Misc Info
Additional info about the Murray River and surrounding area
References
There are a few hundred books written about the Murray and thousands of papers. The following is just a sample of these.
The WorldCat links provides a local library search.
General
The Murray
by Norman Mackay and David Eastburn
A complete overview of the geology, history, environment and wildlife of the Murray River and the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia.
Natural History of the Coorong, Lower Lakes, and Murray Mouth region (Yarluwar-Ruwe).
by Luke Mosley, et al
A historical overview of the region, its physical-chemical and biological systems along with management and conservation.
The River
Life on the Murray-Darling
by Michelle Linder and Bill Seager
Book from the Australian National Maritime Museum Travelling Exhibition
Drinking in the Rivers
The Memorable Pubs and Unforgettable Characters of the Murray and Edward Rivers
by Colin Whelan
These are their stories, the unforgettable characters of Australia and its waterways.
Two stunning pictorial books from Shane Strudwick.
Australia's Great River Landscape
Murray River & Mallee
by Shane Strudwick
Enjoy a Diverse and Unique Visual Journey Through Australia's Great, Iconic Murray River and Mallee Landscape.
Some older books you may come across in the libray:
Gunner Vernon Lawrence and Graeme Kinross-Smith. The Book of the Murray. Rigby, Adelaide, 1975.
Ian Mudie. Rivers of Australia. Rigby, 1966.
Ian Mudie and Jeanette McLeod. River Murray Sketchbook. Rigby, 1969.
Jocelyn Burt. Murray River. Rigby, 1973.
Max Colwell and Peter Finch. The Big Rivers: Murray, Murrumbidgee, Darling. Rigby, 1978.
On Water Guides
Note that the navigational and topographic maps are listed on the Navigational Charts and Maps page.
Whitehorse River Map
by Whitehorse Canoe Club
Single page guide for the Murray Gates whitewater section between Tom Groggin and Bunroy Creek
Paddle Eastern Australia
Victoria and the Murray River
by Chris McLaughlin and Yvonne McLaughlin
A canoeing and camping guide that covers Victoria and the Murray River.
River of Islands
Yarrawonga Weir to Hume Dam
by Kath Bentley and Leon Bentley
Navigation charts of the River Murray, covering Hume Dam down to the Yarrawonga Weir.
Renmark to Yarrawonga
by Maureen Wright
Navigation charts of the River Murray, covering Yarrawonga down to Renmark.
Goolwa to the SA/NSW border plus the Lower Murray Lakes and Coorong
by Ronald J. Baker, et al
Navigation charts of the lower River Murray and lakes.
Murray Lakes Goolwa & Islands Navigation Guide Chart
by Carto Graphics
A navigational guide to the waterways around the Murray Lakes and islands at the mouth of the River Murray.
Cruising from Goolwa
Lower Murray, the Lakes and the Coorong
by David N. Brook
Cruising Notes for the around the lakes and Coorong.
Murray River Access Pack
Murray Source to Sea
by Spatial Vision
The full set of 16 Murray River Access Map Guide Books.
Tourism Guides
Camping & Caravanning Guide to the Murray River
by Craig William Lewis and Cathy Savage
Nearly 300 campsites and caravan parks of the Murray River, from its headwaters to vast lower lakes.
Historic Pubs Along the Murray River
by Gary Bell
This book covers many of the historic Aussie country pubs along the Murray River.
Exploring the SA Murray-Darling Basin
by Natural Resources SA Murray-Darling Basin
Lists more than 100 parks and reserves, many beside the river.
River Boat Trail
by Lynne Griffiths and William Jeffery
The historic sites that still exist along the South Australia section of the Murray.
A few older tourism guides:
Catherine De Courcy and John Johnson. River Tracks. Lothian, 2001.
Murray SHIPPING Ltd. The River Murray Guide. Vardon & Sons, Adelaide, 1949.
Royal Automobile Association of SA. Touring the River Murray. 1986.
Fishing
Fishing & Camping Guide to the Murray River
From Mildura to the Source
by Brian Hinson and Bill Classon
Detailed maps of the Murray River are included, with notes on the best fishing spots, techniques and more.
