Whroo

Whroo is a rural locality and ghost town in Victoria, Australia, between Shepparton and Seymour in the Shire of Strathbogie.[1][2] The area at 36°34S 145°01′e is a former mining area and remains predominantly agricultural today. The locality includes the Whroo Historical Area state reserve.[3][4][5][6]

History

The first inhabitants of the area were the Ngooraialum people.[7] The first European explorer to enter the Goulburn Valley was Thomas Mitchell. The first Europeans to visit the area were the drovers Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney. Squatters started settling the area in 1840.

Two sailors – John Thomas Lewis and James Meek Nickinson discovered a gold nugget in the grass at Whroo in 1854, leading to the development of the town of Whroo. The Balaclava Mine then operated on and off and officially closed in the 1960s.[8] Thought to be derived from an Aboriginal word meaning lips,[9] the first school opened in 1857 and by 1900 had a Mechanics' Institute and library with 950 volumes opened in 1859 and closed in 1955, Presbyterian and United Methodist churches, three hotels, a cordial[9] factory and three ore crushing mills.[9]

Population
  • 1861 258
  • 1871 455
  • 1881 281
  • 1891 249
  • 1901 175
  • 1911 141
  • 1921 119
  • 1933 52
  • 2011 0[9]
  • 2019 2

References
  1. "Whroo... a hidden treasure". The Riverine Herald (29, 279). New South Wales, Australia. 21 May 1999. p. 12. Retrieved 11 August 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. Hammond, Joyce (1981), The golden years of Rushworth & Whroo (2nd ed.), J.G. Hammond], retrieved 11 August 2018
  3. Whroo Historic Area.
  4. "Rushworth,Whroo and Whroo Historic Reserve. | Rushworth Mining History". rushworthmininghistory.wordpress.com. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  5. Thomson, Nicola; King, Doris (M.D.) (1999), Collected memories of Whroo, N. Thomson & D. King, retrieved 11 August 2018
  6. Thomson, James; Thomson, Nicola (1996), Whroo cemetery Victoria : a list of internments, James & Nicola Thomson, retrieved 11 August 2018
  7. Gunn, R. G; Victoria Archaeological Survey (1990), The Ngurai-illiam-wurrung rock well at Whroo (Site 7924/01), Department of Conservation & Environment, ISSN 0725-7317
  8. Tara Moss, The Ghost Town of Whroo October 29, 2012 .
  9. Whroo at Victorian Places



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