ABORIGINAL PLACE NAMES

Acknowledgement 

The following information is what I have gathered from various sources to paint a picture of Aboriginal life in the Gulgong district. Many of the sources quoted were written at a time that did not value the rich culture and traditions of Aboriginal people and used language that reflected a very regrettable attitude. That language is quoted as used by the journalists and citizens of the day. We cannot rewrite history but hopefully we can learn from it.

There are various historical articles that provide the meanings for Aboriginal words. These rarely acknowledge which of the hundreds of Aboriginal languages they are derived from. The lists tend to be compiled by non-Aboriginal people and cannot be relied upon for accuracy but are included as a starting point for further investigation.

Gulgong - nguluman in local language - means "large waterhole". The town is surrounded by many place names derived from Aboriginal words. Gulgong was built on land inhabited by the Wiradjuri people before exploration west of the Blue Mountains - and a gold rush in the 1870s - saw an influx of white settlers and the dispossession of the traditional custodians.

1928 - ABORIGINAL WORDS.

Again, the same word sometimes had different meanings in the same dialect. The word, gulgong, in the Wiradhari language, was used for the top of the head and also for a little hole or pit. Later it was introduced from a strange dialect, as meaning ditch or gully. ...

L. A. MESTON, Bardon, November 7

Source:  The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933) Thu 8 Nov 1928 Page 10

PLACENAME: GOODIMAN

As a child I was told that the name of our farm, "Goodiman" (and presumably the Shire of the same name), was Aboriginal for "happy playground". Goodiman Creek, originally called Puggoon Creek, also carries the name.

According to the Wiradjuri Dictionary app:

gadhaang means happy or glad

manhang means ground, dirt or soil.

So, gadhang manghang would mean happy ground and it is likely that the Wiradjuri people were living happily here with encampments along Goodiman Creek. I have not yet found much information about the Aboriginal people of this district. Did they flee from the oncoming settlers? Were they all killed? There is only one recorded instance of a massacre in the region but that's not to say that there weren't others.

In 1824, according to the map of Colonial Frontier Massacres, Australia (Date Range: 1780 to 1930) there was a massacre near Mudgee.

Chamberlaine, William Cox’s overseer at Mudgee, and two stockmen and an Aboriginal guide, killed 16 Wiradjuri, probably all men, including a leader known by the settlers as Blucher. The region was under martial law at the time. (Connor 2002:61)

Sources: SG 16 September 1824 -https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/494925; Connor 2002: 61

We are credibly informed, that, up to the 6th instant, no fresh disturbance was known at Bathurst to have occurred, on the part of the black natives; but it has since been reported, from that part of the Colony, that some of them have been killed whilst in the act of driving off a considerable number of cattle belonging to Mr Cox, near Mudgee. It is probable, that within the last week the Magistrates, assembled in that part of the Country, viz. Major Morriset, Mr. Lawson, Mr. Rankin, and Mr. Walker, have proceeded in the direction of Mudjee with a sufficient number of settlers, supported by an Officer's party of the 40th Regt, to repress future violences.

Source: The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) Thu 16 Sep 1824Page 2

Many more massacres are detailed by Mudgee District History.

The following historical newspaper articles contain some more information about the Aboriginal history of the Gulgong area. These two from 1939 and 1941 reflect on the meanings of Aboriginal place names.

WHAT THEY MEAN - Aboriginal Place Names - GULGONG DISTRICT

GULGONG means a big waterhole, according to a list of Aboriginal names and their meanings printed in a booklet edited by the late Mr W. W. Thorpe, ethnologist, and published by the Australian Museum.

Other names and meanings are: —

Biraganbil: Place of leeches.

Birrawa: Many box trees

Guntawang: A meeting place.

Tallawang: Place of the apple gum.

However, when the list was printed in the 'Mudgee Guardian' recently a writer from Turill stated that some of the meanings in the book were incorrect. In his corrections, he says: —

Gulgong (Abo. Goolgong) means crooked water, and the name belongs to a horseshoe bend in the creek about a mile or mile and a half south-west from the village of Home Rule and known in the early days as the shallow rush, and nearly opposite to where Mr T. Rowbotham now lives; that crooked turn in the creek is Gulgong proper. From where Mr Rowbotham lives to Mr Roth's at Gullamarra was known as Gulgong in the early days.

Guntawang (Abo. Goondiwang). Goondi means animal or human excrescence and wang or wong a rock or stone (excrescence on a rock).

Tallawang. — Tal a log and wang a rock (log on a rock).

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954)  Thu 19 Jan 1939 Page 13

The name TALLEWANG is elsewhere said to derive from “dallawong” a wild apple. The New Wiradjuri Dictionary 2010 lists “dalawang” as the Apple Box Tree, Eucalyptus bridgesiana.

Source: The Lone hand. New Series Vol. 2 No. 10 (1 September 1914) 

___________________________

OLD GULGONG - Aboriginal Meanings

A SERIES of articles of which this is one have been compiled from data collected by Mr. W. M. Claridge, recently on the staff of the Gulgong Public School. As far as could be ascertained from the sources available, the facts given are correct, the sole aim being to present a true record of Gulgong's past days. Mr. Claridge would appreciate information which may be available in regard to any unwitting misstatements.

By W. M. CLARIDGE

ARTICLE 2

It is not revealed whether settlement resulted directly from these early explorations, but the decision of Lawson and the Cox's to settle, along the Cudgegong opened up the Mudgee district, and soon holdings began to be taken up along the Cudgegong below Mudgee.

Though records of the Lands Department show these grants and purchases as being made during the 1830's, many of them were fulfilments of promises made as early as 1823 and 1825. Such were holdings like that of Henry Steel, who was given a grant of 2000 acres somewhere about the present Munna Railway Station. This grant is dated 9/4/1835, but was promised as early as 1823, while the property known as 'Wilbetree' was sold to the Lowe family in 1835, on a warrant from Governor Brisbane dated 3/5/1825.

Just how far along the Cudgegong was used in these days is not certain, as many 'permissive occupancies' were made by Governor Macquarie about the time that Lawson and the Cox's took up their land beside the Cudgegong, and these grants of Macquarie were not, recorded and some at least of the permissions were withdrawn.

