During the 19th century, the waterways of the Georges River continued to be a place of resilience as Aboriginal people living in the area adapted to changing circumstances following British settlement. In the 1860s, prominent Dharawal Elder Biddy Giles lived on the western bank of Mill Creek in the Georges River area with her husband, Englishman Billy Giles. Born around 1810 into the Gweagal group of the Dharawal people, Biddy lived her whole life on Country - using and trading her environmental knowledge. She facilitated local guided tours for groups of travellers in shooting and fishing parties, sharing knowledge of the waters between Georges River and the Five Islands near Woollongong, teaching about fish and game, and telling Dreaming Stories.*17

In 1891, only very few Aboriginal people were recorded as living in the wider surrounds of Port Hacking, to the south of the study area. One of these was a caretaker and expert fisherman named William Rowley, a Dharawal man from Pelican Point. Rowley worked in a caretaker’s job at Weeney Bay, and made a living selling fish and cuttlebone to settlers at La Perouse.18 In the 1910s, Rowley moved upstream along the Georges River, where he purchased a block of land alongside Salt Pan Creek near what is now Charm Place, Peakhurst. In 1935, Rowley was noted as living at Salt Pan Creek with his wife.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Salt Pan Creek became a centre of the Aboriginal civil rights movement. On the eastern bank of Salt Pan Creek, a block of land next to Rowley’s landholding was purchased by prominent Aboriginal activist Pastor Hugh Anderson and his wife Ellen Anderson (a daughter of Biddy Giles), and later their son Joe Anderson. The property was located around what is now Charm Place, Peakhurst. The Andersons made a living by working in cash jobs, and using their knowledge of flowers and game along the river to sell local produce.19 The Aboriginal families living in the area were able to gather oysters, prawns and fish from Salt Pan Creek, and hunt swamp wallabies and other game.

In addition to the food and natural resources it offered, Salt Pan Creek also provided other important roles. The creek, as part of the Botany Bay catchment area, was a means of transport equivalent to today’s ‘highways’ and also offered connection within the wider landscape: *13

European colonisation had a profound and devastating impact on the Aboriginal population of the Sydney region. In the early days of the colony, Aboriginal people were disenfranchised from their land as the British claimed areas for settlement and agriculture. The devastation of Aboriginal culture came about through disease, invasion and massacres at the hands of British military and armed civilians.

In 1891, only six Aboriginal people were recorded as living in the wider surrounds of Port Hacking, to the south of the study area. One of these was a caretaker and expert fisherman named William Rowley, a Dharawal man from Pelican Point. Rowley worked in a caretaker’s job at Weeney Bay, and made a living selling fish and cuttlebone to settlers at La Perouse.*18 In the 1910s, Rowley moved upstream along the Georges River, where he purchased a block of land alongside Salt Pan Creek near what is now Charm Place, Peakhurst. In 1935, Rowley was noted as living at Salt Pan Creek with his wife.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Salt Pan Creek became a centre of the Aboriginal civil rights movement. On the eastern bank of Salt Pan Creek, a block of land next to Rowley’s landholding was purchased by prominent Aboriginal activist Pastor Hugh Anderson and his wife Ellen Anderson (a daughter of Biddy Giles), and later their son Joe Anderson. The property was located around what is now Charm Place, Peakhurst. The Andersons made a living by working in cash jobs, and using their knowledge of flowers and game along the river to sell local produce.*19 The Aboriginal families living in the area were able to gather oysters, prawns and fish from Salt Pan Creek, and hunt swamp wallabies and other game.