Historical Australian Towns: Daylesford, VIC: Mineral Springs and Rich Heritage

The town of Daylesford is located in the Goldfields Region of Victoria, Australia, 11 km north-west of Melbourne, and 45 km north-east of Ballarat, and midway between Ballarat and Kyneton.

Daylesford is known for its mineral springs and rich heritage.

The Daylesford region has the largest concentration of natural mineral springs in Australia. These mineral spring spas and geothermal hot spring baths occurred due to volcanic activity five million years ago.

The Djadjawurrung People

The traditional lands of the Djadjawurrung people of the Munal gundidj clan includes the Daylesford area.

Djadjawurrung people believed that the rivers, mountains and animals were magical and that they had personalities and could think and talk. Creation stories expressing these mystical beliefs were passed from one generation to the next.

The Djadjawurrung Dreamtime story of the two feuding volcanoes, named Tarrengower and Lalgambook, appears to be rooted in the factual volcanic activity of long ago, as the nearby Mount Franklin is an extinct volcano. The mountain was created by a volcanic eruption about 470,000 years ago. The Djadjawurrung people call this country the "smoking grounds".

Dreaming stories tell of the land and its people being created by Bunjil, the Wedge-tailed Eagle. Laws and ceremonies were enforced by Mindi, the Giant Serpent. Aboriginal people believed that spirits (murrups) lived in the water and in birds, plants, animals, rocks and mountains.

Djadjawurrung people practised systematic burning regimes that maintained a "park-like" landscape. This landscape is important to the spiritual and cultural connections of Aboriginal people and the source of creation stories and cultural identity.

Fire was also used by Aboriginal people to flush animals from grass and to encourage the growth of edible grasses, which would attract large animals, such as emus and kangaroos. Roasted animals could also be scooped up for an after-fire feast.

Possum skin cloaks (djarun) were used to keep warm during cold weather.

Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939), Friday 1 November 1929

"Making one of the very beautiful "chain" or "link" dilly bags in which she carries most

of her household goods. Many of these bags are of very fine workmanship." Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939), Friday 1 November 1929

Central to Aboriginal culture is the separation of men's and women's business. These gender-specific practices have very strict rules relating to religious ceremony and the maintenance of significant sites. Those breaking the strict customary rules would encounter very harsh penalties, even death.

Aboriginal people also had strict rules dictating marriage. Usually, betrothal arrangements were made between two kin groups. Those who married outside the traditional kinship structures (“wrong skin), could expect to be rejected, or worse. And if a husband became involved with another woman, his wife might be required by customary law to ritually and publicly fight the other woman.

A type of football, called marngrook, was played by various Aboriginal groups. James Dawson, an early pastoralist in Western Victoria mentioned Aboriginal people playing this game in his writings:

“One of the favourite games is football, in which 50, or as many as 100 players engage at a time.”

Aboriginal domestic scene. The etching was executed by German artist Gustav Mützel, who worked from the sketches of German explorer Johan Wilhelm Theodor Ludwig von Blandowski (see Marn Grook: name of the early Australian football game). 1857

Three Aboriginal Australian women,
Whole-length, all wearing possum skin cloaks, two sitting and one reclining with her head in other woman's lap, beside ashes of a campfire. ca. 1865-ca. 1875] State Library of Victoria

In 1840, in response to concerns about the treatment of Aboriginal people by the settlers, the government took over Mount Franklin and the surrounding area for the Loddon Aboriginal Protectorate Station.

Exploration

Thomas Mitchell, the Surveyor-General, explored western Victoria in September 1836. From the top of Mount Macedon (Geboor), Mitchell observed “rich soil, flowery plains and green hills fanned by the breezes of early spring,” Mitchell referred to the region as "Australia Felix" (Lucky Australia) – later named ‘Victoria’.

Engraving of Major Sir Thomas Mitchell, Queensland Digital Library

Settlers

Captain John Stuart Hepburn, an early pastoralist and landholder in Victoria, founded the towns of Smeaton and Hepburn Springs (1838).

Daylesford was known as Wombat Flat when Irishman John Eagan, an immigrant, settled there in 1848. Egan had left Liverpool, England, on 17th February 1840, for Australia, on a voyage that took nearly 11 months.

Whilst near Castlemaine, Eagan was told that a good block of land existed between Packer's (then known as Black’s Station and Hepburn’s Estate). After hearing about the land and the existence of a hut which Egan might take possession, off he set.

John Egan secured a lease of land in the area, then known as Wombat Flat, and established his homestead, "Kooroonella" (Corinella) in 1857. Egan is believed to be the first person to discover gold around Daylesford and the second to discover gold in Victoria.

