Heroes of the Great Gundagai Flood, June 1852
My Ancestor Richard Hunt, a Victim of the Gundagai Flood,
and the Story of the Aboriginal Men, Yarri and Jackey
My ancestor, Richard Hunt was an apprentice saddler when he and his elder brother William, were caught by a policeman with a basket of goods, including some tablespoons with the Saddlers’ Hall arms filed off. Evidently, their father the Beadle of the Hall was often ill, and William was authorised to stand in for him. However, he was a little too enterprising and had pawned goods like these before at the local pawn shop in Aldersgate Street. They were both tried at the Old Bailey and sentenced to be transported, aged 18 and 21.
Richard arrived in the colony aboard the ship Morley on April 10, 1817, having been 110 days in transit beating a record. The convicts arrived healthy. Richard was also fortunate that he arrived in the colony when Macquarie was Governor, for he benefitted in number of ways. He was assigned as a harness maker in Parramatta and by 1819 he had received his Ticket of Leave and was working in Parramatta in that trade on a leased property on the northern side of George Street, supplying the government and others.
He married Lydia Barber, in February 1821, (the service being performed by Samuel Marsden). His property interests were growing. He had his lease in Parramatta with an option to buy for 21 years and in 1824, he sent a memorial to the Governor to acquire property. By 1836 he was the owner of 250 acres in Dural and land in Parramatta and had joined in a tannery business with Richard Wall. He also became deeply involved in the activities of the Wesleyan church in Parramatta becoming a Sunday School Teacher and Circuit Elder and supporter. He was also one of the first customers of the Bank of New South Wales, in May 1820. Richard and Lydia’s first child Charles William was born on January 31, 1822, followed by George Thomas, Eliza, William, Thomas Barber, and Lydia, 1833. Sadly, his wife Lydia died at the age of 32 in October 1835.
In November 1836 he married Sarah Ellison and in 1841 the Census shows them living in Dural. He had very many complex business and property dealings after 1838 including a land claim at Burragorang with his Brother-in-law, inheriting more land in Parramatta from his Father-in-law in 1842, and a farm at Prospect where his first two children by Sarah were born, for the years from 1842 until his purchase of land in Gundagai.
The pastoral age was well under way when the river town of Gundagai was gazetted on I0 October 1838 and from 1839 grazing licenses were issued, recognizing the great demands of squatters and others for pastoral lands. After Sturt and Mitchell’s explorations of the Murrumbidgee area and reports, great pastoral developments took place. Gundagai became a natural crossing place on the Murrumbidgee River. It was also at a point about halfway from Sydney to Port Philip. The town grew around the first buildings of a public house and a blacksmith’s shop, as well as a punt servicing travellers.
The first sale of allotments in 1842 did not go well, as the position gazetted was on the alluvial flats between the Morley Creek and the river Murrumbidgee, which seemed to many first potential buyers as inauspicious. In the sales of April 1844 however, Richard Hunt bought in North Gundagai Section 13, allotment 7 on Milton Street on which later, were two buildings, and allotment 8, on the corner of Milton and Homer Street later containing four buildings. Allotments 9 and 10 on Homer Street were to be the future sites of a Wesleyan School, and Allotments 12 and 13 in Landon Street, was the site of the Wesleyan Chapel, which having been built by Richard Hunt, was officially opened in June 1852. It also acted as a Sabbath School of which Richard was the Superintendent. There is an account of the opening by a Reverend Patrick Fitzgerald who talks about conducting the service and giving the children of the Sabbath School a treat. He also mentions Richards’ erection of the building in his letter which is held in the Gundagai Museum. Richard was very involved with the Wesleyan Sunday School movement in the town and education in general. (In 1836 he had served on a committee with Reverend Samuel Marsden, Rev. Hassell and Rev. Forrest and 6 lay people with the objective of advancing education towards a National School.)
Some of the dwellings on land owned by Richard Hunt were rented by other tradesmen. One was a butcher’s shop. He had a harness and saddlery business and there was a tannery as well which may have been Richard’s business also. In only ten years of development, by 1852 Gundagai was becoming a town where tradesmen like blacksmiths, innkeepers, saddlers, tanners and bootmakers, storekeepers and millers could prosper as it was a natural crossing place as mentioned and the lure of gold which was discovered in the 1850’s west of Sydney and in the Port Phillip district encouraged many travellers. to the town.
