Brewarrina (pronounced 'bree-warren-ah'; locally known as "Bre") is a town in north-west

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on the banks of the Barwon River in

Brewarrina Shire Brewarrina Shire is a local government area in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Darling River, which is known as the Barwon River upstream from Bourke; and located adjacent to the Kamilaroi ...

. The name Brewarrina is derived from 'burru waranha', a

Weilwan The Weilwan (also known as Wayilwan, Wailwan, Ngiyampaa Wailwan and Ngemba Wailwan) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of New South Wales. They are a clan of the Ngiyampaa nation. Name The Weilwan ethnonym is derived from their wor ...

name for a species of

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

, Cassia tree, "Acacia clumps", "a native standing" or "place where wild gooseberry grows". It is east of Bourke and west of

Walgett Walgett is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of Walgett Shire. It is near the junctions of the Barwon and Namoi Rivers and the Kamilaroi and Castlereagh Highways. In 2016, Walgett had a population of 2,145. In the 2 ...

on the

Kamilaroi Highway Kamilaroi Highway is a state highway located in the north-western region of New South Wales, Australia, and links via and to . The highway is named after the Kamilaroi Indigenous Australian people who live in the area. Route The highway be ...

, and 787km from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. The population of Brewarrina in 2016 was 1,143. Other towns and villages in the Brewarrina district include:

Goodooga Goodooga is a town in the Australian state of New South Wales in Brewarrina Shire on the eastern bank of the Bokhara River. It is near Brewarrina and Lightning Ridge, its closest neighbour. The town lies south of the Queensland border, and th ...

Gongolgon Gongolgon is a rural locality in Brewarrina Shire, in northern New South Wales, Australia, from Sydney. At the , it had a population of 40 in 11 families. The median weekly household income was $537. Gongolgon is located on the Brewarrina–C ...

, Weilmoringle and

Angledool Angledool is a locality in upper western New South Wales near the southern border of Queensland, one kilometre east of the Castlereagh Highway and approximately 45 kilometres north of Lightning Ridge. At the , Angledool had a population of 58 peo ...

History

Notes on the Aborigines of New South Wales - Plate 10 Plan of the Ngunnhu or Native Fish Traps

The town is located amid the traditional lands of the

Muruwari The Muruwari, also spelt Murawari, Murawarri, Murrawarri and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of New South Wales and the southwestern area of Queensland. Language A monograph on and a dictionary of Muruwari have ...

, Ngemba,

and Yualwarri peoples. The area has a long

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

history and was once the meeting ground for over 5,000 people. The first settlers arrived in the district around 1839–40. The first people to own land where the town now stands were the Lawson brothers, who had two holdings - one called "Walcha" and another called "Moona" The town was first known as "Walcha Hut" but this later changed to "Brewarrina". In 1859, somewhere between 300 and 400 Aboriginal people were massacred by white settlers in an event known as the

Hospital Creek Massacre The Hospital Creek Massacre refers to a retaliatory mass-slaughter of Indigenous Australians in 1859 in rural New South Wales. There are differing accounts of this event, but one alleges that a white stockman at Walcha Hut (now called Brewarrina ...

, recollections of which vary. A memorial was erected by the local

Aboriginal Land Council Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australians ...

near the site of the massacre. In 1859 a riverboat called ''Gemini'', skippered by

William Randell William Richard Randell "Captain Randell" (2 May 1824 – 4 March 1911), was an Australian politician and pioneer born in Devon, England, who emigrated to the newly founded colony of South Australia in 1837 with his family. He was a pioneer ...

, reached the town. This opened the possibility of developing the town as a port, and by the early 1860s Brewarrina was recognised as the furthest navigable point on the

Darling River The Darling River ( Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka'') is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its conflu ence with the Murray River at Wentworth, New South Wales. Including its longes ...

