1863.
The Broughton Creek Literary and Debating Society was established in 1866.
1870s
Alexander Berry's death at the age of 92 in 1873.
1880s
Berry Museum at 135 Queen Street, was originally built in 1885 as the English, Scottish, and Australian (ES&A) Bank.
The post office with residence attached
built in 1886 on land sold for this purpose by David Berry.
The
Berry Register was established in 1886 as a weekly local newspaper in the Berry district. It incorporated the Broughton Creek Register and the Kangaroo Valley and South Coast Farmer.
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| The s.s. Meeinderry trades direct between Sydney and Broughton Creek twice a week, and I. S. N. Company's steamers connect with it by their draggers every Wednesday and Friday. The Coomonderry steamer also trades regularly between Broughton Creek and Sydney. A daily mail and passenger coach runs between Broughton Creek and Kiama and Broughton Creek and Moss Vale via Nowra, Cambewarra, and Kangaroo Valley. Broughton Creek Register, and Kangaroo Valley and South Coast Farmer (Berry, NSW : 1886 - 1890), Saturday 28 January 1888 |
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| Broughton Creek Register, and Kangaroo Valley and South Coast Farmer (Berry, NSW : 1886 - 1890), Saturday 28 January 1888 |
Berry Courthouse, at 58 Victoria Street, built in1890.
BERRY (late Broughton Creek) a post, savings bank, money-order, telegraph, and municipal centre, on a river of the same name 120 miles S. of Sydney. It is in the. south-east of the county of Camden electorate, and police district of Shoalhaven. Steamers ply to Sydney three times a week. Kiama is the nearest railway station, to which a coach runs daily, fare 4s. : coaches also run to Nowra. Banks: English and Scottish, Australian Joint Stock, and Commercial. One public school, average attendance 101, and a high class school for girls; three churches, Episcopal, Wesleyan, and Roman Catholic, school of arts with 450 volumes, eight stores and two hotels, the Commercial and Great Southern. A Court of Petty Sessions is held every alternate Friday. A newcourt house is in course of erection to cost £1,500. The country isvery mountainous, the ranges averaging 1,000 to 1,200 feet in height. The valleys are very fertile, and large quantities of maize and other cereals, as well as potatoes and other root crops are raised, but the principal staples of produce are butter, pigs and cheese. Wilson's General Store on the corner of Queen & Alexandra Streets, was built in 1892.Berry Railway Station on Station Road, was constructed in 1893. The Australian handbook, 1891Berry Courthouse operated as a courthouse from 1891 to 1988.
The railway reached Berry in 1893.
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| Berry Showgrounds, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Saturday 5 December 1896 |
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| Berry, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Saturday 5 December 1896 |
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| Berry, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Saturday 5 December 1896 |
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| Built in 1888 as the Exhibition Hall for the Berry Agricultural & Horticultural Association, Saturday 5 December 1896 |
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| Berry, NSW, 1896, SLNSW |
In the 1890s the Berry milk factory was the largest in the colony.
1900s
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| CARPENTER JACK, MARY HIS GIN, AND THEIR GRANDCHILD. Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), Saturday 10 June 1905 (originally, the word 'gin' came from the Dharuk (Sydney) word diyin, meaning wife or woman.). Carpenter Jack - An Aboriginal. Born on banks Shoalhaven River in 1807? who died in 1914, was on the books of the Berry Estate, Coolangatta in 1825 as being 18 years old. As a young man he was a stockman for the Berry estate. The way he keeps the burial ground of his children and grandchildren is an object lesson for many of the whites. He is conversant, and can relate many interesting stories of South Coast pioneer days. As a young man he was a stockman for the Berry estate. He obtains his living by fishing and marketing oysters. When told that he is now an old man he simply smiles - (15 December 1904 The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser) |
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| Punt Over Broughton Creek, Five Miles from Nowra. NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 21 November 1906 |
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| The Sydney Rural Camp School was held the year at Berry, NSW, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 23 March 1907 |
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| An Inland Cruise — Picnic Party on Broughton Creek, Berry.Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 21 October 1908 |
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| At Berry National Show, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 2 December 1908 |
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| Berry National Show, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 2 December 1908 |
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| Situated as lt is be tween Kiama and .Nowra, Berry is the centre of a large tourists' district, and is within easy driving distance of many of the South Coast sights. Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 21 November 1906 |
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| Old Coolangatta-road., Berry, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 25 November 1908 |
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| A Photographic Study on Mr. M- Pulman's Farm, 'Willow Glen.", Berry, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 17 , March 1909 |
Bomaderry Aboriginal Mission (1908–88).
