History of Casterton and Surrounding Districts
The indigenous people of the Konongwootong Gundidj clan and others from the
Jardwadjali language group occupied the area in and around Casterton for thousands
of years before the arrival of Europeans in Australia. The first Europeans to explore
this region were a party led by surveyor Major Thomas Mitchell, which passed
through the area in 1836 as part of the Australia Felix (Fortunate Australia) expedition.
Mitchell expressed his ‘positive’ perception of the land for future farming in Three
Expeditions:
The land is, in short, open and available in its present state, for all the
purposes of civilized men. We traversed it in two directions with heavy carts,
meeting no other obstruction than the softness of the rich soil; and in
returning over flowery plains and green hills, fanned by the breezes of early
spring, I named this region Australia Felix, the better to distinguish it from
the parched deserts of the interior country, where we had wandered so
unprofitably and so long.’
1
The Henty brothers had arrived in Portland Bay in 1834 and after hearing of
Mitchell’s positive reports of good pasturage, the brothers moved north. They
travelled inland from Portland with their flocks and began farming in the Western
District eventually acquiring the pastoral runs of ‘Merino Downs’, ‘Muntham’,
‘Sandford’ & ‘Connells Run’. They, in time, were followed by many others.
As was the case elsewhere across Australia, the indigenous people would gradually
lose possession of their lands. Disputes about livestock occurred between early
settlers and displaced Aborigines, often resulting in acts of retaliation by settlers. An
infamous example occurred at The Hummocks in March, 1840, when ‘the Whyte
brothers, who had arrived in the western district in 1837, were involved in the
massacre of an estimated 30 Aboriginal people’.2 The brothers were also credited
with a horrendous execution of Aborigines in the Konongwootong area, a place
known in the district as ‘The Fighting Hills’.3 In the late 1830’s four Assistant
Protectors were appointed to look after the interests of the Aboriginal people in the
Port Phillip District under a Chief Protector, George Augustus Robinson. Robinson
allocated regions and requested them to send reports every three months. They
were to complete a census of the population, boundaries of tribal areas, details of
languages and customs.4 Robinson was unsatisfied with information supplied by C.W.
Sievwright, the Asst. Protector appointed to the Western District, and decided to
undertake his own census of the District’s Aboriginal population in March to May
1841, accompanied by Aboriginal guides. Although much is written about the failure
of the Protectorate, in this instance, Robinson was successful in making ‘friendly
communication with the Aborigines of the Western District’. 5 Unfortunately the
Quote from Mitchell’s Three Expeditions in M. Kiddle, Men of Yesterday: A social history of the Western
District of Victoria, 1834-1890, Melbourne, p. 3.
2
Fighting Hills Massacre, 1840’ from I. D. Clark, Scars in the Landscape: A register of massacre sites in
Western Victoria, 1803 - 1859, pp. 145-152
http://museumvictoria.com.au/encounters/journeys/robinson/fighting_hills.htm
3
Jim Kent CDHS member Personal communication, 18 November 2009. Also ‘to the south of Casterton
there is a location known as ‘Murdering Flat’ where allegedly, the Aborigines were poisoned by the addition
of a lethal powder mixed with flour that white settlers gave to them’.
4
J. Critchett, ‘Meeting the Aborigines, Western District of Victoria 1841, in Australia Felix, Dunkeld 1987,
p.64.
5
Ibid, p.72
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promises of these interactions were not followed up. Overall, the Port Phillip
Protectorate was largely unsuccessful and was disbanded in 1849.
The site of Casterton township emerged as an early crossing place along the Glenelg
River. It is named Casterton after an English village with some believing it is an
intentional reference to the way in which the town is 'protectively' surrounded by a
series of hills.6 The first pub, the Glenelg Inn, was established in 1846 and a post
office was opened the following year. The following decade saw a range of
businesses opening and a racing club was formed. A Mr Clarke and Mr Derbyshire
were instructed by Head Surveryor, Mr Wade to survey the township of Casterton,
most probably sometime in the early 1850’s.7 The telegraph arrived in the 1860’s
together with Jeffreys’ Cordial Factory, and the 1870’s saw the establishment of a
local newspaper The Casterton News. Life in the Western District for Europeans was
rapidly developing, both on the farms and in the towns. The railway line to Casterton
was opened in September 1884 and construction of the Railway Station started in
1886. With the arrival of the railway, Casterton became the western terminus of the
state's rail service and the days of horse and bullock trains were over. In 1892 the
premier of Victoria, William Shiels (after whom part of the main street is named),
‘his ministry and about 40 journalists travelled to Casterton by a special train to
present his policies in a media event which amounted to the first rural policy
launch’8.
