RRHS - Richmond Rivers Historical Society

District History

Brief Chronology of the Richmond River

DATE	EVENT
6000BP - 1838	Bundjalung people sole occupiers of the area.
1828	Captain Henry John Rous in the frigate Rainbow explores and names the Richmond River.
1839	Squatters Clay and Stapleton become first white settlers in the Richmond Valley, at Cassino Station.
1842	Cedar cutters arrive, amongst them Steve King.
1842 - 1848	Main stations established: Cassino, Runnymede, Wooroowoolgen, Wyangarie, Dyraaba, Fairymount, Tunstall and Lismore.
1843	Conflict with settlers results in massacre of up to 100 Aborigines at Evans Head.
1846	First boiling-down plant in the district built at Fairymount.
early 1850s	First sawmill built, at Shaw's Bay, Ballina.
1853 or 54	Reported massacre of 30-40 members of Ballina Tribe by Native Mounted Police.
1855	Surveyor Peppercorne makes plans for the village of Lismore; one year later the village is notified.
1859	Clark Irving elected first member for the Clarence District which includes the Richmond and Tweed River valleys.
1861	Enactment of Robertson Land Act, which results in settlers of moderate means flocking to the district and selecting land.
1862	First steam drogher (tug) introduced to the Richmond River by W.T. Yeager.
1865	First large sawmill built, at Wyrallah.
1870	James Reeves sets up first dairy, at Fairy Hill near Kyogle.
1871	First newspaper, the Richmond River Express, appears at Casino.
1876	The Northern Star newspaper started by W. Kelleway.
1879	Lismore becomes a municipality.
1881	The Colonial Sugar Refinery opens sugar mill at Broadwater.
1889	First dairy cooperative established at Springhill, Wollongbar.
1889 - 1911	Breakwater built at Ballina.
1892	First plantings of Paspalum grass, originally discovered by Edwin Seccombe of Wollongbar, lead to major development of dairy pastures on the North Coast.
1894	First train in the district runs between Lismore and Byron Bay.
1895	The North Coast Fresh Food and Cold Storage Cooperative Ltd (later Norco) begins operations at Byron Bay.
1907	Dedication of St Carthage's Cathedral, Lismore.
1946	Lismore officially gazetted as a City.
1954	Lismore no longer a port, as North Coast Steam Navigation Company ceases operations.
1960s	First large-scale macadamia orchards planted.
1970	Teachers College, Lismore opens.
Early 1970s	Major decline of dairying, with loss of 85% of dairy farmers in the North Eatern sector of NSW.
1973	Aquarius Festival held at Nimbin, resulting in the revitalising of the village and the rise of alternative cultures in the district.
1989	University of New England - Northern Rivers established at Lismore, later becomes Southern Cross University.

Nimbin Rocks

Ballina looking south

Ballina looking south

Clearing the Big Scrub

Clearing the Big Scrub

Early dairy farming

Early dairy farming