Vincentia is a town in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the

City of Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the a ...

, on the shores of

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village in the Jervis Bay Territory and on the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay, known as the Jervis Bay Terri ...

. It is roughly southeast of

Nowra Nowra () is a city in the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated po ...

, and approximately south of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. At the , the population of Vincentia was 6,686. It is also a tourist spot with a beach area featuring white sand and a number of motels. The village itself has grown over the past decade, with a new district centre and housing development being built from 2014-2017, Vincentia HomeCo.

History

The

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

of the area around Vincentia were a group of

Yuin The Yuin nation, also spelt Djuwin, is a group of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal peoples from the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast of New South Wales. All Yuin people share ancestors who spoke, as their first language, ...

, members of what early European settlers called "the Jervis Bay tribe". The Jervis Bay tribe are also known as Wandandian people and spoke Dharamba, which was probably the northernmost dialect of the

Dhurga language The Dhurga language, also written Thurga, is an Australian Aboriginal language of New South Wales. It is a language of the Yuin people, specifically the Wandandian and Walbunja groups, but there have been no fluent speakers officially record ...

. Vincentia was originally known as " South Huskisson" and later as "The Old Township". It was founded as a seaport in 1841, and was the terminus of

The Wool Road The Wool Road (also later known as 'The Old Wool Road') was a Historic roads, historic road in New South Wales, Australia, that ran from Nerriga to what is now called Vincentia, New South Wales, Vincentia on Jervis Bay. It was constructed privat ...

from Nerriga. South Huskisson lay on land originally owned by Edward Deas Thompson and was a "private town". In 1842, a wharf was built near the current location of the Holden Street boat ramp. The road and port were not successes and, by 1867, the town of South Huskisson was deserted—any buildings were just ruins by 1885—and there was virtually nothing remaining of the old town by the 1930s. Many street names from The Old Township are still in use and much of the original street plan remains. In 1952, developer

Henry Halloran Henry Ferdinand Halloran (9 August 1869 – 22 October 1953) was a major property owner and developer in New South Wales, in the early part of the twentieth century. Halloran was born in Sydney. His father was a bank clerk and architect named ...

renamed the township Vincentia, after

St Vincent County St Vincent County was one of the original Nineteen Counties in New South Wales and is now one of the 141 cadastral divisions of New South Wales. It included the south coast area encompassing Batemans Bay, New South Wales, Batemans Bay, Ulladull ...

, which was named after

John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent ( ; 9 January 1735 – 13 March 1823) was a British Royal Navy admiral and politician. He served throughout the latter half of the 18th century and into the 19th, and was an active commander during the Seven ...

. John Jervis was created Earl of St Vincent as a result of his victory at the battle of Cape St Vincent. Jervis Bay was also named after him. In the 1950s and 1960s, the town was reborn as a holiday destination, following land sales for

holiday homes A holiday cottage, holiday home, vacation home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations, corporate travel, and temporary housing often for less than 30 days. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottage ...

, also known as "weekenders".

References

External links

Shoalhaven region general informationVincentia Community PortalVISITNSW.com - Vincentia
Towns in the South Coast (New South Wales) City of Shoalhaven Coastal towns in New South Wales {{Shoalhaven-geo-stub