Skipton, Victoria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Skipton is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. The town is situated on theGlenelg Highway 166 kilometres west of the state capital, Melbourne and 52 kilometres south west of the regional centre, Ballarat. Part of Corangamite Shire Local government area, Skipton is on the banks of Mt Emu Creek and has a population of approximately 500. Skipton is named after Skipton, in Yorkshire, England and is known as "the home of the platypus".

Skipton was first established in 1839 as a pastoral run and a town site was surveyed in 1852. The town held the first agricultural show in the Western District in 1859.

Fine wool is the main agricultural product of the Skipton area. A rail trail allows cyclists to ride between Skipton and Ballarat.

[edit] Notable People

Henry Bolte, the longest serving Premier of Victoria was born in Skipton in 1908.
Henry Kingsley, author and brother of Charles Kingsley worked on a pastoral station near Skipton for a time in 1857.
Silent Movie star, Claire Adams married Scobie Mackinnon and settled at Mooramong homestead near Skipton in 1937.
Australian Test cricketer Alan Connolly was born in Skipton in 1939.