Reilly Family History

About Dumbleyung

Dumbleyung is a small Western Australian wheatbelt town, located 275 km south east of Perth. It is the town where Leo Reilly ran a store with his wife Emily, and where their children Pat, Peggy and Geoff Reilly grew up.

History

Dumbleyung is a typical wheatbelt town. It came into existence just prior to World War I. The township was proclaimed in 1907 and the railway arrived later that year. From 1907-1912 Dumbleyung was the railway terminus which meant that it became an important meeting place. The Dumbleyung Hotel was built in 1913 and by 1915 Dumbleyung was the major rural service town in the region.

The name of Dumbleyung may have come from a corruption of the local Aboriginal word 'dambeling', which probably meant 'large stretch of water'. Alternatively, it may have been derived from 'dumbung', which either meant a native pear tree or an Aboriginal game played with bent sticks and a hard piece of fruit.

World Record

One event in the history of the town makes it uniquely important. On New Years Eve in 1964, after a particularly wet winter had seen the lake fill to overflowing, Donald Campbell set the world water speed record racing his boat Bluebird across the lake at 444.66 km/hr (276.3 mph). This gave him a unique double of being the fastest man both on land and on water. A memorial to Donald Campbell is located on Pussy Cat Hill on the lake shoreline.

Attractions

Lake Dumbleyung is undoubtedly the area's great attraction. The lake is the largest natural body of inland water in West Australia, being approximately 13 km long by 6.5 km wide. Today the lake is used primarily for aquatic recreation, though in the early 1900s there were race tracks on it and it was used for picnics. During the 1920s and 1930s, although the lake did not fill to overflowing, there were years when it had enough water for swimming and boating. A record wet year in 1946 saw the lake fill completely.

Dumbleyung Main Street in 2007Now

In recent times the lake has suffered greatly from the salination which has affected the whole of the wheatbelt - it now has a very distinctive saline smell. The shorelines, which the early settlers described as being so rich and fertile, are now characterised by forests of dead trees. Most of the lake is part of a water bird conservation area - in 1985 a total of 24,839 birds were counted on the lake.

Centenary

In 2007 Dumbleyung turned 100. The town site was officially proclaimed on the 12th of April 1907. As part of the celebrations, there was unveiling of 30 Historical Place Plaques, situated at places of historical interest and importance to Dumbleyung, including one commemorating Leo Reilly where his shop once stood on the main street.