Books

There have been a number of books written about Yerranderie, and even more on the surrounding country. Below is a brief list.

Yerranderie

“Yerranderie: Story of a Ghost Town” by Jim Barrett

This 72-page booklet is written by the late Blue Mountains historian, Jim Barrett.

It is packed with information and photos, and probably the most concise but thorough of the Yerranderie books. This is still quite commonly available in bookshops, including in the Blue Mountains. The author also wrote many other brilliant local histories, many of which cover the nearby country, some of them overlapping, including:

  • Kowmung River: Discovery, History and Development
  • Kanangra Walls: Discovery and History
  • Life in the Burragorang
  • Shack Country… and The Old Burragorang
  • Cox’s River: Discovery, History and Development

“Yerranderie: 1871-1995” by Sonja den Hertog

This was a publication of the Oaks Historical Society, and most likely available at Wollondilly Heritage Centre

It combines content from two of the author’s earlier books “The Yerranderie Silver Field” and “The Township of Yerranderie” into an approximately 60-page book.

The author sadly passed away in 2021. Two of her other well-known books are “The History of The Oaks From the Records”, and “The History of Burragorang Valley From the Records”. Also “Walking the Valley”, which is covered further below.

“Yerranderie 1975” by Les Seibright

A series of recollections and poetry from Les Seibright, whose family lived at Yerranderie.

It focuses on the living nature of the town and the Burragorang Valley. There are a number of (perhaps unique) photos of the town and various river crossings.

There is an interesting section at the end covering correspondence between the author and The Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board, as regards to access to Yerranderie, including access via Neville Lang’s Bindook property (the road had been diverted off the Stock Route at the time), and via the W4 road along the Wollondilly. He ultimately managed to obtain some access along the W4 for an “Old Yerranderians” pilgrimage/reunion in 1976.

“Yerranderie is my Dreaming” by Val Lhuedé

Valerie Lhuede who saved and preserved Yerranderie, published this unique book in 2007, as a tribute to her town. It interweaves history and fiction, drawing from the journals of explorer Francis Barrallier.

Yerranderie is my Dreaming is a very unusual Ghost Story. In this saga of early Australiana, the lives and loves of English, French and Aborigines are skillfully interwoven.
Against a pageant of mapmakers of two hundred years ago, the adventurers set sail in fragile wooden ships from the Old World to the newly discovered island-continent, half a globe away.
The past comes to life again as characters speak from the records, or, where these are missing, from the informed imagination of the writer. Pictures illustrate the text.
There are surprises and adventures a-plenty, made all the more exciting because the book is an introduction to Australian history. It is at once absorbing and educational but, above all, a good read-enjoy it!

Valerie Lhuedé, pioneer architect and photographer, has herself been featured on ABC Australian Story. She owns the Private Town of Yerranderie, located in a remote Wilderness and World Heritage Area of the Southern Blue Mountains of NSW. She was awarded, in 1996, an AM (Australia Medal) for conservation work on the old Silver Mining Town.
While researching its heritage, she uncovered a fascinating story concerning the first white explorer to the area, Francis Luis Barrallier, a young Frenchman in the NSW Corps. In 1802, he was sent as an ambassador by Governor Philip Gidley King to the mountain Aborigines. They become characters in the book. Francis wrote a journal describing the Aboriginal people he met en route and their reactions to him.
He was a cartographer and became involved, with others, in the early mapping of the outline of Australia. Against the background of the English/French wars, these men and women criss-crossed the oceans in their tiny sailing ships, vying for dominance in the new world.
The book is a great adventure story for young and old. It is delightfully illustrated with maps and portraits of the day.

Colong/Kowmung

“Walking the Valley” by Sonja den Hertog

This booklet was written as the “Sydney Speiological Society Occasional Paper No 11”, and focuses on caving and bushwalking in the around Mt Colong, the Kowmung Valley, Kanangra and Burragorang. Despite the name, there is less focus on the Burragorang, and more on the Kowmung country.

Originally sourced from the Franklin Papers collection, it is a mixture of oral histories and hiking logs from bushwalking pioneers such as Walter Grose, Harry Savage and Arthur P. Porter.

Given that it started from oral histories, some of it is quite detailed, other parts curtailed. It contains a number of unique maps.

Copies are not common, but it is available at the State Library of NSW.

“River of Dreams” by Bob Richardson

Download and read this book by Bob Richardson from the following page:

Lew Richardson – The man who saved the Kowmung River.

“Battle for the Bush: The Blue Mountains, the Australian Alps and origins of the Wilderness Movement” by Geoff Mosley

Written for the Colong Foundation (now Wilderness Australia), this book has a section on their battle to protect Colong Caves and Church Creek Caves from limestone quarrying, as well as the campaign for the Kanangra-Boyd wilderness area.

In the 1950s and 1960s, mining companies—specifically Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers (APCM)—sought to quarry millions of tonnes of limestone from Mount Armour within the Colong Caves Reserve to crush it for cement. Led by conservationists like Milo Dunphy, bushwalkers, cavers, and over 50 conservation groups formed the Colong Committee in 1968 to oppose the mine.

Yerranderie would look a lot different now if this proposal had gone ahead.

“Blue Rivers” by Ross Brownscombe

An account of five solo raft trips down the five wild rivers of the Blue Mountains, including the Kowmung and the Wollondilly Rivers (along with the Grose, Colo and Macdonald rivers).

Published in 1997, the Kowmung trip starts at Megalith Ridge and continues to McMahons Lookout. The Wollondilly trip starts near Canyonleigh, down Paddys River, and past Jooriland Ford (both breaching the catchment area).

