The Djargurd Wurrung people were the traditional Aboriginal people of the Camperdown area, who had lived in the area for countless generations as a semi-nomadic hunter gatherer society. The first British settlers, the Manifold brothers (Thomas, John and Peter Manifold), arrived in the area from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) after 1835 to establish sheep and cattle runs.
Settlement was met with resistance by some of the local Aborigines, the Murdering Gully massacre taking place nearby.[3] The area's history records instances of mutual assistance and friendship between native and settler people. Notable on this account is the family of David Fenton, the Scottish Presbyterian shepherd and drover who built the first house in Camperdown in 1853.[4]
The original settlement was several miles to the north, near where the racecourse now is located. The settlement was called Timboon, but after a wet winter it was decided to move the town to higher ground nestled at the base of Mount Leura. With the relocation of the town, the local lake then known as Lake Timboon reverted to its indigenous name of Golongulac now known as Lake Colongulac.
The town was surveyed in 1851 and some of the founding fathers had Duncan as their Christian name. Wanting something more prestigious than Duncan as the town name it was decided to name the township Camperdown after most notable Duncan at the time, the Scottish naval hero Lord Viscount Adam Duncan the Earl of Camperdown. The first dwelling was erected on the site of the present Commercial Hotel in 1853[5] and the Post Office opened on 1 January 1854 replacing an earlier one in the area named Timboon.[6]
In 1883 Wombeetch Puuyuun (also known as Camperdown George) died at the age of 43 and was buried in a bog outside the bounds of Camperdown Cemetery. His friend, James Dawson was shocked at this burial upon his return from a trip to Scotland, and personally reburied Wombeetch in Camperdown Cemetery. He appealed for money to raise a monument, but finding little public support, he primarily funded the monument himself. The 7 metre obelisk was erected as a memorial to Wombeetch Puuyuun and the Aborigines of the district,[7] and has been described as being still inspiring today.[8]
By the mid 20th century Camperdown had emerged as a more diverse centre for dairy farming which drew on its rich volcanic soil, for woolgrowing and for produce processing industries. The Camperdown Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990.[10]
The town made the news in 1991 due to an industrial dispute at the local abattoir.[11] The dispute over pay and conditions occasionally turned violent between Police and picketers. The owner closed the site and the export licence transferred to another plant in Shepparton. 130 casual jobs were lost and many workers had to leave town in search for new employment.
More bad news for the town when the local milk factory relocated to a more modern plant in Cobden.
By the late 20th century the town had become a major centre for tourism because of its unspoiled 19th century architecture and as a gateway to the southern tourist attractions of the Otway Ranges, the Great Ocean Road and the 'Shipwreck Coast'.
In more recent years, however, the drought in Australia in the 21st has affected Camperdown's dairy industry.
Camperdown lies within the 'Lakes and Craters' region, sitting at the foot of Mount Leura which together with nearby Mount Sugarloaf are part of a large extinct volcanic complex known as the "Leura Maar".[12] To the immediate west are the deep volcanic crater lakesBullen-Merri and Gnotuk while to the east is the crater lake Purrumbete popular for its Trout and Chinook Salmon fishing.
The town is renowned for its classic historical buildings.
Central is the 103-foot (31 m) high Gothic Manifold Clock Tower, built 1897, which sits in a wide Elm lined median between the dual carriageways of Manifold Street, named in honour of one of the pioneer pastoralists. Tower, avenue, Boer War memorial, Soldiers' memorial, memorial cross and JC Manifold statue are all listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Among the many other classic buildings are the 1886-7 two storey Georgian style Court House, the 1863 two storey bluestone (granite) Camperdown Post Office, Theatre Royal (1890) and Masonic Hall (1867–68).
The town has a life-sized statue of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, carved from sandstone in the 1830s and based on the earliest painting of the Bard.[13] Efforts to restore the statue led to a festival celebrating the town's connection with Burns being held in 2012 and then annually.[14]
Local government
Originally, Camperdown was part of the East Riding of the Shire of Hampden, which was incorporated in 1857. On 9 September 1952, Camperdown severed and incorporated as a separate borough. It became a town on 21 January 1959.[15] See Town of Camperdown.
The Town of Camperdown was not subdivided into wards, and the nine councillors represented the entire area.
Transport
Camperdown is situated on the Princes Highway (A1), which is the main through road and also the main street (Manifold Street). A dual carriageway with a large central reservation and secondary service street runs through the centre of town. The highway runs west to Terang and beyond to Warrnambool and east to Colac and beyond to Geelong. Secondary roads include the Camperdown-Lismore Road which heads north to Lismore and the Camperdown-Cobden Road (C164) which heads south to Cobden. Just west at Gnotuk is the Darlington Road (C173) which leads north to Darlington.
Road coaches (buses) provide links within Camperdown, to neighbouring towns and nearby cities (mainly V/Line) and these services include Cobden, Timboon, Simpson and the city of Ballarat.
The town has many sporting clubs. Archery, badminton, cricket, cycling, golf, horse riding, lawn bowls, squash and tennis, water skiing and yachting have competitions in and around the town.
The Camperdown community is heavily involved in competitive sport with the principal sport being Australian Rules Football. The town has a football team playing in the Hampden Football League.[17]
Camperdown has a horse racing club, the Camperdown Turf Club, which holds one race meeting a year, the Camperdown Cup meeting in January.[18] Camperdown is also home to the Lakes & Craters International Horse Trials, founded by Barry Roycroft in 1978.[19][20]
There are also many groups providing arts and culture including the Camperdown Theatre Company,[22] Lakes and Craters Band[23] and Corangamite Arts.[24]
Notable citizens
Kevin Bradshaw - Represented Australia at the 1980 Moscow Olympics
^Clark, Ian D. (1995). Scars in the landscape : a register of massacre sites in western Victoria, 1803-1859. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. ISBN0855752815. OCLC41539940.
^Terang and District Pioneer Register Pre. 1900, 1996, p53
^Broome, Richard (2005), "Transformations: 1850–1886: 'a miserable spadeful of ground'", in Broome, Richard (ed.), Aboriginal Victorians: a history since 1800, Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin, ISBN978-1-74114-569-4.
^Sid Brown (March 1990), "Tracks Across the State", Newsrail, Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division), pp. 71–76.
