Lancefield, Victoria
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| Lancefield Victoria |
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 Main street, Lancefield |
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| Population: | 1,151 |
| Postcode: | 3435 |
| Elevation: | 495 m |
| Location: | |
| LGA: | Macedon Ranges Shire |
| State District: | Macedon |
| Federal Division: | McEwen |
Lancefield is a town in the Macedon Ranges Shire Local government area in Victoria, Australia. The town is located 92 kilometers north of the state capital, Melbourne and had a population of 1,151 at the 2001 census.[1] A marker in the town indicates the centre of Victoria.
The area was used by the Wurundjeri Aboriginal people as a quarry site for the manufacture of stone axes and was first settled by European squatters in 1837. Lancefield's elevation and climate made it a popular summer resort in the 1880s. In recent years, many local wineries have been established in the area.
The town has a connection to the Kelly Gang; for it was here that Constable Fitzpatrick, the instigator of the Kelly Outbreak in 1878 was finally found by the Victorian police to be no good and for his actions was finally discharged from the force.[2][3]
Lancefield district had a reputation for some of the best fertile soils in Victoria. Prior to being cut up into small blocks during the early 1970s the region produced high yields per acre of potatoes, fat lambs, fat cattle, wheat and other cereal crops.
John Allan, the 29th Premier of Victoria, was born near Lancefield in 1866.
A large fossil deposit from the Pleistocene epoch was discovered near Lancefield, containing the remains of many species of extinct megafauna, including ; Macropus titan, a giant kangaroo; Diprotodon, a rhinoceros-sized wombat; and Genyornis, a giant flightless bird.
The local Australian rules football team, Lancefield Football Club competes in the Riddell District Football League.
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[edit] Burke and Wills
The Burke and Wills expedition camped at Lancefield on their journey to cross Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. They arrived here on 23 August 1860 and made their fourth camp out of Melbourne. A marker at the site of the original town at Mustey's Bridge on Deep Creek commemorates the site of their camp.
[edit] Railway
A railway branch line off the Melbourne-Bendigo line originated at Clarkefield (known then as Lancefield Junction) and ran to Bolinda, Monegeeta, Romsey and Lancefield arriving in 1881. Later an eastern loop was built out of Lancefield across to Kilmore. This was one of the most infamous white elephant late-nineteen century rail projects of the then Victorian government, the other being the Melbourne Outer Circle.
The Lancefield-Kilmore line was not only an expensive project for it had to climb the Lancefield Gap, but due to the steep nature of the topography, it meandered to Kilmore, across almost uninhabited land with no passenger customers, or producers. The line was so unsuccessful that the tracks were torn up in 1914. Some of the old right of way is visible around the Lancefield Gap and on the approach into Kilmore.
The Lancefield-Clarkefield line was closed in 1956 when the wooden trestle bridge at Clarkefield required extensive maintenance repairs. Though the railway right of way no longer exists, the massive earth works onto the decaying trestle bridge is visible from the road-side at the Bolinda bridge. The old Lancefield railway station almost disintegrated after its closure and has a new lease of life now as a refurbished Bed and Breakfast cum garden nursery.
[edit] Breaker Morant connection
On his release from prison in England in 1904, George Ramsdale Witton came to Lancefield and lived in the town for several years. Witton was charged along with Breaker Morant and Peter Handcock of murdering captured Boers during the Anglo-Boer War. Witton was found not gulity of murder; but Morant and Handcock were executed in Pretoria on 27 February 1902. Witton was sent to England and held in prison until released due to public pressure from Australia. It was in Lancefield that he wrote his angry book, Scapegoats of the Empire (1907). It was in the introduction to his book that he stated he was living in Lancefield. When due for publication a fire destroyed all but several copies of the book. In 1982, Angus and Robertson re-published the book following the success of the movie Breaker Morant.
[edit] Book References
- Witton G. R. Scapegoats of the Empire, (1907) Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1982.
[edit] External links
- Lancefield community webite
- Lancefield megafauna excavation website
- Lancefield tourist website
- SMH Travel webpage
- Burke & Wills Web A comprehensive website containing many of the historical documents relating to the Burke & Wills Expedition.
- The Burke & Wills Historical Society The Burke & Wills Historical Society.
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[edit] References
- ^ ABS Website. Retrieved 16 December 2006
- ^ Victorian Parliamentary Papers, 1881 & 1883, 'Royal Commission on the Police Force of Victoria'
- ^ Cf. J.J. Kenneally, Inner History of the Kelly Gang, 1929 plus all subsequent editions, Ch II [2]
- Reid, John (Ed.). When Memory Turns The Key: The History of the Shire of Romsey, Jovial, Bacchus Marsh, 1992, ISBN 0-9588112-5-3
