Page 6 Roots May 2004

ON THIS BEND OF THE RIVER submitted by Grace Willoughby In 1993 the District celebrated their Centenary of Settlement, which had taken place in 1893. The Centenary Committee arranged a full weekend of celebrations and events October 8-11, not the least being the launch of the district history by Miss Grace Willoughby, using “Back to Nyah- 1974” booklet by Mrs. Alice Lockhart as a base. She called it “On This bend of the River” Nyah is an aboriginal word meaning ‘bend of the river’ which was well known by all the early settlers and told to all new arrivals. Nyah is also the last four letters of the early name for – namely Bungunyah meaning ‘very bendy river’. From a list of Aboriginal words and their meanings we learnt that Nyah = “This Bend of the River”- the river is all bends and all are nearly the same, surely! More recently Mr. Doug Nicholls told us that this bend here is in fact the nearest point on the river for the Boorung tribe from west of , to reach the river – a very practical reason for the use of the word and its context, I suggest. He also said that the lake marked the tribal boundaries of the Wadi Wadi and Boonung people and was a place where the two tribes met for sharing corroborees, and in particular, teaching about the constellations of the heavens and the mysteries of the great white lake legends. In 1993 this story of the Nyah District sold well, in fact sold out, and was still being asked for, four and five years later, so that it was decided to find out whether or not enough people wanted copies. The survey results of 60 “yes please” encouraged us and we applied for a Grant to cover printing costs from the Local History – Victorian Government Grants Commission in 2000 and again in 2001 then learnt that they did not give grants for REPRINTS! Full stop! The Nyah District Action Group which had backed both of these applications, then started to think that maybe they could fund these costs, after the several projects they were already involved in, were completed – this took place in 2003. We were encouraged to include an update of the years 1993-2003 and also the names of all local men and women who had enlisted in WW1 and WW2, also those non-locals who became local citizens on Soldier Settlement blocks, or through marriage to locals, this finally included the Boar War and Vietnam conflict, all becoming part and parcel of life in our district. We did this because only the names of those who died during war service are recorded on Memorials throughout the Municipality, yet there is no record of all those who likewise faced the horrors of war, fought for their country and its future and often suffered the results of war wounds for many following years, while others died as a result of their war service, often not long after returning home. There are also pictures and information about our Centenary celebrations. Copies are available for $20.00 from the Swan Hill Library, Nyah, Nyah West and Koraleigh Post Offices, Milk Bars and Stores. One local who for personal reasons would not buy a copy of the 1993 book has decided he missed much good reading and enjoyment from that mistake, so having now read and re-read this reprint has thought it so worthwhile he has bought 5 copies for various family members and others have done likewise. May you also find it well worth buying, reading and learning about your districts’ story, its ups and downs, its mistakes and its progress.

The Public Record Office of has now released many new records online for researchers. Website address: http://www.prov.vic.gov.au

Some of these include Mental Asylum Records: VPRS 7446/P1 Alphabetical List of Patients in Asylums, 1849-1885 VPRS 7427/P1 Nominal Register of Patients, Ararat Asylum, 1867-1906 VPRS 7426/P1 Nominal Register of Patients, Asylum, 1893-1907 VPRS 7428/P1 Nominal Register of Patients, Ballarat/Sunbury Asylums 1877-1907 VPRS 8236/P1 Register of patients, Ballarat/Sunbury Asylums, 1877-1920 VPRS 7395/P1 Case Books of Male Patients, Beechworth Asylum, 1867-1912 VPRS 7396/P1 Case Books of Female Patients, Beechworth Asylum 1878-1912 VPRS 7493/P1 Register of Patients, Receiving Ward, 1874-1908 VPRS 7721/P1 Register of Patients, Collingwood Asylum, 1866-1873 VPRS 7425/P1 Nominal Register of Patients, Kew Asylum, 1871-1906 VPRS 7690/P1 Nominal Register of Patients, Kew Asylum, 1871-1914 VPRS 7680/P1 Register of Patients Kew Asylum, 1871-1919 VPRS 7423/P1 Nominal Register of Patients, Royal Park Hospital for the Insane, 1907-1913 VPRS 7490/P1 Asylum Records (Case Books) Sunnyside Licensed House,1905-1915 VPRS 7422/P1 Index to Male and Female Case Books, Yarra Bend Asylum, 1848-1912