Seymour () is a town located in the Southern end of the

Goulburn Valley The Goulburn Valley is a sub-region, part of the Hume region of the Australian state of Victoria. The sub-region consists of those areas in the catchment of the Goulburn River and other nearby streams, and is part of the Murray-Darling Basin. ...

in the

Shire of Mitchell Mitchell Shire is a local government area in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia, located North of Melbourne. It covers an area of and, in April 2024, had a projected population of 61,362. Larger towns include Beveridge, Broadford, Kilm ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and is located north of

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 ...

. At the , Seymour had a population of 6,569. The township services the surrounding agricultural industries (primarily

equine Equinae is a subfamily of the family Equidae, known from the Hemingfordian stage of the Early Miocene (16 million years ago) onwards. They originated in North America, before dispersing to every continent except Australia and Antarctica. They are ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

) as well as the nearby military base of

Puckapunyal Puckapunyal (more formally the Puckapunyal Military Area, but also known as the Puckapunyal Camp or Puckapunyal Army Base, and colloquially as "Pucka") is an Australian Army training facility and base 10 km west of Seymour, Victoria, Seym ...

(population 1,176), which is an important training centre for the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

. Other important sectors of employment in Seymour include retail, light engineering, agricultural services support, medical services, and education.

History

The

Taungurung The Taungurung people, also spelled ''Daung Wurrung'', are Aboriginal people who are one of the Kulin nations in present-day Victoria, Australia. They consist of nine clans whose traditional language is the Taungurung language. Their Country ...

people are the

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 ...

and inhabitants of the area Seymour now occupies. Specifically, it is the land of the Buthera Balug clan who occupied the area when Europeans first settled the region in the early 1800s. In 1824, Hume and Hovell on their return from Port Phillip, camped by the

Goulburn River The Goulburn River, a major inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Alpine, Northern Country/North Central, and Southern Riverina regions of the Australian state of Victor ...

not far upstream of Seymour. In 1836

Major Thomas Mitchell Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (15 June 1792 – 5 October 1855), often called Major Mitchell, was a Scottish surveyor and explorer of Southeastern Australia. He was born in Scotland and served in the British Army during the Peninsular War. I ...

crossed the Goulburn at

Mitchellstown Mitchellstown is a locality in north east Victoria, Australia. The locality is in the Shire of Strathbogie local government area and on the Goulburn River, north east of the state capital, Melbourne. Named after Major Thomas Mitchell who cro ...

and soon afterwards overlanders and other early settlers began to use this crossing place on the

–

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

route (now known as the

Hume Highway The Hume Highway, including the sections now known as the Hume Freeway and the Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of t ...

). The mail service between Melbourne and Sydney had been operating for just a year when it was found that a better route was available using the "New Crossing Place". The Robert Burns Inn was operating there by the end of 1839. In 1841 the Government decided that the new crossing place was the likely spot for a town. Plans were laid before the Executive Council of NSW and Mitchell proposed the name Seymour which was approved on 21 December 1843. The town was named after Lord Seymour, the son of the 11th Duke of Somerset. The Post Office opened on 1 July 1844. The railway arrived in 1872 along with substantial infrastructure to support it, establishing the town as an important rail hub for the

, the Melbourne–Sydney railway and North Eastern Victoria. It was one of the first Victorian examples of the

railway town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated, or was expanded, as a result of a railway line being constructed there. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporary, ...

phenomenon. In the heyday of the railway it employed 400 men and along with their families comprised one-third of the town population, or 1,500 people. In 1871 the Shire of Seymour was established which also included the towns and localities of Avenel,

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

Tallarook Tallarook is a town the Shire of Mitchell local government area in central Victoria, Australia. The town is in on the Hume Highway, north of the state capital, Melbourne. At the , Tallarook had a population of 789. Tallarook Post Office ope ...

, Whiteheads Creek, Trawool, Hilldene and Northwood. It was proclaimed the Rural City of Seymour in 1993. In 1994, the Rural City of Seymour was abolished and incorporated into the Shire of Mitchell.

Puckapunyal Army base

The

first established a large training camp east of the township during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the eastern camp diminished in importance and a substantially larger and more permanent military township was established to the west at

.Dennis et al. (eds.), ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History'', p. 435 , Puckapunyal is the centre for the Australian Army Knowledge Group (AKG) and Headquarters Land Combat College (HQ LCC) with two of the Army's five Combat training establishments located on site. Additionally, there are smaller training centres, a large vehicle and armoured maintenance facility as well as the Road Transport Wing of the

Army Logistic Training Centre The Army Logistic Training Centre (ALTC) is an Australian Army training establishment that is part of Forces Command (Australia), Forces Command. Established on 1 December 1995, through the amalgamation of nine separate logistic, health and perso ...

's Army School of Transport based in Puckapunyal. The base is also home to the

Royal Australian Armoured Corps Memorial and Army Tank Museum The Royal Australian Armoured Corps Memorial and Army Tank Museum is located at Puckapunyal, an Australian Army training facility and base 10 km west of Seymour, in central Victoria, south-eastern Australia. The base is the home of the Roy ...