However, we do know that the first lands legally occupied in the Gulgong district were granted, apparently for his services, to Richard Rouse, who came to Australia in 1801 as overseer of works in New South Wales on behalf of the Imperial Government. On his retirement from that position, Rouse took up the land on the Cudgegong known as Guntawang and Biraganbil, but before this some of the land he occupied was visited by Cunningham, who, on another trip, followed the Cudgegong back from the Wellington Valley. He writes in his journal (now in the Mitchell Library) that on December 1, 1825, "we came in again upon the bank of the Cugeegang opposite to a fine open or very thinly timbered tract named Gunterwong by the aboriginals." The Aborigianl meaning of 'Gunterwang' now spelled 'Guntawang,' is 'meeting place,' from which it appears that the site approximates the junction of the Cudgegong River and Wyaldra Creek. Cunningham's position as he writes of Guntawang opposite would place him on the Biraganbil estate, which occupied the south bank of the river as Guntawang did the north. The first promise of land to Rouse was made as early as 1825 by Governor Brisbane, but this area of 1200 acres was not actually taken up till 1833, for Rouse first received the 4000-acre block which formed the original Guntawang property. This was granted in 1828 and is the first recorded holding settled in the Gulgong district. During the next twelve years Rouse took up additional areas, and the position of these indicates that this first settler sought the best portions of land, especially those monopolising good river frontages.

Government Gazettes show the following [portions]??? having been occupied by Rouse in those years:

• 16/5/1828, 4000 acres, Guntawang, grant.
• 6/7/1833, 1200 acres, below and adjoining Guntawang, grant.
• 29/3/1836, 722 acres above Guntawang, puchase, £180/10/.
• 20/5/1837, 784 acres between and uniting the 4000 and 722-acre: blocks, purchase, £196.
• 19/7/1838, 1081 acres left bank Cooyal (Reedy) Creek near junction with Slapdash Creek, purchase, £270/5/.
• 29/6/1839, 851 acres Cooyal Creek near Cumbandry, purchase, £212/15/.
• 18/2/1840, 1118 acres adjoining the 851 acres higher up Cooyal Creek, purchase, £978/5/.

Before all these portions had been taken up, however, we find the first reference to the name Gulgong. Commenced by Oxley, a systematic survey was finished by Sir Thomas Mitchell of the original nineteen counties ,the official limit of settlement in those days. From this trigonometrical survey, Mitchell made the first map of the colony in 1831, and a reprint of this, dated 1834, is still preserved in the Mitchell Library in Sydney.

On this map the name Gulgong is shown on Cooyal Creek. Whether Mitchell merely placed the name there because of its native association (in the Aboriginal dialect it means 'deep waterhole'), or because; the name had already been transferred to the surrounding country, is not apparent, but it appears again at the same spot in 1839, when, on April 27, A. J. Liddington purchased 440 acres at 5/ an acre on the left bank of Cooyal Creek, opposite the present site of Home Rule. This purchase grant is described as being situated at Gulgong in the County of Phillip, parish unnamed.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 23 Oct 1941 Page 6 

From Norman McVickers
The Wiradjuri Story
Aboriginal place names

Aboriginal place names still abound in and around Eurunderee district. Henry Lawson wrote about some of the places in his stories and poems – but rarely about the Aboriginal people themselves. For a good reason. They were no longer there to observe when he was living out his early years in Eurunderee. Time was already beginning its work of obliterating the physical Aboriginal presence – the place names live on to remind us all of the past.

Here are the meanings of some of those place names:

 
Mudgee: a nest
Eurunderee: a local tree
Gulgong: a gully
Wollar: a rock water hole
Guntawang: peaceful place
Menah: flat country
Cooyal: dry country
Wilbertree: a long switch
Gooree: native chasing live animal
Burrendong: darker than usual
 
There are many others, but no definitive list of local Aboriginal place names appears to exist.

Source: Mudgee District History, The Wiradjrui Story

[Interpretations provided in the following article from 1918 are not to be wholly relied on. They have been compiled by the journalist of the day and appear to be sprinkled with non-Indigenous expressions.]

Some more names of places in N. S. Wales christened by Binghi, with their meanings:

• Balderodgery, (Parkes district), a little plover;
• Carrathool, a native companion;
• Collaroy, (Merriwa district), a swamp;
• Dubbo, a place for water-grass:
• Dundullimal, (Dubbo district), terrific hailstorm;
• Geurie, (between Dubbo and Wellington), fat;
• Gulgong, a gully, a ditch;
• Gundagai, going upstream;
• Gundaroo, (Gunning district), big waterhole;
• Jenolan, a foot;
• Jerilderie, plenty of weeds;
• Kameruka, wait till I come back;
• Kiama, (corruption of Kiaremia), place where fish caught from the rocks;
• Killara, always there;
• Mangoplah, (Wagga district), blacks singing;
• Merimbula, place of big snakes;
• Minna Murra, river, (Illawarra district), plenty of fish;
• Mittagong (corruption of Mirragang), place where dingoes play about;
• Moree, white stones or gravel;
• Nambucca, crooked river;
• Narrabeen (corruption of Narrabin), a kind of plum that grew in a bush near mouth of lake;
• Narromine, place for honey;
• Nyngan, place for crawfish;
• Obley, a road;
• Ourimhah, a ring or circle, a boraground;
• Terramungamine, (Dubbo district), place where a black fellow broke his thigh:
• Tintenbar, junction of creeks;
• Tomingley, death adder;
• Tuckurimba, (Lismore), means the junction of two creeks;
• Umberumberka, a rat hole;
• Uralla, a big hill;
• Wagga Wagga, reeling like a drunken man;
• Wallerawang, stripping bark from trees;
• Wantabadgery, getting wet;
• Waroong, home, and was the word for Sydney;
• Wahroonga (a corruption of Waroongah), my home;
• Weetalabah, (Coonabarabran district) place where fire went out;
• Wollombi, meeting of waters;
• Wollongong, an exclamation of fear at first sight of a ship in full sail (this is an additional meaning);
• Woy Woy, a porpoise, very much water, big lagoon;
• Wyong, fresh-running water, place for Christmas-bells;
• Yaralla (Concord, Parramatta River), a camping ground.

Source: The bulletin. Vol. 39 No. 2003 (4 Jul 1918)

[Interpretations provided in the following article from 1918 are not to be wholly relied on. They have been compiled by the journalist of the day and appear to be sprinkled with non-Indigenous expressions.]

Aboriginal Names and Meanings.
(These are the principal places in this district that I am able to give the meaning.—Wm. Wynter, Taree.)