. Brewarrina became a port for shipping wool to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

via the Darling and

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

rivers. The town was formally surveyed and laid out in 1861 and proclaimed on 28 April 1863. The

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

''Wandering Jew'' of 66 tonnes, 22 × 4.4 × 1.5 m, was built in 1866 and registered at

. On 15 December 1914, ''Wandering Jew'' was lost due to a fire on Barwon River, Brewarrina. "The ''Wandering Jew'' represents an earlier maritime era and provides a direct link to the riverine heritage of Brewarrina. Its colourful history and repeated damage by fire is evocative of the dramas associated with riverboat travel". The 1870s were something of a boom time for Brewarrina. The courthouse was built in 1871. The Telegraph reached town in 1873. The Mechanics Institute formed in 1873. The following year two hotels, two stores and the Commercial Bank all opened, and in 1875 The Parish of Brewarrina was formed and public school was opened. All this development was largely due to

Cobb and Co Cobb & Co was the name used by many successful sometimes quite independent Australian coaching businesses. The first was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name Cobb & Co grew to great prominence in the late 19th ...

, which had a number of coach services passing through the town. There was a service from

Byrock Byrock is a small village in north western New South Wales, Australia in Bourke Shire. In 2016, Byrock had a population of 50 people. It is named after a rock hole, called ''Bai'' by the Nyammba tribe. This became the Bye Rockhole, then Bye Ro ...

, one from

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

via

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

and, in 1874, a direct service from Brewarrina to Enngonia, north of Bourke. The number of people moving through the town at this time would have been considerable and would have given rise to the increase in stores and hotels. The Barwon Bridge opened in 1888, the previous method of crossing the Barwon River was by punt and pontoon. The impetus for Brewarrina bridge, was to capture the New South Wales wool trade from the river paddle steamers and direct it away from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and Adelaide to Sydney. It is a rare bridge because it, and the lift bridge at North Bourke, are the only surviving examples of the first series of lift bridges in New South Wales. The bridge has been assessed as being of state significance and is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register. In 1901 the Brewarrina railway line opened to Brewarrina from Byrock, on the

Nyngan Nyngan () is a town in the centre of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bogan Shire local government area within the Orana Region of central New South Wales. At the 2016 census, Nyngan had a population of 1,988 people. Nyngan is situated on the ...

to Bourke line. The Brewarrina Line closed in 1974, and the wood-framed Brewarrina Station burned to the ground in 1980. The local telephone exchange was established in 1913. The town was surveyed in 1920. Brewarrina was used as a location for the Australian silent film '' Moora Neya, or The Message of the Spear'' (1911).Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 21 The Brewarrina Ngemba Billabong has a strong cultural history. From 1876 to 1967 the Ngemba Billabong was the Brewarrina Aboriginal Mission for local Aboriginal people, whose land had been taken for grazing. The entire 261 hectare property is listed on the

NSW State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage register, heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally cove ...

. The Brewarrina Aboriginal Mission was the oldest institutional-type community in the state, it ran until 1965. Brewarrina Mission was the first institution formally established by the

Aborigines Protection Board Aboriginal Protection Board, also known as Aborigines Protection Board, Board for the Protection of Aborigines, Aborigines Welfare Board (and in later sources, incorrectly as Aboriginal Welfare Board), and similar names, refers to a number of hi ...

as part of its policy to segregate Aboriginal people. On 15 August 1987 Brewarrina erupted into a riot, later known as the Brewarrina riot, triggered by the death in police custody of Lloyd James Boney. This came a few days after the announcement by Prime Minister

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...

of a

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) (1987–1991), also known as the Muirhead Commission, was a Royal Commission appointed by the Australian Government in October 1987 to Federal Court judge James Henry Muirhead, ...

, on 10 August 1987. Both the riot and the five-year trials that followed were widely covered by the press.

Yetta Dhinnakkal Centre Yetta Dhinnakkal Centre, also known as the Brewarrina (Yetta Dhinnakkal) Centre, Brewarrina Correctional Centre and Brewarrina Prison, and referred to informally as Brewarrina jail, was an Australian minimum security prison for young Indigenous A ...

, a minimum-security outdoor prison for young Indigenous men that ran an award-winning program, opened in 2000 and closed in 2020. Although often referred to as Brewarrina jail or prison, it was situated about south at

Heritage listings

Brewarrina has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: *

Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps are heritage-listed Australian Aboriginal fish traps on the Barwon River at Brewarrina, Brewarrina Shire, New South Wales, Australia. They are also known as Baiame's Ngunnhu, Nonah, or Nyemba Fish Traps. The Br ...

