Ongerup (Ongerup)
Ongerup is a town 410 km south-east of Perth and 54 km east of Gnowangerup in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. At the 2016 census Ongerup had a population of 93.
The name Ongerup means "place of the male kangaroo" in the local Noongar language.
The area around Ongerup was explored by Surveyor General John Septimus Roe who passed through in 1848. In the 1870s the Moir family moved to the area and began grazing sheep along the Warperup Creek. In 1910 the land was surveyed into 1000 acre blocks priced at 10 shillings per acre before the townsite was gazetted in 1912.
A local newspaper, The Gnowangerup Star and Tambellup-Ongerup Gazette, was launched on 21 August 1915 with the final edition being printed in 2003.
The first Ongerup Public Hall was built in 1927 but was replaced by the current building in 1953.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, kangaroo hunters and mallee bark strippers came to the area. The bark was sent to Germany for use in tanning.
In 1936 the town established a football club. The club initially played in the Tambellup Football Association before joining with Jerramungup to form the Ongerup Football Association in 1962. The club went into recess in 2010. The town was flooded when 119.4 mm of rain, almost a third of the annual average, fell in one day on 17 February 1955.
In June 1983 the Ongerup Cemetery received its first burial.
In 1983 the Ongerup Shears event was held for the first time. This was a shearing competition that was held on the Queen's Birthday long weekend with international and national shearers competing in the runup to the Perth Royal Show. The event was discontinued in the 1990s.
In 2009 a 13-part documentary, entitled The Life of the Town, was made by Ronin Films that looked at the life of the town and focussed on the Australian Rules football team that was under threat.
The name Ongerup means "place of the male kangaroo" in the local Noongar language.
The area around Ongerup was explored by Surveyor General John Septimus Roe who passed through in 1848. In the 1870s the Moir family moved to the area and began grazing sheep along the Warperup Creek. In 1910 the land was surveyed into 1000 acre blocks priced at 10 shillings per acre before the townsite was gazetted in 1912.
A local newspaper, The Gnowangerup Star and Tambellup-Ongerup Gazette, was launched on 21 August 1915 with the final edition being printed in 2003.
The first Ongerup Public Hall was built in 1927 but was replaced by the current building in 1953.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, kangaroo hunters and mallee bark strippers came to the area. The bark was sent to Germany for use in tanning.
In 1936 the town established a football club. The club initially played in the Tambellup Football Association before joining with Jerramungup to form the Ongerup Football Association in 1962. The club went into recess in 2010. The town was flooded when 119.4 mm of rain, almost a third of the annual average, fell in one day on 17 February 1955.
In June 1983 the Ongerup Cemetery received its first burial.
In 1983 the Ongerup Shears event was held for the first time. This was a shearing competition that was held on the Queen's Birthday long weekend with international and national shearers competing in the runup to the Perth Royal Show. The event was discontinued in the 1990s.
In 2009 a 13-part documentary, entitled The Life of the Town, was made by Ronin Films that looked at the life of the town and focussed on the Australian Rules football team that was under threat.
Map - Ongerup (Ongerup)
Map
Country - Australia
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The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approximately 65,000 years ago, during the last ice age. Arriving by sea, they settled the continent and had formed approximately 250 distinct language groups by the time of European settlement, maintaining some of the longest known continuing artistic and religious traditions in the world. Australia's written history commenced with the European maritime exploration of Australia. The Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon was the first known European to reach Australia, in 1606. In 1770, the British explorer James Cook mapped and claimed the east coast of Australia for Great Britain, and the First Fleet of British ships arrived at Sydney in 1788 to establish the penal colony of New South Wales. The European population grew in subsequent decades, and by the end of the 1850s gold rush, most of the continent had been explored by European settlers and an additional five self-governing British colonies established. Democratic parliaments were gradually established through the 19th century, culminating with a vote for the federation of the six colonies and foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and wealthy market economy.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUD | Australian dollar | $ | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| EN | English language |