Maffra, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Maffra is a town
in Victoria
, Australia
, 220 km east of Melbourne
. It is in the Shire of Wellington local government area. It relies mainly on dairy farming and other agriculture, and is the site of one of Murray-Goulburn Cooperative's eight processing plants in Victoria. Maffra is a detour off the Princes Highway
and is near Sale
, Stratford
, Newry
, Tinamba
, Heyfield
and Rosedale
. At the 2006 census
, Maffra had a population of 4,149.
, named by pioneer grazier Lachlan Macalister after a village on the island of South Uist
in the Outer Hebrides
, Scotland
. The town appears to have taken its name from a group of squatters from Maffra, a village in the Monaro region of NSW, with its location between current Maffra and Newry
being written on an early map. The squatters moved on, but the name remained. The Monaro Maffra was probably connected to Mafra
, a town in Portugal
.
The township was settled in the 1860s, the Post Office opening on 20 July 1864.
It was long the beef cattle capital of West Gippsland and, for many years, the only beet sugar processing centre in the country.
The Beet Museum, set in the Port of Maffra Park, has relics from the defunct sugar beet industry. The building is a relocated historic weighbridge building, and is lined with pine boards from the home of Charles and Grace Quirk, one of Maffra's first cottages.
.
Maffra is considered to have one of the prettiest main streets (Johnson St) in Victoria. The Wellington Shire Council removed the 100+ year old trees that line it because of disease, but has since replaced them with young oaks.
Maffra has two primary schools, the Maffra Primary School and St Mary's Primary School (Catholic). Maffra also has a public secondary school, Maffra Secondary College
, which has a student enrolment of around 700. Maffra Secondary has a strong academic program and is involved in a number of community service programs.
The Gippsland Vehicle Collection Motor Museum is for lovers of old cars. It is housed in a huge old sugar beet building which the Car Club has cleaned and given new life.
A local group is working at Bellbird Corner, restoring the area to the popular picnic area it was in the 1900s.
football team competing in the Gippsland Football League.
Maffra is also home to a field hockey
club, fielding junior, women's and men's teams in the East Gippsland Hockey Association
.
Golfers play at the course of the Maffra Golf Club on Fulton Road.
The under 14 Boys Maffra Basketball team reached the Australian National Championships in Darwin
in 2008, for which they qualified by winning the Victoria Country state championships. They played in the Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL), the highest competition in Victoria for juniors.
The Maffra Football Seniors have won six premierships in the last seven years. They won three in a row, then lost in the 2004 Grand Final to Traralgon
, then won another three.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in 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...
, 220 km east of 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...
. It is in the Shire of Wellington local government area. It relies mainly on dairy farming and other agriculture, and is the site of one of Murray-Goulburn Cooperative's eight processing plants in Victoria. Maffra is a detour off the Princes Highway
Princes Highway
The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....
and is near Sale
Sale, Victoria
Sale is a city in the Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. It is the seat of the Shire of Wellington as well as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sale and the Anglican Diocese of Gippsland. It has a population of around 13,336, and is expected to reach a population of 14,000 soon...
, Stratford
Stratford, Victoria
Stratford is a town on the Avon River in Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne on the Princes Highway in Shire of Wellington. At the 2006 census, Stratford had a population of 1950. The town services the local regional community and travellers on the Princes Highway. Stratford's principal...
, Newry
Newry, Victoria
Newry is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on Newry - Boisdale Road, north west of Maffra, in the Shire of Wellington.-History:The first survey of the area was conducted in 1860 by W. Dawson. A fresh survey was conducted in 1861 by C. P. Rafferty in 1861, and further surveying was performed by...
, Tinamba
Tinamba, Victoria
Tinamba is a dairy farming town in Victoria, Australia, located on Traralgon - Maffra Road between Heyfield and Maffra, in the Shire of Wellington. It has an award winning country pub. It also has a church, Engineer works and two dilapidated tennis courts. At the 2006 census Tinamba and the...
, Heyfield
Heyfield, Victoria
Heyfield is a town in Victoria, Australia, with a population of 2099. It is located east of Melbourne, in the Shire of Wellington local government area. Located on the Thomson River, Heyfield is a gateway to the Victorian High Country.-History:...
and Rosedale
Rosedale, Victoria
-History:Rosedale is a pastoral and agricultural town 184 kilometres east of Melbourne via the Princes Highway. Once a staging post on the Port Albert to Sale coach run, it was once the administrative centre of the Shire of Rosedale which extended to the east and included Ninety Mile Beach. It is...
. 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,...