* The Old Mission Road:

Brewarrina Aboriginal Mission Site Brewarrina Aboriginal Mission Site is a heritage-listed site of the former mission station for Aboriginal Australians and cemetery at The Old Mission Road, Brewarrina, Brewarrina Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was also known as Barwon ...

Ancient Aboriginal fish traps

Brewarrina's most significant feature is its Aboriginal

fish traps A fish trap is a trap used for fishing. Fish traps include fishing weirs, lobster traps, and some fishing nets such as fyke nets. Traps are culturally almost universal and seem to have been independently invented many times. There are two main ...

. Known in the local Aboriginal language as Baiame's Ngunnhu. It is believed that Ngemba, Wonkamurra, Wailwan and Gomolaroi people have shared and maintained the traps for thousands of years. The age of the fish traps is currently unknown, but they may be the oldest human construction in the world. Locals claim that the traps are at least 40,000 years old and thus the oldest surviving human-made structure in the world. Consisting of river stones arranged to form small channels, the traps direct fish into small areas from which they are readily plucked. The traps form a complex net of linked weirs and ponds along 500m of the river. They operate at varying water heights and can be altered to suit seasonal changes. People use their expert knowledge of fish species and the environment to maximise their catch. Brewarrina Ngemba Billabong has been declared a

World Conservation Union The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) Category V and VI protected area. It was declared an

Indigenous Protected Area An Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) is a class of protected area used in Australia; each is formed by voluntary agreement with Indigenous Australians, and declared by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander representative organisations ...

in November 2010. The ready availability of fish made Brewarrina one of the great intertribal meeting places of pre-European eastern Australia.

Climate

Brewarrina has the typical hot

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

climate of north-western New South Wales, with hot summers frequently over , cool winters and generally dry all year round. Brewarrina's highest recorded temperature was on 19 December 1912, whilst its coldest was on 14 July 1997. The average annual rainfall is .

Weather radar station

The Brewarrina radar station () at the local airport was constructed from July 2020 to provide better weather forecasts for the area and farming community.

Sport and recreation

The townspeople of Brewarrina play a variety of sports. The town has a local

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club and team, the Brewarrina Brumbies, and a number of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

teams. Local players Alby Carr,

Ron Gibbs Ron Gibbs (born 14 April 1962), also known by the nickname of "Rambo", is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played professionally in Australia and England. An Australian Aboriginal and Country New South Wales representative three ...

, Les Biles,

Isaac Gordon Isaac Gordon (born 7 October 1986) is a former Indigenous Australian professional rugby league footballer. He previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks of the National Rugby League. He primarily played and . Playing career Born in ...

and cousin Ashley Gordon played first grade in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

is played weekly, with over 12 teams playing in the local competition. The Brewarrina Golf Club is renowned throughout the western region as one of the best 'oiled' green golf courses. Other major sports include lawn bowls, shooting, tennis and swimming. The river is also used for swimming and water skiing in the summer months. A skate park is near the town centre. The Brewarrina Circus Skills Training Project is a 2004 program, which trains local kids skills in circus acts and gives them the opportunity to travel across the country to places like Adelaide and Melbourne. The Brewarrina Youth Circus was a partnership with the Brewarrina Council and Brewarrina Central School with objectives to increase school attendance. This program has also given particular kids the chance to travel overseas, with one girl travelling to South Africa to perform in the art of circus skills.

Events

Brewarrina plays host to one of the most famous rodeos in the far west of New South Wales. The Brewarrina Show and Rodeo Society runs a successful annual rodeo program which attracts a large crowd to town. Unfortunately over the last number of years, the Brewarrina Show has not been held. The Brewarrina Races are an important race meet in the district hosted by the Brewarrina Jockey Club. The race meet is usually held in May and has a large prize pool, complete with an extensive race program, fashions on the field, as well as other novelty races and lucky door prizes. In more recent years, Brewarrina has played host to the Brewarrina Field Day, which came about as an event for people from the district to have a day out in the time after devastating drought. It showcases over 70 stalls, wildlife and agricultural exhibits, quick shear competitions, carnival rides, dog jumping trials, as well as food and bar stalls. The Bre Big Fish is an annual fishing competition run over the June public holiday long weekend. It is hosted by the Brewarrina Fishing Club and draws many fishing, hunting and camping enthusiasts to the district. In bygone years, Brewarrina was well renowned for its annual "Festival of the Fisheries", which celebrated Brewarrina's Aboriginal and European History. Brewarrina also hosted the unique "Surfboat Classic", which attracted a number of Surf Life Saving Clubs from the New South Wales Coast. Unfortunately these events have not been held in recent years. In April 2013, Brewarrina celebrated the 150th year since it was gazetted as a town in 1863. This was celebrated by a week long festival which included: Brewarrina Race Club meeting with over 2000 attendees, Bre Big Fish Competition, street parade and carnival, film festival, historical exhibitions,

