Last modified: 2015-06-22 by ian macdonald
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Goulburn, about 200 km south west of Sydney on the junction of the Mulwaree and Wollondilly Rivers, has been called Australia's first inland city. Land grants in the Argyle County were made to settlers from around 1820 and plans for a settlement called Goulburn Plains to be built on the route of the planned great south road were drawn up in 1828. From the 1830s, Goulburn was a major centre for the southern regions of New South Wales, especially as regards police operations.
In 1859, the town became a municipality and in 1863 it acquired city status through the creation of a bishopric by royal letters patent. The legality of this was disputed, and Goulburn was again proclaimed a city on 20 March 1885. As the railway was extended to and then beyond Goulburn towards Melbourne, Goulburn became a major railway centre.
Goulburn is still important to the railways, the terminus of CityRail services from Sydney and a stop for trains to Canberra, Melbourne and south west New South Wales. It is still the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, although the cathedral for the Catholic Archdiocesse of the same name is now in Canberra. Goulburn is also the site of New South Wales Police Academy and the Big Merino tourist attraction, a 15m tall cement sheep.
As part of the 2004 local government boundary changes, the City of Goublurn was amalgamated with parts of the surrounding Mulwaree shire, including Marulan and Lake Bathurst, to form the Greater Argyle Council. The name was changed later that year at the request of the council to Goulburn Mulwaree Council.
Sources:
Our History - Goulburn
Mulwaree Council website
Goulburn, New South Wales at English Wikipedia,
referring to NSW Government Gazette 1885, vol.I.
Jonathan Dixon, 22 Mar 2007
The new flag of Goulburn Mulwaree was launched in October 2006 after discussion at council meetings in August and Sepetember. The press release included a photo of the flag, but it does not seem to have made it onto the web. The flag was designed by Gillian Webber, a former council employee, and features elements of the council logo. The logo, visible at the council website, includes a rough blue line outlining a hill and valley, with a structure on the hill emitting white light against the blue-yellow-green shading above the flue line, together with the words "GOULBURN MULWAREE COUNCIL" in blue above the shading. The tower is the local War Memorial, portraying the district's heritage with a background of rural land/rolling hills.
The flag, chosen unanimously by the council, flies outside the Civic Centre in Bourke St.
Sources:
Press release concerning the new flag
Minutes from several Council meetings, downloadable at the council website
Jonathan Dixon, 22 Mar 2007
The flag of the now obsolete Goulburn City originated from 1959 is shown
on a photo here.
Valentin Poposki, 22 March 2007
A flag for Goulburn City Council was adopted as a result of an open competition to cebrate the centenary of the city in 1959. The winning design was by Bruce Lambert, a town planner for the council. It had a blue field, with a circular emblem on the hoist cide of the centre, and two yellow stripes separated by a thinner red stripe extending from the emblem to the fly. The emblem contained the lettering "CITY OF GOULBURN" and "1859" in black on white in the ring formed by two black circles, around the shield of the coat of arms. The arms are not easy to see, but follow the common form of quarters separated by a red cross with five yellow stars. The first quarter seems to be a yellow fleece on a blue field, the second a black sheaf of wheat on white, the third a yellow object (fish or beehive?) on blue and the fourth a black object (all I can see in it is a wagtail) on white.
When the original 1959 flag was presented to Mr Lambert to mark the lauch
of the new flag of Goulburn Mulwaree, mayor Paul Stephenson said that the
old flag was still displayed in prominent places in the city. The flag is
on display at the St Clair Museum.
Sources:
Minutes from several Council meetings, downloadable at the council website
Jonathan Dixon, 22 Mar 2007