History of Canberra

The History of Canberra details the development of the City of Canberra from the time before European settlement to the city's planning by the Chicago architect Walter Burley Griffin in collaboration with Marion Mahony Griffin, and its subsequent development to the present day.

Before European settlement, the area which eventually became the Australian Capital Territory was inhabited by Indigenous Australians, who spoke a Ngarigo dialect. Historical sources have identified them as different tribes with a range of names. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the region includes inhabited rock shelters, rock paintings and engravings, burial places, camps and quarry sites, and stone tools and arrangements. The evidence suggests human habitation in the area for at least 21,000 years.

European exploration began in the Canberra area as early as the 1820s. Canberra was "discovered" on 7 December 1820 by Charles Throsby Smith, Joseph Wild and James Vaughan. Overall, four successive expeditions whose routes took in the Canberra area were those of Charles Throsby (Oct 1820), Charles Throsby Smith (Dec 1820),Major John Ovens and Captain Mark Currie (1823), and Allan Cunningham (1824). All four expeditions explored the course of the Limestone now Molonglo River that is now the site of Lake Burley Griffin. Smith and Cunningham also penetrated further south, into what is now called the Tuggeranong Valley.

It was estimated by Robertson that prior to European settlement starting in 1824, depending on the season there were about 300-400 Aboriginals living in the Molonglo, Queabeyan, Canberra, Namadgi region. As the settlers took over land, many Aboriginals migrated to other districts such as Cooma and Tumut. The population was also significantly reduced when the death rate increased significantly due to diseases introduced by the Europeans. By the 1880s there were no full blood people in the district, with only some fifty mixed race people. These people were employed either as labourers or domestics on stations. Due to the lack of European women, many white men had relationships with mixed race women so even further diluting Aboriginal heritage.

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