Gundagai

Gundagai /ˈɡʌndəɡaɪ/^[2] is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town.^[3] Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeysuckle, Kimo, Mooney Mooney, Murrumbidgee and Tumut mountain ranges, Gundagai is 390 kilometres (240 mi) south-west of Sydney. Until 2016, Gundagai was the administrative centre of Gundagai Shire local government area. In the 2021 census the population of Gundagai was 2,057.^[1]

Gundagai New South Wales
Sheridan Street in 2019
Gundagai Location in New South Wales
Coordinates	35°03′57″S 148°06′28″E / 35.065885°S 148.107695°E / -35.065885; 148.107695
Population	2,057 (2021 census)^[1]
Established	1838
Postcode(s)	2722
Elevation	232 m (761 ft)
Location	390 km (242 mi) WSW of Sydney 160 km (99 mi) WNW of Canberra 80 km (50 mi) E of Wagga Wagga 179 km (111 mi) NE of Albury 504 km (313 mi) NE of Melbourne
LGA(s)	Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council
County	Clarendon
State electorate(s)	Cootamundra
Federal division(s)	Riverina
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 22.3 °C 72 °F 8.5 °C 47 °F 714.4 mm 28.1 in
Localities around Gundagai: Tucker Box Mingay Gundagai Tumblong South Gundagai South Gundagai

History

The Gundagai area is part of the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri people, while there is a considerable folklore associated with Aboriginal cultural and spiritual beliefs in the area. The floodplains of the Murrumbidgee below the present town of Gundagai were a frequent meeting place of the Wiradjuri.^{[citation needed]}

The first moves to establish Gundagai as a township were in 1838 with plans for the new settlement of "Gundagae on the Murrumbidgee, about 54 miles beyond Yass ..." advertised for viewing at the office of the Surveyor-General in Sydney.^[4]

Origin of name

The name 'Gundagai' may derive from 'Gundagair', an 1838 pastoral run in the name of William Hutchinson^[5] to the immediate north of current day Gundagai. The Aboriginal word 'gair' was recorded at Yass in 1836 by the naturalist George Bennett and means 'bird', as in budgerigar or good bird. In that context 'Gundagai' means place of birds but that placename may refer to the area to the north of Gundagai not to Gundagai town. The word 'Gundagai' is also said to mean cut with a hand-axe behind the knee.^[6]

Explorers and settlers

Australian-born Hamilton Hume and British immigrant William Hovell passed through the region in November 1824 when they passed to the south, near the future site of Tumut. Hovell recorded seeing trees already marked by steel tommyhawks.^[7][8]

On 25 September 2011, the Right Reverend Trevor Edwards, Vicar General of the Anglican Church and Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn, dressed in traditional white mid-nineteenth century garb, led the commemorative church service for the 150th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of St John's Anglican (formerly Church of England), Church, Gundagai. Bishop Edwards noted that following on the path of the explorers "Hume and Hovell, the first Gundagai settlers found a wonderful land on which to establish a town, which was gazetted in 1838 but until 1850, relied on ministry from Yass."^[9]

A local settler named Warby is recorded as having "followed Hume and Hovell's tracks to the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Tumut Rivers" and having taken "up a pastoral lease of 19,200 acres ... at a rent of thirty-three pounds per annum. ... He called the property 'Minghee' later called 'Mingay'."^[10]

Charles Sturt travelled through the area in 1829 at the start of his voyage in search of an inland sea then believed to exist in outback Australia. Sturt again passed through Gundagai on the return leg of this journey in 1830, and returned in 1838 in company with the Hawdon and Bonney overlanding parties.^[11] At the time of Sturt's 1829–1830 journey, he found several settlers in the district: Henry O'Brien at Jugiong, William Warby at Mingay and the Stuckey brothers, Peter and Henry at Willie Ploma and Tumblong. These settlers were beyond the "limits of location"^[12] as the district was not within the Nineteen Counties.

 

Yarri and Jacky Jacky The Great Flood of 1852 sculpture

In April 1835 William Adams Brodribb junior moved to New South Wales and became a partner in a cattle station at Maneroo. In 1836 he overlanded the second draft of cattle to Melbourne. On returning from Port Phillip Brodribb relocated to what later became the site of Gundagai. In August Brodribb petitioned for a punt over the Murrumbidgee near his Gundagai hut, and in January 1838 Deputy Surveyor General Samuel Perry reported that "a better site could not have been chosen for a Town of the first class" in reference to Gundagai.^[13]

Lady Jane Franklin, the wife of the governor of Tasmania, Sir John Franklin, travelled through Gundagai on 27 April 1839 and noted Andrews' store and public house establishment, that had a neat verandah and shuttered hut.^[14]

Edward John Eyre, Australian explorer and later Governor of Jamaica, left Sydney in late 1838 in an effort to find a practical route to overland stock to Adelaide, and then on to open communication between Adelaide and West Australia.^[15][16] Eyre left the Limestone Plains near today's Canberra with stock on 5 December 1838. On reaching the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai, Eyre, accompanied by two aboriginal youths, Yarrie and Joey,^[17][18] "turned down the river to the westward instead of following further south"^[18] and travelled along the northern bank of the river for the better supply of water and feed available for his stock. Eyre crossed the river twice at Gundagai to "avoid some ranges".^[18]

Whilst living and working at William Warby's establishment, Caroline McAlister (wife of Thomas McAlister) gave birth to a son, John, on 21 June 1832,^[19] who may have been one of the first known children of European descent born in the Gundagai area.^[20]

The herds of John Macarthur, Throsby and Ellis, were along the Murrumbidgee by late 1831.^[21]

 

Sheridan Street scene in the early twentieth century; photograph by Dr Louis Gabriel

Notable residents

In the 1830s, Horatio Wills and his family lived near Gundagai.^[22] The Wills' son, Thomas Wills who was born in the Gundagai area,^[23] is credited with co-inventing Australian Rules football and for being coach and captain to the first Australian Aboriginal cricket team.