, Maffra had a population of 4,149.
History
The town began as an outstation of the region's first cattle run, BoisdaleBoisdale, Victoria
Boisdale is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on Briagolong Road, north of Maffra, in the Shire of Wellington. At the 2006 census, Boisdale and the surrounding area had a population of 603.It is a small town in the heart of Gippsland's dairying distinct...
, named by pioneer grazier Lachlan Macalister after a village on the island of South Uist
South Uist
South Uist is an island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. In the 2001 census it had a usually resident population of 1,818. There is a nature reserve and a number of sites of archaeological interest, including the only location in Great Britain where prehistoric mummies have been found. The...
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...
, 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...
. The town appears to have taken its name from a group of squatters from Maffra, a village in the Monaro region of NSW, with its location between current Maffra and Newry
Newry, Victoria
Newry is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on Newry - Boisdale Road, north west of Maffra, in the Shire of Wellington.-History:The first survey of the area was conducted in 1860 by W. Dawson. A fresh survey was conducted in 1861 by C. P. Rafferty in 1861, and further surveying was performed by...
being written on an early map. The squatters moved on, but the name remained. The Monaro Maffra was probably connected to Mafra
Mafra, Portugal
Mafra is a town in Mafra Municipality in Portugal.The town is 28 km north-west from the center of Lisbon. It is mostly known for the sumptuous Palácio de Mafra , which also makes it a popular tourist destination in the Lisbon area...
, a town in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
The township was settled in the 1860s, the Post Office opening on 20 July 1864.
It was long the beef cattle capital of West Gippsland and, for many years, the only beet sugar processing centre in the country.
The Beet Museum, set in the Port of Maffra Park, has relics from the defunct sugar beet industry. The building is a relocated historic weighbridge building, and is lined with pine boards from the home of Charles and Grace Quirk, one of Maffra's first cottages.
Today
Maffra hosts a Mardi Gras in March, the Maffra and District Agricultural, Pastoral and Horticultural Show in October and a tennis tournament at EasterEaster
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
.
Maffra is considered to have one of the prettiest main streets (Johnson St) in Victoria. The Wellington Shire Council removed the 100+ year old trees that line it because of disease, but has since replaced them with young oaks.
Maffra has two primary schools, the Maffra Primary School and St Mary's Primary School (Catholic). Maffra also has a public secondary school, Maffra Secondary College
Maffra Secondary College
Maffra Secondary College is a Year 7 to Year 12 government secondary college situated in the Gippsland town of Maffra, Victoria. It has around 700 students enrolled from Year 7 to 12, and takes in students from Maffra and surrounding towns, including Boisdale, Newry, Stratford, Heyfield, Valencia...
, which has a student enrolment of around 700. Maffra Secondary has a strong academic program and is involved in a number of community service programs.
The Gippsland Vehicle Collection Motor Museum is for lovers of old cars. It is housed in a huge old sugar beet building which the Car Club has cleaned and given new life.
A local group is working at Bellbird Corner, restoring the area to the popular picnic area it was in the 1900s.
Sport
The town has an Australian RulesAustralian 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...
football team competing in the Gippsland Football League.
Maffra is also home to a field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
club, fielding junior, women's and men's teams in the East Gippsland Hockey Association
East Gippsland Hockey Association
The East Gippsland Hockey Association is a field hockey league in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The league features five divisions, Open , Women's, under 18s, under 15s and under 13s.-History:...
.
Golfers play at the course of the Maffra Golf Club on Fulton Road.
The under 14 Boys Maffra Basketball team reached the Australian National Championships in Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
in 2008, for which they qualified by winning the Victoria Country state championships. They played in the Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL), the highest competition in Victoria for juniors.
The Maffra Football Seniors have won six premierships in the last seven years. They won three in a row, then lost in the 2004 Grand Final to Traralgon
Traralgon, Victoria
Traralgon is a regional city located in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Traralgon is a city within the City of Latrobe....
, then won another three.
Notable people
- Bill BennettBill Bennett (footballer)William Bennett is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the VFL during the 1960s.A forward from the Victorian town of Maffra, Bennett played 11 games with Carlton which included the 1968 Grand Final...
, AFL Player, member of Carlton'sCarlton Football ClubThe Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
1968 premiership side
- John HipwellJohn Hipwell (architect)John Hipwell was an Australian architect who practiced and designed mainly in Warrandyte, Victoria, Australia. He worked with Fritz Janeba and was the longest surviving member of Hipwell, Weight and Mason architects. He also served in Papua New Guinea as Commanding Officer of radar unit 334 with...
, Australian architect