Ensay, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Ensay is a small town located between Swifts Creek
and Bruthen
on the Great Alpine Road
in East Gippsland, Victoria
, Australia
. Ensay is 80 kilometres (49.7 mi) north of the major town of Bairnsdale
and 366 kilometres (227.4 mi) east of the state capital Melbourne
. Other nearby towns include Omeo
and Benambra
.
The town centre is located just north of the confluence of the Little River and the Tambo River
at an altitude of approximately 400 metres (1,312 ft). At the 2006 census
, Ensay had a population of 331.
The Aboriginal
name for the area around Ensay was Numblamunjie, which translates as ‘blackfish place’. Archibald Macleod (see Bairnsdale, History) set up a station in this area in 1843. He named it after the now unpopulated island of Ensay
in the Outer Hebrides
of his homeland of Scotland
, whose name originates from the Old Norse
for Ewe Island.
The land around Ensay was originally taken up in 1839 by the noted explorer of the district Angus McMillan
on behalf of his then employer Lachlan Macalister. This was abandoned shortly afterwards in 1841 with the settlement of large areas of land in the more central parts of Gippsland
.
The original Ensay Station covered an enormous 38400 acres (15,539.9 ha), which took in most of the Ensay district up to Swifts Creek
, where it abutted the Tongio Station. Some areas very near Ensay, such as Reedy Flat, were outside the Ensay Station boundaries and were not occupied by European settlers until the 1870s. The Ensay Post Office opened on 1 March 1864.
Ensay Station was progressively split up into smaller farms over the years. Notably the area became a site for soldier settlers following World War I
, as returned servicemen looking for employment were allocated areas of land to farm by the government. Agricultural
use of the land around Ensay remains chiefly for the raising of cattle
and sheep.
The population of Ensay has contracted over the last few decades. In the past Ensay supported a primary school
, a number of sporting teams and other facilities, including two significant pubs
, two churches, a community hall, a Scout group
and a cemetery
. Several of these facilities continue to this day in some form.
The Ensay Primary School (originally simply the Ensay School) opened in 1889 and was rebuilt in 1912. In 1971 three other local primary schools closed (at Reedy Flat, Ensay North and Tambo Crossing
) and amalgamated with Ensay Primary School to form the Ensay Group School. Ensay Primary School itself closed in 1994 when the number of students dropped to about six. Following this local children were bussed to Swifts Creek Primary School, with older students attending Swifts Creek Secondary College, now merged to form Swifts Creek P-12 School.
The Little River Inn originated as a shanty
selling grog
in the early 1840s. The first licence was taken out in 1847 and it has been continuously licensed since, remaining a popular local establishment to this day. This makes it the oldest hotel in the Omeo
district and possibly the oldest in East Gippsland. The early Little River Inn seemed to be particularly susceptible to fire, having been burnt down at least three (and perhaps four) times in its history. The current building dates from the 1920s following the fire of 1921. At this time the building was rebuilt on its present site, a spot known at the time as Calcutta Corner. This hotel is around one kilometre from the official town centre, about half a kilometre down a side road east of the Great Alpine Road
.
For many years the Ensay Post Office
ran from a small attachment to the Little River Inn. After the post office moved to the general store, a small bookshop ran for several years from this attachment, later relocating to the former Primary School building, and now to Swifts Creek. The Ensay South Hotel, now sited on a small loop road off the Great Alpine Road about half a kilometre south of the town, was established in 1892 and closed in 1961.
A bush nursing facility was established at Ensay in 1912, with a new building established in 1958. In 1978 this became known as the Ensay Community Health Centre and now includes a Rural Ambulance Depot. Ensay also has a Country Fire Authority (CFA)
depot, originally established in 1940 as the Ensay Bush Fire Brigade.
Ensay is the nearest town to the folk art sculpture Mr. Stringy
, which is located about 12 km (7.5 mi) south alongside the Great Alpine Road.
In Australian rules football
the Ensay Football Club competed for many decades in the Omeo District Football League (ODFL)
. The football team won premierships in 1934, 1936, 1940, 1946, 1947, 1950 and 1960. The affiliated Ensay Netball Club competed in the associated netball
competition.
The Ensay colours were blue and gold. Earlier Ensay football jumpers were a golden-yellow vee on a royal blue background. Late in their time Ensay changed their jumper to the early design of the West Coast Eagles
AFL
club. The netball club wore a yellow top with blue skirt.
The clubs played their last matches in 1995 when they struggled to field teams at the start of the season, finally folding after a few rounds. The recreation reserve is still kept in good condition and hosts occasional special games, including the ODFL final series and Grand Final annually.
Ensay Tennis
Club competes in the Omeo District Tennis Association (ODTA). The tennis club maintained a strong presence for several years after the football and netball teams folded, but itself briefly ceased playing for the 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 seasons. Ensay revived for the 2003/2004 season and again takes part in the ODTA competition. Ensay also hosts the annual ANA Tournament on the Australia Day
Weekend each year in late January, a long running and successful tennis tournament attracting entries from widely scattered areas.
