1863: Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve established
William Barak and the Aboriginal community of Coranderrk
Coranderrk was established as a reserve for the Aboriginal people of south-central Victoria, operated under Australia’s first administrative framework to ‘manage’ Aboriginal affairs, an approach later adopted throughout the country.
Coranderrk’s residents fought against efforts to control their lives. Their sustained resistance is often cited as among the first Indigenous campaigns for land rights and self-determination.
William Barak, statement to the Victorian Parliamentary Coranderrk Inquiry, 1881:
And we don’t want any Board nor inspecting Capt. Page over us – only one man, that is Mr. Green, and the station to be under the Chief Secretary; and then we will show to the country that we can work it and make it pay, and I know it will.
The Indigenous population of Victoria was estimated to be at least 11,500 before the founding of Melbourne in 1835.
Less than 30 years later frontier violence and the introduction of European diseases had decimated the population and only about 2,000 Aboriginal people survived. Europeans thought Aboriginal people were a dying race.
Social reformers in Britain, alarmed about the devastation of Indigenous populations throughout the empire, prompted an investigation by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Aboriginal Tribes (British Settlements).
The resulting ‘Buxton Report’ of 1837, recommended the enactment of special laws to protect Indigenous people.
The New South Wales colonial government’s response to the report was to establish the Port Phillip Protectorate in 1838 with five officials appointed to advocate for Indigenous people’s interests in conflicts with European settlers. Underfunded and subject to political interference, it was disbanded in 1849.
In January 1859 the Victorian Select Committee recommended reserving large tracts of land for Aboriginal people to protect them from European predations and diseases. Many settlers, whose population had grown significantly in Victoria since the discovery of gold, opposed setting aside productive land for Indigenous people.
In 1860 the Central Board Appointed to Watch Over the Interests of the Aborigines was established and made responsible for:
Indigenous affairs was further regulated in 1869 with the passing of the Aborigines Protection Act, which replaced the Central Board with the Board for the Protection of the Aborigines. The board had power over many aspects of Indigenous peoples’ lives including where they could live and work.
This administrative system was the first of its kind in the Australian colonies, establishing a standard of management later adopted throughout the nation.
In early 1863 about 40 people from several Kulin clans walked over the Dandenong Ranges, to Coranderrk.
Three years earlier, settlers had driven them from a site by the Acheron River to a location on the Mohican pastoral run, which they were forced to abandon because of its cold climate.
Clan leaders Simon Wonga and William Barak with John Green, the government appointed inspector and manager at the Mohican site, led the group to a traditional camp at the junction of the Yarra River and Badger Creek.
In May 1863 Barak and Wonga led a deputation to Melbourne to present an address to Governor Sir Henry Barkly about their need for a permanent homeland. It was the first of many delegations by Kulin leaders from Coranderrk.
In June 1863, 2300 acres were gazetted as a reserve for Coranderrk Aboriginal Station. Indigenous testimony shows that Coranderrk was productive and profitable in its early years.
Green’s management supported the Kulin peoples’ autonomy in developing the station and was respectful of Indigenous traditions. Residents’ literacy increased and a better diet led to improved health.
Coranderrk was a popular tourist destination and the sale of baskets, bags, boomerangs and skin rugs, made by women and elderly men, contributed significantly to the station’s income. Coranderrk’s woven goods, which were particularly admired, were stocked by a Collins Street shop in 1869.
From 1872, some board members who disapproved of Green’s view that the Kulin people should run the station, worked to undermine his authority. Green’s resignation in 1874 was a turning point for the Coranderrk community.
Subsequent European managers, acting in accordance with the board’s direction and the paternalistic view of Indigenous people as ‘child-like’, were authoritarian. They disciplined individuals and directed every day life.
Food supplies were cut and residents could only obtain meat if they went into debt to the local butcher. Incompetent and uncaring administration led to derelict housing, inadequate medical attention and a lack of warm clothing for residents.
As living conditions at Coranderrk deteriorated, the community protested.
William Barak, Thomas Bamfield, Robert Wandin and others led many delegations along the 67-kilometre walk from Coranderrk to Melbourne to deliver written petitions and to talk to politicians and officials.
Conditions at Coranderrk in the 1870s and 1880s became a progressive cause in Melbourne society. Barak and Bamfield were particularly adept at working with European allies, like politician Graham Berry and philanthropist Anne Bon, to bring the demands of Coranderrk residents to public attention.
Coranderrk became the subject of many newspaper articles and questions in parliament. Management of the reserve was investigated as part of the 1877 Royal Commission on the Aborigines.
