History of Darwin

The history of Darwin details the city's growth from a fledging settlement into a thriving colonial capital and finally a modern city.

Early history

The Aboriginal people of the Larrakia language group lived (and still do) in the greater Darwin Region before European settlement. [ [http://www.larrakia.com/AboutUs.html Our People and History] "Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation (www.larrakia.com)"] They had trading routes with Southeast Asia ( see Macassan contact with Australia), and imported goods from as far afield as South and Western Australia. Established 'songlines' penetrated throughout the country, allowing stories and histories to be told and retold along the routes.The Dutch visited Hannah's northern coastline in the 1600s, and created the first European maps of the area, hence the Dutch names in the area, such as Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt, which still bears the original old Dutch spelling for "large island".

Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of HMS "Beagle" in 1839, 69 years after the first European settlement of Australia. The ship's captain, Commander John Clements Wickham, named the port after Charles Darwin, the English naturalist who had sailed with them both on the earlier second expedition of the "Beagle". It was not until 1869 that a permanent European settlement was established by the South Australian Government who had control of the Territory at that time. On 5 February 1869, George Goyder, the Surveyor-General of South Australia, established a small settlement of 135 men and women at Port Darwin. Goyder named the settlement Palmerston, after the British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston. The Port of Darwin was first used for modern commerce in 1869 when it was discovered. It was used to supply the new settlement of Palmerston. During construction of the Overland Telegraph line between Port Augusta and Darwin connecting Australia to the rest of the world from 1870, workers uncovered some gold near Pine Creek, about 200km south of Darwin, further boosted the young colony's development. Two years later in 1872 Government House was built, then in the 1880s it was pulled down and rebuilt.

In February 1875, the SS Gothenburg left Darwin for Adelaide with approximately 100 passengers and 34 crew (surviving records vary). Many passengers and crew were Darwin residents. On 24 February, in heavy storms she hit a reef at low tide off the north Queensland coast and sank with the loss of about 102 lives. The tragedy severely affected Darwin’s population and economy and it was slow to recover.

By 1881 the town had a population of 3451. The increase in the population saw the construction of the Fannie Bay Gaol in 1882 – 1883. In 1884, the pearling industry brought people from Japan, Timor and the Philippines, many of whose ancestors are prominent families in Darwin today. in 1911 the city of Palmerston became the city's official name of Darwin by the Commonwealth administration. The Northern Territory was initially settled and administered by South Australia, until its transfer to the Commonwealth in 1911.

The discovery of gold led to an influx of people to Darwin. This minor gold rush attracted more than 7000 Chinese and a handful of Europeans which was the beginning of the extraordinary cultural mix that is now Darwin.

1900 — present

Bombing of Darwin

On 19 February 1942 at 0957, during World War II, 188 Japanese warplanes attacked Darwin in two waves. The incoming Japanese planes were first spotted by Father John McGrath at the Bathurst Island mission north of Darwin. McGrath radioed at 0930 and the sirens wailed at 0957. It was the same fleet that had bombed Pearl Harbor, though a considerably larger number of bombs were dropped on Darwin, than on Pearl Harbor. The attack killed at least 243 people and caused immense damage to the town. These were by far the most serious attacks on Australia in time of war, in terms of fatalities and damage. They were the first of many raids on Darwin.

This event is often called the "Pearl Harbor of Australia". Although it was a less significant target, [cite book
last =Lockwood
first =Douglas
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Australia's Pearl Harbour. Darwin 1942.
publisher = Penguin Books
date = 1992 (reprint)
location = Melbourne
pages = Pages xiii and 5
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 10987654321 ] a greater number of bombs were dropped on Darwin than were used in the attack on Pearl Harbor. As was the case at Pearl Harbor, the Australian town was unprepared, and although it came under attack from the air another 58 times in 1942 and 1943, the raids on 19 February were massive and devastating by comparison.

Darwin was granted city status On Australia Day (26 January) 1959.

Cyclone Tracy

On 25 December 1974, Darwin was struck by Cyclone Tracy, which killed 71 people and destroyed over 70% of the town's buildings, including many old stone buildings such as the Palmerston Town Hall, the Old Police Station, the Court House and Cell Block all on The Esplanade which runs along Lameroo Beach which could not withstand the lateral forces generated by the strong winds. It was, Australia's worst natural disaster. The anemometer at Darwin Airport recorded winds of 217 km/h at 3:00am before it stopped working; winds of up to 250 km/h were estimated to have hit the city. The total damage cost $1000 million. 16 people were lost at sea, their bodies never recovered. The city of 43,000 residents was completely destroyed. After the disaster, an airlift evacuated 30,000 people. The population was evacuated by air and ground transportation; due to communications difficulties with Darwin airport landing was limited to one plane every ninety minutes. At major airports teams of Salvation Army and Red Cross workers met refugees, with the Red Cross taking responsibility for keeping track of the names and temporary addresses of the refugees. Evacuations were prioritised according to need; women, children, the elderly and sick were evacuated first. There were reports of men dressing up as women to escape with the early evacuations. By the 31st of December only 10,638 people (mostly men who were required to help clean up the city) remained in Darwin. Stretton also regulated access to the city by means of a permit system. Permits were only issued to those who were involved in either the relief or reconstruction efforts, and were used to prevent the early return of those who were evacuated.

The City was subsequently rebuilt with newer materials and techniques during the late 1970s by the Darwin Reconstruction Commission. A satellite city of Palmerston was built 20 km south of Darwin in the early 1980s. As a result of air raids and cyclones, Darwin has few historic buildings although some of the stronger stone structures survived and have been restored. Since Cyclone Tracy all buildings are constructed to a strict cyclone code. Steel is a popular building material and led to a distinctive modern style associated with Darwin known as ‘Troppo’. Southeast Asian influences are also apparent in some of the architecture. A growing population and relatively scarce land has seen a boom in high rise apartment style housing in recent years especially around the central business district and coastal fringes.

References

* cite book
last =Lockwood
first =Douglas
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Australia's Pearl Harbour. Darwin 1942.
publisher = Penguin Books
date = 1992 (reprint)
location = Melbourne
pages =
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 10987654321

External links

* [http://www.smh.com.au/news/Northern-Territory/Darwin/2005/02/17/1108500201604.html/ Darwin History]