RUBY Hunter was an outstanding person, who overcame great adversity in her life in music, but perhaps more importantly in her humanity and compassion for others. This is beyond question. 
This story began when my mother Pat Crouch, upon learning about the renaming of Goat Island on the basis that Ruby Hunter was born there, indicated that at the time she was born – 31 October 1955 – the island was underwater due to flooding. 
Mum has lived on the edge of the floodplain for almost all of her 86 years and remembers this flood because it impacted them being able to access their property. 
A quick check in The Murray Pioneer of the time indicated the flood, which peaked in the last week of October at 24 feet 10 inches, was indeed a significant flood event, being the equal-third highest in recorded history to that point. 
The evidence provided for Ruby’s birth on Goat Island was a photo in the 29 September edition of The Murray Pioneer, a month before the flood. The photo, taken near the Paringa Road (not near Goat island), showed the floodwaters surrounding the Hunter family’s tent. 
It also indicated that they had relocated there because of the rising water and indicated that they would soon need to move again.   
In the month between the photo and Ruby’s birth, based on records at Lock 5, the river rose a further 1.4 metres. 
The suggestion that she was born on the Island would have necessitated the family, including five-year-old Wally, a very pregnant Mrs Hunter and Ruby’s grandparents, to return back into the floodwaters from whence they came. This would have made no sense, even if Goat Island wasn’t fully submerged. 
More sensibly, they would have moved up and off the floodplain to safety away from the flooded area. 
Following a report in last week’s Pioneer they had stayed on Goat Island, or perhaps returned to it from the photo location, further investigation was conducted to determine the actual height of water on the island. 
For context, Goat Island is immediately below Lock 5 and the water level in floods that “go over the top” of the weir like 1955, are the same on the island as at the lock. However, it is known that the 1955 level was 600mm below the 1931 level, which in turn was 150mm below the 2022 flood on the level gauge at Lock 5. 
The 1955 flood was therefore 750mm below the 2022 level. The 2022 high-water mark is evident on the trees in the area, including on Goat Island, which was pointed out by the lock staff. So the level in 1955 can be found by simply measuring down 750mm from the high water mark on the trees. 
As indicated in the photo, this is 1.4m to 1.5m over the ground on Goat Island. Clearly Ruby wasn’t born there and the family didn’t live there. Further it is possible to determine that the land level over time has been relatively constant. This is gauged by the exposure of roots, or lack thereof, as the water washes the soil way from around the base of trees that have been there for hundreds of years. 
Further doubt arose when the eyewitness for the claim that Ruby was born there, indicated that “it wasn’t called Goat Island then”. The island was gazetted in the 1890s and has been known as Goat Island ever since. 
It is highly probable therefore that the family was not on Goat Island during this time. Perhaps they were somewhere else the whole time. It would be interesting to find out what it was called, because this would shed light on exactly where they were. 
Additionally, at that time, Goat Island was surrounded by water even when not in flood. Living on the island would have presented access issues for the Hunter family. 
As an aside: this water necessitated the building of a bridge by lan Showell, to keep koalas on the island when it was used later as a sanctuary. 
It is much more likely that Ruby’s family were camped in Paringa Paddock, up until they were forced to shift to Paringa Road where the photo was taken, due to the rising floodwaters where these access issues didn’t exist. 
All of this indicates that Ruby’s family may have camped in Paringa Paddock for a relatively short time before moving to escape the floodwaters, but that Ruby wasn’t born on Goat Island as claimed as the pretext for renaming it, because it was underwater. 
Where they moved to is not known, but this is where Ruby was born. They then relocated to Gerard before the flood In 1956, when Ruby was six months old, and had no further association with the Paringa Paddock floodplain.. 
So where to from here? Perhaps we could look for somewhere that Ruby had a stronger link with,  somewhere closer to Gerard, or maybe a section of lake front at Lake Bonney. 
There is no doubt that she is worthy of such recognition. 
If there is an appetite for changing the name of Goat Island this could be a word from the local Indigenous language group, the Eriwirung people, after consultation with them. 
However, given that it is probable that Ruby was born somewhere in the Renmark district we could acknowledge this connection, in a way that doesn’t rely for authenticity on being precise about where she was born. 
Something that says that she was born in the region, and includes interpretive signage that details her life. A monument along the lines of that honouring David Ruston in a more visible place, could be more appropriate and less contentious.
- DAVID CROUCH