black tie Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element fo ...

ball, fireworks display, flower and cake show, as well as a number of celebratory sporting fixtures including rugby league and rugby union exhibition matches, clay target shooting and bowling competition.

Notable citizens

* Jimmie Barker, first Indigenous published author. ''The two worlds of Jimmie Barker: The life of an Australian Aboriginal, 1900-1972 / as told to Janet Mathews.'' *

Mervyn Bishop Mervyn Bishop (born July 1945) is an Australian news and documentary photographer. Joining ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' as a cadet in 1962 he was the first Aboriginal Australian to work on a metropolitan daily newspaper and one of the first to b ...

(1945–), news and documentary photographer. Mervyn won 'News photographer of the Year Award' for ''Life and Death Dash'', the 1971 front page of the

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

. *

Essie Coffey Essie Coffey , born Essieina Shillingsworth, (1941–1998) was born near Goodooga in northern New South Wales, Australia. She was a Muruwari woman and the co-founder of the Western Aboriginal Legal Service and served on a number of governmen ...

(1941–1998), community worker, singer, actor and film maker. Co-founder of the Western Aboriginal Legal Service. *

(1962–), 1980s/1990s Australian rugby league footballer. * Ashley Gordon, 1990s Australian rugby league footballer. *

(1986–), 2010s Australian rugby league footballer. *

Leo Schofield Leo George Schofield (born 6 May 1935) is an Australian restaurant critic, contributing a weekly column in '' The Mercury''. Schofield has served a long career as an advertising professional, journalist, creative arts festival director, and tr ...

(1935–), restaurant critic, advertising professional and arts festival director. * Albert George Henry Why (1899–1969), known as Alby Carr, an Australian rugby league footballer. AU-NSW-Brewarrina-Central school-2021

Education

* Gainmara Birrilee Pre-School * Brewarrina Central School (Kindergarten to Grade 12) * St Patrick's Catholic School (Kindergarten to Grade 6) *

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

Western, Brewarrina College

Gallery

File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-Barwon River bridge new-2021.jpg, Bridge over the Barwon River in flood (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-levee bank-2021.jpg, Eastern levee bank (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-levee wall-2021.jpg, Levee wall beside Barwon River (2021). File:Brewarrina main street.jpg, Bathurst Street main street, Hotel Brewarrina on the right (2008). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-main street-2021.jpg, Bathurst Street, looking south-west (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-Anglican church-2021.jpg, Anglican Christ Church, Young Street (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-Catholic church-2021.jpg, Saint Patrick's Catholic Church (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-Hotel Brewarrina-2021.jpg, Hotel Brewarrina public hotel (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-Royal Hotel-2021.jpg, Royal Hotel public hotel (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-Aboriginal medical service centre-2021.jpg, Brewarrina Aboriginal Medical Service centre, Sandon Street, intersecting Bourke Street (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-hospital-2021.jpg, Hospital (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-court house-2021.jpg, Court house (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-post office-2021.jpg, Australia Post office (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-police station-2021.jpg, NSW Police Force station (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-fire station-2021.jpg, Fire station (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-CWA rest room-2021.jpg, Country Women's Association rest room (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-Returned and Services League hall-2021.jpg, Returned and Services League hall (2021). File:AU-NSW-Brewarrina-art work-2021.jpg, Art work in town park on Bridge Street (2021).

References

External links

* * {{authority control Towns in New South Wales River ports of Australia Murray-Darling basin IUCN Category VI IUCN Category V Protected areas of New South Wales Far West (New South Wales) Brewarrina Shire