Goulburn

Goulburn

Goulburn, principal city of the Southern Tablelands, southeastern New South Wales, Australia. It lies at the confluence of the Wollondilly and Mulwaree rivers.

A settlement was established on a site chosen in 1818 by the explorer Hamilton Hume and was originally named Goulburn Plains after Henry Goulburn, then undersecretary of state for the colonies. Surveyed in 1828 and founded in 1833 as a garrison and convict town, it was declared a municipality in 1859 and a city in 1864. Linked by rail and the Hume Highway to Sydney (about 105 miles [170 km] northeast), the town serves a district producing wool, wheat, potatoes, fruits, and cattle. Its industries include wool and stock trading, railway workshops, tanneries, slaughterhouses, and textile and clothing factories. Goulburn has one of the largest prisons in the state, a New South Wales Police training facility that is part of Charles Sturt University, and Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals. Pop. (2006) Goulburn Mulwaree local government area, 26,086; (2011) Goulburn Mulwaree local government area, 27,481.