ALBURY & DISTRICT TIMELINE Please advise any corrections or omissions to
[email protected] This timeline is to reflect more recent interpretations of history. Pre- Pre-European settlement: Indigenous people occupied this part of the Murray Valley for 1824 tens of thousands of years. By the 1820s those in the Albury district spoke a Wiradjuri language, though may have recently displaced a group known as the Jeihi. Different language groups occupied areas south of the Murray. Most people would have spoken more than one language. The Wiradjuri, the largest nation in NSW, occupied a large west of the Great Dividing Range. In 1824, Wiradjuri warriors, led by Windradyne, fought a war against the British in the Bathers district, ending in an extermination campaign that massacred indigenous men, women and children. Weeks later, and against this background, Hume and Hovell led an expedition through Wiradjuri country from Yass to Albury, but encountered no hostility from the Wiradjuri. Historians believe that in the 1840s Aboriginal groups in the Albury-Wodonga region were still numerous. In later decades, many died as a consequence of settler violence, being pushed off their lands and contracting diseases brought by the Europeans. Aboriginal occupation of the district began as early as 40,000 years ago – it was Wiradjuri Ngurambanggu country, an area known as Bungambrawatha; the Murray River was known as Milawa Billa; the meeting ground east of Albury known as Mungabareena; and Dight’s Hill to the west of Albury known as Jingera. A large rock, has been placed at Mungabareena inscribed, ‘Gawaimbanna-Gu Wiradjuri Nguranban’ – ‘Welcome to Wiradjuri Country.’ Official unveiling ceremony November 19, 1994 by Mayor Jim Paterson and Pastor Cec Grant Wiradjuri elder.