• Bala (the oak), Port Jackson blacks.
• Balderodgery (a small plover).
• Ballah (the oak), Wathi Wathi.
• Ballawrie (Bogan lilly).
• Beggan Beggan (wounding, or many wounded, from buggan, wounding).
• Bela (the oak), Waratherie).
• Berangan (from berain, the naval).
• Bobbiwah (from bobbee, a grandfather).
• Boebuna (derived from bobeen, a father).
• Boorabin (the abdomen).
• Budtha (black).
• Buggeenun (an uncle).
• Bulgandramine (blackfellow with boomerang in hand; should be Bulgan-derra-mine, from Bulgan, a boomerang, Derra, hand, Mine, black fellow) .
• Bulgandrammi (blackfellow with boomerang in hand, should be bulgan-derra-mine, from bulgan a boomerang, derra hand, mine black fellow).
• Bungunyah (a broken place from bungun broken).
• Burra, county Dampier.
• Burra, Flinders.
• Burra, Harden.
• Burra, Murray.
• Burra, Selwyn.
• Burra-badine, Narromine.
• Burra-bebe, Finch.
• Burra-bogie, Warodgong.
• Burra-byong, Bland.
• Burra-ga, Georgina.
• Burra-gate, Auckland.
• Burra-gillo, Benarba.
• Burran bah, Couralie.
• Burran Burran (much burnt grass), county Finch.
• Burran doon, Bonarbor.
• Burran gong, Monteagle.
• Burran-boa, Finch.
• Burran-dana, Mitchell.
• Burran-dong, Wellington.
• Burrandoon, county Finch.
• Burran-gong, Hume.
• Burra-srong, Dudley.
• Burren (burnt grass), Jamieson.
• Burren-dah, Gowen.
• Burren-dong, Jamison.
• Camooyannera, running water, Central Queensland, Camoo; Kangalo dialect, water, Yannera, to run).
• Coabathoo (topknot pigeon).
• Cobocor (eggs).
• Cooredulla (eagle hawk).
• Cubbo (green).
• Cullen (water).
• Cumboogle (a sweet scented gum).
• Ditta ditta (spurwing plover).
• Dooral (see Dooyal).
• Dooyal (hello).
• Dundulla (hail).
• Dundullimal (a terrific hailstorm).
• Dundunga (from dhun the generative organ of the male).
• Dunoon (the womb).
• Eeray (the moon).
• Ena (woman).
• Ena-weena, county Gregory, Warren.
• Ena-weena, Narromine, Dubbo.
• Eura (see eeray).
• Gerah (wind).
• Gindy gindy (prickly heat).
• Girralong (a star).
• Gnarromine (boney blackfellow —gnaroo boney, mine blackfellow).
• Gnoorong (place of abode).
• Goolma (see goolmin).
• Goolmin (brother).
• Goona (a mother).
• Goongong (see Goongun).
• Goongun (floods).
• Goonigul (plains).
• Goowang (fog).
• Gulgorah (the bird called the leatherhead).
• Gumma naldi (derived from gumma, a storm).
• Ingal-bah (should be written “eengilbah,” meaning the place where there was a native well, from “eengil” a well).
• Ingalbo (from Ingle, paining).
• Ingle-bah (place where there was a native well, from eengil a well—should be written “eengilbah.”)
• Mickey-tha-mudthin (tree struck by lightning).
• Micki-bri (from bri a place of and micki lightning).
• Micki-mill (from micki, lightning, and mill, an eye);
• Micki-ty-mulga (from micki lightning, mulga a tree, meaning a place where trees were struck by lightning).
• Mooball (marriage).
• Moogeen (blindness).
• Mooraminah (a religious place, from mooraymin).
• Mudgee (eclipse of the sun).
• Mudgine (eclipse of the sun).
• Mullah (see mulli).
• Mulli (mocking).
• Mungery (sticky mud).
• Munna (flat).
• Narrawa (heat).
• Narromine (see gnarromine).
• Nnumga (slow).
• Noona (sandy place, from nunny, sandy).
• Nooroong (place of abode).
• Norrong (see gnoorong).
• Nurung (dark).
• Nurung (see gnoorong).
• Punt-punt pundaloo (the bell bird).
• Tara, see tarri).
• Tarri (capulating).
• Tomingly (deaf adder).
• Tuabathoo (see coabathoo).
• Unumga (slow).
• Wallan billan (see wallung billung).
• Wallanbillan (see Wallung Billung).
• Wallawa (round).
• Wallung billung (a thick head).Walwa (see wallawa).
• Wambingalong (see womboin goolah).
• Wandoowandong (the evil spirit).
• Warren (a big root).
• Weean (fire).
• Wilier (wet).
• Womboin Goolah (a mob of gray kangaroos).
• Yarran (a cloud).
• Yarran (see yooroong a cloud).
• Yarran-bar (from yarrun a cloud).
• Yarran-billa (from Yarran, a cloud, and billa, a creek).
• Yarran-gery (from yarran a cloud).
• Yarran-gobilla (from yarran a cloud and billa a creek).
• Yarran-jerry (from yarran a cloud)
• Yoorong (a cloud).

Sources: Science of man and journal of the Royal Anthropological Society of Australasia. Vol. 14 No. 2 (1 March 1913) and: Science of man and journal of the Royal Anthropological Society of Australasia. Vol. 14 No. 3 (2 June 1913)

BULGA
Bulga - multiple sources state that "bulga" is an Aboriginal word for mountain or hill. This seems to apply to a number of language groups but not Wiradjuri. Bulga Street in Gulgong is the location of one of the highest points in the town (known as Church Hill).

More Aboriginal words (specific language groups not identified) can be found here.

Source: The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982) Wed 20 Dec 1961 Page 28

-BIL ENDINGS

There are a few place names in the Gulgong district with ending 'bil", for example: Cainbil, Worrobil, Wagaorabil, Cobbinbil/Cobbobil etc.

"Bila" in the Wiradjuri dialect, is the word “river”, or possibly some sort of water body. “bil” can also be associated with words for amounts: lots or full. 

The location of Cainbil, situated north of Gulgong in the vicinity of Cainbil Creek near the Talbragar River, is said to mean “a creek with large gum tree”, while Wagorabil and Wograbil means a “muddy creek” (Toponomy Place Names of New South Wales, Their Origin, Meaning and Locality). These words could also mean something entirely different, depending on the contexts and how the recorder heard or reinterpreted what was being said, and then how they wrote the words down.

Source: Sharon Hodgetts

WIRADJURI NATION

Acknowledgement 

The Wiradjuri Story: The Aboriginal people of Henry Lawson Country by Mudgee’s Local Historian and Writer, Norman McVicker OAM written in 1991.

By Norman McVicker
Source: Mudgee District History website by Dianne Simmonds 

Aboriginal Place Names

Aboriginal place names abound in and around the Eurunderee district. One of the first questions many tourists ask is the reason these still exist when there are no visible signs of any Aboriginal culture. In researching this question many local stories were uncovered. This posed further questions! What is fact and what is fiction? Sometimes even official documents cloud the issue. Diaries and records of the early white settlers often omitted the real facts perpetrating further folklore stories. One thing is certain. There was once a time when all things in Eurunderee were in harmony with each other, when the Wiradjuri warriors hunted kangaroos and emus, wild birds and ducks and various edible plants. The Wiradjuri people, since the beginning of time, had lived here and been one with the land.

