Once a major river port, Wellington is little more than a couple of dozen houses on the banks of the Murray River. This a tiny historic settlement once played a major role in transport on the Murray. Today it is an interesting stopover because the buildings are genuinely interesting. It is also true that this is the widest crossing of the Murray. It gives the traveller an appreciation of the importance of the river.

Where is it?: Murray Riverlands. 105 km south-east of Adelaide.

Though Wellington has lost its importance as a river port, it is an interesting stopover because its buildings are genuinely interesting. It is also true that this is the widest crossing of the Murray. It gives the traveller an appreciation of the importance of the river.

Poltalloch Homestead

Poltalloch Homestead: Built in 1876 at Narrung this beautiful Victorian mansion is a reminder of the wealth that was generated in the area at this time. Today it is still a working farm being operated by the descendants of John Bowman who established it as a sheep and cattle station. The outbuildings resemble a small village and include substantial stables, a coach house, barns, a woolshed and the manager's accommodation. It is open for tours and overnight accommodation. Ph. (08) 8574 0043.

About Wellington
Prior to European settlement the area around Wellington was home to the Ngarrindjeri people (they are the same people who fought over secret women's business at Goolwa). They made bark and reed canoes and lived on the fish and the animals which came to the riverbank. The Ngarrindjeri people were decimated by the arrival of Europeans. The combination of smallpox (which raged all the way up the Murray River) and massacres saw the numbers drop dramatically through the nineteenth century.

Following Captain Charles Sturt's historic trip up the river in 1830, the whole area along the Murray was opened up particularly by overlanders who moved sheep and cattle across the land. It was the colonial land developed, John Morphett, who saw Wellington's potential. By 1839 Wellington had become one of the most important settlements on the Murray. The ferry which was established that year and the town became the only point where traffic could cross the Murray.

In 1840 a township was surveyed, most of it for John Morphett who had bought large tracts of land in the area, and named after the Duke of Wellington. It grew rapidly as a major transportation stopover point. It was the first stop for paddlesteamers plying the Murray north of Goolwa. It was the stopover point for people crossing the river from Adelaide to Victoria. During the 1850s, it became an important point on the gold run from the Victorian goldfields across to Adelaide. When the bridge across the Murray was completed at Murray Bridge the town fell into decline.