The Shire of Rochester was a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

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 ...

, about 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 ...

, the state capital, and immediately west and southwest of the town of

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative cen ...

. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1864 until 1994.

History

Rochester Shire was the final remnant of what was originally the vast Echuca Road District, incorporated on 19 February 1864, and redesignated as Echuca Shire in 1871. (Echuca Shire should not be confused with the separate local government area of Echuca Borough, which was also established in 1864, and proclaimed a city in 1965. This borough covered only the Echuca urban area and the rural area immediately surrounding it.) The Echuca Road District extended along the south bank of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

, from Mount Hope Creek in the west to the

Ovens River The Ovens River, a perennial river of the north-east Murray catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Alpine and Hume regions of the Australian state of Victoria. Location and features Formed by the confluence of the Ea ...

in the east. Following its redesignation as Echuca Shire, it lost the eastern two-thirds of its area through severances, which created the Shires of

Yarrawonga Yarrawonga is a town in the Shire of Moira Local government in Australia, local government area in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. In the 2021 Australian census, 2021 census, Yarrawonga had a population of 8,661 people. ...

in 1878 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 ...

in 1879. However, on 10 October 1879, the shire gained a large area which was annexed from the Shire of Waranga. On 30 May 1892, the Moira Ward of Echuca Shire was annexed to Shepparton Shire (which had been renamed

Shire of Numurkah The Shire of Numurkah was a local government area on the Murray River in the Goulburn Valley region, about north of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1957 until 1994. History ...

in 1885), fixing the boundary between Numurkah and Echuca Shires at 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 ...

. Following this, the eastern part of what remained of Echuca Shire (roughly the area east of the

Campaspe River The Campaspe River, an inland intermittent river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Wimmera regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The ...

) was severed and incorporated on 20 April 1893 as the Shire of Deakin. Accessed at

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in th ...

, La Trobe Reading Room. The western part, still known as the Shire of Echuca, was renamed Shire of Rochester on 27 October 1909. On 1 January 1966 and again on 1 February 1976, the City of Echuca annexed land at Rochester's northeastern corner. On 18 November 1994, the Shire of Rochester was abolished, and along with the City of Echuca, the Town of Kyabram, the Shires of Deakin and Waranga, and a number of neighbouring districts, was merged into the newly created

Shire of Campaspe The Shire of Campaspe is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern part of the state. It covers an area of and in August 2021 had a population of 38,735. It includes the towns of Girgarre, Echuca, Kyabram, Roc ...

Wards

Rochester was divided into three wards, each of which elected three councillors: * North Ward * South Ward * Rochester Ward

History

Wards

Population

References

External links