| Trawalla Victoria |
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Raquel's Roadhouse on the Western Highway, now closed |
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Trawalla
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| Population: | 224[1] |
| Established: | 1839 |
| Postcode: | 3373 |
| Location: | |
| LGA: | Pyrenees Shire |
| 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 1960s. A local primary school, a roadhouse and the minimum security prison farm HM Prison Langi Kal Kal, are the focal points of the area. The Moner balug clan of the Wathaurong Aboriginal people called the area, Trawalla which means 'wild water'[2] or possibly 'much rain'[3][4].
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.[5] Trawalla Post Office opened on 3 December 1864 at the time of closer settlement and closed in 1974. [6]
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.[7]
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 platelayer on the railways. He attended small state schools, first at Trawalla and later at Mount Rowan near Ballarat.[8] A memorial cairn is located close to where Scullin lived.
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