The Aboriginal people of the district, who were on quite friendly terms with the early settlers, had warned them that it was an area of frequent floods and advised them not to live there. Early settlers petitioned Governor Gipps that they should be given blocks on higher ground to replace those on the lower ground, but Gipps vetoed this.
Situated as it was, between the Morley Creek and the Murrumbidgee on the alluvial flats (the area now consisting of Anzac Park, Yarri Park and the Golf Course), during Richard’s tenure, there were several floods with the result that many buildings had lofts built into them. One of the largest floods before 1852, was that of 1844, beginning on a Monday where people took refuge in their lofts and on rooftops and in trees. After two days of torrential rain the floodwaters peaked on Tuesday. It was not until Thursday with the floodwaters subsiding, that people were able to be rescued some by Aboriginals in bark canoes. The destruction was severe. At least 4 people lost their lives and significant stock losses, and gardens, fences, buildings were damaged or swept away. After that flood, Richard Hunt saddler, was one of the petitioners to the Governor George Gipps, citizens of the north side of Gundagai most affected among whom were a storekeeper, postmaster, tailor, shoemaker, blacksmith and two landholders, who requested that land on higher ground be offered for sale at the original price of the land on the flats i.e. Sections Nos 15, bounded by Otway, Sheridan, Byron and Landon Streets, 16 bounded by Byron, Sheridan, Landon and Homer Streets and 17 bounded by Homer, Sheridan, Virgil and Landon Streets. This petition was granted. Further land was sold, and Allotment 12 in Section 17 was bought in Richard’s name possibly by his brother William who had also invested earlier in Section 2, Allotment 16 Milton Street.
The irony was that although land was offered on the hillsides many settlers remained on the flats rather than relocate. Had the Governor offered reallocation of lots many would have moved their established businesses from the flats.
Following a drought period in 1850, there were three subsequent floods in 1851, not quite as severe as that of 1844, by which time the population of the district had reached 1,019. On June 24, 1852 after three days of continuous rain the river rose swiftly, causing people to take to their lofts. Major flooding took place with the raging waters so strong that the majority of the buildings were swept away. Although residents had climbed to their lofts and rooftops and trees, their cries could be heard as many waiting rescue were washed away. Among those carried away, were Richard Hunt, his wife Sarah and their four children. According to an eyewitness, who reported events to the Goulburn Herald of July 7, 1852.
My Ancestor Richard Hunt, a Victim of the Gundagai Flood,
and the Story of the Aboriginal Men, Yarri and Jackey
My ancestor, Richard Hunt was an apprentice saddler when he and his elder brother William, were caught by a policeman with a basket of goods, including some tablespoons with the Saddlers’ Hall arms filed off. Evidently, their father the Beadle of the Hall was often ill, and William was authorised to stand in for him. However, he was a little too enterprising and had pawned goods like these before at the local pawn shop in Aldersgate Street. They were both tried at the Old Bailey and sentenced to be transported, aged 18 and 21.
Richard arrived in the colony aboard the ship Morley on April 10, 1817, having been 110 days in transit beating a record. The convicts arrived healthy. Richard was also fortunate that he arrived in the colony when Macquarie was Governor, for he benefitted in number of ways. He was assigned as a harness maker in Parramatta and by 1819 he had received his Ticket of Leave and was working in Parramatta in that trade on a leased property on the northern side of George Street, supplying the government and others.
He married Lydia Barber, in February 1821, (the service being performed by Samuel Marsden). His property interests were growing. He had his lease in Parramatta with an option to buy for 21 years and in 1824, he sent a memorial to the Governor to acquire property. By 1836 he was the owner of 250 acres in Dural and land in Parramatta and had joined in a tannery business with Richard Wall. He also became deeply involved in the activities of the Wesleyan church in Parramatta becoming a Sunday School Teacher and Circuit Elder and supporter. He was also one of the first customers of the Bank of New South Wales, in May 1820. Richard and Lydia’s first child Charles William was born on January 31, 1822, followed by George Thomas, Eliza, William, Thomas Barber, and Lydia, 1833. Sadly, his wife Lydia died at the age of 32 in October 1835.
In November 1836 he married Sarah Ellison and in 1841 the Census shows them living in Dural. He had very many complex business and property dealings after 1838 including a land claim at Burragorang with his Brother-in-law, inheriting more land in Parramatta from his Father-in-law in 1842, and a farm at Prospect where his first two children by Sarah were born, for the years from 1842 until his purchase of land in Gundagai.
