page_title: Toodyay, Western Australia
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Toodyay, Western Australia / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Old Court House in Toodyay, Western Australia, is now used as Shire of Toodyay offices. 15 Fiennes Street, Toodyay, Western Australia. Nyunga: Wadjella mabaan, Diudgee
context_page_description: Toodyay, known as Newcastle between 1860 and 1910, is a town on the Avon River in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 85 kilometres north-east of Perth on Ballardong Nyoongar land. The first European settlement occurred in the area in 1836. After flooding in the 1850s, the townsite was moved to its current location in the 1860s. It is connected by railway and road to Perth. During the 1860s, it was home to bushranger Moondyne Joe.
context_section_description: The original village of Toodyay was one of the earliest inland towns in Western Australia. A habitat of the Ballardong Noongar people for thousands of years, the Avon River valley was discovered by Ensign Robert Dale in 1830, leading to exploration by settlers including James Drummond, Captain Francis Whitfield and Alexander Anderson.  The first village was established in 1836. Drummond established his homestead Hawthornden nearby.  The original location is subject to flooding, which led to its abandonment in the 1850s, and a new townsite was established on higher ground 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) upstream.  This was proclaimed by Governor Arthur Kennedy on 1 October 1860 as "Newcastle"  and the original settlement came to be referred to as "Old Toodyay".  In May 1910, due to confusion with the New South Wales city of Newcastle, a name-change to Toodyay was proposed and the original townsite, which had by this time declined substantially, became "West Toodyay".
  The meaning of the name is uncertain, although it is Indigenous Noongar in origin — in an early 1834 reference it is transcribed as "Toodye" while maps in 1836 referred to "Duidgee" The Shire of Toodyay's official history gives the meaning as "place of plenty". However, local anthropologists Ken Macintyre and Dr Barb Dobson refute this.  They postulate "Toodye" or Duidgee most likely mimics a birdcall, possibly the restless flycatcher or one of that family. According to Noongar belief, a bird calls its own name. This name "Duidgee" is preserved in the riverside recreation area "Duidgee Park".
  Toodyay is also known as "the place that is misty and foggy".
  The Newcastle Gaol, in Clinton Street, completed in 1864, was in use as a state prison until 1909.  It is now preserved as a heritage building and tourist attraction, the Old Gaol Museum.
  In 1870, a steam-driven flour mill, Connor's Mill, was built on Stirling Terrace by George Hasell. The mill was also used to generate electricity in the early twentieth century.  Saved from demolition in the 1970s, and restored to demonstrate the milling process and machinery, the mill now forms the museum section of the Toodyay Visitor Centre.
  The Heritage Council of Western Australia lists over one hundred places of historical significance in or near Toodyay, including cottages (some of which are now ruins), homesteads, shops, churches, parks and railway infrastructure. The State Register of Heritage Buildings includes the Gaol, Connor's Mill, Toodyay Public Library, the old Toodyay Post Office and the old Toodyay Fire Station, as well as several other historic sites. The historic architecture of shops and residences along the main street, Stirling Terrace, presents a distinctive frontage termed the Stirling Terrace Streetscape Group.
  Some of the buildings are also listed on the Australian Heritage Database. They include the Freemasons Hotel, the Victoria Hotel, and Urwin's Store on Stirling Terrace, and Butterly's Cottage on Harper Road.
  The current Toodyay District High School was established in 1954, replacing an older building constructed in 1886.
  In 1986 the town was the location used to film the movie Shame.
caption: Old Court House in Fiennes Street now used as Shire of Toodyay offices (2004)
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