Wiradjuri Country

Eurunderee was an infinitesimal speck on the area inhabited by the Wiradjuri. Their lands stretched from the high mountainous ranges in the East to the three rivers to the west, the Macquarie, Lachlan and Murrumbidgee. The Murray River was their southern boundary with the plains and hills just beyond Wellington being their northern border. In all, about 12,000 people, divided into clans, co-existed as the Wiradjuri nation or tribe. They hunted, fished, and being semi-nomadic, moved from place to place living off the land.

Wiradjuri people

The Wiradjuris were dark brown in colour. Their hair was either straight or curly, worn long, usually held back with a head band decorated with bird feathers. Other body ornaments were made of kangaroo teeth, possum or kangaroo skins. They were a healthy and very fit people. The men hunted the larger game with a variety of spears and nets of different sizes. The women gathered berries and roots in either wooden dishes or baskets used to store the grain collected, especially when they were changing camp sites. They often travelled by bark canoe, hunting fish, turtles, yabbies or water fowl as they progressed. The tribe was governed by strict codes of moral and social behavior. The breaking of these codes, enforced by the Elders of the tribe, resulted in harsh punishment to any guilty party. The leader of the Wiradjuri people was a warrior named Windradyne.

Windradyne—The Warrior

Windradyne, according to written records and diaries of the first settlers, was a handsome, powerfully built man with broad shoulders and strong muscular arms and legs. He was a great hunter. A great warrior. He was reputed to know every feature of Wiradjuri territory which had, according to tribal legend, spiritual meanings for his people. The Wiradjuri people believed their souls lived in the trees, rocks and waterholes after they died, waiting to be reborn in a new child. This accounts for them always believing they were at one with the land, which owned them as much as they owned it. They were taught, from the Dreamtime, that they were only caretakers of the land they called their tribal territory.

Family Groups

There were many family groups living together as a band. The members of a band were all related and hunted and fished together in their recognized hunting grounds, according to family groups. Family groups were related to other family groups by a sign or totem. People of the same sign were regarded as brothers and sisters. Wars of conquest between groups were unknown as each group was content to stay within the confines of its tribal territory. The Wiradjuri were a happy and peaceful people based on co-operation and conservation. On special occasions they would gather, perhaps on the banks of the Cudgegong River, to hold corroborees and other ceremonies.

The Coming of the White Man

The idyllic conditions of the Wiradjuri people and their tribal leader, Windradyne, were soon to change. To understand the change, it is necessary to understand English law. In 1788 when Governor Phillip established the convict colony at Sydney Cove his instructions were: “You are to endeavour by every possible means to open an intercourse with the natives, and to conciliate their affections, enjoining all our subjects to live in amity and kindness with them.” English law distinguished between conquered and settled colonies. The convict settlement under Governor Phillip was regarded as a ‘settled colony’.

Under English law this meant it was deserted and uninhabited at the time of settlement. In effect, the law technically disregarded the Aboriginal people. But they did exist. At first, they were friendly, but when the white men did not leave, their attitude changed, especially when the Governor’s policy of amity changed and shots were fired to keep them away from the settlement of Sydney Town.

The Politics of Expansion

For a quarter of a century the white settlers under a succession of Governors after Phillip had been trying to expand their territory. Hunter, Bligh, and then Macquarie all looked towards the west and that natural barrier, the Blue Mountains. By the end of the first decade to the 1800s Macquarie had over 65,000 sheep, 22,000 head of cattle and 2,000 horses in the settled area. New pasture areas had to be found for their survival. Various attempts were made, but it wasn’t until 1813 that Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth finally managed to traverse the mountains and gaze across the rich undulating plains and slopes to the west. They also discovered good rivers, rich soil and top grazing land. The Wiradjuri people saw the white men but kept their distance. A few weeks later a small party headed by Assistant Surveyor George Evans was sighted moving across the plains, following the rivers, testing the soils and evaluating the grazing potential. In 1814, in less than six months, William Cox supervised the construction of a road from Penrith to Bathurst. The way was open for expansion.

The Liberal Governor

Lachlan Macquarie was an enlightened man, a liberal Scot. He was a friend to emancipists, a moral and reasonable Governor who abhorred the narrow and exploitive local conservation lobby who thought of the Aboriginal people as vermin or pests. Macquarie was very much aware of the problems which could result from rapid settlement of the area. He knew that John Oxley and John Macarthur were aggressively and obsessively devouring land and were eager to expand. He held them at bay. The Wiradjuri, oblivious to the machinations going on around them, looked on as the small numbers of settlers came over the mountains. By 1821 there were only about 150 whites living in the region. Relations between whites and Aboriginal people were amicable. An unspoken truce existed as neither saw each other as a threat. Over the next three years all this was to change.

New Government Policies

Encouraged by aggressive policies coming out of London, new settlers began to migrate in large numbers. By August 1824 whites were occupying an area of Wiradjuri territory 100 kilometres wide by 200 kilometres long. The Aboriginal people saw what was happening. Peace and harmony was about to end.

The Silent War

It was ironic that a settlement which had started so amicably was slowly and forcefully drifting into anarchy. The Wiradjuri, led by Windradyne, frustrated by wholesale destruction of kangaroos and possums, their staple meat diet, began to attack the settlers’ livestock. They also noted that prime river flats were being settled. Sacred burial sites along with their traditional hunting grounds were being destroyed. Their paradise was being over run and they were being dispossessed. Minor skirmishes occurred between the Aboriginal people and the settlers. Like most wars, short lightning raids by the Wiradjuri developed, and conflict had started. The Wiradjuri were normally a peaceful people but their attacks became more frequent and more ferocious. Family groups and clans consolidated and they became a significant fighting force. The settlers became alarmed and demanded military reinforcements and formed their own posses but not one Aboriginal person was rounded up. Windradyne became a master strategist. His reputation grew but eventually he was captured. He was placed in leg irons for a month. Major Morisset, the area’s commandant, believed that this would teach the Aboriginal people a lesson. Instead he created a martyr. Windradyne, on his release, returned to his people, a hero. From now on it was total war.

Reprisals

Reprisals on both sides were quick. The settlers called for military support. Parties roamed the countryside killing any Aboriginal people contacted. The entire countryside was now at war. Wiradjuri men walked their hunting grounds at their peril. The settlers were armed for any attack. The killings were irrational. The Wiradjuri, inspired by Windradyne, were confronting the white settlers at every opportunity. On one occasion, a party of whites headed by a William Lane, headed off a party of thirty Aboriginal people, opening fire and killing two girls and a woman. The killings were a reprisal for an attack on a stockman, John Hollingshead, speared in the arm. Five of Lane’s party were sent to Sydney for trial on a charge of manslaughter. The trial was a farce. All five men were acquitted.

The Lesson from the Trial

The Sydney Gazette had made much of the trial asking “How then is it to be expected that man should justify such blood-stained guilt”. The acquittal of the five men taught the settlers and soldiers a lesson. If anyone was going out to kill Aboriginal people, they had to make sure that no records were kept or reports submitted to the authorities. The ‘Christians’ and the ‘moral guardians’ were portrayed as fools who did not understand the situation. The settlers’ problems could only be resolved by brutal solutions.