The pastoral age was well under way when the river town of Gundagai was gazetted on I0 October 1838 and from 1839 grazing licenses were issued, recognizing the great demands of squatters and others for pastoral lands. After Sturt and Mitchell’s explorations of the Murrumbidgee area and reports, great pastoral developments took place. Gundagai became a natural crossing place on the Murrumbidgee River. It was also at a point about halfway from Sydney to Port Philip. The town grew around the first buildings of a public house and a blacksmith’s shop, as well as a punt servicing travellers.
The first sale of allotments in 1842 did not go well, as the position gazetted was on the alluvial flats between the Morley Creek and the river Murrumbidgee, which seemed to many first potential buyers as inauspicious. In the sales of April 1844 however, Richard Hunt bought in North Gundagai Section 13, allotment 7 on Milton Street on which later, were two buildings, and allotment 8, on the corner of Milton and Homer Street later containing four buildings. Allotments 9 and 10 on Homer Street were to be the future sites of a Wesleyan School, and Allotments 12 and 13 in Landon Street, was the site of the Wesleyan Chapel, which having been built by Richard Hunt, was officially opened in June 1852. It also acted as a Sabbath School of which Richard was the Superintendent. There is an account of the opening by a Reverend Patrick Fitzgerald who talks about conducting the service and giving the children of the Sabbath School a treat. He also mentions Richards’ erection of the building in his letter which is held in the Gundagai Museum. Richard was very involved with the Wesleyan Sunday School movement in the town and education in general. (In 1836 he had served on a committee with Reverend Samuel Marsden, Rev. Hassell and Rev. Forrest and 6 lay people with the objective of advancing education towards a National School.)
Some of the dwellings on land owned by Richard Hunt were rented by other tradesmen. One was a butcher’s shop. He had a harness and saddlery business and there was a tannery as well which may have been Richard’s business also. In only ten years of development, by 1852 Gundagai was becoming a town where tradesmen like blacksmiths, innkeepers, saddlers, tanners and bootmakers, storekeepers and millers could prosper as it was a natural crossing place as mentioned and the lure of gold which was discovered in the 1850’s west of Sydney and in the Port Phillip district encouraged many travellers. to the town.
The Aboriginal people of the district, who were on quite friendly terms with the early settlers, had warned them that it was an area of frequent floods and advised them not to live there. Early settlers petitioned Governor Gipps that they should be given blocks on higher ground to replace those on the lower ground, but Gipps vetoed this.
Situated as it was, between the Morley Creek and the Murrumbidgee on the alluvial flats (the area now consisting of Anzac Park, Yarri Park and the Golf Course), during Richard’s tenure, there were several floods with the result that many buildings had lofts built into them. One of the largest floods before 1852, was that of 1844, beginning on a Monday where people took refuge in their lofts and on rooftops and in trees. After two days of torrential rain the floodwaters peaked on Tuesday. It was not until Thursday with the floodwaters subsiding, that people were able to be rescued some by Aboriginals in bark canoes. The destruction was severe. At least 4 people lost their lives and significant stock losses, and gardens, fences, buildings were damaged or swept away. After that flood, Richard Hunt saddler, was one of the petitioners to the Governor George Gipps, citizens of the north side of Gundagai most affected among whom were a storekeeper, postmaster, tailor, shoemaker, blacksmith and two landholders, who requested that land on higher ground be offered for sale at the original price of the land on the flats i.e. Sections Nos 15, bounded by Otway, Sheridan, Byron and Landon Streets, 16 bounded by Byron, Sheridan, Landon and Homer Streets and 17 bounded by Homer, Sheridan, Virgil and Landon Streets. This petition was granted. Further land was sold, and Allotment 12 in Section 17 was bought in Richard’s name possibly by his brother William who had also invested earlier in Section 2, Allotment 16 Milton Street.
The irony was that although land was offered on the hillsides many settlers remained on the flats rather than relocate. Had the Governor offered reallocation of lots many would have moved their established businesses from the flats.
Following a drought period in 1850, there were three subsequent floods in 1851, not quite as severe as that of 1844, by which time the population of the district had reached 1,019. On June 24, 1852 after three days of continuous rain the river rose swiftly, causing people to take to their lofts. Major flooding took place with the raging waters so strong that the majority of the buildings were swept away. Although residents had climbed to their lofts and rooftops and trees, their cries could be heard as many waiting rescue were washed away. Among those carried away, were Richard Hunt, his wife Sarah and their four children. According to an eyewitness, who reported events to the Goulburn Herald of July 7, 1852.
