Murchison, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Murchison is a small rural village located on the Goulburn River in Victoria
, Australia
. Murchison is located 167 kilometres from Melbourne
and is just to the west of the Goulburn Valley Highway
between Shepparton
and Nagambie
. The surrounding countryside contains orchards, vineyards and dairy farms and also HM Prison Dhurringile
. At the 2006 census
, Murchison had a population of 786.
inhabitants of the area. The first explorer to enter the Goulburn Valley
was Thomas Mitchell who crossed the Goulburn River at Mitchellstown. The first Europeans to visit what would become the site where the drovers Joseph Hawdon
and Charles Bonney
who drove cattle between Mitchellstown and Adelaide
.
Squatters started settling the area in 1840 with a school being established that year and a police station in 1841. The aboriginal protectorate was also transferred from Mitchellstown to Murchison in 1840 and closed in 1850.
French vigneron Ludovic Marie settled in Murchison in 1850 and established vineyards. He also set up a hotel and punt service over the Goulburn for gold miners travelling between the Bendigo
and Beechworth
. A township was established in 1854 with the town being named after Captain John Murchison, an early settler.
The town grew rapidly with a post office opening on 19 January 1855 (replacing an earlier office at Warranga),
a flour mill in 1858 and a Presbyterian church and school in 1859. Small selectors started settling the area after 1870. A bridge was built over the Goulburn to replace the punt service in 1871, with a newspaper, courthouse and mechanics' institute
being established in 1870.
The town grew further in 1875 with the arrival of the first paddle steamer
. At that time, Murchison had six hotels, a number of general stores, two flour mills and numerous stores and services. In 1878, Murchison became the base for operations against Ned Kelly
and his gang. The railway reached Murchison East in 1880 and a second station named Murchison was opened on the line to Rushworth in 1890.
The building of the Goulburn Weir
for irrigation in 1887-90 meant that the Goulburn River was no longer navigable by paddle steamer, which led to Murchison declining in importance. The development of irrigation led to the growth of nearby towns, notably Shepparton. The Waranga Basin
was developed in the early part of the twentieth century approximately 15 kilometres from the town.
(POWs) were interned near the town between 1941 and 1947. Dhurringile Homestead, 11 kilometres to the north, was used as a POW camp for German officers while the Italians and Japanese were kept at an internment camp in the town. The prisoner of war camp was employing 675 people with the Italians and Japanese prisoners working as fruitpickers. The German POWs were not used. After the camps closed in 1947, the internment camp became an Italian war memorial while Dhurringhile Homestead became a minimum security prison, HM Prison Dhurringile
.
shower fell 2 kilometres south of Murchison. Many local residents collected samples of these meteorites reducing the chance of contamination. The rocks were analysed at the NASA Ames Research Center
where they were discovered to contain the first convincing evidence of amino acids of extraterrestrial origin, confirming the Miller-Urey experiment
. The Murchison meteorite
samples contained 90 different amino acids, only 19 of which are found on earth. The Meteorite Park in the centre of Murchison celebrates this discovery.
passenger trains on the Shepparton Line.
.
Golfers play at the course of the Murchison Golf Club on Goulburn Valley Highway, Murchison East.
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...
. Murchison is located 167 kilometres from 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...
and is just to the west of the Goulburn Valley Highway
Goulburn Valley Highway
The Goulburn Valley Highway / is a highway located in Victoria, Australia. The section north beyond the Hume Freeway is part of the Melbourne to Brisbane National Highway and is the main link between these two cities as well as a major link between Victoria and inland New South Wales...
between Shepparton
Shepparton, Victoria
Shepparton is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in the north east of Victoria, Australia approximately north-east of Melbourne. It is the fifth largest city in Victoria, Australia. The estimated population of Shepparton's statistical area is 48,926.It began as a sheep station...
and Nagambie
Nagambie, Victoria
Nagambie is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Goulburn Valley Highway, north of Seymour, in the Shire of Strathbogie. At the 2006 census, Nagambie had a population of 1,383.-History:...
. The surrounding countryside contains orchards, vineyards and dairy farms and also HM Prison Dhurringile
HM Prison Dhurringile
HM Prison Dhurringile is a minimum security prison located on Murchison Road, Murchison, Victoria, Australia.Situated 160 km north of Melbourne, the 68-room mansion, completed in 1877, was originally a homestead for a large farm. The house was completed for the Winter-Irving family, who were...
. 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,...
, Murchison had a population of 786.
Early history
The Ngooraialum tribe were the aboriginalIndigenous 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....
inhabitants of the area. The first explorer to enter the Goulburn Valley
Goulburn Valley
The Goulburn Valley is a region of Victoria, Australia. The region consists of those areas in the catchment of the Goulburn River and other nearby streams, and is part of the Murray-Darling Basin. The Goulburn Valley is bordered on the south by the Great Dividing Range and to the north by the...
was Thomas Mitchell who crossed the Goulburn River at Mitchellstown. The first Europeans to visit what would become the site where the drovers Joseph Hawdon
Joseph Hawdon
Joseph Hawdon was a pioneer settler and overlander of Australia and New Zealand.Hawdon was born at Wackerfield, Durham, England, the son of John Hawdon. At the suggestion of his brother elder brother John , he decided to travel to Australia, arriving in Sydney in November 1834...
and Charles Bonney
Charles Bonney
Charles Bonney was a pioneer and politician in Australia.-Early life:Bonney was the youngest son of the Rev. George Bonney, a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, and his wife Susanna, née Knight. He was born at Sandon, near Stafford, Staffordshire, England...
who drove cattle between Mitchellstown and Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
.
