This timeline is a selected list of events and locations of the development of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Date | Event | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
c 120,000 BP | Wolfe Creek Crater formed by meteorite impact | Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater National Park | |
17-25,000 BP | Estimated age of Gwion Gwion (Bradshaws) rock art | Roe River | |
c 4000 BP | Estimated age of Wandjina rock art | North-West Kimberley | |
1688 | William Dampier, first European to the region, sails along the coast | Cape Leveque and King Sound | [1] |
1699 | William Dampier return journey, leaves after an altercation with Indigenous Australians after a man is killed | [1] | |
c 1720 | Visits of Makassan trepang fishermen begin | Niiwalarra | |
1803 | Nicolas Baudin sails along the coast charting Cape Bougainville | Admiralty Gulf | [2] |
1819 | Philip Parker King sails along the coast in HMS Mermaid surveying the coastline | Cambridge Gulf and King Sound | |
1820 | HMS Mermaid grounded and repaired at Careening Cove, Coronation Island | Coronation Island | |
1837 | Lieutenants George Grey and Franklin Lushington, and 12 men sailed on the schooner Lynher from Cape Town to Hanover Bay and explore inland | Hanover Bay | |
1861 | The giant North West pearl oyster the Pinctada maxima was discovered in Roebuck Bay by the crew of the Dolphin. | Roebuck Bay and Eighty Mile Beach | [3][4] |
1864 | First white settlement made at Camden Harbour, soon abandoned | Camden Sound | |
1865 | La Grange expedition shoots dead several Aboriginal men in retaliation for deaths of three white men | Lagrange Bay | |
1879 | Alexander Forrest trekked across from the western coast to the Northern Territory. Forrest named the Kimberley district, Margaret River, Ord River and the King Leopold Ranges | Kimberley | |
1879 | Charles Harper suggested to the Legislative Council that Roebuck Bay be set up as a port for the pearling industry | Roebuck Bay | [1] |
1880 | The Murray Squatting Company take up leases in the newly opened West Kimberley | Yeeda | |
1881 | The Kimberley Squatting Company take up the lease for Liveringa Station | Liveringa | [5] |
1881 | First ships using pearl diving equipment arrive in Roebuck Bay, revolutionizing the pearling industry | Roebuck Bay | [3][4] |
1882 | The Victorian Squatting Company take up leases on the Drysdale River | Drysdale River Station | [6] |
1883 | The townsite of Derby is named and established with a Government resident | Derby | [7] |
1883 | Townsite for Broome chosen by John Forrest, town proclaimed later the same year | Broome | [1] |
1883 | Leases issued to the MacDonald and MacKenzie families for lands along the Fitzroy River | Fossil Downs Station | [8] |
1885 | Construction of wooden jetty at Derby completed | Derby | [7] |
1885 | Gold rush at Halls Creek following discovery by prospectors Charles Hall and John Slattery | Halls Creek | [9] |
1885 | Gogo cattle station established by the Emanuel family | Gogo Station | |
1886 | Townsite of for Wyndham chosen by John Forrest | Wyndham | |
1887 | 140 lives lost when pearling fleet hit by cyclone | off Broome | |
1887 | Lots at townsite for Halls Creek laid out | Halls Creek | [9] |
1887 | Apostolic Vicariate of Kimberley (later Catholic Diocese of Broome) established | Broome | |
1889 | Broome connected to Java by telegraph cable landed at Cable Beach | Cable Beach | |
1890 | Trappist monks establish Beagle Bay mission | Beagle Bay | |
1891 | Pastoralist Joseph Bradshaw discovers Gwion Gwion rock paintings | Roe River | |
1893 | Michael and Patrick Durack establish Carlton Hill and Ivanhoe cattle stations | Carlton Hill Station and Ivanhoe Station | [10] |
1894 | Townsite of Halls Creek gazetted | Halls Creek | [9] |
1894 | Shootout between posse of white police and settlers and aboriginal band led by Jandamarra | Windjana Gorge | |
1897 | Jandamarra shot dead by tracker Micki | Tunnel Creek | |
