The Museum of Perth chronicles the social, cultural, political and architectural history of Perth.
Goodinup
Gudinup / Gudenup
Description & Location
The name for springs that once existed at the west end of the Perth Foreshore. Flowing into a large pool of water surrounded by jarrah trees and gums, the springs provided a permanent freshwater source for Noongar people and was home to a variety of food sources, such as gilgies (freshwater crayfish) and ducks. Large quantities of black cockatoos are also said to have frequented this area.
The name ‘Goodinup’ possibly derives from the Noongar word goodinyal (cobbler fish). This was an important food source for Noongar people that would have been found in the nearby bilya (Swan River). It is recorded that Noongars would light fires on the riverbank at Gumap after dark to lure goodinyal into the shallows, where they could easily be speared, then roasted and eaten together at Goodinup.
With plenty of food sources in and around the area, Goodinup was an important camping place for Noongar people. It is said to have been one of the many favoured camping places of Noongar clan Elder Yellagonga and his tribe at the time of European contact.
In 1835, a unique reconciliation meeting occurred at Government House involving Governor Stirling, a Swan River tribe and a Murray River tribe to try and keep peace among the three. A corroboree sealed the Swan and Murray River groups’ agreement, with the Mooro group of the Swan River tribe retiring to this spring of Goodinup at the end of the night while the Murray River group withdrew to a water hole at Dyeedyallalup.
The springs now lie beneath present-day Spring Street, located between St Georges Terrace and Mounts Bay Road.
References
Bates, D. Manuscript 365/97/578-9.
Bates, D. Manuscript 97/583.
Green, N. (1995). Broken Spears- Aboriginals and Europeans in the southwest of Australia, p. 106. Perth, WA: Focus Education Services.
State Library of NSW. (1899). Box 5 Folder 1: Western Australian Place Names, 1899-1903, p. 26.
State Records Office of WA. Cons993. 1948/0150. List of native names for naming farms etc., p. 162.
The Western Australian Journal. (1833, April 20). The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, p. 63. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article642121.
Vinnicombe, P. (1989). Goonininup: A Site Complex on The Southern Side of Mount Eliza : An Historical Perspective of Land Use And Associations in The Old Swan Brewery Area. Perth, WA: Western Australian Museum.
“Western Australia: In Days Lang Syne.” The Daily News, 5 Apr. 1927, p.2.
Maps
State Records Office of WA. Cons993. 1927/0038. Plan of Prohibited Area, Perth.
Battye Library. 1D 20 Chains- City of Perth, Map Cabinet 56, Drawer 1.
Looking down Spring Street, 1870. Spring Street was named for a fresh water spring which was located at the bottom of the street where the Emu Brewery was later constructed. This was the camping ground of Nyoongar Leader Yellagonga, State Library of Western Australia, 100027PD
