The Ngunnawal and the cold plains
Cave paintings and Aboriginal artifacts found across the area show occupation by the Ngunnawal people stretching back more than 21,000 years. The district lies close to country recognised as the traditional lands of Ngarigo-speaking people.
The name Tuggeranong comes from a Ngunnawal expression meaning "cold place". The plain that reaches south into the middle of today's territory was called Tuggeranong from the earliest colonial times. Local Aboriginal people knew a small plain in the valley as "Togranong", which meant "cold plains".
Explorers, a bushranger and a land grant
The first Europeans arrived in the region of the Australian Capital Territory in 1820, and a year after that an expedition led by Charles Throsby reached the Murrumbidgee, close to where Pine Island is now and into the valley the district occupies. In 1823 Joseph Wild was employed to guide John Ovens and Mark Currie to the Murrumbidgee. They travelled south along it and named the country that is now Tuggeranong Isabella's Plain, after Governor Brisbane's infant daughter. Unable to cross near the site of Tharwa, they went on to the Monaro Plains.
Allan Cunningham's expedition of 1824 was the last in the region, and his reports confirmed that the land was suitable for grazing. Settlement of the Limestone Plains followed at once. James Murdoch was the first authorised settler: in 1824 he was offered a grant of land on a small plain the local Aboriginal people called "Togranong", and he took it up in 1827.
The bushranger John Tennant, nicknamed the "Terror of Argyle", was caught in 1828 by James Ainslie and others near the Murrumbidgee in Tuggeranong. Before that he had been assigned as a convict to Joshua John Moore, whose Canberry property lay in what is now Canberra's inner north. The mountain behind Tharwa, Mount Tennent, takes its name from him, spelled a little differently.
Cave paintings and Aboriginal artifacts found across the area show occupation by the Ngunnawal people stretching back more than 21,000 years.
Stations, debt and the Cunninghams
Lanyon station began in 1835 under James Wright, with his brother William and John Lanyon. Wright later bought out Lanyon, who had stayed in Australia only three years. In 1838 Wright began building the homestead and named it after his partner. It was made strong, like a fort, to withstand bushrangers. In 1847 the Cunningham family took over the property.
Thomas Macquoid held the office of Sheriff of the New South Wales Supreme Court. In 1835 he bought the Tuggeranong station, then known as Waniassa. The rural depression of 1840 brought hardship, and Macquoid committed suicide, fearing bankruptcy when a civil suit brought by William Henry Barnes went against him. His son carried on the estate with the creditors' agreement until the family sold it in 1858. The buyers were the Cunninghams, who already held neighbouring Lanyon, and they renamed Waniassa Tuggranong.
In the late nineteenth century the area formed part of the Tuggeranong parish. The Cunningham family rebuilt Tuggranong homestead in 1908, and the Commonwealth Government resumed the property for military purposes in 1917. The Cunninghams stayed on at Lanyon until 1926. Charles Bean and his staff worked at the homestead between 1919 and 1925, writing the opening volumes of Australia's official war history. From 1927 to 1976 the Tuggeranong property was leased for grazing.
A new town in the valley
Planning for the new town at Tuggeranong began in 1969. On 21 February 1973 it was inaugurated as the third of the territory's new towns, planned at first to house between 180,000 and 220,000 people. The first families moved into Kambah in 1974, and the fifth fire station in Canberra opened there in 1979, to serve a growing satellite city.
Trees across the Tuggeranong valley were mapped from aerial photographs and assessed for condition and site. Only those in poor shape, or where removal was needed, were destroyed. By March 1973, 40,000 new native trees had been planted, and a further 40,000 were planned for planting by the end of 1973.
A transport planning engineer at the National Capital Development Commission was responsible for transport planning across Tuggeranong from 1972 to 1975, covering arterial roads, freeways, residential streets and the movement of traffic between office, retail and industrial areas, along with local and "metropolitan line-haul" public transport. Other sites for the town centre were considered, among them "Kambah Group Centre", "Oxley", "Erindale" and "Isabella Plains North/East Knoll", plus part of the site identified in 1970, where the centre now stands.
Timeline
| 1820 | The first Europeans arrive in the Australian Capital Territory region. |
|---|---|
| 1823 | Joseph Wild guides John Ovens and Mark Currie, who name the area Isabella's Plain. |
| 1824 | Allan Cunningham's reports confirm the region is suitable for grazing. |
| 1827 | James Murdoch takes up a land grant on the plain known as "Togranong". |
| 1828 | Bushranger John Tennant is captured near the Murrumbidgee in Tuggeranong. |
| 1835 | Lanyon station is set up by James Wright, William Wright and John Lanyon. |
| 1917 | The Tuggranong homestead is resumed by the Commonwealth Government for military purposes. |
| 1973 | Tuggeranong is inaugurated as the third of the territory's new towns, on 21 February. |
| 1974 | The first families move into the suburb of Kambah. |
Living in Tuggeranong
Tuggeranong is the southernmost district of Canberra, covering 117 square kilometres east of the Murrumbidgee River. It holds nineteen suburbs and is divided into sections and blocks. Pine Island, on the Murrumbidgee, lies near the valley, and Mount Tennent stands behind Tharwa.
The district took shape as a planned new town, the third in the Australian Capital Territory, with its town centre, roads and public transport routes worked out in the 1970s. Trees were mapped and assessed across the valley, and by March 1973, 40,000 new native trees had been planted, with a further 40,000 planned for planting by the end of that year.
Questions people ask
- What does the name Tuggeranong mean?
- The name comes from a Ngunnawal expression meaning "cold place". Local Aboriginal people knew a small plain in the valley as "Togranong", meaning "cold plains".
- What is the history of Tuggeranong?
- Cave paintings and Aboriginal artifacts found in the area show that the Ngunnawal people have occupied the region for more than 21,000 years. Grazing stations followed European exploration in the 1820s, and in 1973 Tuggeranong was inaugurated as a new town.
- When did Tuggeranong become a new town?
- Tuggeranong was inaugurated as the third of the territory's new towns on 21 February 1973. Planning had begun in 1969, and the first families moved into Kambah in 1974.
- What is living in Tuggeranong like?
- Tuggeranong is the southernmost district of Canberra and takes in nineteen suburbs across 117 square kilometres east of the Murrumbidgee River. It is divided into sections and blocks.