Floods and fires have also been very much part of the district’s history. Although
there had been previous floods, it was the devastating flood of 1906, which led to a
number of rebuilding changes in Casterton. For example, the Albion Hotel, built in
1865 by the brothers Robert and George Grant, was a simple, single-storey, solid
brick building with a wonderful symmetry of design. After the flood the Grant family
demolished the original Hotel and replaced it with a far grander building. Erected on
the same site, the present Albion Hotel was opened in 1907. With its striking
Elizabethan architecture, massive size, and the same beautiful symmetry as the
original building, it was regarded as a showpiece in Western Victoria.9 The flood of
1946 is remembered as ‘The Big Flood’ of the Sandford and Casterton areas and it
was reported that 628 points of rain fell in four days.10 As with most Victorian
regional districts fires have also been a major part of life in the country with the
district experiencing its fair share of the state’s major fires: 1901 Black Thursday,
1939 Black Friday, 1951 and 1955.
By the late 1880’s some of the large squatting runs were broken up for Closer
Settlement by selectors - a farmer who took up land under free selection. Closer
Settlement was meant for agricultural use and taken up by lease or licence under
various land acts, or after Crown auction, as opposed to land granted by the Crown
or taken by squatting. These ‘closer settlements’ were not always successful, and in
the Western District the failure rate of settlers on the closer settlement estates was
high. ‘In hindsight, it was generally recognised that the allocation of land on most
Casterton – Culture and History, The Age, 14 November, 2008.
J. Kent, Historical Happenings, Casterton & District Historical Society Inc Newsletter, 2 (5), 2006.
8
‘Casterton – Culture and History’ and G. Serle, 'Shiels, William (1848 - 1904)', Australian Dictionary of
Biography, Volume 11, Melbourne University Press, 1988, pp 595-598.
9
D. Grant John Scott Grant & Family, http://www.ballaratgenealogy.org.au/casterton/grants.htm
10
‘Floods and Fires’, CDHS website http://www.ballaratgenealogy.org.au/casterton/floods_fires.htm (6.28
inches of rain - 100 points to the inch in imperial measurement)
6
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estates had been insufficient’. Western District farming has a rich history of farming
innovations and achievements, and struggles with harsh climate and environmental
conditions. Much has been preserved in the photos, newspaper articles as well as
letters and records which provide a glimpse into the day to day life on a station.
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During World War 1 many men of the district headed off to join the armed forces
with their numbers reflected in the Honor Boards and memorials that adorn each of
the schools, townships and regions throughout the district. Soldier settlements after
World War 1 saw the introduction of the breaking up of some larger runs. ‘Of the
1,141 original settlers allocated land under the scheme in the early 1920's, 881 had
retained their holdings into the 1930's. Improving agricultural prices from the mid
1930's and the concessions given to settlers as a result of the changes to the Act in
1932 allowed these farmers to eventually gain equity in their farms’. 12 World War 2
would again take its toll in the countryside and each of the towns would pay tribute
to their returned soldiers.
The growth in county towns is inextricably tied to the pattern of land use, and as
there are changes in methods and viability of farming there is a corresponding
impact on townships.
Casterton and District Historical Society
Sourced from Significance Assessment 2010
By History @ Work
M. Keneley, ‘Closer settlement in the Western District of Victoria: a case study in Australian land use
policy, 1898-1914’, Journal of Historical Geography, 28, 3 (2002) 363-379.
12
M. Keneley, ‘Land of Hope: Soldier Settlement in the Western District of Victoria 1918-1930’ Electronic
Journal of Australian and NZ History, 11-4-2000 http://www.jcu.edu.au/aff/history/articles/keneley2.htm
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