1900 | Daisy Bates visits Beagle Bay and Broome and reports on conditions | Broome, Beagle Bay | |
1908 | Construction of wells along Canning Stock Route commences | Halls Creek | |
1908 | Benedictines establish Drysdale River Mission | Kalumburu | |
1908 | Irish Sisters of St John of God establish convent in Broome | Broome | [11] |
1910 | Construction of wells along Canning Stock Route completed | Wiluna | |
1913 | Forrest River Mission re-established by Anglican Church, run by Ernest Gribble | Oombulgurri | |
1915 | Several indigenous people killed in Mistake Creek massacre | Mistake Creek, near Lake Argyle | |
1916 | Sun Picture Gardens outdoor cinema opens | Broome | |
1918 | Beagle Bay church with pearl shell altar opened | Beagle Bay | |
1920 | Broome race riots between Japanese and Indonesians, leaving 8 dead | Broome | |
1926 | Punitive expedition kills unknown number of Aboriginal persons in Forrest River massacre | Oombulgurri | |
1931 | Fr Worms begins research on Yawuru langauage and culture | Broome | |
1932 | Two German aviators rescued by aboriginal fishermen after forced landing on Kimberley coast | Berkeley River | |
1936 | Derby Leprosarium opened, staffed by nuns led by Sr Mary Gertrude. | Derby | [12] |
1938 | Australia's only order of aboriginal nuns founded | Broome | [13] |
1939 | Isaac Steinberg arrives in Perth to promote Kimberley Plan to resettle Jewish refugees in northern Australia | Perth | |
1942 | Japanese planes attack Broome, killing at least 88 | Broome | |
1943 | Drysdale River mission bombed by Japanese, killing 6 | Kalumburu | |
1944 | Construction of Mungalalu Truscott Airbase completed | Mungalalu Truscott Airbase | |
1945 | Frank Lacy established Mount Elizabeth cattle station | Mount Elizabeth Station | [14] |
1949 | Air Beef Scheme commences operation | Glenroy Station | [9] |
1949 | Townsite of Halls Creek moved 12 kilometres (7 mi) west after flooding and regazetted | Halls Creek | [9] |
1951 | BHP commence mining Iron ore at Cockatoo Island | Cockatoo Island | [15] |
1957 | Lease for Home Valley taken up by Harold MacNamara | Home Valley Station | [16] |
1959 | Construction of barrages and 17-mile dam completed for Camballin Irrigation Scheme | Camballin | [17] |
1959 | BHP commence mining Iron ore at Koolan Island | Koolan Island | [18] |
1959 | Mary Durack's book Kings in Grass Castles tells the story of her grandfather Patrick Durack's overland trek from Queensland to the Kimberley | ||
1960 | Construction of Ord River Diversion dam commences | Ord River | |
1961 | Townsite for Kununurra is proclaimed | Kununura | [19] |
1962 | Air Beef Scheme operations cease | Glenroy Station | [20] |
1963 | Construction of Ord River Diversion dam completed forming Lake Kununurra | Lake Kununurra | [21] |
1967 | Nurse and aviator Robin Miller begins outback flights delivering polio vaccine | ||
1969 | Construction of Ord River main dam commences | Ord River | |
1972 | Construction of Ord River main dam completed forming Lake Argyle | Lake Argyle | [21] |
1975 | Townsite of Fitzroy Crossing is gazetted, town has existed since the 1900s | Fitzroy Crossing | |
1978 | Kimberley Land Council formed | Noonkanbah Station | |
1983 | Construction of RAAF Curtin commences | Derby | |
1983 | Camballin Irrigation Scheme abandoned | Camballin | [22] |
1984 | Pearl Coast Zoo opened as part of Lord Alistair McAlpine's tourist developments | Broome | |
1985 | Argyle diamond mine opens | Lake Argyle | |
1987 | Three murdered by the "Kimberley Killer" Joseph Schwab | Pentecost River | |
1988 | Construction of RAAF Curtin completed | Derby | [23] |
1990 | Premiere of Jimmy Chi's musical Bran Nue Dae | Perth | |
1993 | BHP cease mining Iron ore at Koolan Island | Koolan Island | [18] |
1994 | Broome campus of University of Notre Dame Australia opened | Broome | |
2000 | Cyclone Rosita causes severe damage in Broome area | Broome | |
2002 | Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre closed after riots | RAAF Curtin | |
2003 | Miriuwung and Gajerrong native title claim recognised by Federal Court | Kununurra | |
