Digby is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Shire of Glenelg, west of the state capital,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, on the Stokes River, a tributary of the Glenelg. At the 2006 census, Digby and the surrounding area had a population of 369. The town is believed to be named either after Digby, Lincolnshire, in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, or in honour of a legendary early rural Australian identity, "Digby" McCabe. The Henty Brothers established the first European settlement in the Digby area in 1837. In 1843, the Woolpack Inn was established near modern Digby; it burnt down in 1887. By 1847 the town consisted of the inn, a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

and a series of huts. The town was officially surveyed in 1852. On 1 June 1858, Digby Post Office opened. In 1857, a second inn—the Digby Hotel—was established. It still exists today, although it was rebuilt after a fire in 1935. The Digby

Mechanics Institute Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult ed ...

was built in 1868 and has continually operated since. The first sitting of the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...

outside Melbourne was in Digby in 1869. By 1874 the town had a post office, two hotels, four shops and a school.

Traditional ownership

The formally recognised

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

for the area in which Digby sits are the

Gunditjmara The Gunditjmara or Gunditjamara, also known as Dhauwurd Wurrung, are an Aboriginal people of southwestern Victoria in Australia. They are the Traditional Owners of the areas now encompassing Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Woolsthorpe and Portland. ...

People who are represented by the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.

References

Towns in Victoria (state) {{VictoriaAU-geo-stub