A New Year's Day
Sports' Carnival is also held annually in Ensay, chiefly consisting of a number of equestrian
and novelty events. This annual carnival has been a local fixture of the surrounding community since 1916. Various other equestrian events are also held at the Ensay Recreation Reserve, and the reserve also features a lawn bowling
green. The New Year's Day Sports Carnival is no longer held.
Swifts Creek, Victoria
Swifts Creek is a rural community located between Omeo and Ensay on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, east of the state capital Melbourne. Swifts Creek is at an altitude of 300 m above sea level. The area was originally settled by Europeans in the gold rushes of the mid...
and Bruthen
Bruthen, Victoria
Bruthen is a small town located alongside the Tambo River between Bairnsdale and Ensay on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. At the 2006 census, Bruthen had a population of 624...
on the Great Alpine Road
Great Alpine Road
The Great Alpine Road is a country tourist road in Victoria, Australia, running from Wangaratta in the north to Bairnsdale in the east, and passing through the Australian Alps...
in East Gippsland, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Ensay is 80 kilometres (49.7 mi) north of the major town of Bairnsdale
Bairnsdale, Victoria
Bairnsdale is a small city in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. With a population at the 2006 census of 11,282, it is a major regional centre of eastern Victoria along with Traralgon and Sale....
and 366 kilometres (227.4 mi) east of the state capital Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. Other nearby towns include Omeo
Omeo, Victoria
Omeo is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Great Alpine Road, east of Mount Hotham, in the Shire of East Gippsland. At the 2006 census, Omeo had a population of 452. The name is derived from the Aboriginal word for 'mountains' or 'hills'...
and Benambra
Benambra, Victoria
Benambra is a small town located 28 kilometres north-east of Omeo and 430 kilometres east of the state capital Melbourne, in the Australian Alps of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Other nearby towns include Swifts Creek, Ensay, and the major town of Bairnsdale...
.
The town centre is located just north of the confluence of the Little River and the Tambo River
Tambo River (Victoria)
The Tambo River is a river in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia with a total length in excess of 170 km. It is the longest river in the Tambo and Nicholson Basin, extending from the steep forested southern slopes of the Australian Alps through forest and farmland to the Gippsland...
at an altitude of approximately 400 metres (1,312 ft). At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Ensay had a population of 331.
History
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
name for the area around Ensay was Numblamunjie, which translates as ‘blackfish place’. Archibald Macleod (see Bairnsdale, History) set up a station in this area in 1843. He named it after the now unpopulated island of Ensay
Ensay, Outer Hebrides
Ensay is a currently unpopulated island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The island lies in the Sound of Harris between the islands of Harris and Berneray...
in the Outer Hebrides
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...
of his homeland of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, whose name originates from the Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
for Ewe Island.
The land around Ensay was originally taken up in 1839 by the noted explorer of the district Angus McMillan
Angus McMillan
Angus McMillan , was an explorer and pioneer pastoralist in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. He is also known for being an instigator of many of the massacres against the Aboriginal peoples in the Gippsland region.-Early life:...
on behalf of his then employer Lachlan Macalister. This was abandoned shortly afterwards in 1841 with the settlement of large areas of land in the more central parts of Gippsland
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
.
The original Ensay Station covered an enormous 38400 acres (15,539.9 ha), which took in most of the Ensay district up to Swifts Creek
Swifts Creek, Victoria
Swifts Creek is a rural community located between Omeo and Ensay on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, east of the state capital Melbourne. Swifts Creek is at an altitude of 300 m above sea level. The area was originally settled by Europeans in the gold rushes of the mid...
, where it abutted the Tongio Station. Some areas very near Ensay, such as Reedy Flat, were outside the Ensay Station boundaries and were not occupied by European settlers until the 1870s. The Ensay Post Office opened on 1 March 1864.
Ensay Station was progressively split up into smaller farms over the years. Notably the area became a site for soldier settlers following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, as returned servicemen looking for employment were allocated areas of land to farm by the government. Agricultural
Agriculture in Australia
Australia is a major agricultural producer and exporter. Agriculture and its closely related sectors earn $155 billion-a-year for a 12% share of GDP. Australian farmers and graziers own 135,996 farms, covering 61% of Australia’s landmass. There is a mix of irrigation and dry-land farming...
use of the land around Ensay remains chiefly for the raising of cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
and sheep.
Facilities (past and present)
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
, a number of sporting teams and other facilities, including two significant pubs
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, two churches, a community hall, a Scout group
Scouts Australia
Scouts Australia is an organisation for children and young adults from 6 to 26 years of age. Scouts Australia is part of the global Scouting movement and has been a national member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement since 1953...
and a cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
. Several of these facilities continue to this day in some form.
The Ensay Primary School (originally simply the Ensay School) opened in 1889 and was rebuilt in 1912. In 1971 three other local primary schools closed (at Reedy Flat, Ensay North and Tambo Crossing
Tambo Crossing, Victoria
Tambo Crossing is a locality and small farming community in the Shire of East Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. It is alongside the Tambo River on the Great Alpine Road, north-east of Bairnsdale, surrounded by state forest...