In 1851, John Egan and others found alluvial gold in the area, now covered by Lake Daylesford, which sparked a gold rush.

The early town developed around the gold Commissioner’s camp in Camp Street.

By the end of 1852, 90,000 people had flocked to Victoria in search of gold. Mass migration during the gold rush led to many cultures settling in the region. By 1859 there were about 3400 diggers on the local diggings at Daylesford.

Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers (Melbourne, Vic. : 1867 - 1875), Monday 22 February 1869

As thousands of hopeful prospectors rushed into the region to make their fortune, the town initially known as Wombat Flat began to grow and was gazetted as Daylesford in August 1855: renamed by Sir Charles Hotham, after the English birthplace of Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of India.

Christ Church, Church of England School, was originally a single-roomed school built by the Anglican congregation of Daylesford, as a non-vested denominational school. The building was completed in April 1857 and the school opened on 4 May 1857, with 50 pupils enrolled.

The Cornish

Diggers prospected for gold from Wombat Flat up the gullies draining from Cornish Hill, finding the auriferous reefs.

Large scale company mining commenced on the hill in the mid-1860s. Cornish miners arrived in Australia, bringing the technology enabling deep reef mining. Cornish Hill is now a Crown Land reserve in the heart of Daylesford.

Here is a group of "Cousin Jacks" who worked in the Cornish Gold-mining Company's enterprise in Daylesford inthe early 'nineties. Mr. Harry Thomas, Menindie, Vincent slrcel, Daylesford. Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Saturday 17 June 1939

View near Cornish Company's battery, Daylesford, VIC, 1860, SLVIC

The Swiss/Italians and Others

In the 1850s Swiss and Italian migrants settled in Daylesford, which has resulted in many of the old buildings and farm structures in the area, having a distinctive Italian character. The Savoia Hotel was established in the mid-1800s, it was named after an Italian royal family. A hill in the area was also called Italian Hill.

Greek Cypriots also came to Australia seeking gold and many settled in Victoria, establishing businesses at Ballarat and Daylesford. One notable settler was Tony Meringa (Miranda), who arrived in Victoria in 1857 looking for gold. Meringa settled in Daylesford and established the Athens Hotel in Raglan Street and operated a farm near the town.

The telegraph office opened in August 1859.

Swiss tunnel at Jim Crow diggings, Daylesford, circa 1859-1863. State Library of Victoria. Public Domain

Hepburn was home to the second largest Victorian Chinese settlement.

The Jamieson Hotel was part of the first Cobb and Co staging station and booking office in Daylesford. Cobb & Co operated on this site from 1860 until 1877 and was built by American prospector and entrepreneur Henry Jamieson in 1860.

Former Jamieson Hotel (Raglan Hotel) was part of the first Cobb and Co staging station Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 1 December 1900

The Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens were established in the 1860s on the extinct volcano, Wombat Hill.

Daylesford Fire Brigade carriage was locally built by White and Oldham wheelwrights and carriage makers to the design of Captain Henshaw. Their premises were behind the Victoria Hotel. The carriage had ten canvas water buckets hanging on hooks, a long ladder and two hoses hanging from hooks on the lower section of the four-wheeled carriage.

Daylesford Wesleyan Chapel was built about 1861 and replaced by a brick church building next-door about 1865.

The Royal Hotel was built in 1864.

Margaret Graham was murdered in her home at Daylesford in 1864. David Young was hung at Castlemaine Gaol, without making a confession for the murder.

Smith's Weekly (Sydney, NSW : 1919 - 1950), Saturday 30 August 1919

The Catholic Church built in 1865 replaced an earlier timber church.

The Holy Cross Convent was built during the 1860s Gold Rush as a private residence for the Gold Commissioner, then known as “Blarney Castle”. The building was purchased by the Catholic Church in the 1880s as a presbytery for the local priest.

Holy Cross Convent was built during the 1860s Gold Rush, as a private residence for the Gold Commissioner, Advocate (Melbourne, Vic. : 1868 - 1954), Thursday 12 December 1929

The courthouse was built in the 1860s. And the post office was built in 1867.

Three children became lost in the bush in the neighborhood of Daylesford in 1967. Their remains were found in a hollow tree nine weeks later.

More Cultural Misunderstandings

Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 27 June 1868

1870s

The State Savings Bank was built in 1870.

