Modern-day groupings of the
Illawarra and South Coast Aboriginal peoples are based on information compiled by white
anthropologists from the late 1870s. Two divisions were initially presented (refer Ridley, 1878), using geographical location and language, though these criteria are now expanded into five divisions and given Aboriginal names, as follows (after C.Sefton, 1983): •
Dharawal – general name for the Aboriginal people of the area on the east coast of New South Wales from
Botany Bay to Shoalhaven, and west to
Berrima and Camden. •
Wodiwodi (or Wadi-Wadi) – a subdivision of Thuruwal, includes the Aboriginal people of the coast from
Wollongong to Shoalhaven. •
Gurandada and
Tharumba (or Dharumba) – those people living around the
Shoalhaven River. The
Jerrinja people record their traditional lands as stretching from Crooked River in the north to Clyde River in the south, from the mountains to the sea at
Roseby Park.
George Bass explored the area in 1797, following
Seven Mile Beach. He crossed the shoals at the entrance to the river, calling it "Shoals Haven" due to the shallowness of the river mouth. This river is now known as the Crookhaven, but the name was adopted for the Shoalhaven area and the
Shoalhaven River. The City was established on 1 July 1948 as the Shoalhaven Shire, following the amalgamation of the Municipalities of
Nowra, Berry,
Broughton's Vale,
Ulladulla, South Shoalhaven, and the shires of
Cambewarra and
Clyde. On 13 July 1979, Governor
Roden Cutler proclaimed Shoalhaven as a city. The Shire was converted and constituted on 1 August 1979 simultaneously as a municipality and city. ==Towns and localities in the local government area==