Australian Fishing Guide
by Steve Cooper
Covers over a thousand destinations, 60 fish species and tips and tricks for fishing in Australia.
Flora and fauna
Some useful reference books to help identify the plants and animals you see along the way.
A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia
by Peter Menkhorst and Frank Knight
A comprehensive guide to identifying all 379 species of mammals known in Australia.
Birds of Australia
A Photographic Guide
by Iain Campbell, et al
Covers all 714 species of resident birds and regularly occurring migrants using more than 1,100 stunning color photos.
Frogs and Reptiles of the Murray-Darling Basin
by Michael Swan
A Guide to Their Identification, Ecology and Conservation
An Introductory Guide Fishes of the Murray-Darling Basin
by Mark Lintermans
Identification, habitats, biology and distribution of the 63 species of freshwater fish found in the basin.
Native Vegetation of the Goulburn Broken Riverine Plains
by Wendy D'Amore
by Louise Jaunay
A Field Guide of Common Plant Species in the Lower Lakes, South Australia
Environment
Some environmental reference books.
Wounded Country
The Murray-Darling Basin - a Contested History
by Quentin Beresford
A look at the effects of generations of large scale irrigation on the inland rivers.
Wetlands in a Dry Land
More-Than-Human Histories of Australia's Murray-Darling Basin
by Emily O'Gorman
The socioecological landscapes of the wetlands of the basin.
Flood Country
An Environmental History of the Murray-Darling Basin
by Emily O'Gorman
Looks at the impacts of flooding and what this means in the greater scheme of things.
Floodplain Wetland Biota in the Murray-Darling Basin
Water and Habitat Requirements
by Kerrylee Rogers and Timothy J. Ralph
Addresses the need for an improved understanding of the biota of Australian freshwater wetlands.
Cry Me a River
The Tragedy of the Murray-Darling Basin
by Margaret Simons
Water, Drought, Food and Politics in the Murray Darling Basin
Murray River Country
An Ecological Dialogue with Traditional Owners
by Jessica K. Weir
Provides an unique perspective of the water crisis in the Murray–Darling Basin
Travelogues
Some older books about peoples trips down the Murray.
The River
A Journey Through the Murray-Darling Basin
by Chris Hammer
A journey through Australia's heartland, with stories from the people who rely on the river's lifelines.
Slow River
A Journey Down the Murray
by Steve Strevens
Stories of the people and communities that live along the banks.
A couple of much older travelogues from Major R. Raven-Hart's canoe trips in the 1940s:
Rowland Raven-Hart. Canoe in Australia. Georgian House, 1948.
Rowland Raven-Hart. From Kosciusko to the sea: A journey along the River Murray. Dymock's Book Arcade, 1946.
General History
by Angela Bremers and Mike Bremers
Two Hundred Years of Significant Rowing and Paddling Journeys on the Rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin from 1817 to 2016.
Harnessing the River Murray
by Helen Stagg
Stories of the People Who Built Locks 1 To 9, 1915 to 1935
Wellington to the Murray Mouth, 1800s to 1935
by Terry Sim and Kerri Muller
The history of Lakes Alexandrina and Albert up until the construction of the barrages.
Edmund Dwen Gill. Rivers of History. Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1970.
Rosemary Boyes. The Murray River and its names. Self published, 1982.
Paddleboats
Paddleboats of Australia
by Peter Plowman
A guide to paddleboats found in various parts of Australia (more than 130 in all) for those people who may see or travel on them.
Wrecks Along the Murray
by Jack Kenneth Loney
A Survey of Major Incidents on the Murray, Murrumbidgee and Darling Rivers
Pearl Wallace, Matthew Wallace and David Russell Bennett. A River Woman: Australia's First Female Riverboat Captain Tells Her Story. Southern Cross Uni., 2001.
Aboriginal References
Mostly used to construct the Aboriginal Nations section plus placenames, especially for the Murray River itself.