) and amalgamated with Ensay Primary School to form the Ensay Group School. Ensay Primary School itself closed in 1994 when the number of students dropped to about six. Following this local children were bussed to Swifts Creek Primary School, with older students attending Swifts Creek Secondary College, now merged to form Swifts Creek P-12 School.
The Little River Inn originated as a shanty
Shanty
Shanty may refer to:* Ice shanty, a portable shed placed on a frozen lake* Sea shanty, shipboard working songs* Shanty Hogan , Major League Baseball catcher* Shanty town, unit of irregular, low-cost dwellings...
selling grog
Grog
The word grog refers to a variety of alcoholic beverages. The word originally referred to a drink made with water or "small beer" and rum, which British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon introduced into the Royal Navy on 21 August 1740. Vernon wore a coat of grogram cloth and was nicknamed Old Grogram or...
in the early 1840s. The first licence was taken out in 1847 and it has been continuously licensed since, remaining a popular local establishment to this day. This makes it the oldest hotel in the Omeo
Omeo, Victoria
Omeo is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Great Alpine Road, east of Mount Hotham, in the Shire of East Gippsland. At the 2006 census, Omeo had a population of 452. The name is derived from the Aboriginal word for 'mountains' or 'hills'...
district and possibly the oldest in East Gippsland. The early Little River Inn seemed to be particularly susceptible to fire, having been burnt down at least three (and perhaps four) times in its history. The current building dates from the 1920s following the fire of 1921. At this time the building was rebuilt on its present site, a spot known at the time as Calcutta Corner. This hotel is around one kilometre from the official town centre, about half a kilometre down a side road east of the Great Alpine Road
Great Alpine Road
The Great Alpine Road is a country tourist road in Victoria, Australia, running from Wangaratta in the north to Bairnsdale in the east, and passing through the Australian Alps...
.
For many years the Ensay Post Office
Australia Post
Australia Post is the trading name of the Australian Government-owned Australian Postal Corporation .-History:...
ran from a small attachment to the Little River Inn. After the post office moved to the general store, a small bookshop ran for several years from this attachment, later relocating to the former Primary School building, and now to Swifts Creek. The Ensay South Hotel, now sited on a small loop road off the Great Alpine Road about half a kilometre south of the town, was established in 1892 and closed in 1961.
A bush nursing facility was established at Ensay in 1912, with a new building established in 1958. In 1978 this became known as the Ensay Community Health Centre and now includes a Rural Ambulance Depot. Ensay also has a Country Fire Authority (CFA)
Country Fire Authority
Country Fire Authority, or CFA, is the name of the fire service that provides firefighting and other emergency services to all of the country areas and regional townships within the state of Victoria, Australia, as well as large portions of the outer suburban areas and growth corridors of Melbourne...
depot, originally established in 1940 as the Ensay Bush Fire Brigade.
Ensay is the nearest town to the folk art sculpture Mr. Stringy
Mr. Stringy
Mr. Stringy, also known as The Wooden Man or just The Man, is a folk art project and tourist attraction on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Mr. Stringy is a sculpture in a human form, originally carved from a stringybark stump, which is regularly repainted into...
, which is located about 12 km (7.5 mi) south alongside the Great Alpine Road.
Sports
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
the Ensay Football Club competed for many decades in the Omeo District Football League (ODFL)
Omeo & District Football League
The Omeo and District Football League is an Australian Rules Football League based out of the Tambo Valley region of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The ODFL has existed in some form since 1893, and operates under the auspices of the Victorian Country Football League...
. The football team won premierships in 1934, 1936, 1940, 1946, 1947, 1950 and 1960. The affiliated Ensay Netball Club competed in the associated netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
competition.
The Ensay colours were blue and gold. Earlier Ensay football jumpers were a golden-yellow vee on a royal blue background. Late in their time Ensay changed their jumper to the early design of the West Coast Eagles
West Coast Eagles
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League. The club is based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and played its first games in the 1987 season. Its current home ground is Subiaco Oval...
AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
club. The netball club wore a yellow top with blue skirt.
The clubs played their last matches in 1995 when they struggled to field teams at the start of the season, finally folding after a few rounds. The recreation reserve is still kept in good condition and hosts occasional special games, including the ODFL final series and Grand Final annually.
Ensay Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
Club competes in the Omeo District Tennis Association (ODTA). The tennis club maintained a strong presence for several years after the football and netball teams folded, but itself briefly ceased playing for the 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 seasons. Ensay revived for the 2003/2004 season and again takes part in the ODTA competition. Ensay also hosts the annual ANA Tournament on the Australia Day
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia...
Weekend each year in late January, a long running and successful tennis tournament attracting entries from widely scattered areas.
A New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
Sports' Carnival is also held annually in Ensay, chiefly consisting of a number of equestrian
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
and novelty events. This annual carnival has been a local fixture of the surrounding community since 1916. Various other equestrian events are also held at the Ensay Recreation Reserve, and the reserve also features a lawn bowling
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
green. The New Year's Day Sports Carnival is no longer held.