Trawalla, Victoria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Trawalla
Victoria
Population: 224[1]
Established: 1839
Postcode: 3373
Location:
LGA: Shire of Pyrenees
State District: Ripon
Federal Division: Wannon

Trawalla is a town in central Western Victoria, Australia, located on the Western Highway, 41 km west of Ballarat and 154 km west of Melbourne, in the Shire of Pyrenees. At the 2006 census, Trawalla and the surrounding agricultural area had a population of 224.[1]

Trawalla sits at the headwaters of the Mount Emu Creek where it crosses the Western Highway. The Ararat railway line passes through the area. A railway station was in service at Trawalla but closed in the 1960's. A local primary school, a roadhouse and the minimum security prison farm HM Prison Langi Kal Kal, are the focal points of the area. In local aboriginal language Trawalla means 'wild water'.[2]

In 1836 the district was traversed and noted by explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell after ascending Mount Cole. The first European settlers to arrive in the area were squatters, the Kirkland brothers and a Mr Hamilton, who established sheep and cattle grazing runs. Trawalla Station, was established by Hamilton in 1838 and acquired by Adolphus Goldsmith three years later. After passing through several owners the property was taken over by Rear Admiral Bridges in 1887. It was under his ownership that Trawalla House was constructed.[3] After Bridges' death in 1917 a large part of the Trawalla estate was acquired and subdivided by the Commonwealth Government for the Soldier settlement scheme. The Langi Kal Kal pastoral run was subdivided for the same purpose after World War II in 1948.[4]

Trawalla is the birthplace of Australia's ninth Prime Minister James Scullin. James Henry Scullin was on 18 September 1876. He died in Melbourne on 28 January 1953. He married Sarah McNamara in 1907, but had no children. He was commonly known as Jim. He was the fifth of the nine children of John Scullin and Ann Logan, both immigrants from Derry, Ireland. His father, John Scullin had been a miner and later a plate-layer on the railways. He attended small state schools, first at Trawalla and later at Mount Rowan near Ballarat.[5] A memorial cairn is located close to where Scullin lived.


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). Community Profile Series : Trawalla (State Suburb). 2006 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
  2. ^ "Names of Natural Features of Victoria", AIATSIS. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  3. ^ Historical Towns Directory. Australian Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
  4. ^ Nunan, Jim; The Back-To-Trawalla Committee. Squatters and Soldiers: Trawalla 1839-1971. Ballarat, Australia: Waller and Chester, 18-23. ISBN 0959940804. 
  5. ^ Prime Ministers of Australia: James Scullin. National Museum of Australia, Canberra. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.

Coordinates: 37°26′12″S 143°28′09″E / -37.43667, 143.46917

  This Victorian geography article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
v • d • e
Towns in the Pyrenees Shire Local Government Area

Amphitheatre · Avoca · Beaufort · Brewster · Bung Bong · Burnbank · Caranballac · Crowlands · Ercildoune · Glenpatrick · Homebush · Lamplough · Landsborough · Lexton · Mena Park · Moonambel · Mount Emu · Mount Lonarch · Natte Yallock · Raglan · Redbank · Snake Valley · Trawalla · Warrenmang · Waterloo · Waubra ·