Total War

On 14th August, 1824, Governor Thomas Brisbane issued a Proclamation of Martial Law to be in force in all the country west of Mount York. This was Wiradjuri country. The Establishment had now officially declared war against them. Small parties of soldiers set out bent on genocide against the Wiradjuri. The Proclamation said that Aboriginal women and children were to be spared. None were. The Proclamation gave the whites the right to kill with no fear of standing trial. It gave the squatters the right to annihilate. No mercy was extended to anyone who came within the range of the guns.

Martial Law

The declaration of Martial Law proved to be an ‘open season’ on all members of the Wiradjuri. Pregnant women were slaughtered along with children, usually having their skulls broken. Aboriginal men were taken prisoner, executed and their bodies hung from trees as a warning to others. They fought back. A reward of 500 acres of land was offered for Windradyne – dead or alive. There were bloody massacres from one end of Wiradjuri country to the other. The sole purpose seemed by be total extermination of the tribe. There were stories of food and wheat being poisoned and offered as gifts to the Wiradjuri. On one occasion soldiers prepared dampers and bully beef for themselves. Some of the food was placed on the ground and the Wiradjuri approached believing the food to be a gesture of goodwill and friendliness. The women and children came first followed by the men. As the women collected food the soldiers fired on them and some thirty Wiradjuri were killed.

The Slaughter Continued

The slaughter continued unabated. Soldiers and settlers alike went on a rampage. Starting from the mountains near Capertee they fanned out through the valleys following the creeks and rivers. Each time they caught the Wiradjuri at their camp sites they shot them as they tried to escape up the exposed rock faces. The valleys resounded with gunfire and the moans of the dying. No records were kept. Martial Law was the justification of every atrocity and every death. After two months the Wiradjuri were a broken people. They were overwhelmed by the rifle and the musket and the ruthless determination of the settlers.

End of Martial Law

On the 11th December, 1824, four months after its proclamation, Martial Law was repealed. The murderers were never brought to justice. The killings were never officially reported. The white settlers believed that Windradyne was the architect of what they called ‘an uprising’ and they wanted him apprehended. On 28th December, 1824, Windradyne led the survivors of his tribe over the mountains to Parramatta, where, according to white reports, he paid humble respect to Governor Brisbane. He was a broken man. A shadow of the angry young warrior who led his people in a losing battle against superior forces.

The End

Windradyne lived for another 11 years. He died in 1835. During this decade the remaining Wiradjuri people slowly declined. Their lands, their kinsmen and their lifestyle had been ruthlessly destroyed by greed. In the wake of despair came the diseases of the white man, alcohol – and finally death. By 1850 the Wiradjuri had been completely dispossessed and were virtually extinct.

1834 Map of Gulgong-Mudgee area,

all but two placenames are Aboriginal in origin

Not Quite the End – Yet

Up to this point the Wiradjuri story has been told in general terms. It would be quite wrong and totally dishonest to stop now without adding the sparse local knowledge that exists. The story has been told in general terms because of the vastness of the subject and the tribal territory in which they lived. In researching the question - as to why there are no visible signs of Aboriginal people while Aboriginal place names still exist in the area - many local undocumented stories were uncovered. Were they folklore? Official documents cloud the issue. Diaries and records of the early white settlers often omitted the real facts. What better way then than to conclude the story by allowing the extant documents, diaries and official records speak for themselves.

In Their Own Words

William Cox, landowner at a Public Meeting in Bathurst, 1824 (quoted in Blood on the Wattle by Bruce Elder):

“The best thing that can be done is to shoot all blacks and manure the ground with their carcasses. That is all they are fit for! It is also recommended that all the women and children be shot. That is the most certain way of getting rid of this pestilent race."

William Lawson in a letter to a friend (quoted in Blood on the Wattle by Bruce Elder):

“We have now commenced hostilities against them in consequence of their killing a great number of shepherds and stockmen, but afraid we shall never exterminate them, they have such an extensive mountainous country for them to flee from their pursuers.”

Governor Thomas Brisbane, proclaiming Martial Law, 1824 (in part)

“that mutual bloodshed may be stopped by the use of arms against the natives beyond the ordinary Rule of Law in Time of Peace, and for this End Resort to summary Justice has become necessary.”

Ernest Hume in his History of Mudgee (Mudgee Shire Library):

“Owing to the cruelty of the manager of one of the settlements in the vicinity of where Guntawang Homestead is now located, the blacks attacked the place, where eight white men and several blacks were killed. After the encounter, the manager, Mr Chamberlain, who was held responsible for the trouble, was dismissed”.

William Lawson (son of the explorer) writing to his brother in England in 1824 (Journal of Royal Historical Society, Vol. 50, pt 3 August 1964. Mudgee Shire Library):

“(Lawson) and a party of settlers went out to exterminate the natives. We came across a party of native women and despatched them”)

GHF Cox in his History of Mudgee:

“William Lawson had come across from Bathurst and shared the hospitality of the Coxes (George and Henry) during his stay. As a matter of courtesy, Lawson was given the choice of where he should settle.” (Eastern side of Cudgegong River. The Coxes settled in huts at Menah.) “One morning at daybreak the men were surprised by a body of natives who made a fierce and determined attack on the hut. Fortunately the defenders were well provided with firearms and ammunition for two hours desultory fighting was maintained.”.

An Official Report (Quoted in Blood on the Wattle by Bruce Elder):

“Some of them (the natives) have been killed whilst in the act of driving off a considerable number of cattle belonging to Mr Cox near Mudjee (as per the spelling in report).

Ernest Hume in his History of Mudgee (Mudgee Shire Library):

“The Cox brothers (George and Henry), however, finding that the attitude of the blacks towards them was becoming a cause of continual anxiety, decided to abandon the property (Guntawang). A few years later it was taken over by Messrs Richard and Edwin Rouse”

Report: Maitland Mercury, 11 Sept 1900 (quoted in Koori: A Will to Win by James Miller):

“Also in 1900 the Kooris (Aborigines) at Wollar near Gulgong were forcibly moved to the mission station at Brewarrina because the Gulgong townsfolk had complained that the family of the notorious Koori bushrangers Jimmy and Joe Governor were living at Wollar and should be removed, together with all other Kooris, for the townsfolk’s safety.” 

Governor Thomas Brisbane, repealing Martial Law, 1824, (in part):

“WHEREAS, the judicious and humane Measure, pursued by the Magistrates assembled at Bathurst, have restored Tranquility without BLOODSHED I do direct that Martial Law shall cease to be any longer in force.”

William Cox in his memoirs 1901 (Mudgee Shire Library):

“Saturday (a name given to Windradyne) was finally captured by six white men, but a musket was broken on his ribs before he could be overpowered.”.