Read more here Church of England Messenger (Melbourne, Vic. : 1870 - 1876), Friday 14 July 1871

1880s

In 1880 a railway was opened connecting Daylesford to Melbourne. A period of travel to the region began and guest houses became popular for holiday stays. The railway to the town closed in 1978.

The Daylesford Town Hall was built in the 1880s by architect, George Johnson.

Daylesford showing post office. Circa 1890-1915. This work is out of copyright. State Library of Victoria

A group of men and women by a horse-drawn cab, Daylesford, VIC, Museum Victoria

Daylesford, VIC, circa 1925 Museums Victoria

1890s

The School of Mines building was built in 1890.

1900s

Mercer a pharmacist in Vincent Street, Daylesford, VIC, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 1 December 1900

J W Burns: Saddler, J J Larkins: Tailor, Vincent Street Daylesford VIC, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 1 December 1900

1. The Star Hotel & Coffee Palace, Mrs M. Harrison is the proprietress 2. R C Densem, Raglan Street, Daylesford, Vic Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 1 December 1900

Anson, A. R., Daylesford, butcher, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 1 December 1900

Royal Hotel, Daylesford, VIC, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 1 December 1900

The Old Macaroni Factory in Hepburn Springs, was built in 1859 Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 1 December 1900

Road view near Break Neck, VIC, Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935), Saturday 8 December 1906

Wombat Hill Daylesford, VIC, circa 1907, State Library of Victoria

Railway Station, Daylesford, Victoria - 1907, Kaye

Miners after the terrible tragedy at the Adelaide mine, Daylesford, VIC, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 1 June 1907

Daylesford Post Office, VIC, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 7 March 1908

View of Daylesford, Victoria, circa 1913. Aussie Mobs

Fire Station, J.R. Sheppard (Fruiterer and Confectioner) and Post Office in Daylesford, Vic - circa 1914, Kaye

WWI

Four sons of Mr and Mrs J Sibblson of Daylesford enlisted for active service during WWI.

Private V. Sibbison was born at Daylesford, Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Monday 15 May 1916

Lieutenant (Lt) Horace Hubert Sibbison, 21st Battalion from Daylesford. Lt Sibbison was killed in action near Albert, France on 14 April 1918. Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Monday 15 May 1916

Private A. Sibbison, who is a native of Daylesford, Is 29 years of age. He
was a member of the football club and brass band at Daylesford before
enlisting, Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Monday 15 May 1916

Private G. Sibbison was born at Daylesford. Hewas a printer, Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Monday 15 May 1916

1920s

In 1922 the Daylesford Woollen Mills was being built, and it was in operation by July 1923.

Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Saturday 20 September 1924

Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Saturday 20 September 1924,

Daylesford farm, VIC, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 26 January 1924

1930s

Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Wednesday 27 August 1930

Country football — Daylesford defeat Golden Point at Ballarat . DAYLESFORD, Winners (Left to right, back row).—J. Murphy, R. Martin, W. Nicholls, R.Cassidy, L. Perham, J. Plummer, J. MacDonald, W. Callaghan. W. MacDonald. (Centre)—A. Young, L. Drew, J. Doran (capt.), J. Jose (vice-capt.), R. Cole. J. Callaghan. (Front)— K. Cole, W. Lynch, L. Braszell, J. HarbisonWeekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 23 May 1931

Lady Huntingfleld was present at a ball held by members of the Daylesford branch of the Country
Women's Association at the local city hall, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 26 November 1938

WWII

Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 16 September 1942

Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Saturday 30 September 1944

1950s

A section of Daylesford Lawn Tennis Club, VIC, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 10 October 1951

Matron D. M. Lumsden (centre front row), and nursing staff of the District Hospital. Daylesford VIC, Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 10 October 1951

New Australians, Mr and Mrs John Kabay, from Hungary, judged the art work in the homecrafts pavilion at the Daylesford Show, VIC. Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 8 December 1954

Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm

About 10 km north of Daylesford is Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm, which was originally a dairy farm established by Aquilino Tinetti (1835 -1905) in the 1860s. The property and its historic buildings were restored in the 1980s and now operate as a lavender farm, with European-style gardens.

Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), Friday 2 June 1905

The historic barn at Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm, VIC

Parma House was built in 1864 for the Swiss-Italian Fabrizzio Crippa

Notable

The opening titles of Bellbird, Australia's first successful television soap opera, produced by the ABC's Melbourne studios, were filmed in Daylesford. The show ran from 1967 to 1977. The region around Daylesford is also famous as the 1975 film setting for the adaptation of Joan Lindsay's Gothic novel, "Picnic at Hanging Rock". Hanging Rock is approximately 40 minutes drive from Daylesford.

Around Daylesford