| Smeaton Victoria |
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The Cumberland Hotel at Smeaton (the oldest weatherboard pub in Vicoria) |
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Smeaton
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| Population: | 250[1] |
| Postcode: | 3364 |
| Location: | |
| LGA: | Shire of Hepburn |
| State District: | Ripon |
| Federal Division: | Ballarat |
Smeaton is a rural town in the state of Victoria, Australia near the town of Creswick. At the 2006 census, Smeaton had a population of 250.[1]
The town was founded by Scottish settler Captain John Hepburn who was a colonial squatter in the 1840s. Hepburn held under Government licence about 20,000 acres (80 km²) for his sheep and cattle run which he drove overland from Sydney. He built Smeaton House in 1849 with the assistance of British colonial migrants.[2]
Smeaton Post Office opened on 21 June 1860 and closed in 1993. [3]
Hepburn became a very high profile figure in the district, promoted gold mines and became a Justice of the Peace before he died in 1860.
The death of Capt John Hepburn was published in the Creswick Newspaper and Argus (Age) Newspapers of that period.
Smeaton is now home to 2 large seed and grain processors, one of which is a very large exporter of value added pulses, grains and seeds and is currently building a new oat mill to process an additional 60,000 tonne of oats a year.
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