Squatters started settling the area in 1840 with a school being established that year and a police station in 1841. The aboriginal protectorate was also transferred from Mitchellstown to Murchison in 1840 and closed in 1850.
French vigneron Ludovic Marie settled in Murchison in 1850 and established vineyards. He also set up a hotel and punt service over the Goulburn for gold miners travelling between the Bendigo
Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...
and Beechworth
Beechworth, Victoria
Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s...
. A township was established in 1854 with the town being named after Captain John Murchison, an early settler.
The town grew rapidly with a post office opening on 19 January 1855 (replacing an earlier office at Warranga),
a flour mill in 1858 and a Presbyterian church and school in 1859. Small selectors started settling the area after 1870. A bridge was built over the Goulburn to replace the punt service in 1871, with a newspaper, courthouse and mechanics' institute
Mechanics' Institutes
Historically, Mechanics' Institutes were educational establishments formed to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working men...
being established in 1870.
The town grew further in 1875 with the arrival of the first paddle steamer
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
. At that time, Murchison had six hotels, a number of general stores, two flour mills and numerous stores and services. In 1878, Murchison became the base for operations against Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly
Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish...
and his gang. The railway reached Murchison East in 1880 and a second station named Murchison was opened on the line to Rushworth in 1890.
The building of the Goulburn Weir
Goulburn Weir
Goulburn Weir is a weir built between 1887 and early 1891 across the Goulburn River near Nagambie, Victoria, Australia. It was the first major diversion structure built for irrigation development in Australia. The weir also forms Lake Nagambie where rowing regattas and waterskiing tournaments are...
for irrigation in 1887-90 meant that the Goulburn River was no longer navigable by paddle steamer, which led to Murchison declining in importance. The development of irrigation led to the growth of nearby towns, notably Shepparton. The Waranga Basin
Waranga Basin
Waranga Basin is a reservoir forming part of the Goulburn River irrigation system in Victoria, Australia. It is located in Shire of Campaspe near the City of Greater Shepparton and is located near the townships of Tatura, Rushworth and Murchison...
was developed in the early part of the twentieth century approximately 15 kilometres from the town.
Twentieth century
Approximately 4,000 Italian, Japanese and German prisoners of warPrisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
(POWs) were interned near the town between 1941 and 1947. Dhurringile Homestead, 11 kilometres to the north, was used as a POW camp for German officers while the Italians and Japanese were kept at an internment camp in the town. The prisoner of war camp was employing 675 people with the Italians and Japanese prisoners working as fruitpickers. The German POWs were not used. After the camps closed in 1947, the internment camp became an Italian war memorial while Dhurringhile Homestead became a minimum security prison, HM Prison Dhurringile
HM Prison Dhurringile
HM Prison Dhurringile is a minimum security prison located on Murchison Road, Murchison, Victoria, Australia.Situated 160 km north of Melbourne, the 68-room mansion, completed in 1877, was originally a homestead for a large farm. The house was completed for the Winter-Irving family, who were...
.
Murchison meteorite
On 28 September 1969 a meteoriteMeteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
shower fell 2 kilometres south of Murchison. Many local residents collected samples of these meteorites reducing the chance of contamination. The rocks were analysed at the NASA Ames Research Center
NASA Ames Research Center
The Ames Research Center , is one of the United States of America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration 10 major field centers.The centre is located in Moffett Field in California's Silicon Valley, near the high-tech companies, entrepreneurial ventures, universities, and other...
where they were discovered to contain the first convincing evidence of amino acids of extraterrestrial origin, confirming the Miller-Urey experiment
Miller-Urey experiment
The Miller and Urey experiment was an experiment that simulated hypothetical conditions thought at the time to be present on the early Earth, and tested for the occurrence of chemical origins of life. Specifically, the experiment tested Alexander Oparin's and J. B. S...
. The Murchison meteorite
Murchison meteorite
The Murchison meteorite is named after Murchison, Victoria, in Australia. It is one of the most studied meteorites due to its large mass , the fact that it was an observed fall, and it belongs to a group of meteorites rich in organic compounds....
samples contained 90 different amino acids, only 19 of which are found on earth. The Meteorite Park in the centre of Murchison celebrates this discovery.
Transport
Murchison East station is serviced by V/LineV/Line
V/Line is a not for profit regional passenger train and coach service in Victoria, Australia. It was created after the split-up of VicRail in 1983. V/Line is owned by the V/Line Corporation which is a Victorian State Government statutory authority...
passenger trains on the Shepparton Line.
Sport
The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Kyabram & District Football LeagueKyabram & District Football League
The Kyabram District Football League is an Australian rules football league in Victoria. It is made up of 13 teams, following Yea's departure in 2007 to join the Yarra Valley Mountain Football League, and Longwood's admission in 2010 following the collapse of the Benalla District Football League....
.
Golfers play at the course of the Murchison Golf Club on Goulburn Valley Highway, Murchison East.