Gundagai Aboriginal elders, Jimmy Clements and John Noble, attended the 1927 opening of the new Federal Parliament House in Canberra by the Duke of York (later George VI). Jimmy Clements, also known as King Billy, whose traditional name was Yangar,^[24] walked forward to respectfully salute the Duke and Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother), and after that the two elders were formally presented to the royal couple as prominent citizens of Australia.^[25]

Post office

Gundagai Post Office opened on 1 April 1843 as the township (gazetted in 1838) developed.^[26]

 

Gundagai railway station

Railway

The railway reached Gundagai in 1886 with a branch line to Tumut from Cootamundra on the Main Southern railway line. The branch line was extended reaching Tumut in 1903^[27] and Batlow and Kunama, at the end of the Tumut and Kunama railway lines, in 1923. The line was finally closed after flood damage in 1984.^[28]

 

Memorial to Yarri in the Gundagai cemetery

Floods

See also: Floods in New South Wales

The original European town that was gazetted as Gundagai in 1838 was situated on the right hand bank of the Murrumbidgee River floodplain at the place colloquially known as 'The Crossing Place'. This town was hit by several large floods of the Murrumbidgee River. The Crown Commissioner for the Murrumbidgee District, Henry Bingham, praised the heroic actions of Aboriginal people at Gundagai in rescuing settlers from the 1844 flood. Bingham also requested a reward for local Aboriginal people.^[29]

Gundagai was still considered a frontier town in 1852.^[30] The 25 June 1852 Murrumbidgee flood swept the first colonial town of Gundagai away, killing at least 78 people (perhaps 89) of the town's population of 250 people; it is one of the largest natural disasters in Australia's history. Local Aboriginal men, Yarri, Jacky Jacky, Long Jimmy^[31][32] and one other played a role in saving many Gundagai people from the 1852 floodwaters, rescuing more than 40 people using bark canoes.^[33] A bronze sculpture of Yarri and Jacky Jacky with a canoe was unveiled in Gundagai in 2017; the number of people whom they saved is estimated as 68, one third of the town's population.^[34] The historical novel Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (2021) by Anita Heiss is set around the time of the flood, and represents some of the Wiradjuri people and settlers living in Gundagai at the time, and uses Wiradjuri language.^[35][36]

Yarri was also known as Yarree or Coonong Denamundinna, and is believed to have killed John Baxter on the Edward John Eyre expedition in 1841,^[37] and also to have killed a young part Aboriginal woman 'Sally McLeod' near Gundagai in 1852. Warrants for Yarri/Yarree's arrest were issued by NSW Police after Brungle Aboriginal people reported him to the police over the Sally McLeod murder.^[38] Following an even higher flood in 1853, North Gundagai was redeveloped at its current site on Asbestos Hill and Mount Parnassus, above the river, and at South Gundagai on the slopes of Brummies Hill, using pre-existing survey plans made by James Larmer in 1850.^[39] The town commemorated the sesquicentenary of the 1852 flood in 2002.^[33]

The flood of June 1891 left several pastoral workers and four rescuers who set out in a boat, stranded in trees just to the south of Gundagai. Edward True dragged a light skiff several miles over hills to the rescue site and managed to save several men from drowning.^[40] True also saved a young boy from drowning in a waterhole in 1887 and was awarded a Royal Humane Society of Australasia bravery award for that rescue as well. Edward True could not swim.^[40]

In recent years the Gundagai wetlands and marshes that were home to many bird species, have disappeared, largely as a result of ground compaction by cattle and Gundagai Shire Council diverting ground water into underground pipes. These wetlands were on the North Gundagai Common; adjacent to the Gundagai High School; between Bourke and West Streets to the north of Punch Street; to the west and north of the North Gundagai cemetery; and at Coolac.

Major floods also occurred in 1974 and 2012.

Bushrangers

 

Monuments to policemen in Gundagai cemetery

As early as 1838 the Gundagai and Yass areas were being terrorised by armed bushrangers. Four men held up Robert Phillips and took a horse, the property of William Hutchinson, (who had possession of the land to the immediate north of Gundagai), of Murrumbidgee.^[41][42] On one occasion in 1843 a gang of five bushrangers, including the bushranger called 'Blue Cap',^[43] held up and robbed Mr Andrews, the Gundagai postmaster and innkeeper.^[44] Cushan the bushranger was known to be operating in the area in 1846,^[45] and in 1850, to the south of Gundagai near Tarcutta, two bushrangers held up the Royal Mail, stole the Albury and Melbourne mailbags and rode off with the mail coach's horses.^[46] In 1862 at Bethungra to the west of Gundagai in the Gundagai Police District, the bushranger Jack-in-the-Boots was captured.^[47] A plot to rescue Jack-in-the-Boots whose real name was Molloy, from police custody while he was being transferred from Gundagai to Yass gaol, was discovered.^[48] In February 1862, the bushranger John Peisley was captured near Mundarlo and by that evening was lodged in the Gundagai Gaol.^[49] Peisley was later hanged at Bathurst.^[50] In 1863, the bushrangers Stanley and Jones were arrested at Tumut after they had allegedly stolen saddles at Gundagai and hatched a plan to rob Mr Norton's store. Stanley could not be identified.^[51] In 1864, Jones was found not guilty.^[52] Sergeant Parry was shot and killed in 1864 by the bushranger John Gilbert in a hold-up of the mail coach near Jugiong. Gilbert was a member of Ben Hall's gang that was active in the district in 1863–64.^[53] Patrick Gately and Patrick Lawler held up Keane's pub at Coolac in April, 1866.^[54] Also in the 1860s, to the north of Adelong, the bushranger Hawthorne mistook a man by the name of Grant for William Williams the gold mine owner, and killed Grant.^[55] By 1869, Harry Power, early mentor of famous Australian bushranger, Ned Kelly, was committing holdups near Adelong^[56] and as icing on the cake, by 1874 the bushranger prettily known as Jerry Blossom, was entertaining the district.^[57] In 1880, bushrangers held up the Chinese Camp at Gundagai then fled on horseback towards Burra, a locality known to harbour louts and for the ferocious fires that roar through the area.^[58][59]

Early in 1879, some Gundagai residents were in fear that the Ned Kelly gang was going to pay the town a visit and while "extra rifles and ammunition to defend the town"^[60] were applied for and special constables were sworn in, the Kelly Gang did turn up in the town.

