Victoria and
its Metropolis: Past and Present. 1888.
Description of the Upper Goulburn District.
The following is the description of the Upper Goulburn District from Victoria and its Metropolis: Past and Present. 1888 by Alexander Sutherland, Vol. IIA. Chapter XV.
This description has been transcribed by Kaye Patterson from the original book.
The valley of the Upper Goulburn and Upper Broken Rivers, being hemmed in on nearly its three sides by mountain ranges of considerable altitude, forms a well-defined district in about the central part of the colony. In form it is an irregular triangle, and has a mean length from east to west of about eighty miles, by a mean breadth from north to south of about sixty-four miles, the area being therefore, approximately, 5120 square miles, or 3,276,800 acres.
Consisting, as it does, mostly of rugged mountainous country, it has comparatively but a sparse population, and although there is, or has been, much mining carried on in the district, most of the available country is taken up for pastoral purposes, chiefly the grazing of cattle. Except in the western and northern portions, there has been up to the present but little land taken up for purely agricultural purposes, although it is probable that the line of railway recently constructed from Tallarook to Yea, and the line authorised from the latter place to Mansfield with a branch line to Alexandra, will do much to open up the country in that direction, the more so, because although broken, it possesses, especially on the river flats, excellent soil, which has already given a good yield both of cereal and of root crops.
The district is particularly favoured by nature, and possesses some of the most picturesque and romantic scenery in Victoria, the magnificent mountain views on every hand forming a majestic background to the meandering streams which flow round their bases and through the beautiful fern gullies and densely wooded glens that lie between.
The entire district is plentifully watered, the principal streams being the Goulburn, which rises in the Dividing Ranges and flows generally north-west, but by a very tortuous course. This fine river is very picturesque, its upper portion especially being broken by numerous rocky falls, and overhung by mimosa and eucalyptus. It abounds in fine fish and waterfowl, and that extraordinary animal, the platypus, is frequently met with. Other rivers are the Broken, Jamieson, Howqua, Delatite, Big, Acheron, Rubicon, Niagara, Jerusalem, with their tributaries; the Hughes, Nine Mile, Dabyminga, Whitehead's, Murrindindi, Home, Spring, Colonial, Eglinton, King parrot, Gaffney's, Flourbag, Swampy, Sailor Bill's, Niagaroon, Break o'Day, Warrangearnong, Holland's, Moonee Moonee, Brankeet, and many other creeks, a large number of which are auriferous.
The principal mountains bordering the district are - to the south, the Great Dividing Range and the Hume Range; and to the east, the Table Top Range, and within its boundaries the Strathbogie Range, famous as being for so long the haunt of the notorious "Kelly gang: of bushrangers; and the Bluff, Puzzle, Blue, Torbreck, Marianne, and other ranges, each with its numerous prominent peaks, named and unnamed.
Like the creeks, many of the mountains are auriferous, and, in fact, some years ago a considerable portion of the country was taken up for mining purposes, and large quantities of gold were brought from the then famous Wood's Point, Matlock, Jericho, Enoch's Point, Reedy Creek, Acheron, Alexandra, Yea, and many other diggings, the names of which are now almost forgotten. The workings were both alluvial and quartz, but from the character of the country and the difficulty of communication, mining there was extremely arduous, and it needed a large percentage of gold to make the industry remunerative. Still, although the palmy days of those wild goldfields seem to be now over, it is evident, from the nature of the geological formation, which is principally palaeozoic, interspersed with masses of granite, that auriferous quartz reefs of great extents and richness abound, and that a judicious application of the diamond drill, a practical and theoretical knowledge of mining, and some expenditure, would give ample returns, especially now the country is being opened up by the "iron horse."
The Upper Goulburn district comprehends the county of Anglesey, and portions of those of Delatite and Wonnongatta. Politically, it is in the South-Eastern, North-Eastern, and Gippsland Provinces, as represented in the Legislative Council; and in the electorates of Delatite, Kilmore, and Anglesey, in the Legislative Assembly. Municipally, it is under the control of the borough of Woods Point and the shires of Anglesey, Benalla, Euroa, Howqua, Mansfield, Seymour, and Yea.