The first disastrous event was the loss of the punt in the raging torrent on Thursday night. It had saved five children of the carpenter Mr. Thatcher but was lost on its second trip. Many houses disappeared on the Friday night and by the light of the moon it appeared that the river had risen ten feet higher than any other flood.
Richard Hunt’s house and saddlery were washed away. Richard had sheltered in a tree with his family after his house and saddlery had gone. A witness, Mrs Andrew Lister recounted that they were washed away with the tree, singing “Jesus Lover of my Soul”. The National School building on Milton and Hemans Street was a large weatherboard building on a stone foundation 3 feet above ground level. (A cairn stands there now commemorating the drowned residents). The schoolmaster Mr. McKenna and his family about nine people altogether were washed through the building when one of the walls broke down. The Hemphills of the Cottage Inn a family of six were swept away. One son was later found in a tree. Even those in high brick buildings like the Rose Inn lost their lives, numbering nineteen people.
Mr Horsely tried to save his fiancee, Miss Hemphill, by tying her to him with his belt, but she fell and drowned. John Scott the butcher and family, Charles Ross the carpenter and family, Mrs Thatcher and family except for Mr Thatcher who remained in a tree for three days, Mr Gormley and family, except for his two sons, John Harris the horse breaker and two children, and five people in the Golden Pippin Inn were drowned. Twenty five were drowned in the Rose Inn. It was estimated that in total about seventy-nine to eighty-nine people drowned or were missing.
James Gormley, one of those who was saved wrote some reminiscences 50 years after the flood. He had known Richard Hunt and wrote that at the time of the flood Richard Hunt had a thriving saddlery business and was an excellent saddle maker having made him a superior saddle a little time before. Richard’s shop and all his stock of harnesses and saddles were carried downstream and scattered for many miles.
The scene that witnesses described was devastating. The floodwaters peaked on the Tuesday, but the nights before had carried away a large proportion of the buildings. Logs and debris were dangerously swirling in the raging torrents causing much destruction. Fences and ruins were hazardous for craft or swimmers.
People were heard screaming as they were washed away. Many who had clung to trees or roofs spent many days of cold and wet waiting to be saved with little warm clothing, wearing merely their night attire. It was not until Thursday that the waters receded enough for the rescue of those marooned. It was through the efforts of about four Aboriginals, only two of whom are known by name, that many lives were saved.
The Gundagai area, particularly the flats and crossing place had been a traditional area for camping and ceremonial and the crossing of the Murrumbidgee. In fact, some of the explorers namely Sturt and Hume and Hovell may have used such traditional crossing tracks. Aboriginals of Gundagai, the Wiradjuri, and the settlers had good relationships through the residents giving the Aboriginals supplies when their hunting grounds had been usurped and allowing continued use of food sources and ceremonial sites. The tribes also had been reduced through smallpox and chicken pox and other diseases and by 1850 it was thought that there were only about two hundred in the neighbourhood of Gundagai. Some of the Aboriginals by that time became employed by settlers while camping near properties. As mentioned, they had been concerned about the areas of settlement and had warned the early settlers of the dangers of flooding.
The two Aboriginals known by name to have rescued those marooned were Yarri and Jackey. Jackey had been employed by a Mr. Andrews and it was thought that the previous Commissioner Bingham persuaded the Aboriginals to build traditional bark canoes. One of these canoes manned by Yarri, could only take a couple of people, but Jackey’s canoe was larger and is thought to have rescued up to eight people at a time. Their efforts were regarded as heroic at the time, for crossing the water was extremely difficult and dangerous having to maneuver through swiftly moving water filled with debris and having to make many trips. Yarri is recorded as having rescued eight to ten people, among them the Reardon family of six, Fred Horsely and John Spencer with possibly David Smith and his sons. Jacky with his bigger canoe possibly rescued over twenty people – six members of the Turnbull family, seven members of the Riley family, Henry Thatcher, Mrs Ross, Emma Sawyer, Mr Monkhouse, Robert Riley’s groom and cook, Mary Brown, and probably Mrs Holden and her five children. Approximately forty-nine were rescued in total it was thought.
Richard Hunt’s house and saddlery were washed away. Richard had sheltered in a tree with his family after his house and saddlery had gone. A witness, Mrs Andrew Lister recounted that they were washed away with the tree, singing “Jesus Lover of my Soul”. The National School building on Milton and Hemans Street was a large weatherboard building on a stone foundation 3 feet above ground level. (A cairn stands there now commemorating the drowned residents). The schoolmaster Mr. McKenna and his family about nine people altogether were washed through the building when one of the walls broke down. The Hemphills of the Cottage Inn a family of six were swept away. One son was later found in a tree. Even those in high brick buildings like the Rose Inn lost their lives, numbering nineteen people.
