Willowmavin is a locality in central

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. The locality is 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 ...

local government area, north 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 ...

. At the , Willowmavin had a population of 216.

History

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 ...

of Willowmavin are the

Taungurong 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, a part of the Kulin nation that inhabited a large portion of central Victoria including Port Phillip Bay and its surrounds. Willowmavin was discovered for European use by the famous Overlander and explorer of the Port Phillip District (later Victoria) and South Australia

Charles Bonney Charles Bonney (31 October 1813 – 15 March 1897) 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 ...

on about 21 March 1837 on a journey in which he also blazed the trail of the Sydney Road. Willowmavin was settled by Bonney three months later on about 17 June 1837 as a sheep station and he built his head station diagonally across the road from the Willowmavin Primary school, Kennedy's Lane, Willowmavin. Willowmavin would have had its first European building within a couple of days of Bonney's arrival. p108 Bonney's sheep station was unique because the Kilmore Plains on which it was established were permanently watered by three spring-fed creeks and were highly fertile. Thus they were suited for both grazing and high population small acreage farming. After Bonney left, Bonney's station was held successively by Dr Richard Julian Hamlyn, then the partners

Frederick Armand Powlett Frederick Armand Powlett (6 January 1811 – 9 June 1865) was a Treasurer of Victoria and inaugural president of the Melbourne Cricket Club. Powlett was born in Shropshire, England, the son of the Reverend Charles Powlett and descendant of cric ...

and John Green. The most productive part of the property was purchased by

William Rutledge William Rutledge (January 1806 – 1 June 1876) also known as Billy Rutledge, was an Irish-born Australian politician. He was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, and later, of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. Biography Born J ...

on 12 April 1841 in a Special Survey of 5120 acres that was progressively leased or subdivided into small holdings for intensive agriculture whereupon it became the agricultural powerhouse of inland Victoria. The Kilmore Plains had such a concentration of population that in the first Victorian election of 1851 the district controlled two seats. The United Boroughs of Kilmore, Kyneton and Seymour were dominated by Kilmore township, while the United Counties of Talbot, Dalhousie and Anglesea were dominated the Rutledge Kilmore Special Survey, that by then was also referred to as Willowmavin. As a further demonstration of the importance of the district, the first elected representative of the United Counties was

John Pascoe Fawkner John Pascoe Fawkner (20 October 1792 – 4 September 1869) was an early Australian pioneer, businessman and politician of Melbourne, Australia. In 1835 he financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land (now called Tasmania), to sail ...

, the co-founder of Melbourne.

Notable people

, pioneer Overlander and explorer of Victoria and South Australia. *

, Captain George Brunswick Smyth, Lieutenant

Alfred Miller Mundy Alfred Miller Mundy (9 January 1809 – 29 March 1877) was an English military officer in colonial New South Wales, who after leaving the army served in the Legislative Council of South Australia, from 15 June 1843 to 14 May 1849. History Alfred ...

, three of the five founders of the Melbourne Cricket Club in 1838.Williams 2019, p. 112.
MCC History
*

, co-founder of Melbourne.

References

External links

Towns in Victoria (state) Shire of Mitchell {{Hume-geo-stub