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| SALE OF THE TOWN. A reason for the town of Berry being of special interest at the moment is that the principal part of the township has been sold under the auctioneer's hammer. On market day, Wednesday, February 21, shops, houses, allotments, and great blocks of land in the main streets of the town were trans-ferred to the highest bidders from being a portion of the great Berry Estate. The es-tate was made up of 60,000 acres of rich agricultural and grazing land on both sides of the Shoalhaven and Crookhaven Rivers, being intersected by Broughton River, which was navigable for quite large vessels up to the present town of Berry. In early days it went by the name of Broughton Mill Creek settlement. FIRST SUBDIVISION. In 1892, three years after the death of Mr. David Berry, a first great subdivision sale took place by order of the trustees, the late Sir John Hay and the late Hon. Dr. Norton, M.L.C. .Besides what was then sold, there have been many private sales at different times, the public offices, churches, etc., hav-ing passed out of the estate as occasion de-manded, but although the sales had been ex-tensive in the surrounding country, a great portion of the lands of the town of Berry itself remained until the time of the recent auction sale as part of the colossal estate. The sale in one day of almost an entire town, for nearly a century owned by one man, and his heirs, is unique in the history of the Australian Commonwealth; Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 20 March 1912 |
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| Berry District Hospital, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 20 March 1912 (David Berry Hospital was established as a result of a bequest left to the people of Berry by David Berry, who died in 1899. Berry left £100,000 "for the purpose of erecting a hospital for diseases for the benefit particularly of inhabitants of Broughton Creek and the District of Shoalhaven") |
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| Main Street of Berry, NSw, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 20 March 1912 |
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| Berry School of Arts, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 20 March 1912 |
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| AGED ABORIGINAL.Jack Carpenter a full-blooded aborigine, said to be over 100 years of ago, died at Roseby park Station. Croolchaven Heads. From records found locally, it. seems Carpenter wns a lad of 18 when Alexander -Berry settled at Coolangatta, in 1S28, and was marshal of a tribe which frequently waged war with blacks from Charcoal, lllawarra.Maitland Daily Mercury (NSW : 1894 - 1939), Monday 25 May 1914, |
WWI (1914-1918)
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| Group portrait of three brothers. Left to right, 476 Corporal (Cpl) William De Boynton, 26th Battalion; 4544A Private (Pte) Francis De Boynton, 13th Battalion; and 3132 Private (Pte) Arthur De Boynton, 45th Battalion; all of Drake, NSW. Cpl William De Boynton, a labourer before he enlisted on 23 April 1915, embarked from Brisbane with B Company on HMAT Ascanius on 24 May 1915. He was killed in action in France on 29 July 1916, at the age of 29. Pte Francis De Bonyton was a farmer before enlisting on 21 August 1915. He embarked from Sydney on the RMS Osterley with the 14th Reinforcements, 1st Battalion, on 15 January 1916. On 4 March 1916 he was transferred to 23rd Battalion. He was killed in action in France on 9 August 1916 at the age of 20. Pte Arthur de Boynton, a dairy farmer before he enlisted on 1 November 1916, embarked on 25 November 1916 from Sydney on HMAT Beltana with the 8th Reinforcements. He was killed in action in Belgium on 10 June 1917 at the age of 24. AWM (1915) |
Read more
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| Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Saturday 23 September 1916, |
1920s
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| JAMES WILSON, whose name goes down in the annals of local history as the first Mayor of Berry, started life as a ferryman. AND he rapidly rowed his way to a more solid means of livelihood. A magnificent home on the gorgeous heights of beautiful Bellawongara stands as a monument to his industry. THE late James Wilson was a man of many parts. He ministered to the sick—knowing a little of medicine—yanked out teeth, and carried out the duties of a veterinary surgeon, A TANNERY and flour mill on Broughton Mill Creek were further instances of this pioneer's industrial activity, THEN Mr. Wilson, with whom was associated the late James English, carried on a storekeeping business in Queen-street, Berry. This is the store now carried on by A. F. Hale &. Co. South Coast Register (Berry, NSW : 1926; 1929 - 1931; 1933 - 1953), Friday 15 October 1926 |
1930s
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| South Coast Register (Berry, NSW : 1926; 1929 - 1931; 1933 - 1953), Tuesday 24 February 1931, |
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| South Coast Register (Berry, NSW : 1926; 1929 - 1931; 1933 - 1953), Thursday 29 March 1934 |
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"Mabel's Countess," a Jersey, champion dairy cow of Berry Show, with little Miss Chegwidden, daughter of the owner, Mr. E. Chegwidden, of Austral Park, Berry. Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 15 February 1935 |
1940s and WWI (1939-1945)
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| Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser (NSW : 1863 - 1947), Saturday 17 August 1940 |
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| South Coast Register (Berry, NSW : 1926; 1929 - 1931; 1933 - 1953), Thursday 5 June 1941 |
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| South Coast Register (Berry, NSW : 1926; 1929 - 1931; 1933 - 1953), Thursday 6 March 1941 |
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Miss Robin Chittick, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. R. Chiltick, of Gcrringgong, preparing some of her father's exhibits for the Berry Show last Saturday7 Miss Chittick is a typical land girl, who has been borm to farm life and can do a man's work on a dairy farm. Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), Friday 9 February 1945 |
1950s
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| South Coast Register (Berry, NSW : 1926; 1929 - 1931; 1933 - 1953), Thursday 25 January 1951 |
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| South Coast Register (Berry, NSW : 1926; 1929 - 1931; 1933 - 1953), Thursday 2 July 1953 |
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| South Coast Register (Berry, NSW : 1926; 1929 - 1931; 1933 - 1953), Thursday 20 November 1952 |
Around Berry
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| Bust of Alexander Berry, Berry, NSW |
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| The former Post and Telegraph Office in Berry, NSW, was built in 1886 |
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| Berry School of Arts, NSW |
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| Berry, NSW |
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| Berry, NSW |
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| Berry, NSW |
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| Berry Museum, NSW |
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| A church was built in the town of Berry, NSW, in the late 1880s, and was replaced by the present Presbyterian church on 9th. May 1934 |
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| St Luke's Anglican Church, Berry, NSW, was opened in 1885 on land donated by the Berry Estate |
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| Berry, NSW - St Patrick's Catholic, The Church was established in 1870. A Foundation stone reads, "This Foundation stone of St Patrick's Church Berry was solemnly blessed and laid by His Grace The Most Rev M. Sheehan D.D. 24 November 1935" |
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| The Berry Uniting Church, NSW, was built as Methodist Church in 1932 |
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| The Berry Courthouse, NSW, was designed by James Barnet in the Greek Revival style and built in 1890 and 1891 |
Things To Do and Places To Go