The North Gundagai Anglican cemetery contains the graves of two policemen shot in the district by bushrangers. Senior Constable Webb-Bowen was killed by Captain Moonlite in November 1879 in a hostage incident at McGlede's farm.^[61] Trooper Edmund Parry, killed in an encounter with Ben Hall's gang near Jugiong, is buried next to the grave of Senior Constable Webb-Bowen. Captain Moonlite is also buried in the North Gundagai Anglican cemetery.^[62] Captain Moonlite had asked to be buried at Gundagai near his friends James Nesbitt and Augustus Wernicke . Both had been killed in the shoot-out at McGlede's Hut. Moonlite's request was not granted by the authorities of the time, but his remains were exhumed from Rookwood Cemetery and reinterred at Gundagai near to the unknown location of Nesbitt's grave in January 1995.^[53]

In the 1950s bushrangers reappeared in the Gundagai area, jumping into the trailers of heavy transports moving along the Hume Highway and throwing contents out to nearby accomplices.^[63][64]

Tent cities

The old Gundagai Flour Mill in Sheridan Lane was also known as 'The Sundowners' for the swaggies who camped there each night.^[65] 'Sam the Sundowner', a famous Australian swaggie and principal character in the Australian comedy drama, The Road to Gundagai,^[66] was a regular resident at the Gundagai 'Sundowners' and was known for his rescues of near to drowning people from the inland rivers.^[65]

In 1901, a large camp of unemployed men and their families at South Gundagai was waiting for the proposed Gundagai Rail Line to begin construction. 500 of these men marched from south to north Gundagai accompanied by the town band, to try to move commencement of the project, forward.^[67] There was a railway worker canvas town near the Gundagai Rail Station. Rail workers and their families who moved to Gundagai to work on the rail line, lived in tents in that area into the 1950s. The Chinese camp was in the area of today's Bowls Club as were the Chinese gardens. Burials of deceased Chinese people were in the pagan ground.^[68] All mine sites, of which there were several around Gundagai such as Burra, Reno, Jackalass, Jones Creek and Coolac, had miners' camps at or near them. The hill to the north of Gundagai known as Flower Hill once had a large tent settlement that was larger than the permanent North Gundagai residential area. Likewise the Spring Flat goldfield adjacent to the North Gundagai cemetery resulted in a sizeable tent township appearing there.^{[citation needed]}

Riverboat trade

Several riverboats were associated with Gundagai, including the Explorer, the Gundagai, the Albury, the Nangus and the J.H.P.. Captain Francis Cadell ran the first steamer on the Murray River in 1853. In 1856 the sister steamers, the Albury and the Gundagai, were bought from Scotland to Goolwa in pieces, by Captain Cadell, assembled at Goolwa then launched.^[69]

In 1855 Captain Cadell was aboard the paddlewheel steamer Gundagai for the first journey in it north of Goolwa,^[70] then in 1856 explored the Edward River system as Captain of the Gundagai.^[71] By 1865, the steamer Gundagai, under the command of Captain Cadell, was providing a transport service between Wanganui and the Waitotara in New Zealand, and getting supplies to troops,^[72] in support of the British Crown and the Crown's involvement in the New Zealand Wars. Captain Cadell became Superintendent of Colonial Transport (water) for New Zealand.^[73] On 25 June 1866 near Patea New Zealand, the little paddlewheel steamer and expert crosser of sandbars, the Gundagai went onshore and broke in half. All hands were rescued.^[74]

On 16 September 1858, the steamer Albury, under the command of Captain George Johnston with Captain Cadell on board, moored at Gundagai^[75] on the north bank of the Murrumbidgee at what was hoped to be named the 'Albury Wharf', after taking a bit over a month to ascend the Murrumbidgee from Lake Alexandrina. The Albury was the first steamer known to visit Gundagai. The steamer Albury was tied up to an old gum tree at Gundagai by Mr Norton of Gundagai who two years previously had the honour of naming the boat that set off from Gundagai to survey the Murrumbidgee under the command of Captain Robinson, the Explorer.^[76] Captain Robinson's 1855 survey of the Murrumbidgee in the Explorer was "for the purpose of ascertaining If that river presents any serious impediments to internal navigation" and the incentive for that survey came from Captain Cadell.^[77]

The steamer Nangus was constructed by the engineer Mr Chapman of Sydney, at Nangus Station near Gundagai for Mr Jenkins, owner of Nangus Station, to ply the Murrumbidgee River between Gundagai and Hay and she made her maiden journey in 1865. Nangus was a 12-horsepower, 70 feet long iron vessel, with two side paddles and towing two iron barges.^[78] It sank near Wagga after hitting a snag in 1867.^[79]

The steamer J.H.P. was launched in 1866 and sank between Hay and Balranald in October 1868. "It was raised but sank twice more, then was dismantled in 1879."^[80] On 20 September 1870, the J.H.P., then owned by Edward Warby,^[81] journeyed up the Murrumbidgee from Wagga to Gundagai without incident.^[82]

Photographs of Gundagai

Between 1899 and 1900, Dr Louis Gabriel, took up photography, photographing townlife in the period up to around 1906, when his responsibilities for the new hospital took precedence. He is considered one of Australia's best early documentary photographers, partly for his observant, astute and dispassionate approach. However, they are sometimes highly stylised by integrating his and others shadows in the image, or by making full use of the radical perspective of a wide-angle lens. The question of how and why his images are outstanding is central to the novel 'Belonging' written by G McDougall.^[83] The equally interesting story of how Gabriel's glass-plate negatives came into the National Library's possession is found in the NLA's 'Gundagai Album'. The negatives were preserved and presented to the National Library of Australia after his death and a selection was published in 1976 as a Gundagai Album.^[84][85]

Demographics

In 1911 the total population of Gundagai Shire was 1,921. It changed little in the course of the twentieth century being 2,308 at the time of the 1981 census and 1,998 at the 2006 census.

At the 2016 census, Gundagai recorded a population of 1,925. 85.6% were born in Australia and 90.4% spoke only English at home. The most common ancestries in Gundagai were Australian 38.6%, English 33.2%, Irish 9.8% and Scottish 4.3%. The most common responses for religion were Anglican 39.8%, Catholic 32.5% and no religion 11.8%.^[1]

Geography

Gundagai is an inland town with an elevation of 232 metres (761 ft).^[86] Almost all of the shire is located in the South West Slopes bio-region and is part of the Riverina agricultural region. The eastern part of the shire is considered part of the South Eastern Highlands bioregion.^[87]

North Gundagai is situated on top of significant, Jindalee Group, Cambrian period geology from which the chrysotile asbestos bearing Gundagai serpentinite originates^[88] also indicating prehistoric links to the Gondwana supercontinent.

The Shire has been extensively cleared for agriculture and more than 80% of the area is used for dryland cropping and grazing. Less than 1% of the shire is managed for conservation. There are few remaining examples of the original vegetation cover.^[87]

Gundagai shire is primarily rural, with a small population. Eighty per cent of the shire's population live in the town of Gundagai. There are four villages in the Shire: Coolac, Tumblong, Muttama and Nangus, with populations ranging from 40 to 90 people.

Climate

Gundagai has a warm temperate climate.^[86][87] Under Köppen climate classification, the town has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with characteristics of the Mediterranean climate (Csa).^[89] Seasonal variation is great, especially about the maximum temperatures. Summers are hot, sunny, often sweltering and prone to severe drought, whereas winters are cool and cloudy with frequent rainy days and occasional sleet, though settling snowfalls are rare.