At a parliamentary inquiry in 1881 Kulin leaders and individuals were called to testify.
In 1886 the Victorian Government adopted a new policy to regulate the lives of Indigenous people under the Aboriginal Protection Law Amendment Act, commonly known as the ‘Half-Caste Act’.
The law required that Aboriginal people with European ancestry aged between 15 and 35 leave reserves such as Coranderrk to undertake employment and ‘absorption’ into the general white community. While a deputation of Coranderrk leaders protested against the proposed law, they could not prevent its adoption.
The law struck at the very identity of the Kulin people. It had a devastating impact on the community at Coranderrk and other Aboriginal stations, halving resident populations and splitting families.
Jemima Donelly wrote to Board for the Protection of the Aborigines Secretary, William J Ditchburn, on 16 December 1913 asking, ‘for permission for my three sons to stay with me at Coranderrk through the Christmas Holidays for a fortnight. kindly oblige …’
Despite their efforts, the Coranderrk community could not overcome overwhelming pressure from settlers and developers to sell or lease portions of Coranderrk. Pressure intensified as the implementation of the ‘Half-Caste Act’ reduced the number of Kulin people at Coranderrk to 31 by 1893.
Coranderrk was officially closed as an Aboriginal station in 1924. From the 1890s portions had been carved off the holding, acres leased and an illegal road built. The last Kulin resident died in 1944.
In 1948 the remaining reserve was divided up for soldier settlement.
In 1991 Coranderrk cemetery was handed back to the Wurundjeri people. Over the next decade, an additional 119 hectares of Coranderrk was acquired by the Kulin people.
1835 John Batman arrives in Victoria and a treaty is signed by leaders of the Kulin Nation to 'purchase' land around Port Phillip Bay. Melbourne is founded.
1838 A protectorate is established to defend the interests of the Aboriginal population.
1840 Lieutenant Governor La Trobe issues orders banning Aboriginal people from Melbourne.
1842 Victoria is occupied by over 12,000 settlers as well as 100,000 cattle and 1.5 million sheep.
1843 Ngurungaeta Billibellary requests land to be reserved for the Woiwurrung clans. His request is not granted.
1846 Billibellary dies and is succeeded as Ngurungaeta by his son Wonga.
1849 The protectorate is disbanded. William Thomas was employed as ‘Guardian of the Aborigines’.
1851 Victoria becomes a separate colony from New South Wales. The population of settlers explodes due to the discovery of gold.
1850s William Thomas and Simon Wonga strive to obtain a parcel of land for the remnant Kulin population, at Acheron Station.
1855 Victoria now has its own Parliament.
1857 John and Mary Green arrive in Victoria from Scotland.
1858 Anne and Jon Bon arrive in Victoria and settle at Wappan Station, on Taungerong country.
1859 A recommendation to establish several reserves to house and ‘civilise’ the surviving Aboriginal population. A deputation of Taungerong men, together with Wonga request land at Acheron, on Taungerong country. They are successful.
1860 The Central Board to Watch Over the Interests of the Aborigines is formed. The Taungerong clans are forcibly removed from Acheron. They are relocated to Mohican Station.
1861 John Green is appointed Inspector for the Central Board.
1863 40 Kulin people, together with John and Mary Green, abandon Mohican Station and settle at a site which they name Coranderrk, in the Yarra Valley outside present-day Healseville. It is gazetted as an Aboriginal reserve (2300 acres) on 30th June. Green assumes management of the station without pay.
1864 The township of Healesville is established in the proximity of Coranderrk.
1866 Coranderrk’s population grows to approximately 100. A further 2550 acres of land extends the site to a total of 4850 acres.
1869 The Aboriginal Protection Act 1869 (Vic) is passed and the Central Board is renamed the ‘Board for the Protection of Aborigines’ (The Board).
1872 The Board recommends that Coranderrk should focus on the cultivation of hops and takes control of agricultural development of the station.
1874 Board members visit Coranderrk to inspect the station. John Green is harassed into offering his resignation.
1875 Wonga dies and Barak becomes Ngurungaeta, leader of the Coranderrk people, who now number close to 150. Barak leads a deputation of seven men to attend a Board meeting in Melbourne. Their complaints about station management are ignored. A group from the Board again inspect Coranderrk. They report that the station should be abandoned due to the cold climate and residents should be relocated to a warmer location on the Murray River. Christian Ogilvie is appointed temporary manager of Coranderrk.
