BROKEN HILL THE NAME The shallow Willa Willyong creek takes it rise from the small hills immediately north – east of the present city of Broken Hill. During a period of heavy rainfall it becomes a lively stream and pursues a winding course until its final discharge into the Stephens Creek reservoir catchment system. It was on the banks of Willa Willyong creek that the first miners and prospectors made their camp following the pegging of the original leases by the syndicate of seven. One unsubstantiated version of the origin of the name Broken Hill is that Willa Willyong was the Aboriginal word for a ‘Broken Hill’. The 1883 annual report of the New South Wales Department recorded that ‘valuable deposits of ore have been found at the Round Hill, and the Broken Hill’. And in August 1884, Government Geologist C. S. Wilkinson stated in his report – "About three miles to the south west of Round Hill is the Broken Hill, so called from the rugged outline of its rocky summit. Contrary to popular belief, the explorer Charles Sturt did not refer to a ‘broken hill’ in the area. The most likely explanation is that the name Broken Hill was adopted by the miners to avoid confusion with nearby Round Hill." The official, but unpopular name originally given to the new silver – lead field was Willyama -- ‘youth’, and on Government survey maps reference continues to be to the ‘Town of Willyama, City of Broken Hill’. With the formation of the BHP Company in 1885 and the development of adjoining leases, miners and their families descended upon the new mining centre from Silverton and other outlying settlements. Many transported their small timber and iron cottages on jinkers drawn horses, bullocks, donkeys or camels. With the expansion of mining operations there was a steady influx of people both from the capital cities, and the declining copper mines in South Australia. A new name, and a new community had made its appearance on the Australian scene – BROKEN HILL