Climate data for Gundagai (Nangus Rd, 1995–2022); 225 m AMSL; 35.06° S, 148.10° E
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	45.2 (113.4)	44.0 (111.2)	39.4 (102.9)	34.8 (94.6)	26.5 (79.7)	21.9 (71.4)	21.0 (69.8)	25.9 (78.6)	31.0 (87.8)	36.0 (96.8)	41.6 (106.9)	42.6 (108.7)	45.2 (113.4)
Average high °C (°F)	32.7 (90.9)	31.1 (88.0)	27.9 (82.2)	23.2 (73.8)	17.8 (64.0)	14.0 (57.2)	13.1 (55.6)	15.0 (59.0)	18.6 (65.5)	22.6 (72.7)	26.3 (79.3)	29.7 (85.5)	22.7 (72.8)
Average low °C (°F)	17.0 (62.6)	16.6 (61.9)	13.5 (56.3)	8.6 (47.5)	5.0 (41.0)	3.4 (38.1)	2.6 (36.7)	2.8 (37.0)	5.1 (41.2)	8.1 (46.6)	11.8 (53.2)	14.0 (57.2)	9.0 (48.3)
Record low °C (°F)	5.9 (42.6)	6.3 (43.3)	3.6 (38.5)	−1.2 (29.8)	−3.1 (26.4)	−4.6 (23.7)	−5.5 (22.1)	−4.8 (23.4)	−3.6 (25.5)	−1.6 (29.1)	1.7 (35.1)	4.9 (40.8)	−5.5 (22.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	45.6 (1.80)	49.4 (1.94)	50.3 (1.98)	32.1 (1.26)	38.5 (1.52)	63.4 (2.50)	61.4 (2.42)	53.5 (2.11)	57.6 (2.27)	51.3 (2.02)	66.3 (2.61)	55.9 (2.20)	625.3 (24.63)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm)	6.2	5.7	6.3	5.4	7.1	11.7	12.9	10.9	9.4	8.4	7.8	6.4	98.2
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Gundagai (Nangus Rd)

Heritage listings

Gundagai has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Cootamundra-Tumut railway: Gundagai Rail Bridge over Murrumbidgee River^[90]
• Cootamundra-Tumut railway: Gundagai railway station^[91]
• Middleton Drive: Prince Alfred Bridge^[92]

Economy

Other than tourism generated by bush appeal and the historic bridges, Gundagai's economy remains driven by sheep and cattle, as well as wheat, lucerne and maize production.^{[citation needed]}

As of 2005, secondary industries in Gundagai included the Gundagai Meat Processors Plant and D J Lynch Engineering. The meatworks is the shire's largest single employer, with over 100 employees.^[87] The latter firm has produced work for major construction projects, including building steel spans for the Olympic Stadium in Sydney.^[93]

Gold mining

Gold was identified by the geologist Rev. W. B. Clarke at Gundagai in 1842.^[94] A gold rush hit the area in 1858 following further discoveries of gold. Mining continued initially until 1875, with a second gold rush in 1894. Mines operated again until well into the 20th century with some mining activity still occurring in 2007. The best known historical mines were the Robinson and Rice's Mine (Long Tunnel Mine)^[95] a few miles to the south west of Gundagai and the Prince of Wales Mine (where Herbert Hoover, the future President of the United States, was the mining engineer in about 1900^[96]) a few miles to the immediate west of Gundagai. Both mines struck the orebody in quartz reefs along serpentine/diorite contact zones with finds of gold telluride (of bismuth origin) also found.^[97]

Nangus Island in the middle of the Murrumbidgee River at Nangus is marked as one of the early goldfields and was previously named 'M'Arthur Island'. It is adjacent to where the highly auriferous Adelong Creek enters the Murrumbidgee.^[98]

Asbestos mining

Asbestos was first mined commercially in Australia, at Gundagai.^[99] Actinolite was mined along Jones Creek just to the west of the town but there are several deposits in the immediate area. Some fibres were two feet long.^[100] Prior to 1918 this was the only source of asbestos in New South Wales. Northern Gundagai is built on a hill sometimes known as 'Asbestos Hill' and excavations in the area free the asbestos into the air.^[101]

Chromite, talc, magnesite, copper and slate were also mined at Gundagai.^{[citation needed]}

Notable places

Rusconi's marble masterpiece

Local monumental mason Frank Rusconi, carved a miniature Baroque Italian palace from 20,948 pieces of marble collected from around New South Wales. The work is 1.2 metres high and, commencing in 1910, took 28 years to complete. It can be seen in the Gundagai tourist office.^[53]

Rusconi sculpted the base for the Dog on the Tuckerbox monument, and created the model of the dog,^[102] which was cast at Oliver's Foundry in Sydney.^[103][104]

Niagara Café

The Niagara Café opened in 1938 and was a notable stop on the Hume Highway.^[105] The cafe makes much of a brief visit by then Prime Minister, John Curtin, in 1942, with a display in the window of the cafe of the crockery used by Curtin and Curtin's link to the cafe.^[62] Niagara Café was established by a Kytherian Greek, Strati Notara, and was the oldest continuously Greek-run cafe in Australia.^[106] In August 2019, the cafe closed and was put up for sale;^[107] it was subsequently restored by its new owners and reopened in June 2022.^[108]

Heritage listed items

 

Court House, completed in 1859, was one of the first stone buildings to be erected after the floods of 1852. The interior was originally of red cedar but was destroyed by a fire in 1943 and it was rebuilt with mountain ash. The monument in front of the building is a Boer War memorial.

A number of places in Gundagai are on the New South Wales state heritage register and on the Register of the National Estate.^[109]

• Gundagai rail bridge over Murrumbidgee River^[109][110]
• Gundagai Railway Station and yard group^[111]
• Gundagai Courthouse^[53][112]
• Gundagai District Hospital^[109]
• Murrumbidgee River Underbridge, Gundagai^[109]
• Gundagai Rail Bridge Approaches^[113]
• Old Gundagai Town Site^[114]
• Prince Alfred Bridge^[115]

River crossings

Gundagai is located at a crossing place of the Murrumbidgee River. There were several places at Gundagai that travellers could and did cross the river. The route across the Murrumbidgee at Gundagai eventually became the Great South Road.

