Gooloogoolup

Goologoolup/ Goo'lo-goo'lup/ Goo'loogoo'lup / Goloogulup

Description & Location

The name of the hill at the western end of St. Georges Terrace, encompassing the lowlands to the north where the old ‘Perth Locomotive Running Sheds’ were once located. Two swamps were situated in this vicinity, renamed Lake Kingsford and Lake Irwin (site of the Running Sheds) after European contact. 

Lakes Kingsford and Irwin were two of the many swamps located north of Perth. These were part of a chain of freshwater lakes, swamps, and wetlands that provided a variety of food sources to Noongar people who lived off the water birds, kooya (frogs), gilgies (freshwater crayfish), yakan (turtles), and plant foods, such as bulrushes, that flourished in the swamps. The sandy soil in the Gooloogoolup area would have provided the perfect environment for Swamp Banksia and Melaleuca. Oil from Melaleuca trees were used by Noongar people as antiseptics and as an antibacterial.

Fanny Balbuk, a well-known Noongar historical figure who passed away in 1907 at the age of 64, worked with the ethnographer Daisy Bates, who recorded that Balbuk’s father camped in the Gooloogoolup area near Lake Kingsford. Balbuk’s wealth of knowledge on the geography of the Perth region informed much of Bates’ research in the area.

From the 1830s most of the wetlands were reclaimed for use as housing, parks and market gardens. Today, the hill is intersected by the Mitchell Freeway and the lush environment of the lowlands has been transformed by urban infill. The Perth Arena, Yagan Square and the Perth Train Station have been constructed on the former site of the lakes.

References

Bates, D. (1924, 25 December). Derelicts: The Passing of the Bibbulmun. The Western Mail, p. 55–56.

Bates, D. Manuscript 365/4/174, Notebook 20, p. 57.

Bates, D. Manuscript 365/4/174, Notebook 20, p. 57a.

Bates, D. Manuscript 365/4/179, Notebook 20, p. 63.

Bates, D. Manuscript 365/4/181, Notebook 20, p.e 67.

Hansen, V. & Horsfall, J. (2016). Noongar Bush Medicine: Medicinal plants of the South-West of Western Australia. Crawley, Western Australia : UWA Publishing , p. 83.

(1910, 25 December). Oldest Perth—Town Site of Perth, in Western Australia, from the Actual Survey in 1838. Western Mail. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38369347.

Maps

State Records Office of WA. Cons993. 1927/0038. Plan of Prohibited Area, Perth.