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| A Brief History and Timeline of Mataranka,and the surrounding area.. |
| "A Rich Environment" Mataranka lies in flat undulating terrain typical of this region - the result of extensive flooding as the sea swept over much of the top end, extended south in an arc around the higher areas of central Australia, and lapped the southern edges of the Macdonnell Ranges. All this happened a mere 120 to 110 million years ago, relatively recent geologically speaking. Sand, silt and clay were deposited over the region, surviving as the strata or layers visible in the road cuttings along the highway. Large permanent waterways, the Waterhouse and Roper Rivers and Elsey Creek, are also features of this, so rich in natural values |
| "Early Exploration" Augustus Charles Gregory and his party were the first to pass through this area on their way to Moreton Bay from the Victoria River in July 1856. His men felled huge fan palms to extract the pulp for vegetables. It is also said they found a European campsite, could it have been from Ludwig Leichhardt's 1848 journey? We may never know - he and his men disappeared without a trace. John McDouall Stuart passed through the area during his epic trek to the North Coast in June 1862. He named the Waterhouse river after his naturalist companion. |
| "The Overland Telegraph" The construction crewss for the Overland Telegraph came IN 1871 and 1872, with Elsey a key point in communications linking the South with the North. It was about this time the area became known as Bitter Springs. But the Mangarayi and Yangman Aboriginal People had place names here long before the arrival of Europeans. According to their lore it was in the Dreamtime that a wild wind rose East of Mirimiridgi (now Moroak Station) and swept across the country, creating Birinjin (Mataranka) Mulgan (the racecourse area) Goran (Bitter Springs) and Najig (the thermal springs here at the Homestead, before sweeping on towards Leach Lagoon northwest of here |
| "Elsey Station Formed" Next came pastoralism, around June 1880. After securing the first pastoral claim in the area in 1879, Abraham Wallace travelled from the Darling Downs in NSW to Bowen Downs in QLD where he and his nephew, J.H Palmer, purchased 2,728 head of cattle. They drove the mob around the gulf and down the Roper to Stanley Billabong at Warloch Ponds - named after surveyor Gilbert McMinn horse - Elsey station was established. Wallace committed suicide eight years later and a succession of owners took on Elsey Station before a new manager Aeneas Gunn, and his bride Jeannie arrived in 1902, Tragically , Aeneas died of malarial dysentry on the 16th March 1903, and was buried in a small cemetery close to the homestead. Jeannie left Elsey and returned south, but the Territory remained in her. She wrote of her time here, and of the characters that have become famous through her now classic work "We of the Never Never. |
"Mataranka" The area located here at the homestead was selected by the Administrator, Dr J.A Gilruth, as the site for a stock breeding station in 1913. He insisted, against all advice and previous experience, on stocking it with sheep. High mortality rates, pests and poor lambing saw the experiment fail. At the time Gilruth suggested the name "Mataranka" to the commonwealth, arguing that the bitter springs werent bitter, and the title was misleading. The name was offically changed in 1916, and has stuck. The origins of the word Mataranka, are a combination of Maori words and while their meanings don't fit the area, Gilruth had spent many years in New Zealand before migrating in 1908. Perhaps it is the name of a place he knew there, or made up to suit. "The Railway Arrives" In 1907 a bill had been prepared to pave the way for an extension of the railway south to Bitter Springs but arguments over the route saw the project delayed until 1926. The railway line opened here on the 1st of July 1928 but even then the Never Never line as it became known, ended at Birdum, eighty km from here in 1929. It was literally the end of the line. But Mataranka was here to stay. Giruth had already promoted it as the future capital of the Northern Australia and in 1927 the town site was surveyed and streets named after some of Jeannie Gunns Characters. Among the population of 152 persons here in 1929 were some enterprising Chinese storekeepers, including Charlie On and Mrs Fisher who ran a boarding house and later after extensions became the Elsey Inn and now remains a land mark in Mataranka - The Mataranka Hotel |
| "Wartime" Over 100 units served at Mataranka during World War 11- headquarters, a hospital, depots ammunition dumps, abbattoirs, workshops and even a sawmill driven by an old steam engine. The Native affairs branch also ran an Aboriginal compound nearby and from there men and women were assigned work with the Australian services, earning high regard for their skills. From 1943 Brigadier Dollery and men of NT Force undertook work at Elsey Cemetery. A memorial to Jeannie Gunn was installed next Aenea's grave, some works to other graves carried out and an arched gateway was completed in 1944. They also buried the remains of a number of Jeannie's characters there - Henry Peckham "the Fizzer", "Happy Dick", Jack Grant "Horse Teams", and :the Dandy". Tom Pearce, "Mine Host", was buried there in 1952. These characters lie together in what is an evocative part of the Territory's History. |
| "The Thermal Springs" During the war years one of the many soldiers who visited the springs, Victor Smith, saw the potential as a tourist spot. Returning in 1946, Smith setup a resort close to the 1916 homestead erected for the sheep station and by 1949 he had erected 17 cabins and was serving travellers. It has since been in the hands of a number of interests and has become one of the Territory's most popular spots. |
| "We of the Never Never" The movie industry came to Mataranka in the 1950's when parts of the movie "Jedda" were shot around here. Another movie based on Jeannie Gunn's "We of the Never Never", was shot around Mataranka and at Pine Creek in the early 80's. A replica of the old Elsey Homestead was erected for the film and is still here at Mataranka Homestead, reminding us of those early days. Jeannie Gunn died in Melbourne on the 15th June 1951.In a tribute to her, the then parlimentary member for the territory, Jock Nelson, stated in part that; "She depicted the life, the spirit and the north as no other person has been able to do before or since" |