The Main Roads Management Act of June 1858 declared the Great Southern Road, from near Sydney through Goulburn and Gundagai to Albury, as one of the three main roads in the colony. However, its southern reaches were described as only a 'scarcely formed bullock track' as late as 1858. The road was improved in the mid-1860s with some sections near Gundagai 'metalled' and all creeks bridged between Adelong Creek (approximately 10 kilometres south of Gundagai) and Albury.^[116] In 1914 the road was declared a main road of New South Wales, and subsequently designated as state highway 2 and named the Hume Highway in 1928. The highway bypassed Gundagai in 1977 with the opening of the Sheahan Bridge.^[117]

Fords and former bridges

There are several old fords at Gundagai, including:

• the one at the western end of Hanley Street that crosses Jones Creek
• a ford on the southern continuation of Bourke Street across Jones Creek
• one at the western end of Sheridan Lane that crosses Jones Creek
• a ford at the western end of William Street that crosses Jones Creek
• the Otway Street ford across Morleys Creek
• a 1950s concrete ford that crosses Morleys Creek on the immediate western side of Yarri Bridge
• a very old ford that crosses Morleys Creek east of the Yarri Bridge
• the Warramore Ford that crosses the Murrumbidgee across to Tarrabandra between the Gundagai showground and Mingay
• the Sandy Falls ford
• the ford across Muttama Creek at the Nine Mile, Coolac, that is a well noted crossing place in local poetry, folklore and history
• the Gundagai township ford of the Murrumbidgee in line with Otway Street
• 'Adelong Crossing Place', now 'Tumblong', where there used to be a ford across Adelong Creek

There is also the Wantabadgery crossing place that these days has been replaced by the low level Mundarlo Bridge, downstream of Gundagai.

Often bridges have replaced fords but not always in exactly the same location, as bridges require high stream banks, whereas fords favour low banks. Two known old bridges on Morleys Creek no longer exist. Learys Bridge, a wooden bridge that crossed Morleys Creek in line with Byron Street, Gundagai was burned down by Gundagai Shire Council in the 1990s. Rileys Bridge that crossed Morleys Creek at the midpoint between Byron and Homer Streets was washed away in the 1851 Gundagai flood.^[118]

Bridges

 

The Prince Alfred Bridge crosses the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai, photographed c. 1885.

 

The Prince Alfred Bridge; part of the old Hume Highway

In 1865, a wrought iron truss bridge, the Prince Alfred Bridge, was completed across the Murrumbidgee River. The bridge was designed by William Christopher Bennett^[119] and was constructed by Francis Bell^[120] and Frederick Augustus Franklin and had a total length of 314 m, including three wrought iron truss spans each of 31.4 m across the river itself, two southern approach spans of timber, and twenty-three northern approach spans of 9.14 m, also of timber, rising on a gradient of 1 in 30 from the level of the floodplain.^[121] It was the first iron truss bridge to be built in New South Wales.^[122]

Sometime before 1896, the twenty-three northern spans were replaced with a longer structure consisting of 105 timber spans varying from 4.6 m to 9.14 m long, crossing the full width of the floodplain. In that year a ramp was installed on the western side of the bridge six spans north of the three main spans, in roughly the same location as the present ramp, in order to divert traffic from the timber approach spans, presumably because of maintenance problems with these spans.^[123]

In 1896, the 105 northern approach spans were replaced by a new approach structure of seventy-six spans on a different alignment, and the southern approach was slightly lengthened, giving a total length of 922 metres, which was 12 m less than the previous length. It remained the longest bridge in New South Wales until 1932 when the Sydney Harbour Bridge was completed, .^[117] In this configuration the bridge remained in use until 1977, but extensive repair work was carried out in the early 1930s.

In 1903 a second (railway) bridge across the Murrumbdgee with a total length of 819 metres was built for the extension of the railway from Gundagai to Tumut.^{[citation needed]}

In 1977, a third bridge, the Sheahan Bridge was opened, a prestressed concrete bridge as part of the Hume Highway bypass of Gundagai, to replace the Prince Alfred Bridge. It closely follows the alignment of one of the options considered in the early 1930s for a replacement bridge as an alternative to the repair of the Prince Alfred Bridge. It is 1,143 metres (3,750 ft) long, 6 m shorter than the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was named after Bill Sheahan, who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Yass from 1941 to 1950 and for Burrinjuck from 1950 to 1973 and held various ministerial portfolios.^[124] In 2010, it was duplicated to carry the southbound carriageway of the Hume Highway.^[125]

As an iconic Australian town

Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers, including writers of poems and songs,^[126] and has become the representation of the typical Australian country town. Gundagai also has a long and strong oral tradition or folklore related to both Aboriginal and European events, as the location was an important gathering place and river crossing for teamsters ("bullockies"), bush travellers, swagmen, shearers and drovers,.^[3]

 

Statue of the Dog on the Tuckerbox at Snake Gully, five miles from Gundagai. The statue was unveiled by the then Prime Minister Joseph Lyons in 1932 as a tribute to pioneers.

Gundagai, perhaps more than any other Australian locality, is referenced in stories, songs and poems. These include early anonymous writer Theta's poem 'Ode to the Dead of Gundagai',^[127] James Riley's 'The Gundagai Calamity',^[128] Jack Moses's 'Nine Miles From Gundagai',^[129] and Jack O'Hagan's songs 'Where the Dog Sits on the Tuckerbox (Five Miles from Gundagai)', 'Along The Road To Gundagai',^[130] 'Snake Gully Swagger',^[131] and 'When a Boy from Alabama Meets a Girl from Gundagai'.^[132] Gundagai also features in the song 'The Grand Old Hills of Gundagai'.^[133] A 1971 educational short film, Mainly for Women, concerned a young woman who migrates from Gundagai to Sydney.^[134] A 2010 short story collection by Jeanine Leane, Purple Threads, won a major literary award, the David Unaipon Award, and was shortlisted for a Commonwealth literary award.^[135]

Other references in literature include Banjo Paterson's 'The Road to Gundagai,'^[136] and the traditional ballad 'Flash Jack from Gundagai'.^[137] The great British folksinger A. L. Lloyd, who spent time in Australia, recorded both the shearing song 'Flash Jack from Gundagai' and 'The Road to Gundagai'.^[138] Additionally, the town is mentioned in Henry Lawson's 'Scots of the Riverina,'^[139] and C. J. Dennis's 'The Traveller'.^[140] Miles Franklin's 'Brent of Bin Bin' saga is set in the area, and it includes an account of the flood of 1852.^[141]

Culture

Sport

 

Aerial view of Anzac Park Oval in Gundagai

The most popular sport in Gundagai is rugby league. The Gundagai Tigers play in the Group 9 Rugby League competition. The club play at Anzac Park Oval, often drawing crowds up to several thousands for derbies against Tumut and Junee.

