Ranga Saga Update

Well I said a little while back that the term Ranga meaning redhead originated here in Australia only recently, the creation of Chris Lilley in the TV phenomenon Summer Heights High. Well it seems the Australia part might be correct, but last week I met an old bloke named William who knew the word 30+ years ago in Broken Hill while he was working there. There can be no doubt he is telling the truth, as I have checked strings on Ranga on the Net and there are another couple of people who also claim to have heeard the term long ago. Amazing. I'm a redhead, I have heard lots of epithetical terms for us but never Ranga before. H'mmm.