William Cox in his memoirs 1901:

“The last of all the blacks of the district was Tom Penney and he died about 25 years ago (approx. 1876), so that the present generation has scarcely seen a black in the district.”

Draft State Heritage Inventory, 1990 (NSW Department of Planning):

“By 1840 apprehensions about dangers from the Aboriginal inhabitants had abated and there was widespread dislocation of Aboriginal culture. At Mudgee, blankets and other government supplies were still being handed out to Aborigines in the 1840s and corroborees were still held on the hills around Mudgee in the 1850s, but these were the last signs of an independent Aboriginal presence.

The Wiradjuri – A Pyrrhic Victory

The Earl of Bathurst puzzled by the lack of information about the Declaration of Martial Law and the events that followed sent a number of despatches on to Governor Brisbane. One read in part: “I am commanded by the King to signify to you that his Majesty is pleased to relieve you of the exercise of the Government of New South Wales.” A similar despatch was sent to Major Goulburn, the Colonial Secretary, relieving him of that position. A few days later, Major Morisset, the Commandant at Bathurst was relieved of his post. This was poetic justice for the Wiradjuri. However, the events could not be undone. Nor the truth obliterated, although attempts were made to obscure it. The Wiradjuri story is a microcosm of Aboriginal history, in many respects – except that the Wiradjuri were annihilated – their ‘reason to exist’ was taken away from them and despair substituted. They were dispossessed of their tribal hunting grounds, their food, their birthright of ritual and initiation, their harmony with each other and their being at one with the land. Nothing was substituted except continual neglect.

Source: Norman McVickers via Mudgee District History

________________________

  About Norman McVicker

"Norman began writing Tales Along the Wallaby Track for the Mudgee Guardian in 1989; first a single column on page 2 every week, later flourishing into the weekly full-page story and photo features of today. He was an expert storyteller, his work written in the quirky, interest-grabbing language he learnt when he began his writing career in 1937 at the age of 17 when he did his first radio play ‘King Peter’ for 2SM in Sydney and then wrote and broadcast for 2UW’s Children Session. Gone were the boring, dry history books. Norman’s history came alive for his readers and his latest publications, written at the grand old age of 92 still enthral and capture the imagination.

'I have been researching and writing a column about local history for over twenty years for the Mudgee Guardian. Once read, it disappears into archival catacombs. That is about to change and local history will be available at the flick of a switch.

The technique is not new but this method of recording allows the surfer of the net to have information available 24 hours a day. That is new-- and I am pleased to be associated with the project. I hope the community will also readily adopt this revolutionary approach of “history at your fingertips” and its easy accessibility for everyone—young and old.'

[Norman McVicker OAM, on the launch of the Mudgee District History website, 20 February, 2009]

Source: Mudgee District History website by Dianne Simmonds 

PAUL KHOURY

Video

A gift from Lebanon to Australia: the Khoury Abi Esber family 

Source: Changing rights and freedoms of migrants

Paul Khoury Abi Esber was born in 1914 in Kfarhata, Lebanon. He was the youngest of seven children and the son of the priest in the local Orthodox church. When Paul was ten years of age his sister, Elmose, migrated to Australia with her husband. They settled in the New South Wales town of Narromine. With the death of Elmose’s husband, and her three young children to raise, Paul left Lebanon to be of help to his sister. With a loan of £25 in his pocket he arrived in Australia in 1937. 

  

The Esber family in Lebanon 

Paul Khoury spent some time with Elmose and the children, and then moved to the historic goldmining town of Gulgong where he opened the PK, Paul Khoury, store. The PK store was a clothing and fabric shop, following the traditional Lebanese community practice of establishing small businesses selling cloth, sheets and towels. 

At the beginning of the twentieth century Lebanese communities grew in the innercity suburbs of Redfern, Waterloo and Surry Hills. Members of the community opened warehouses and factories providing employment for the newly arrived. They also provided business opportunities, through the supply of small goods such as ribbons and fabric off-cuts on credit, to those prepared to try their luck selling these goods in country towns. The Lebanese community established a network of rural businesses and so encouraged the economic development of rural New South Wales. Churches and Lebanese community organisations also helped to preserve the contact between these geographically scattered people. 

When war broke out in 1939, Paul volunteered for enlistment. Lebanon was under the control of the Vichy French and so the Lebanese in Australia were officially regarded as ‘enemy aliens’. This was despite the Lebanese contribution to Australia’s development during the previous decades. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor and Japan’s entry into the war, every volunteer was needed. Paul enlisted in March 1940 into the 2/3 Battalions where he served in New Guinea for two years, with nine months on the Kokoda track. 

Paul Khoury on his last day of army life, 21 March 1946

Paul was discharged from the Australian army in March 1946 and returned to his shop in Gulgong. 

Many non-British migrants who have arrived since 1945 were the friends and relatives of those who had landed before 1939. This process of ‘chain migration’ began with the early European arrivals — the pioneer settlers who wrote home to their relatives telling of the opportunities open to them in the new land. Letters and personal stories brought further migrants. This tie of family, rather than just individual gain, was the force behind so much of the migration to Australia during the post-war period. 

In January 1951, Paul’s 21-year-old niece, Angel, arrived in Sydney aboard the Florentia. She left Lebanon for a new life in Australia with her husband John and their infant daughter, Laudy. They settled with Paul in Gulgong and joined the family business. Another generation of the Khoury family was established in Australia.

   

Three generations of the Khoury Abi Esber family in Australia, 1954

Paul Khoury with Angelle, Laila and Laudy Esber

Paul Khoury, Anzac Day 1988

Paul Khoury with his extended family, Anzac Day, 2007

When Paul Khoury died in June 2008, the local newspaper paid tribute to the hard work and contribution made by this treasured member of the Gulgong community. His service to the people of Gulgong was long, including 19 years of volunteer work for the hospital and nine years as president of the Shire Council. Before coming to Australia, Paul Khoury had been a teacher who spoke Arabic, French and English. In bringing pieces of his old world to his new land he enriched Australia. Paul Khoury’s place in the civic and social life of his town was expressed in the Gulgong Weekly eulogy; to this community he was "the impeccably dressed little man with the big smile and big heart, with his hand out to greet you and help you, he was always the gentleman. A fine citizen and a great Australian."

Source: Changing rights and freedoms of migrants

Paul Khoury outside the store, Mayne Steet, Gulgong

13 February, 1986

Paul Khoury and John Esber

PAUL KHOURY's HISTORY IN THE NEWSPAPERS

The following entry in Dun's Gazette notes the establishment of Paul Khoury's business in Gulgong:

P K STORE, THE, Herbert-st., Gulgong, drapery and mercery. Com. 14/5/39. Propr: Paul Khoury. Reg. 14/6/40.   

