Cultural Heritage

Tens of thousands of years of flood events have formed what archaeologists call the Parramatta Sand Body.

Williams, A & McDonald, J. 2021 ‘We revisited Parramatta’s archaeological past to reveal the deep-time history of the heart of Sydney’, The Conversation, 21 Nov 2021 

In a series of firsts, Parramatta’s first bridge was washed away in the first documented flood in 1795.

Eagle, R and Geary, M 1986, Lower Parramatta River Flood Study, prepared for the NSW Public Works Department, pp. 13, 16, C-3

“no garden or fence on the riverside escaped the ravages of the rapid element” - The Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser, 26 January 1826.

The Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser, Thursday 26 Jan 1826 p. 3., event likely occurred 22 Jan. 

In 1889, flood waters almost swallowed the Lennox Bridge!
Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 28 May 1889, p. 6.

“In a few hours the river must have risen 14ft [4.3m]…Huge logs, a punt, fruit cases and small outhouses were carried down the stream. Even snakes were found floating along” - The Daily Telegraph, 21 March 1892.

The Daily Telegraph, 21 March 1892, p. 6.

After 223mm of rain during the 1914 flood, the river grew to more than twelve times its width.

Eagle, R and Geary, M 1986, Lower Parramatta River Flood Study, prepared for the NSW Public Works Department, p. 16, 20; Evening News Sydney, 26 March 1914, p. 10

In 1956 the February flood saw the Smith St bridge under 6 feet (1.8m) of water – that’s almost as deep as an Olympic swimming pool!

Eagle, R and Geary, M 1986, Lower Parramatta River Flood Study, prepared for the NSW Public Works Department, p. 16

Prior to work on Charles Street Square, an archaeological salvage excavation program was undertaken by a team of archaeologists and Aboriginal participants.

The program undertook excavation of an 11.6 m2 area and some 18 stone artefacts were recovered. Sedimentological and chronological samples, as seen on the brass QR code, were also found.

The artefacts were primarily found near the surface of the Parramatta Sand Body and date to the last 5,000 years and/or within the colonial topsoil. In combination with glass and earthenware modified artefacts, the data suggests activity on the riverbank by Aboriginal people in the mid-to-late 19th century. Of special note was the recovery of a 19th Century glass artefact from the colonial topsoil which provides a tangible connection to the post-contact use of the river’s edge.

I am garrigarrang yuu badu, saltwater and fresh, carved between a long unseen, hidden valley of sandstone and shale.

Now I look back down my length and hardly recognise myself, what I see, how I move.

Where are the barra, the mullet, the reeds, the trees?

What are these weirs, that have changed my course, my identity and impede my natural ebb and flow?

I have flooded and raged then quietly receded and will survive notions of progress.

In the early 1800s, the unlikely partnership of former stable boy come botanical collector, George Caley, and Burramattagal youth Daniel Moowattin ^{16 17}, created a legacy of language and scientific knowledge that helps us understand Parramatta’s past and present environment ¹⁸.

Together they classified a large number of plants and animals, recording the Dharug language in the process. Moowattin was “the best” interpreter in the inland dialects¹⁹ and we have the Dharug name of more than 30 species of Eucalypts due to their work²⁰, with Caley marking those that were “got by Dan”. 

Find out More

¹⁶ Antill, ‘Lennox, David 1788-1873’in The Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1967, accessed April 2022, 
¹⁷ ‘Librarian Finds Work Interesting’ Cumberland Argus, 22 August 1962, p. 3.
¹⁸ ‘Librarian Finds Work Interesting’ Cumberland Argus, 22 August 1962, p. 3.
¹⁹ Caley 1808 letter to Joseph Banks in Keith Vincent Smith 2006 ‘Moowattin, Daniel’ Australian Dictionary of Biography, p98. 
²⁰ Published in Joan Webb 1995, George Caley 19th Century Naturalist, Appendix D

Sitting between George Street and the river is one of the oldest surviving houses in Parramatta. Built for Reverend William Walker and his wife Eliza Hassall, between 1823-1829, it later housed several schools including “Mr Woolls Academy” and King’s School. It also became a peanut butter factory, a stationery shop and a car workshop²¹.

This Georgian home was named “Harrisford” in 1912 when it was purchased by John Harris (the nephew of John Harris of Experiment Farm now honoured by the suburb name Harris Park).²²

Find out More

²¹ State Heritage Inventory, Harrisford House, accessed May 2022.
²² State Heritage Inventory, Harrisford House.

In the 1830s, the entrepreneurial Byrnes Brothers had a flour mill, cloth mill and were pioneers of Parramatta’s steam ferry service²⁴. James and William conducted business on George Street next to Harrisford House, and their flour mill and cloth mill were on the Queens Wharf reserve site²⁵. 