. Access to the base and museum is restricted and all non-defence visitors must be escorted or obtain special permits for access.

Wine

Seymour is located at the southern end of the

Goulburn Valley wine region Goulburn Valley wine region is a wine region in the state of Victoria in Australia. It is part of the Central Victoria zone and roughly corresponds to the Goulburn Valley tourist and government region. The first vineyards and winery were establis ...

. The main influencing factors in the

are the hills of the Great Dividing Range and the Goulburn River which mitigates lengthy and warm summers. Top varieties: Shiraz, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and Marsanne Soil types: sandy clay loams, clay loams and gritty, gravelly quartzose sands There are several wineries in and near the township which include Wine x Sam,

Tahbilk Tahbilk Winery is a historic Australian winery with National Trust certification. It is located north of Melbourne between the townships of Seymour and Nagambie in the Nagambie Lakes a sub region of Goulburn Valley Wine Region. It was est ...

, Mitchelton Winery, Fowles Wines, Kensington Wines and several other boutique vineyards Box Grove vineyard, Brave Goose vineyard, Somerset Crossing vineyard, Vitto Oles Wines and Traawool Valley wines. Each year ''Tastes of the Goulburn'' food and wine festival is hosted in Seymour, showcasing the best local produce from the Goulburn Valley. Seymour also hosts the Victorian Wine Show.

Education

Seymour College Seymour College is an independent, Uniting Church, day and boarding school for girls, located at Glen Osmond, Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1922 as Presbyterian Girls' College, and renamed for the Rev. J. A. Seymour, Seymour has ...

is the government school, providing classes from Prep to Year 12. The college was created in 2010 through a merger of Seymour Technical High School (STHS), Seymour Primary School (SPS) Seymour East Primary School (SEPS) and Seymour Special School (SSS) located in Loco Street. St Mary's College is a Foundation to Year 11 Catholic regional college located in High Street. The College welcomed the return to Year 11 in 2024 and sees the return of Year 12 in 2025. St Mary's is an inclusive College with the motto, ‘Protect and Care for Us’ valuing every member of the College community. Catholic education, for the children of Seymour and surrounding districts, has been provided in Seymour since the year 1880. St Mary's College is a Mercy affiliated school and staff and students are guided by the Mercy Values of justice, compassion, respect, hospitality, service and courage, as illustrated in the story of Catherine McAuley, the Founder of the Sisters of Mercy. The Seymour campus of the

Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE, also known as GOTAFE, GOTAFE is the largest vocational education provider in regional Victoria. Offering over 130 courses across eight campuses, GOTAFE services 11 local government areas with an estimated resid ...

, opened in 1998, provides a variety of short courses and vocational education and training.

Transport

Seymour is located adjacent to the junction of the Hume and

Goulburn Valley Highway Goulburn Valley Highway is a highway located in Victoria, Australia, linking Tocumwal on the Murray River through North Central Victoria to Eildon. The section north of the Hume Freeway (part of which is Goulburn Valley Freeway) is part of the ...

. The Hume Highway crossed the Goulburn River and diverted all Melbourne–Sydney bound traffic though the township for over 100 years until a freeway bypass was opened routing all non-local and interstate traffic around the township in 1982. Seymour station is served by regular

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates Regional rail, regional passenger rail and Intercity bus service, coach services in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. It provides passenger train services on five Commuter rail, ...

hourly services to and from Melbourne

Southern Cross station Southern Cross railway station (until 2005 known as Spencer Street station) is a major railway station in Docklands, Victoria, Docklands, Melbourne. It is on Spencer Street, between Collins Street, Melbourne, Collins and La Trobe Street, La Tr ...

as well as services on the

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

and

Shepparton Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...

lines. The station was once a major freight marshalling location and the home of a significant locomotive depot. Victoria's electronic ticketing system,

Myki Myki ( ), stylised as myki, is a reloadable credit card-sized contactless smart card ticketing system used for electronic payment of fares on most public transport services in Melbourne and regional Victoria, Australia. Myki replaced the Me ...

, was implemented on rail services between Seymour and Melbourne on 24 June 2013.

Community

Seymour is host to many community and service groups includin
Freemasonry
(established in Seymour in 1883), Rotary, the

Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...

Scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

Returned and Services League The Returned and Services League of Australia, also known as RSL, RSL Australia and the RSLA, is an independent support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force. History The League was formed in ...

of Australia and Probus. In addition, local advocacy groups include The Seymour We Want, locally based offices of statewide organisations including Berry Street and Closing The Health Gap (amongst others).

Parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

volunteers organise a free, weekly, 5km timed event at Goulburn River Trail, Lions Park at 8 o'clock every Saturday morning. The flat, out-and-back course is on a mix of gravel trail and boardwalk alongside the

Sport

Seymour is well equipped with sporting facilities that include an indoor multi-purpose sports and aquatic centre, outdoor pool as well as a number of large playing fields for athletics, cricket and football. Seymour has a number of successful and well resourced sporting clubs including Cricket, Tennis, Football, Lawn Bowls, Kick Boxing, Basketball and Netball. Seymour Cricket Club (est. 1859) has its club rooms and main ground located at Chittick Park, competes in the Seymour and District Cricket Association fielding 2 senior and 2 junior teams in the 2024/25 season

Seymour Football Club The Seymour Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Lions'', is an Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two ...

compete in the

Goulburn Valley Football League The Goulburn Valley League (GVL), also known as the Goulburn Valley Football Netball League (GVFNL), is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia, Victoria. History The leag ...

. Seymour has a horse racing club, the Seymour Racing Club, which schedules around twenty race meetings a year including the Seymour Cup meeting in October. Golfers play at the course of the Seymour Golf Club on Yea Road.

Media

Print

* Seymour Telegraph * North Central Review * The Situation

Radio

FM

* 103.9 FM – Seymour-FM (Community Radio for Northern Mitchell Shire & Strathbogie Shire) * 88.9 FM – UGFM Upper Goulburn / Murrindindi Radio (Yea translator/repeater) * 87.6 FM – HIT RADIO (Youth / Top 40 / Dance / Features)

Shepparton radio heard in Seymour

* 93.7 FM – STAR FM (Flowerdale/Seymour Re-Transmission Site) * 94.5 FM – ABC

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

* 95.3 FM – 3SR FM (3SSR) (Classic Hits – commercial radio) * 96.1 FM –

ABC Classic FM ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. I ...

* 96.9 FM – Star FM (Contemporary Hits commercial radio) * 97.7 FM – ABC Local Radio (relay of 774 Melbourne) * 98.5 FM – ONE FM Community Radio (Poor reception in Seymour) * 1260 AM –

Sport 927 RSN Racing & Sport (ACMA callsign: 3UZ, verbally referred to as RSN 927) is an Australian radio station in Australia. It broadcasts a sports radio format to Melbourne, and to much of Victoria through various repeater stations. First broadcas ...

(Relay of 927 AM Melbourne – Racing)

Melbourne radio heard in Seymour

* 621 AM – ABC Radio National * 693 AM – 3AW (Talkback / Sport) * 774 AM – ABC Metropolitan Radio * 927 AM – Sport 927 (Racing)

Television

Local free-to-air TV channels in Seymour are available from Shepparton and broadcast from a relay transmitter located south of Seymour on West Falls Road at Meadows Hill. Viewers located on the outskirts of Seymour and nearby towns can receive reception from the Mount Major transmitter east of Shepparton or Bendigo via the Mount Alexander transmitter. *

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

(plus ABC HD,

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

, ABC Kids,

ABC Entertains ABC Entertains is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was launched on 4 December 2009 as a children's channel called ABC3. It was rebranded on 19 September 2016 to ABC ME. It rebra ...

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

) * SBS (plus

SBS HD SBS is a multicultural public TV network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2024, SBS had a 9.3% audience share, compared to 2023 when SBS had an 8. ...

SBS Viceland SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS V ...

SBS WorldWatch SBS WorldWatch is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel shows multilingual international news bulletins in more than 30 languages, as well as two local bulletins ...

SBS World Movies SBS World Movies is an Australian free-to-air television channel showing international movies. The channel features foreign language films, documentaries, independent, annual films, art films and mainstream cinema and interviews with intern ...

SBS Food SBS Food (formerly Food Network) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world. History SBS first ...

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...

) *

Seven 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...

(plus

7HD Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

, 7two,

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

7flix 7flix is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 28 February 2016. 7flix targets a variety of viewers and offers drama, comedy, reality, docusoap, and movies. History On 18 Decembe ...

7Bravo 7Bravo is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network under license from NBCUniversal International Networks on 15 January 2023. The channel contains programming from NBCUniversal's Americ ...

) *

WIN Win or WIN most likely refers to: * A victory Win, Winning, WIN or Winner may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), 2021 * WIN (pacifist magazine) * WIN (wrestling ma ...

(plus

9HD Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air televisio ...

9Gem 9Gem is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network in September 2010. The channel provides general entertainment and movie programming, from which the original name "GEM" is derived. History The la ...

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, anima ...

9Life 9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. (previously Scr ...

) * Southern Cross 10 (plus

10 HD Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

10 Bold Drama 10 Bold Drama (set to rebrand as 10 Drama in 2025) is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and eve ...

10 Peach Comedy 10 Peach Comedy (set to rebrand as 10 Comedy in 2025) is an Australian free-to-air television channel operated by Network 10. It was launched on 11 January 2011 as Eleven. It is owned by ElevenCo, which was established as a joint venture betwee ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

)

References

External links

Seymour Local Government Tourism WebsiteSeymour Visitor Information Website
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state) Shire of Mitchell Hume Highway