Cultural events

The Snake Gully Cup festival is held each November featuring the Snake Gully Cup two-day racing carnival. It is one of southern New South Wales' premier race events. The idea of conducting a race called the Snake Gully Cup was originally floated in a committee meeting of the Gundagai Adelong racing club in the early 1970s.^{[citation needed]} The race however did not materialise due to the lack of support from the committee of the day. The idea gained real momentum at the unveiling of the statues of Dad, Dave, Mum and Mabel at the Snake Gully Service Centre in November 1979 when Ted Tout, one of the principles of the centre mentioned the possibility of a Snake Gully Cup being run as a picnic race meeting similar to the popular Bong Bong Cup meeting. In November 1982, the Gundagai Adelong Racing Club conducted a mid-week race meeting as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations for the Dog on the Tuckerbox. The feature race at the meeting was the Snake Gully Flying Handicap, a 1000 metres.^{[citation needed]} The Snake Gully Flying Handicap remained as the feature race of the club's November meeting for the next two years. In 1984 the club applied for TAB status for the 1985 meeting when the proposal was to conduct the first Snake Gully Cup over 1400 metres. The application was unsuccessful. This was the beginning of the Snake Gully Cup in its current format. In 1990 the club once again applied for TAB status for the Cup and were successful in securing this for the 1992 Cup. From that date the Cup has only been conducted on a Friday. The second day of the meet is called 'Hair of the Dog' and is a more family orientated race day.

Gundagai had a 'Mud Muster' put on by the Nowra Mud, Sweat and Beers people, held on 2 April 2016, sponsored by Gundagai Shire Council. The event involves digging large mud pits throughout the highly significant and documented Aboriginal ceremonial ground on the North Gundagai Common and filling those very large and deep holes with water. Then hundreds of competitors wallow through these pits and other obstacles.^[142]

The town's rugby league team competed in the Maher Cup.

The Turning Wave Festival (a music and cultural festival celebrating Irish and Celtic migration to Australia) was held in Gundagai up to 2011, but moved to Yass in 2012.^[143]

Council merger

Gundagai and Cootamundra shires were in 2016 forced to amalgamate into the Cootamundra–Gundagai Regional Council, against the wishes of the Mayor of Gundagai, Abb McAlister,^[144] and many of the town's businesspeople. Signs protesting the amalgamation, sponsored by the Gundagai Council in Exile, have been prominently displayed throughout Gundagai for several years. Five years on, the problems associated with the merger remained an issue.^[145] The Councils were demerged in 2022.