2003 | Purnululu National Park declared a World Heritage Site | Purnululu National Park | |
2006 | Mining and processing commences at Coyote Gold Mine | Coyote Gold Mine | |
2007 | Mount Gibson Iron commence mining Iron ore at Koolan Island | Koolan Island | [18] |
2007 | Filming of Baz Luhrmann movie Australia | Kununurra | |
2008 | Filming of Bran Nue Dae musical comedy-drama | Broome, Djarindjin | |
2008 | Documentary film Yajilarra portrays indigenous women's fight against violence in Fitzroy Crossing area | Fitzroy Crossing | |
2011 | Oombulgurri Community closed down after history of violence | Oombulgurri | |
2014 | Mount Gibson Iron suspend mining Iron ore at Koolan Island | Koolan Island | [18] |
2017 | Fitzroy Crossing woman June Oscar appointed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner | ||
2019 | WA Coroner reports on inquest into 13 aboriginal child deaths by hanging | Perth | [24] |
2020 | Argyle diamond mine closes | ||
2022 | Cyclone Ellie causes record flooding | Fitzroy River | |
2022 | Multiple injuries in tour boat accident at Horizontal Falls | Horizontal Falls |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d "Broome history". Broome Visitor Information Centre. 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ "Nicolas Baudin's Scientific Expedition To The Terres Australes". 2001. Archived from the original on 15 October 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Broome History Overview". Broome Holidays. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Pearling". Cable Beach Club. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ "Register of Heritage places – Assessment Documentation" (PDF). Heritage Council of Western Australia. 11 December 1998. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ "History". Drysdale River Station. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Derby History". Derby Visitor Centre. 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ Wendy Birman (1974). "Macdonald, Charles (1851–1903)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ a b c d e "Halls Creek Suburb Profile". REIWA. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ "Carlton Hill". Consolidated Pastoral Company. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ "Sisters of St John of God Kimberley". Retrieved 28 October 2024.
- ^ "Derby Leprosarium". Find & Connect. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
- ^ Choo, Christine (2019). "Daughters of Our Lady Queen of the Apostles: The first and only order of Aboriginal nuns in Australia, 1938-1951" (PDF). Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society. 40: 103–30. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
- ^ "Mt Elizabeth Gibb River Road Australia". Discover Australia. 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ "Iron ore in Western Australia" (PDF). PDF. Department of Industry and Resources. 1995. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ "History of Karunjie Station". Indigenous Land Corporation. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ "Agriculture in the West Kimberley" (PDF). Environs Kimberley. 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Koolan Island". Mount Gibson Iron. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ "1961 Kununurra Townsite Proclamation". Kimberley Historical Society. 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ "MMA Air Beef Scheme". AussieAirliners. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Ord river Irrigation Scheme". Lake Argyle. 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ Jane O'Sullivan (14 August 2015). "The Kimberley, future Asian food bowl". University of Queensland. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ New RAAF Base Opened Australian Aviation issue 46 September 1988 page 8
- ^ Fogliani, R V C (2019). "Inquest into the 13 Deaths of Children and Young Persons in the Kimberley Region". Coroner's Court of Western Australia. Retrieved 17 October 2024.