Find out more

²⁴G. P. Walsh, 'Byrnes, William (1809–1891)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, , published first in hardcopy 1969
²⁵Casey & Hendriksen, 2009, Breaking the Shackles: Historic Lives in Parramatta’s Archaeological Landscape, Parramatta Heritage Centre and Casey & Lowe, p. 25

Maugoran was a Burramattagal Elder and the father of Boorong, the third wife of Aboriginal man Bennelong. In 1790 Maugoran lodged a formal complaint with Governor Phillip objecting to the Rose Hill military post which had displaced his family, and many others, and the increasing number of settlers on their land at Rose Hill (Parramatta)²⁸.

This was the first official recorded protest made by an Aboriginal person.²⁹

²⁸ Tench, 1793, p. 61. Cited in Smith, K. V. 2017 ‘A Burramattagal Family’, Eora People, accessed May 2022. 
²⁹  119 Smith, K. V. 2017 ‘A Burramattagal Family’, Eora People, accessed May 2022.

The daughter of Goorooberra and Burramattagal Elder Maugoran³⁴, Boorong (sometimes mistakenly referred to as Abaroo³⁵) was one of the first Aboriginal people to have a substantial encounter with the practice of Christianity.

A skilled linguist, Boorong translated and aided discussions between the Aboriginal people and the colonists, notably during the inquiries following the spearing of Governor Phillip³⁶. Boorong married Bennelong in 1797, becoming his third wife. They lived on the north side of the Parramatta River³⁷. 

Find out More

³⁴Meredith Lake, ‘Why we should remember Boorong, Bennelong’s third wife, who is buried beside him’ The Conversation, 22 Nov 2018, accessed April 2022,
³⁵Smith, K. V. 2017 ‘A Burramattagal Family’, Eora People, accessed May 2022, 126 Collins Sep 1790
³⁶Meredith Lake, ‘Why we should remember Boorong, Bennelong’s third wife, who is buried beside him’ The Conversation, 22 Nov 2018, accessed April 2022,

Baludarri (Ballooderry), the eldest son of Dharug Elder Maugoran and his wife Gooroobera³⁸, was a skilled fisherman. As a young man Baludarri befriended Arthur Phillip, who encouraged him to establish a fishing trade with the Parramatta settlers³⁹. 

Baludarri was caught between two laws after he speared a man in retaliation for destroying his canoe. While Aboriginal law dictated that it was Baludarri’s duty to seek retribution, colonial law saw him outlawed from the settlement⁴⁰.

Find out More

³⁸128 Goodman, M. ‘Baludarri- A Significant Figure in Paramatta history’ , Parramatta History and Heritage, City of Parramatta 2020, accessed April  2022,
³⁹ Baludarri – A Significant Figure in Parramatta History | Parramatta History and Heritage (nsw.gov.au)
⁴⁰ https://historyandheritage.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/research-topics/aboriginal/baludarri-significant-figure-in-parramatta-history#_ftn6

Did you know that there were market gardens alongside the Parramatta River in the early 20th Century?

There was a significant Chinese population in Parramatta, including many labourers who had returned from the goldfields¹⁰. The area around Charles Street, George Street and the Gasworks Bridge came to be recognised as Chinatown.¹¹

¹⁰Casey & Hendriksen, 2009, Breaking the Shackles: Historic Lives in Parramatta’s Archaeological Landscape, Parramatta Heritage Centre and Casey & Lowe, p. 31.
¹¹Casey & Hendriksen, 2009, Breaking the Shackles: Historic Lives in Parramatta’s Archaeological Landscape, Parramatta Heritage Centre and Casey & Lowe, p. 31.

Born in County Clare, Ireland, Annie Gallagher nee Hanley, arrived in the colonies in 1864, aged around six. In 1883, Annie moved to Parramatta to open her millinery shop ‘The Sydney Gem’ in Church Street² .  She later married Thomas Gallagher but used her own money from the business to purchase property and construct ‘Willow Grove’ on the Parramatta River.

Annie continued to advertise her business as that of ‘A J Hanley’.³  She was one of the few riverside property owners who allowed Dharug people to access their river and Country.⁴ 

One of Sydney’s earliest self-made women, Annie Gallagher broke down barriers in more ways than one. 

¹ Kass,’Willow Grove’ p. 4-5

² Cumberland Mercury, 29 Nov 1884, p. 3.
³ Cumberland Mercury, 29 Nov 1884, p. 3.
⁴ https://ice.org.au/2020/12/willow-grove-deep-cultural-history/