Mr Horsely tried to save his fiancee, Miss Hemphill, by tying her to him with his belt, but she fell and drowned. John Scott the butcher and family, Charles Ross the carpenter and family, Mrs Thatcher and family except for Mr Thatcher who remained in a tree for three days, Mr Gormley and family, except for his two sons, John Harris the horse breaker and two children, and five people in the Golden Pippin Inn were drowned. Twenty five were drowned in the Rose Inn. It was estimated that in total about seventy-nine to eighty-nine people drowned or were missing.
James Gormley, one of those who was saved wrote some reminiscences 50 years after the flood. He had known Richard Hunt and wrote that at the time of the flood Richard Hunt had a thriving saddlery business and was an excellent saddle maker having made him a superior saddle a little time before. Richard’s shop and all his stock of harnesses and saddles were carried downstream and scattered for many miles.
The scene that witnesses described was devastating. The floodwaters peaked on the Tuesday, but the nights before had carried away a large proportion of the buildings. Logs and debris were dangerously swirling in the raging torrents causing much destruction. Fences and ruins were hazardous for craft or swimmers.
People were heard screaming as they were washed away. Many who had clung to trees or roofs spent many days of cold and wet waiting to be saved with little warm clothing, wearing merely their night attire. It was not until Thursday that the waters receded enough for the rescue of those marooned. It was through the efforts of about four Aboriginals, only two of whom are known by name, that many lives were saved.
The Gundagai area, particularly the flats and crossing place had been a traditional area for camping and ceremonial and the crossing of the Murrumbidgee. In fact, some of the explorers namely Sturt and Hume and Hovell may have used such traditional crossing tracks. Aboriginals of Gundagai, the Wiradjuri, and the settlers had good relationships through the residents giving the Aboriginals supplies when their hunting grounds had been usurped and allowing continued use of food sources and ceremonial sites. The tribes also had been reduced through smallpox and chicken pox and other diseases and by 1850 it was thought that there were only about two hundred in the neighbourhood of Gundagai. Some of the Aboriginals by that time became employed by settlers while camping near properties. As mentioned, they had been concerned about the areas of settlement and had warned the early settlers of the dangers of flooding.
The two Aboriginals known by name to have rescued those marooned were Yarri and Jackey. Jackey had been employed by a Mr. Andrews and it was thought that the previous Commissioner Bingham persuaded the Aboriginals to build traditional bark canoes. One of these canoes manned by Yarri, could only take a couple of people, but Jackey’s canoe was larger and is thought to have rescued up to eight people at a time. Their efforts were regarded as heroic at the time, for crossing the water was extremely difficult and dangerous having to maneuver through swiftly moving water filled with debris and having to make many trips. Yarri is recorded as having rescued eight to ten people, among them the Reardon family of six, Fred Horsely and John Spencer with possibly David Smith and his sons. Jacky with his bigger canoe possibly rescued over twenty people – six members of the Turnbull family, seven members of the Riley family, Henry Thatcher, Mrs Ross, Emma Sawyer, Mr Monkhouse, Robert Riley’s groom and cook, Mary Brown, and probably Mrs Holden and her five children. Approximately forty-nine were rescued in total it was thought.
In recognition of their heroism and bravery, after the flood Yarri and Jackey were presented with engraved bronze breastplates. They were also entitled to receive gifts of money from whatever resident of Gundagai they requested for the rest of their lives. Yarri was baptized in 1875 and died in 1880.
I was present at a performance of a folk opera by musician John Warner in 2002 commemorating the events of the flood and the dedication of a cairn at the site of the National School in memory of the residents who died. Subsequently a statue dedicated to Yarri and Jackey consisting of the two men with a bark canoe was commissioned and stands today in the main part of town not far from the Criterion Hotel. In the lobby of the Criterion Hotel there is a painted honour board featuring the names of my ancestor Richard Hunt and his family plus others lost in the flood.
Richard Hunt, his wife and three of the four children were never found. His son Richard who was eight years old at the time is buried in the Gundagai Parish. Richard’s sons from his first marriage Charles William Hunt and George Thomas Hunt inherited allotments on higher ground. I am descended from his second son, George Thomas who married Elizabeth Williams. She was the granddaughter of Ann Davis and Thomas Williams who, like Richard Hunt occupied land in Dural. Ann Davis, a convict arrived in the Second Fleet via the Lady Juliana in 1790.