The principal landowners in the district are - Mr William ANDERSON, 2410 acres at Doogalook; Mrs Anne Fraser BON, 2911 acres at Wappan; Mr Dittmer BEHRENS, 3128 acres at Nillahcootie; Mr John CALLEN, 2500 acres at Tallarook; Messrs HASTING CUNINHAM and Co., and the Hon. Sir James McCULLOCK, 21,532 acres near Mansfield; Messrs A G and J C CHENERY, 20,087 acres at Delatite; Mr John COLCLOUGH, 4630 acres near Benalla; the executors of the late Mr Frederick GRIFFIN, 10,377 acres at Loyola; Messrs W GOTCH and J CHRYSTAL, 12,496 acres near Yea; Mr John GUILD, 2298 acres at Tallarook; Mr John B HAMILTON, 4080 acres near Yea; Mr Lloyd JONES, 3232 acres near Avenel; Mr Malcolm M McKENZIE, 3821 acres near Alexandra; Messrs McLEISH, 5506 acres near Yea; Mr John PIKE, 6118 acres near Mansfield; and Mr Samuel WILSON, 9923 acres near Benalla.
There are several important townships in the Upper Goulburn district, and in the neighbourhood of some of them agricultural settlement is going on at a fair rate. The principal of them are:-
BENALLA, 36̊ 33' S. lat., 146̊ 2' E. long., an important municipal township in the shire of the same name, situated on the Broken River, and in the counties and electoral districts of Delatite and Moira. The town was laid out in 1846, but was of small account until about 1854, when it sprung into importance as the centre of an agricultural and winegrowing district. The principal crops are wheat and oats, the land under cultivation in the locality being estimated at 50,000 acres, and selection still going on. There are about 300 acres under vines. Benalla is supplied with water by reticulation. It has five churches, two State-schools, two public halls, a mechanics' institute with a library, three banks, a number of well-ordered hotels, and several large and well-stocked stores. The population numbers about 2000 persons. The local newspapers are the Ensign and Standard. Benalla is a station on the North-Eastern railway, 122miles distant from Melbourne.
SEYMOUR, 37̊ 3' S. lat., 145̊ 10'E. long, a postal, telegraphic, and money-order office town and railway station, on the Goulburn River, in the counties of Anglesey and Dalhousie, and shire of Seymour, of which it is the principal town. It is sixty-two miles from Melbourne, and is a favourite place of resort for excursionists from the metropolis during the heats of summer, the river affording excellent fishing, bathing, and boating, and an occasional steamer from Echuca getting so high up as the township. The district is agricultural and pastoral, and the land, although swampy in places, and subject to flood, is extremely fertile, the principal crop being wheat. It has four places of worship, a mechanics' institute with a library, an assembly hall, two banks, four hotels, and a newspaper (the Express). The population numbers about 900 persons.
WOOD'S POINT, a borough in the county of Wonnongatta, and electorate of Delatite. It has an area of 2560 acres, a population of 400, and rateable property of an annual value of £2068. It is the centre of an exclusively mining district, both alluvial and quartz gold being obtained, and expensive machinery has been erected for obtaining the precious metal. The communication with Melbourne, 110 miles SW, is by coach to Longwood, and thence by rail. Much of the carriage of goods is performed by pack-horses, the district being very mountainous. Wood's Point is also to be reached by the Yarra track, via Lilydale and Marysville, that road being greatly admired by tourists on account of its bracing air and magnificent scenery.
The other towns and villages in the district, which are of more or less importance, are Yea, the present terminus of a branch railway line, situated on the Goulburn River, in a pastoral and mining district (newspaper, the Telegraph); Alexandra, quartz mining and agricultural (newspaper, the Standard); Acheron, mining; Gobur, mining; Taggarty, mining; Thornton, agricultural; Baddaginnie, Winton, Euroa, agricultural (newspaper, the Advertiser); Balmattum, Gowangandie, Longwood, agricultural; Strathbogie, mining and agricultural; Violet Town, Glenrowan (where the Kelly gang of bushrangers was taken); Gaffney's Creek, mining; Jamieson, mining (newspaper, the Chronicle); Mansfield (newspaper, the Spectator); Darlingford, Doon, Dry Creek, Howqua, Maindample, Merrijig, Merton, Avenel, Monea, Dabyminga, Tallarook, Mangalore, Kerrisdale, Homewood, Trawool, and many other small places, mostly mining settlements, with but few inhabitants.
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