See also

• Gundagai lore

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Gundagai (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 15 December 2022.    Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
2. Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition (2005). Melbourne, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-876429-14-3
3. "Gundagai". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 February 2004. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
4. "News of the Day". The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser (Morning ed.). 17 October 1838. p. 2. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
5. RJE Gormly Index, Letter from the Deputy Surveyor-General, 22 January 1838, in 'Gundagai A Track Winding Back', Cliff Butcher, 2002, A.C. Butcher, Gundagai, p.11
6. NSW Geographic Names Board, Available [online] "Gundagai". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales.  
7. Hovell, W.H. nyg. 'W.H.Hovell Papers' Frames 16-27, pages 20-42, CY Reel 529, Safe 1/32B (Database no. 37) Manuscript Collection, State Library of New South Wales
8. "HUME-HOVELL. The Centenary". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 November 1924. p. 13. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
9. Gundagai Independent, Sheridan Street Gundagai, Thursday 29 September 2011,p.1.
10. Bell, O., 1979, 'Tales of Old Gundagai' by Oscar I. Bell, B.E.M. President of the Gundagai and District Historical Society, Published on the occasion of the Sturt Sesqui-Centenary, 1979, p.3. Bell says it was Ben Warby at Mingay but cites 67-78 below establish that it was William Warby, Ben Warby's brother At 'Minghee'/'Mingay'.
11. Sturt, C. 1844 'Course of the Hume River, From the Hilly Districts to the Junction of the Morumbidgee', in "Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London", Vo. 14, pp.141-144
12. . Archived from the original on 29 August 2007.
13. Brodribb, W. A. (William Adams); Royal Australian Historical Society (1978), Recollections of an Australian squatter, 1835-1883, John Ferguson in association with the Royal Australian Historical Society, pp.13-14, ISBN 978-0-909134-12-9
14. Russell, P. (ed.), (2002), 'This Errant Lady, Jane Franklin's Overland Journey to Port Phillip and Sydney, 1839, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2002, p.76.
15. EYRE, Edward John – Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
16. "FIRST OF THE OVERLANDERS". The Register. Adelaide. 6 August 1915. p. 9. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
17. "DEPOSITIONS". Southern Australian. Adelaide. 30 July 1841. p. 4. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
18. "MR. EYRE'S REPORT OF HIS EXPEDITION OVERLAND". The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser (MORNING ed.). 25 March 1839. p. 6. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
19. "Australian Royalty". Archived from the original on 30 December 2012.
20. "Wereboldera Farming Area". Blowering Valley Homepage. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
21. "BATHURST". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. NSW. 12 May 1832. p. 3. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia. The 'Ellis' referred to is likely Hillas as noted in a court case at the NSW Supreme Court involving him. Also, what is now 'Hillas Creek' was also once referred to as 'Ellis Creek'.
22. "A Notable Pioneer". The Argus. Melbourne. 12 March 1921. p. 4. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
23. Family history states 19 August near Gundagai (reference "An Index of Australian Wills Families: Descendants of Edward Spencer Wills". Tom Wills. Tom Wills. 2006. Retrieved 12 August 2015.)
24. "Aboriginal Group 1925". Australian Museum. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
25. "Canberra". The Argus. Melbourne. 11 May 1927. p. 19. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
26. Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Retrieved 11 June 2009.
27. "Tumut Branch". nswrail.net. Retrieved 11 December 2006.
28. "Kunama Branch". nswrail.net. Retrieved 11 December 2006.
29. "ABORIGINES". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 November 1844. p. 2. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
30. "Sydney News". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. NSW. 7 July 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
31. Wright, W Davis (1923), Canberra, John Andrew and Company, Sydney, p.65
32. Wayne Doubleday. "Gundagai's Great Flood" (PDF). Charles Sturt University.
33. Carr, Bob: (Maroubra—Premier, Minister for the Arts, and Minister for Citizenship) (25 June 2002). . NSW Legislative Assembly Hansard; Ministerial statement. Parliament of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 14 January 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
34. "Gundagai's Unsung Heroes". OurMob. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017. With video.
35. Jane Sullivan (June 2021). "River of Dreams". Australian Book Review. No. 432. Australian Book Review Inc. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
36. Beejay Silcox (21 May 2021). "Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss review – a mighty and generous heartsong". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
37. EYRE'S JOURNEY ACROSS THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN BIGHT
38. "SYDNEY POLICE COURT.—TUESDAY". The Empire. Sydney. 15 September 1852. p. 2. Retrieved 30 July 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
39. State Records of NSW, The Surveyor General's Maps and Plans, map G.7.1028, 1850, Showing the Proposed Extension of the Town of North and South Gundagai, Surveyor Larmer, and map G1028d, 1845, Survey of the Site proposed by Commissioner Bingham as an addition to the town of Gundagai on the South Bank of the Murrumbidgee River, Surveyor J. Larmer
40. Bannister, C., 1996, 7000 Brave Australians: A History of the Royal Humane Society of Australasia 1874–1994, Case Number 1054, Royal Humane Society of Australasia Inc., Victoria, p.46
41. "LAW". The Australian. Sydney. 5 February 1839. p. 2. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
42. "Supreme Court". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. NSW. 5 February 1839. p. 2. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
43. "IN THE EARLY DAYS". The Morning Bulletin. Rockhampton, Qld. 12 June 1909. p. 10. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
44. "YASS". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 December 1843. p. 2. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
45. "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 November 1846. p. 3. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
46. "Sydney News". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. NSW. 6 April 1850. p. 4. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
47. "WINDSOR". The Empire. Sydney. 25 February 1862. p. 5. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
48. "THE SYDNEY MONTHLY OVERLAND MAIL". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 August 1861. p. 5. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
49. "THE BUSHRANGER PEISLEY". Bell's Life in Sydney and Sporting Chronicle. NSW. 8 February 1862. p. 4. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
50. "SYDNEY NEWS". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. NSW. 1 May 1862. p. 3. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
51. "Local & General Intelligence". Queanbeyan Age and General Advertiser. NSW. 17 December 1863. p. 3. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
52. "GOULBURN". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 April 1864. p. 5. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
53. . Walkabout: Australian Travel Guide. Fairfax Digital. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2006.
54. "WAGGA WAGGA CIRCUIT COURT". The Empire. Sydney. 31 October 1866. p. 5. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
55. "GOLD in ADELONG, NSW". THE BEAUTIFUL BLOWERING VALLEY.
56. "CHRONICLE OF OCCURRENCES—1869". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 January 1870. p. 2. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
57. "Miscellaneous Items,". Australian Town and Country Journal. Sydney. 4 July 1874. p. 11. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
58. "[REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.]". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide. 23 January 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
59. "GUNDAGAI". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 January 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
60. "GUNDAGAI". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. Vol. XXXVI, no. 4804. New South Wales, Australia. 20 February 1879. p. 3 – via National Library of Australia.
61. . Australian Bushrangers. Ned Kelly's World. 1999. Archived from the original on 6 October 2000. Retrieved 12 July 2006.
62. Heydon, Ian (2006). . Australian Travel Stories. The Small Guide to a Big Country. Archived from the original on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 12 July 2006.
63. "Spies in Depots". The Sun-Herald. Sydney. 22 August 1954. p. 1. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
64. "ORGANISED LOOTING ALARMS TRUCK". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 21 August 1954. p. 1. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
65. "Sam, the Sundowner. "MY WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS."". Australian Town and Country Journal. Sydney. 21 December 1889. p. 20. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
66. ""ROAD TO GUNDAGAI."". The Register. Adelaide. 10 June 1926. p. 15. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
67. "Unemployed at Gundagai". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 February 1901. p. 5. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
68. "LATEST SPECIAL TELEGRAMS [FROM GREVILLE'S TELEGRAM COMPANY.] SYDNEY". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. NSW. 7 February 1884. p. 5. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
69. "Old Steamers on the Murray". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 18 July 1953. p. 8. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
70. "RIVER MURRAY NAVIGATION". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 24 September 1855. p. 3. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
71. "ALBURY". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 October 1856. p. 3. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
72. "WANGANUI". National Library of New Zealand. Hawke's Bay Herald. 18 February 1865. p. 3.
73. Papers Past — New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian — 11 March 1865 — Camp, Patea River, Thursday, 16 February
74. Papers Past — Wellington Independent — 3 July 1866 — WRECK OF THE P.S. GUNDAGAI
