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Population Growth

1788 - The true extent of the Aboriginal population in the Brisbane Water District is unknown, however it is estimated that several hundred people lived in the area before white settlement.

1823 - James Webb, the first white settler of Brisbane Water, takes up land at The Rip.

1828 - The Census of 1828 records approximately 100 persons in the Brisbane Water Police District, which included Lake Macquarie, Brisbane Water and Lower Portland Head. This figure did not record the number of aboriginal persons, however a census of aboriginals in Brisbane Water taken in the same year records 65 persons between the Hawkesbury River and Wyong. This figure is increasingly believed to underestimate severely the native population, which may have numbered several hundred.

1833

315 persons

1968

46,950

1836

621 persons

1969

49,000

1841

1090 persons (Census)

1970

51,500

1846

1,272

1971

56,190

1891

5,154 (Census)

1972

59,500

1901

7,186 (Census)

1973

63,000

1947

18,700

1974

66,500

1954

25,132

1975

69,500

1956

26,840

1976

73,410 (Census)

1957

27,760

1977

77,700

1958

28,000

1978

80,900

1959

30,120

1979

84,700

1960

31,000

1981

94,369 (Census)

1961

34,162

1986

109, 278 (Census)

1962

35,960

1991

128, 941 (Census)

1963

37,820

1995

147,189 (est.)

1964

38,920

1996

144, 840 (Census)

1965

40,810

1999

158,172 (est.)

1966

42,880

2000

160,167 (est.)

1967

44,700

2001

161,204 - (Preliminary estimate)

This information has been drawn from various sources in good faith. Recent figures have been drawn from Australian Bureau of Statistics data. Gosford City Library can take no responsibility for the accuracy of these figures.