Source: Dun's gazette for New South Wales. Vol. 63 No. 26 (June 28, 1940)

1939 - [THE P K STORE]

Mr. P. Khoury, of the P.K. store, in Herbert street, Gulgong; leaves for Sydney tomorrow (Thursday) to select, a large variety of goods to the value, he states, of about £500. He is to return on Monday next. His premises, will be open for business during his absence.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 4 May 1939 Page 11

The building that housed "The PK Store"
Source: Google Street View

1939 - [ILLUMINATED SIGNS]

The mayor (Ald. Baldwin) presided over last fortnightly Council.
'Erection of signs. — Applications have been received from Messrs. Scanlons New Neon Ltd. on behalf of Messrs. Cox Bros, and Mr. P. Khoury, for permission to erect illuminated signs in Herbert Street, Gulgong. Each sign will be suspended under the verandah awning 8ft. 6in. above the footway, and will measures six feet long and 12 inches high. Messrs. Cox Bros.' sign will be worded 'Cox Bros.' and will have the outline of a bullock's head; Mr. P. Khoury's sign will be worded 'P. Khoury Mercer Draper.'

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 25 May 1939 Page 12

1940 - [HOSPITAL]
Mr. P., Khoury,' draper and mercer, of Gulgong,. was admitted to the Gulgong District - Hospital on
Sunday evening last.

Source: 

 

Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 4 Jan 1940 Page 12

1940 - GOING AHEAD - Preparations for Play
Preparations are going ahead for the production in Gulgong on August 21 of a locally written play, 'Touch and Go.' The proceeds will represent the Boy Scouts' war effort. Here are some details about the play: — Written and produced by Mr. A. R. Newton (Gulgong); ballet mistress, Miss M. Plum; wardrobe mistress, Miss Edna Fyfe; scenery, Messrs. E. Longman and K. Hooper; properties, Mr. R. Allan; electrician, Mr. J. Gardiner.

The adult cast in order of appearance is as follows:

• Roderick Julius (Frenchman), Paul Khoury;
• Sergeant Major Wilds, Frank Gilmore;
• Jean Allen, Marian McCracken;
• Colonel White (English Secret Service), Dr. L. W. Tunley;
• Clarry Oakley (young man about town), Ian Gilbert;
• Margaret Watkins (housekeeper), Mary Stonos;
• Harold Langden (private secretary General Allen), Ross Clark;
• Fanny Jones, Betty Caldwell;
• General Allen, J. W. T. Easdown.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 15 Aug 1940 Page 3

1940 - 'TOUCH AND GO' - Gulgong Stage Production
At the conclusion of last week's performance of 'Touch and Go' at the Roxy Theatre, Gulgong, Dr. R. M. Allport, mayor of Gulgong, in a brief address from the stage, referred to the unique nature of the
production. He said that it was acted by local residents, produced by a local man, and even written by a local man; so that it was certainly a unique event for Gulgong and, probably, taking into account its ambitious nature, unique in the western towns.

The production was a musical comedy-drama, written and produced by Mr. Ray Newton, of Gulgong. It included splendid solo items and choruses, a number of excellent ballet numbers and toe dances, a male ballet (of exceptional weight), fine orchestral music, and running through it a gripping story of secret service and fifth column* activities in wartime England...

The chief parts were taken by Paul Khoury, Frank Gilmore, Marian McCracken, Dr. L.W. Tunley, Ian Gilbert, Mary Stones, Ross Clark, Betty Caldwell and Jack Easdown, with excellent work by a number, of Boy Scouts of the 1st Gulgong Troop. ...

The performance occupied two and a half hours, and was received with great appreciation by an audience which filled the theatre to the doors. Since about 300 seats had been booked prior, to the performance at 3/- each, the Boy Scouts should be able to make a very worth-while contribution to Gulgong war effort.

There can be no doubt that the production was a splendid piece of work, produced and acted by people
of outstanding ability. Much of the acting was of a professional standard, and the staging was most
capably managed. It is hoped to stage the production in Mudgee in the near future.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Mon 26 Aug 1940 Page 2

[* the phrase "fifth column" refers to Nazi sympathizers in Britain working to prepare the ground for a German invasion.]

1941 - [MOVING]

Mr. Paul Khoury has removed his business to premises vacated last week by Mr. W. Allan, in Herbert street, the popular Paul will now be able to make a bigger and better display.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 30 Jan 1941 Page 8

1941 - [ILLNESS]

On Tuesday Mr. Paul Khoury received word of the serious illness of his sister at Narromine and left for that town soon afterwards.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 9 Oct 1941 Page 12

1941 - [MOVING AWAY]
Mr. Paul Khoury, who has been in business in Herbert, street, Gulgong, for some time, is closing down shortly after Christmas and leaving for Narromine. Mr. Khoury has made quite a number of friends in Gulgong. Everyone will wish him well in the future.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 18 Dec 1941 Page 10

Paul Khoury

1943 - Ex-Gulgong People About the Big Smoke
(From Our Sydney Representative)
Saw Paul Khoury the other night. A member of the A.I.F., Paul looked as fit as a fiddle.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 6 May 1943 Page 17

1943 - GULGONG PERSONAL

Mr. Paul Khoury, former Gulgong businessman, now in the Army, recently announced his engagement. He proposes to visit Gulgong soon when he will no doubt be warmly greeted.
Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 27 May 1943 Page 17

Paul Khoury, war years

Source: Laudy Russo

1946 - [AFTER THE WAR]

Our Sydney representative met Mr. Paul Khoury, ex-A.I.F., and ex-Gulgong business man, in Sydney last Thursday night. Paul has had some years' service in the northern islands, and hopes to visit our town in the near future. He inquired of quite a number of Gulgong people.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 21 Mar 1946 Page 19

1950 - [RETURN FROM ABROAD]

A former business man of Gulgong, Mr. Paul Khoury, recently returned to Sydney from a trip
overseas.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 9 Feb 1950 Page 17

1950 - [SHOP PLANS]

Mr. Paul Khoury arrived in the town from Sydney last weekend to re-open a men's and ladies' wear store. 
A former businessman of Gulgong, Mr. Paul Khoury visited the town the weekend before last and
made arrangements to open a men's and ladies wear shop in Herbert Street within a few weeks.
[NB: these two paragraphs were on the same page in this order.]

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 9 Mar 1950 Page 19

1951 - [VISIT]

Mrs. Angel Esber, of Narromine, has been the guest of her uncle, Mr. Paul Khoury, of Herbert Street.

Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Thu 22 Mar 1951 Page 17

1951 - CERTIFICATES OF NATURALIZATION.
IT is hereby notified for general information that the Minister of State for Immigration has granted Certificates of Naturalization to the persons named in the sub-joined list.
T. H. E. HEYES, Secretary,
Department of Immigration.
19th June, 1951.