75. "THE MURRUMBIDGEE". Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser (EVENINGS. ed.). Vic. 4 October 1858. p. 2. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
76. "NAVIGATION OF THE MURRUMBIDGEE". The South Australian Advertiser. Adelaide. 2 October 1858. p. 2. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
77. "Internal Navigation". The Empire. Sydney. 3 February 1855. p. 4. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
78. "LOWER MURRUMBIDGEE". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 August 1865. p. 5. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
79. "Murray River Wrecks". Encyclopedia of Australian Shipwrecks.
80. "Paddle Steamers".
81. (PDF). The Murrumbidgee Field Naturalists Inc. March 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2014. however the following URL says "James Warby".
82. "WRECK OF A STEAMER ON THE MURRAY". The Evening Post. Papers Past. 20 September 1870.
83. McDougall, Garry. "Belonging".
84. Santamaria, Catherine (1981). "Gabriel, Charles Louis (1857–1927)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 11 March 2008. See also "Gundagai photograph collection, taken by Dr C.L. Gabriel, from the Butcher and Bell collections". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
85. Dr Louis Gabriel. "Belonging". Facebook. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
86. "Averages for GUNDAGAI (WILLIAM ST) 1995–2011". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
87. . State of the Environment Reporting for the Australian Capital Region. ACT Commissioner for the Environment. 2006. Archived from the original on 20 June 2006. Retrieved 18 July 2006.
88. Geological Series Sheet 8527 (Edition 1)1990, Australia1:100 000, Tumut Mineralogical Map.
89. Stern, H., De Hoedt, G., and Ernst, J.: Objective classification of Australian climates, Aust. Meteorol. Mag., 49, 87–96, 2000.
90. "Gundagai rail bridge over Murrumbidgee River". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning and Environment. H01039. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
91. "Gundagai Railway Station and yard group". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning and Environment. H01159. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
92. "Prince Alfred Bridge - Iron Road Bridge". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning and Environment. H02022. Retrieved 18 February 2020.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
93. . Gundagai Shire Council. 2005. Archived from the original on 1 May 2006. Retrieved 12 July 2006.
94. Mundy, Godfrey Charles (1852). Our Antipodes or, Residence and Rambles in the Australasian Colonies, with a Glimpse of the Goldfields. Originally published by Richard Bentley, London; digital publication by The Sydney Electronic Text and Image Service (SETIS), part of the University of Sydney Library. p. 669. Retrieved 25 August 2006.
95. "LONG TUNNEL MINE". Evening News. 9 February 1912. p. 14. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
96. Hoover's assay bowl is at Gundagai Museum
97. Mine Record, Prince of Wales Mine, Lachlan Division, Mine record 1621, 7 June 1901, and Mine Record, Robinson and Rice's Mine, Gundagai Mining Division, Mine Record 32, 20 May 1901, Available online 3 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
98. Victoria [map] Bartholomew, John, 1805–1860. 1853 Victoria Historical MAPS MX 820 a 1853 Available [online] . Archived from the original on 8 December 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
99. Butcher, C. Gundagai: A Track Winding Back, p.107
100. Department of Mines, Geological Survey No 14, 1924,Available online 3 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
101. Asbestos Hill Gundagai Map 8527-4-N Topographic Map 1:25,000 Second edition NSW Australia
102. Joan Kerr; photo: Jeff Carter (1928–2010). "The Dog on the Tuckerbox". abloveridge.com. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
103. Butcher, C. 2002, Gundagai A Track Winding Back', A.C.Butcher, Gundagai, pp 212-213.
104. Kerr, Joan (1988). "Rusconi, Francis Philip (1874 - 1964)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
105. McGirr, Michael (14 February 2005). "The road most travelled". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 July 2006.
106. "Australia's oldest continuously Greek-run cafe, Niagara Café at Gundagai, listed". www.propertyobserver.com.au. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
107. Williams, Sue (19 August 2019). "Gundagai's famous Niagara Cafe for sale for only the second time in a century". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
108. "The Niagara Café". Visit Gundagai. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
109. . State of the Environment Reporting for the Australian Capital Region. ACT Commissioner for the Environment. 2004. Archived from the original on 19 September 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2006.
110. "Gundagai rail bridge over Murrumbidgee River". NSW Heritage Office listing. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
111. "Gundagai Railway Station and yard group". NSW Heritage Office listing. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
112. "Gundagai Courthouse, Sheridan St, Gundagai, NSW, Australia (Place ID 707)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
113. "Gundagai Rail Bridge Approaches, Gundagai, NSW, Australia (Place ID 15895)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
114. "Old Gundagai Town Site, Middleton Dr, Gundagai, NSW, Australia (Place ID 101275)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
115. "Prince Alfred Bridge, Gundagai, NSW, Australia (Place ID 703)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
116. "Hillas Creek Bridge". Heritage and conservation register. Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales. 2004. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
117. "Prince Alfred Bridge over Murrumbidgee River". Heritage and conservation register. Roads and Traffic Authority (NSW). 2004. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
118. "Sydney News". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. NSW. 6 September 1851. p. 4. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
119. "PROGRESS IN BRIDGE BUILDING". The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser. NSW. 21 November 1863. p. 2. Retrieved 4 December 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
120. "To the Editor of the Herald". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 December 1868. p. 6. Retrieved 16 September 2011 – via National Library of Australia.
121. 'Main Roads' Vol 3 No. 6 February 1932 p. 86
122. "Prince Alfred Bridge Over Murrumbidgee River". Heritage Branch. New South Wales Government. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
123. 'Main Roads' Vol 3 No. 6 February 1932 p. 87
124. . Law and History New South Wales: Attorneys General. Lawlink NSW. 1999. Archived from the original on 27 November 2005. Retrieved 21 August 2006.
125. . Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. Nation Building program. Archived from the original on 24 October 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
126. Peter Pierce, ed. (1987). The Oxford Literary Guide to Australia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. pp. 44–46.
127. "ORIGINAL POETRY". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 August 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
128. "Original Poetry". Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal. NSW. 25 September 1852. p. 2. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
129. Moses 1939. sfn error: no target: CITEREFMoses1939 (help)
130. National Film and Sound Archive: Along the Road to Gundagai on australianscreen online
131. O'Hagan, Jack, (1932) Music Australia, Sound File Available [online] http://www.musicaustralia.org/apps/MA?function=showDetail&currentBibRecord=000025464182&itemSeq=NaN&total=&returnFunction=viewTheme&
132. . Brighton General Cemetery – Historic interments. Archived from the original on 18 May 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
133. Alexander, John,. The grand old hills of Gundagai [music] : song 1920–1929, lyric Smith, Ada, Digital Collections, Music, Available [online] http://nla.gov.au/nla.mus-an12047349
134. Mainly For Women. YouTube/Film Australia Collection. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
135. Jeanine Leane 4 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
136. Patterson, A. B. "The Road to Gundagai". staff page of the University of Queensland. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
137. "Flash Jack from Gundagai". Australian Folk Songs. folkstream.com Australian traditional songs . . . a selection by Mark Gregory. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
138. "Flash Jack from Gundagai (Roud 24704)".
139. Lawson, Henry (1917). . Selected Poems of Henry Lawson. ghostwolf.dyndns.org. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2008. His name must never be mentioned on the farm by Gundagai— // They were Scots of the Riverina with ever the kirk hard by. ... There were tears at the Grahame homestead and grief in Gundagai; ...
140. "THE TRAVELLER by C J Dennis". middlemiss.org. Retrieved 16 March 2008. As I rode in to Gundagai, //I met a man and passed him by // Without a nod, without a word. // He turned, and said he'd never heard // Or seen a man so wise as I. // But I rode on to Gundagai.
141. Birtles, Terry (1 November 2006). "Miles Franklin and her 'Brindabella' childhood". M A R G I N: life & letters in early Australia / Mulini Press. Retrieved 16 March 2008. This book first appeared in 1936 in 'The Bulletin' as a serial under the pen-name of 'Brent of Bin Bin' and it presents Stella's grandfather [Joseph Franklin] with some accuracy. ... Because family fortunes were at low ebb, Joseph then set out for the Victorian gold-fields in 1852, the year that floods washed away the first settlements at Gundagai, Tumut and even part of Yass. Crossing a flooded river south of Gundagai, Joseph lost his saddle and swag and almost died of hunger as a consequence.
142. "Gundagai – Mud Muster".
143. . Gundagai Shire Council. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2006.
144. Morphet, Jack (13 May 2016). "Council Mergers: Former Gundagai mayor takes on Baird government". The Daily Advertiser. Fairfax Regional Media. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
145. "Upper House votes in favour of a demerger". The Gundagai Independent. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.

Notes

• Moses, Jack (1939). Nine miles from Gundagai. Angus & Robertson.

Further reading

• Gard, Stephen. Once Upon a Hume, Volumes IV and V. Bluedawe Books, 2019. ISBN 978-0-9924751-4-7

External links

•   Media related to Gundagai at Wikimedia Commons
•   Gundagai travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Niagara Cafe in Gundagai listed for sale