Angas, George French; Giles, James William (1847) South Australia illustrated. Thomas McLean, London. Retrieved from https://digital.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/nodes/view/2598
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies [AIATSIS] (n.d.) Map of Indigenous Australia. Retrieved Jan 2024 from https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia
Blake, B., Hercus, L., Morey, S. (2011) The Mathi group of languages. Pacific Linguistics, ACT, Australia. Retrieved from https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/17910
Blandowski, William; Mützel, Gustav (1862) Australien in 142 photographischen Abbildungen nach zehnjährigen Erfahrungen (Australia in 142 Photographic Illustrations after a Decade of Experiences). Gleiwitz, Germany. Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666995/
Cameron, A.L.P. (1885) Notes on Some Tribes of New South Wales. Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 14: 344‐370
Clark, I. (2009). Dhudhuroa and Yaithmathang languages and social groups in north-east Victoria – a reconstruction. Aboriginal History, 33: 201–229
Clarkson, C. et al. (2017) Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago. Nature 547(7663), 306–310. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22968
Dowling, Peter J. (1990) Violent Epidemics: A Disease, conflict and Aboriginal population collapse as result of European contact in the Riverland of South Australia. Thesis for Masters of Arts. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Retrieved from https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/114505
Dowling, Peter J. (1997) A Great Deal of Sickness: Introduced diseases among the Aboriginal People of colonial Southeast Australia 1788-1900. PhD Thesis. Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Retrieved from https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/7529
The First Inhabitants of the Arcadia Area retrived 13 Jam 2024 https://arcadia.org.au/index.php/the-first-inhabitants-of-the-arcadia-area/
Hayes, E. et al (2022) 65,000-years of continuous grinding stone use at Madjedbebe, Northern Australia. Scientific Reports 12(11747). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15174-x
Howitt, Alfred William (1904) The native tribes of South-East Australia
Jennings, John T. (2009) Natural History of Riverland and Murraylands. Royal Society of South Australia Inc. Retrieved from https://www.rssa.org.au/publications/publications-for-sale-or-download/
McConachie, F., Jenny, B., Reinke, K., Arrowsmith, C. (2020) Barapa Country through Barapa eyes: cultural mapping of Gunbower Island, Australia Journal of Maps 16(1) 13-20. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2019.1701574
Pickrell, J. (2017) Mungo Man heads back to country. Australian Geographic. Retrieved Jan 2024 from https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2017/11/mungo-man-heads-back-to-country/
Rasmussen, M. et al. (2011) An Aboriginal Australian Genome Reveals Separate Human Dispersals into Asia. Science 334(6052), 94-98 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1211177
Steele, J.M. (2005) The Aboriginal language of Sydney: a partial reconstruction of the Indigenous language of Sydney based on the notebooks of William Dawes of 1790-91, informed by other records of the Sydney and surrounding languages to c.1905 Thesis, Macquarie University, Sydney. Retrieved from https://www.williamdawes.org/docs/steele_thesis.pdf
Smyth, R. (1878) The aborigines of Victoria : with notes relating to the habits of the natives of other parts of Australia and Tasmania John Ferres, Melbourne. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/b24885228_0002/page/n7/mode/2up
Taplin, George. (1879) The Folklore, Manners, Customs, and Languages of the South Australian Aborigines. Government Printer, Adelaide. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/folkloremannersc00taplrich
Tutty, Megan (2019) Culture contact and conflict after the Rufus River massacre: An analysis of documentary evidence regarding European/Aboriginal relations on the central Murray River 1842–1890. Thesis for of Master of Archaeology and Heritage Management, Flinders University. Retrieved from https://theses.flinders.edu.au/view/e5214716-bbb7-4fac-a8d9-9ca4f2cbde48/1
Vox Populi—Vox Dei. (1836) The Australian (Sydney, NSW), 8 Nov 1836, Page 2. Retrieved from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/36853412/4258629
Westell, C. et al. (2020) Initial results and observations on a radiocarbon dating program in the Riverland region of South Australia. Australian Archaeology 86(2) 160-175 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03122417.2020.1787928
