Streatham, Victoria

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Streatham Victoria
Population:	377^[1]
Postcode:	3351
Location:	196 km (122 mi) W of Melbourne 80 km (50 mi) W of Ballarat 55 km (34 mi) S of Ararat 28 km (17 mi) W of Skipton 67 km (42 mi) E of Dunkeld
LGA:	Rural City of Ararat
State District:	Lowan
Federal Division:	Wannon

Streatham 37°40′44″S, 143°03′32″E is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, located on the Glenelg Highway, 80 kilometres west of Ballarat, in the Rural City of Ararat. At the 2006 census, Streatham and the surrounding agricultural area had a population of 377.^[1]

Streatham is one of the oldest settlements established in the area covered by the current-day Rural City of Ararat Council. In the 1840s the site was known as Fiery Creek, after the waterway by which it is located, but the name 'Streatham' was adopted in 1852. Streatham was the region's first post office and was also a meeting place for settlers.^[2]

The main industry is agriculture, a variety of crops are grown, canola, lupins, wheat, oats, triticale and barley. Sheep, fine wool, meat, and cattle are also a product of the area.^[3]

On the February 12, 1977 Streatham was partially destroyed by a bushfire which was one of many that spread rapidly across the plains of Western Victoria that day. The fire left five men dead and a further seven people suffering heart attacks while defending their properties and the town. The Church, post office, community hall, shops and eighty-one homes were all destroyed in the blaze. Other fires were reported at Lismore, Tatyoon, Pura Pura, Penshurst and at Cressy.^[4]