1876 Barak leads a second protest deputation into Melbourne, this time going directly to the Chief Secretary to protest Ogilvie’s management and ask for Green’s reinstatement. Ogilvie resigns as manager of Coranderrk. Hugh Halliday takes his place.
1877 In response to the Coranderrk debacle, a Royal Commission to investigate the condition of the Victorian Aboriginal reserves. It commends they should be maintained, under missionary supervision. A general election is held in Victoria, giving a massive majority to the radical party led by Graham Berry.
1878 Barak leads another deputation into Melbourne to meet with Chief Secretary Berry to complain of Halliday’s management and Green’s removal. Reverend Strickland replaces Halliday as manager of Coranderrk.
1880 Coranderrk is in a state of ‘revolt’. The residents strike and write letters in protest against Strickland’s management.
1881 Coranderrk wins award for high quality hops. Barak leads a deputation of 22men into Melbourne. They spend the night at Anne Bon’s house in Kew. The following day they urge Chief Secretary Berry to abolish the Board and allow them to manage Coranderrk together with John Green. Barak travels into Melbourne with his son, David who has tuberculosis, to hospital. David dies soon after. Graham Berry loses office. The Government Gazette announces that a Parliamentary Board of Inquiry has been appointed to enquire into the management of Coranderrk. The local MLA Ewan Cameron is appointed Chairman; and Anne Bon in named as one of the Commissioners. The Enquiry begins: the first two hearings are held at Coranderrk. Anne Bon holds her ‘unauthorised’ hearing at Coranderrk. Cameron refuses to include the evidence in the official minutes. The 3rd, 4th and 5th hearings take place in Melbourne. The Enquiry returns to Coranderrk. The 7th hearing is held in Healesville. In total 10 hearings are held.
1882 The Commissioners submit their final report to the Chief Secretary. Following Strickland’s removal, William Goodall is appointed manager of Coranderrk.
1883 Graham Berry wins the election and returns to office. Barak travels to Melbourne to submit a petition asking Berry to implement the recommendations of the Inquiry.
1884 Berry orders that Coranderrk be permanently reserved ‘as a site for the use of the Aborigines’.
1886 Berry retires from Parliament and prepares to return to England. Barak leads a deputation of 15 men to farewell and thank him for his support over the years. The Aboriginal Protection Law Amendment Act, otherwise known as the Half Caste Act passes both Houses of Parliament. No longer considered as ‘Aboriginal people’, all ‘half-castes’ between the age of 15 and 35 are ordered to leave the reserves.
1893 Taungrong clan head Thomas Bamfield dies. Only 17 men and 14 women remain at Coranderrk. Government cancels the reservation of 2400 acres of Coranderrk to create the Badger Creek settlement.
1901 Federation of the Australian colonies. Australia becomes a nation.
1903 William Barak dies at Coranderrk.
1908 Robert Wandon and John Green die.
1920 Sir Colin MacKenzie, a leading medical researcher, leases 78 acres from the Aboriginal Protection Board to begin his work in comparative anatomy with Australian fauna. This was the catalyst for the creation of the Healesville Sanctuary.
1924 Coranderrk is officially closed as an Aboriginal reserve.
1930s Elderly residents are permitted to stay.
1934 Anne Bon re-dedicates her husband’s headstone in honour of Barak’s memory; an unveiling ceremony takes place in Healesville.
1936 Anne Bon dies in Melbourne.
1948 The Coranderrk Lands Bill is passed revoking the reservation of Coranderrk’s remaining land and setting it aside for solider resettlement. No Aboriginal sliders are eligible for the land.
1955 Barak’s headstone is relocated to the Coranderrk cemetery, where it still stands.
1991 Coranderrk Cemetery handed back to the Wurundjeri people (Wurundjeri Council).
1992 Wurundjeri acquire 38 hectare former Army School of Health (on former Coranderrk land) (Wurundjeri Council).
1999 The 200 acre parcel of Coranderrk was handed back to Wandoon Estate Aboriginal Corporation – WEAC.
2013 Walk to Coranderrk and Coranderrk Festival, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Coranderrk.
2014 Walk to Coranderrk and Coranderrk Festival.
2015 Walk to Coranderrk.
2016 Performance at Coranderrk of the play: Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country. The Coranderrk Property Management Plan is developed and work starts on regeneration of the farmland.
2018 The Plants of Coranderrk project is commenced (completed September 2020).
2019 The Coranderrk River Restoration Project is commenced. Art installation untitled (seven monuments) is launched at Coranderrk.
2020 The Coranderrk Bush Food Garden and Orchard project is commenced.