The Map of Old Gundagai below shows Richard Hunt’s Original Allotments. The area south of Sheridan Street was the site of the flood and is now a green grassy area occupied by the Anzac and Yarri Parks and the Golf Course. The only surviving building from the floods of 1852 was the Mill on Sheriden Street which can still be seen today.
Bibliography
Burns, Annette and Reid, Lynda A Hunt into History: Richard Hunt’s Story. Victoria, Annette Burns and Lynda Reid, 1993.
O’Keefe, Brendan, Pearson, Michael and McIntyre, Marcia The Watermen of Gundagai. Old Gundagai Project Committee, 2002.
Roughly, Ken These Walls of Time; a Story of My Forebears. Chatswood, Published by Les and Dorothy Woodhouse, 1987.
According to O’Keefe, eyewitness accounts of the floods can be found in newspapers after 1852, particularly the Sydney Morning Herald, the Gundagai Times, the Gundagai Independent and the Goulburn Herald plus family records of the descendants of survivors, particularly James Gormley.
Images from the internet:
‘Incident of the late flood, New South Wales’, Samuel Calvert, engraver, wood engraving, published in The Illustrated Australian News, August 13, 1870. https://www.sea.museum/2017/11/24/yarri-jacky-great-flood-1852
Floodwaters under the bridge over the Murrumbidgee. http://www.twominutepostcards.com/2021/01/31/gundagai-nsw-89-died-in-australias-deadliest-flood/
Gundagai flood mural at Criterion Hotel by Arnold St. Claire: Ditto.
Montage of Gundagai flood pictures: Ditto
By Jane Ann Tainsh, #FFF 6992
I was present at a performance of a folk opera by musician John Warner in 2002 commemorating the events of the flood and the dedication of a cairn at the site of the National School in memory of the residents who died. Subsequently a statue dedicated to Yarri and Jackey consisting of the two men with a bark canoe was commissioned and stands today in the main part of town not far from the Criterion Hotel. In the lobby of the Criterion Hotel there is a painted honour board featuring the names of my ancestor Richard Hunt and his family plus others lost in the flood.
Richard Hunt, his wife and three of the four children were never found. His son Richard who was eight years old at the time is buried in the Gundagai Parish. Richard’s sons from his first marriage Charles William Hunt and George Thomas Hunt inherited allotments on higher ground. I am descended from his second son, George Thomas who married Elizabeth Williams. She was the granddaughter of Ann Davis and Thomas Williams who, like Richard Hunt occupied land in Dural. Ann Davis, a convict arrived in the Second Fleet via the Lady Juliana in 1790.
The Map of Old Gundagai below shows Richard Hunt’s Original Allotments. The area south of Sheridan Street was the site of the flood and is now a green grassy area occupied by the Anzac and Yarri Parks and the Golf Course. The only surviving building from the floods of 1852 was the Mill on Sheriden Street which can still be seen today.
Bibliography
Burns, Annette and Reid, Lynda A Hunt into History: Richard Hunt’s Story. Victoria, Annette Burns and Lynda Reid, 1993.
O’Keefe, Brendan, Pearson, Michael and McIntyre, Marcia The Watermen of Gundagai. Old Gundagai Project Committee, 2002.
Roughly, Ken These Walls of Time; a Story of My Forebears. Chatswood, Published by Les and Dorothy Woodhouse, 1987.
According to O’Keefe, eyewitness accounts of the floods can be found in newspapers after 1852, particularly the Sydney Morning Herald, the Gundagai Times, the Gundagai Independent and the Goulburn Herald plus family records of the descendants of survivors, particularly James Gormley.
Images from the internet:
‘Incident of the late flood, New South Wales’, Samuel Calvert, engraver, wood engraving, published in The Illustrated Australian News, August 13, 1870. https://www.sea.museum/2017/11/24/yarri-jacky-great-flood-1852
Floodwaters under the bridge over the Murrumbidgee. http://www.twominutepostcards.com/2021/01/31/gundagai-nsw-89-died-in-australias-deadliest-flood/
Gundagai flood mural at Criterion Hotel by Arnold St. Claire: Ditto.
Montage of Gundagai flood pictures: Ditto
By Jane Ann Tainsh, #FFF 6992