An interesting mix of travelogue and history, written quite poetically.

Burragorang Valley

Some of the more notable Burragorang-related books, all of which have some relation to Yerranderie.

“A Place to Remember”, by Claude N Lee

A memorable collection of poetry and stories and facts by Burragorang and Southern Highlands historian/explorer Claude N Lee, with its first edition in 1964 and second edition in 1971.

Some beautiful poems including “Burragorang Valley (Evicted)” and “An Old-Timer at Burragorang Lookout”, which truly capture the romance of the area.

There is a page devoted to Yerranderie, titled “Old Ghost Town”.

“Burragorang, the Lost Valley” by Robyn Collier

Artist, Robyn Collier, received special access to the Burragorang Valley, and produced a wonderful series of paintings, 43 of which are included in this book. They include subjects such as “The Rusty Bucket – Jooriland Shearing Shed”, “Wintering – Bonnum Pic”, “Still Morning – Tonalli Tablelands and Maxwell’s Broken Arm”.

It is beautifully produced, and can be purchased from the author/artist here.

“The Aboriginal People of the Burragorang Valley” by Jim Smith

“If we left our Valley our hearts would break”.

This is a comprehensive history, particularly focused on the residents from the 1830s onwards, including their land struggles and ultimately complete dispossession.

It also covers some detailed family trees, and contains beautiful photos of the Burragorang Valley.

‘There is a part of me that still lingers along the banks of the Cox’s beneath that dark and forbidding expanse of water’. These are the words of Owen Pearce, a descendent of old farming settlers in the Burragorang Valley of the Blue Mountains, a region flooded in the late 1950s to form Warragamba Dam and its catchment area and so satiate Sydney’s thirst. These and the words of Gundungurra woman Ivy Brookman conclude the intriguing tapestry of people, lives and places woven in this history.
‘I do not know why they had to flood our beautiful valley’, Brookman’s voice laments.
This poignant theme of loss – loss of community, of country and of hundreds of important Aboriginal sites – runs throughout the volume.
– Review by Annemarie McLaren, ANU

My Recollections, by William Russell (Werriberrie)

William Russell (Werriberrie) was a leader of the Gundungurra people in the Burragorang Valley (c. 1830–1914).

This short booklet, compiled by A.L. Bennett, covers a variety of subjects, including various places and residents of the Valley and the Camden side, Aboriginal words and other topics.

It is available at the Wollondilly Heritage Centre.

Other Burragorang Books

This a collection of rarer Burragorang books, these are available at the State Library (links point to the catalogue):

Bushwalking Books

In terms of bushwalking, Yerranderie is most notably covered in the “Ensign Barrallier Walk” booklets by Robert Sloss:

  • 1995: “Bushwalking the Ensign Barrallier Walk : Katoomba to Mittagong track”
    • This is a longer version of the walk, which includes a detour along the Kowmung
  • 2008: “Trekking The Ensign Barralier Walk: Mittagong to Katoomba (Mt Waratah to Narrowneck): hiking via Yerranderie Lodge in the heart of the Blue Mts World Heritage Area”
    • This is the version of the walk more familiar with modern bushwalkers, staying firmly along Scotts Main Range.

Other books which have walks in the vicinity include:

  • “Sydney and Blue Mountains Bushwalks” by Neil Paton (2004), which has three small sections – Yerranderie, Colong Swamp, New Yards Hill, and Kanangra.
  • “Walks in the Blue Mountains National Park” by Neil Paton (1991). This has a similar set of walks in a chapter named “Coxs River to Wollondilly River”.
  • “Bushwalking through History – The Blue Mountains” by Greg Powell (1989). This is a mixture of history and general bushwalking notes, including chapters on Barrallier/Yerranderie, and another chapter on Kowmung Country.
  • “Bushwalking in the Sydney Region, Vol 1, Edition 6. This has three walks at Yerranderie; Yerranderie Peak, Yerranderie-Tonalli River, and Yerranderie-Colong Gap

General Books

  • “The Frenchman: Francis Barrallier; life and journeys 1773-1853” by Andy Macqueen
    • Another thoroughly researched and easily-readable book by modern Blue Mountains historian and bushwalker, Andy Macqueen. It covers the three “incursions” by the explorer Barrallier and his Aboriginal guides into the area surrounding Yerranderie, plus the intriguing story of Barrallier’s life and times.
  • Mountain Mishaps” by Christopher Webber.
    • This has several mishaps occurring around Yerranderie, including a notable rescue of Myles Dunphy in January 1934 (following a medical incident), and the fascinating story of Diana Marmion, who became separated from her companions in 1948 but found her own way to Yerranderie after an epic walk.

Booksellers and Libraries

The best way to find the above books is via the libraries at:

  • State Library of NSW, Sydney CBD
  • Blue Mountains libraries, particularly the Springwood Local Studies collection
  • Historical societies, including Wollondilly Heritage Centre, Camden Historical Society, Picton and District Historical and Family History Society (membership generally applies)

Booksellers who may stock some of the above books include:

  • Wollondilly Heritage Centre: They have a large range of books at the front desk
  • Megalong Books, Leura
  • The Turning Page Bookshop, Springwood
  • Lambdha books (online bookseller in Blue Mountains)

For rarer second-hand books, try the following (you may need to do a lot of digging!):

  • Mr Pickwick’s, Katoomba
  • Berkelouw Book Barn, Berrima
  • Halcyon Books and Records, Kangaroo Valley
  • eBay, Abebooks, Biblio