Hawkesdale
Victoria
The Hawkesdale Hotel
Hawkesdale is located in Shire of Moyne
Hawkesdale
Hawkesdale
Coordinates38°06′S 142°19′E / 38.100°S 142.317°E / -38.100; 142.317
Population322 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)3287
Location27 km (17 mi) South of Penshurst
LGA(s)Shire of Moyne
State electorate(s)Polwarth
Federal division(s)Wannon
The Hawkesdale Pool.

Hawkesdale /ˈhɔːksdeɪl/ is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia on the Penshurst-Warrnambool Road. It is in the Shire of Moyne local government area and the federal Division of Wannon. At the 2016 census, Hawkesdale and the surrounding area had a population of 322.[1]

History

British colonisation of the vicinity began in May 1841 when Robert Whitehead, an English squatter, established a sheep station which he named Spring Creek.[2] Whitehead's overseer reported that there were a large number of Aboriginal huts on the banks of the creek when they first arrived and that they had driven the Aborigines away with gunfire.[3] Conflict over the occupation of the land continued for the next couple of years with flocks of sheep being taken, shepherds speared and Aboriginal people shot.[3] In 1842, Whitehead with two of his employees and several other settlers, shot dead four Aboriginal woman and a child in a gully in what became known as the Lubra Creek massacre. Whitehead temporarily fled the colony to escape punishment but he soon returned and continued to hold the Spring Creek property (which he renamed Goodwood) until his death in 1879.[4]

The Goodwood property of 24,000 acres was subdivided to allow for closer settlement, which included the creation of the towns of Woolsthorpe and Hawkesdale. The first town allotments in Hawkesdale were offered for sale in 1861.[5] Hawkesdale Post Office opened 11 April 1866.[6] The Hawkesdale Hotel was established in 1860.

Community

The town in conjunction with neighbouring township Macarthur has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Mininera & District Football League.

There is an outdoor swimming pool open in the summer months.

Golfers play at the Hawkesdale Golf course.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b "2016 Census QuickStats Hawkesdale". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. ^ "A PIONEER SETTLER". Geelong Advertiser. No. 10, 120. Victoria, Australia. 29 December 1879. p. 4. Retrieved 11 July 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ a b Critchett, Jan (1990). A Distant Field of Murder. Carlton: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-84527-4.
  4. ^ Clark, Ian (1995). Scars in the Landscape. Canberra: AIATSIS.
  5. ^ "Advertising". The Age. No. 2, 025. Victoria, Australia. 22 April 1861. p. 3. Retrieved 11 July 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ Phoenix Auctions History, Post Office List, retrieved 22 January 2021
  7. ^ Golf Select, Hawkesdale, retrieved 11 May 2009

External links


Localities in the Shire of Moyne
Categories