...

Khoury, Paul - Herbert St, Gulgong - 7.3.51

Source: Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 - 1973) Thu 28 Jun 1951 [Issue No.44]  Page 1560

1951-1955 

[Numerous articles about playing bowls or donating bowling trophies have not been reproduced here.]

1955 - PUBLIC HOSPITALS ACT, 1929-1943.
I; Sir John Northcott, ... appoint Mr. P. Khoury, mercer and draper, Herbert-street, Gulgong, to be a director of The Gulgong District Hospital, vice Mr. A. J. Brigden, resigned, to hold office until his successor has been elected or appointed.
Dated this 28th day of September, 1955. 
J, NORTHCOTT, Governor.

M. O'SULLIVAN, Minister for Health.

Source: Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001) Fri 21 Oct 1955 [Issue No.120] Page 3075

1971 - PUBLIC HOSPITALS ACT, 1929, AS AMENDED

I, Sir Arthur Roden Cutler, ... accept the resignation of Mr P. Khoury as a Director of The Gulgong
District Hospital and appoint Mr Wilfred Kent Brown, funeral director and building contractor, 175 Mayne Street, Gulgong, in pursuance of section 25 of the Public Hospitals Act, 1929, as amended, to hold office in his stead.
Dated this 22nd day of September, 1971
A. R. CUTLER, Governor.
A. H. TAGO, Minister for Health.

Source: Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001) Fri 1 Oct 1971 [Issue No.108] Page 3851

1975 - MUDGEE SHIRE COUNCIL CREATED

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1919.—PROCLAMATION - Sydney, 21st May, 1975.
I, ... do hereby:
(1) Unite, on and from 1st July, 1975, the Municipality of Mudgee ... and the Shire of Cudgegong
(2) Constitute, on and from 1st July, 1975, the area formed by the union of the said areas, as a shire, which shall be named the Shire of Mudgee, with boundaries as described in Schedule "A" hereto.
(3) Determine that the Council of the Shire of Mudgee as hereby constituted, shall consist of twelve councillors ... the persons whose names appear in Schedule "B" hereto...

Schedule "B"
Provisional Council of the Shire of Mudgee
Alexander Black Clark, Esquire; Albert William Cox, Esquire; Walter Kenneth Evans, Esquire; Anthony James Furney, Esquire; William Joseph Hensley, Esquire; William Robert Keech, Esquire; Paul Khoury, Esquire; Mrs Kathleen Marjorie Lawson; Norman Francis Leonard, Esquire; Peter Brian Walter Rayner, Esquire.

Source: Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001) Fri 30 May 1975 [Issue No.77] Page 2055

APA studio portrait of Mr. P. Khoury (PO Box 44, Gulgong, NSW) for the ALP, 1968

Source: State Library of NSW

Paul Khoury with Jack Branscombe, Bob Martin and Tom Curry

at Gulgong Bowling Club

Paul Khoury and friends at Gulgong Showgrounds

Paul Khoury at the opening of Jos Davis Bridge

Source: Laudy Russo

Paul Khoury at the opening of Jos Davis Bridge

Source: Laudy Russo

Paul Khoury and council

Source: Laudy Russo

Paul Khoury with the last Cudgegong Shire Council 1975

Source: Laudy Russo

Back row (L-R): Peter McKenzie, Laurie Barry, Gerry Smith, Paul Khoury, Peter Leotta, Tony Colliss, Jack Stanford
Front row (L-R): Barry Stutsel, Tony? Rayner, Wal Evans, Bill Hensley, Kath Lawson, Len Tink, Viv Goninan.

Tree planting event

Esber and Khoury, later years

Esber and Khoury, later years

1970 - GULGONG CENTENARY - 

Shire President’s Message

The developing of any frontier community leaves indelible traces on the lives and characteristics of a people. Australia has developed from virgin bush to a thriving international nation in a little over one hundred and fifty years.

The first big thrust towards international community was the discovery of gold in Australia in 1852. Gulgong became known throughout the world in 1870 when gold was discovered here in that year by Tom Saunders. From a booming mining centre, Gulgong gradually declined to an agricultural economy and in most of its phases had followed the development of Australia.

In fact, the development of Gulgong could well be called a microcosm of the advance of this nation. Goldrushes, bushrangers, railways, industry and agriculture followed in their course add they did throughout Australia.

The people also developed on similar lines, developing the rangy build and sun tanned faces typical Australian, and also becoming the casual, courageous, loyal and sports loving “Take a chance” prototype of the typical first and second world war Australian.

Ballarat, Ophir, Lambing Flat and Gulgong were household words throughout most of the world in that period of Australia’s history and the Gold Rush days were probably the biggest single influence in forming Australia, both as a nation and as a people.

In a land of vast distances and little communication the dependence of people on each other was emphasised and was a dominating factor in the underlying loyalty and mateship of Australian people.

The Goldfields of Gulgong played their part in forming this aspect of National character and today the spirit of loyalty and co-operation is still evidenced in community activities in and around Gulgong.

This Gulgong celebration in this year of grace, 1970, provides a link between the tumultuous, frenzied days of the booming gold town and the more regulated, even placed life in Gulgong today. The 100 years of history have not dimmed or tamed the pioneering spirit, they have only channelled it into varied fields of endeavour.

Paul Khoury,

President

Cudgegong Shire Council

________________________________

For more photos of Paul Khoury, see:

• Anzac Day Events
• Centenary, 1970
• RSL

SPARLINGS

Don and Shirley Curry with Mr Sparling, 1950s

 The shop was located at 51 Herbert Street, Gulgong.

• Len Price operated there before Mr Sparling;
• Sparling's, "The Store of 1001 Items", was there in the 1950s;
• Pauling's store (run by Bob and Peggy Pauling) came next; and lastly
• Kevin and Bev Hasler's fruit & veg shop, where the burgers were legendary!

51 Herbert Street today.

STUBBO PICNIC KEY

 The names of the Stubbo Picnic gathering:

2     Mrs Charlie Bennett
4     Mrs Sarah Bennett

8     Mrs R J Lee

77   Harry Dawson

101 Joshua Davis Jnr

103 Estelle Campbell

47   Hazel Campbell

48   Mavis Carr

32   Samuel Dawson

24   Irene Campbell

38   Walter Jackson

35   Benjamin Jackson

31   Louisa Carr (Campbell)

33   William Carr

29   Eliza Jane Campbell

23   Maud Lee

15   Mary Campbell (Lee)

62   Eliza Campbell (Geoghegan)

36   Joshua Davis Sen

37   Mortimer Lee

40   Roland Campbell

41   George Campbell

40   Isobel O'Conner (Campbell)

41   Nell Burgess (Campbell)

42   Bertha Buckley (Davis)

43   Davida Hogden (Davis)

44   Joshua Davis

45   Charlie Malcho