Daylesford Museum
The Collection is one of the largest local history collections in rural Australia. It is housed in the former School of Mines-Technical High School and operated by the Daylesford & District Historical Society.
The display collection has been donated over many years by local people and by descendants of the early settlers.
The Society has also vigorously collected archival material and photographs relevant to the history and development of the district.
The Collection includes:-
- Large collection of photographs of the district and its inhabitants
- An important display of Koori ( Djadja Wurrung ) artefacts
- Extensive publications for sale.
- An excellent display of local memorabilia and artefacts
- An impressive costume collection
Opening Hours:
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Cost:
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A short history of Daylesford
The indigenous people who lived in this region before white settlement were from the Dja Dja Wurrung tribe.
After the land was opened to pastoralists, the Daylesford area was part of the Wombat pastoral run, owned by W E Stan bridge, who lived at 'Wombat Park'. Adjacent on all sides were other large pastoral runs.
In 1851 gold was found in the bed of Wombat Creek, now Lake Daylesford. This began the rush to the Jim Crow diggings, also known as 'Wombat'. The surface alluvial gold was quickly exhausted and mining went underground.
The local aboriginal population suffered greatly as a result of the population influx. A farming protectorate was established at Franklinford, but was short-lived and by 1863 most of the survivors had been moved to Corranderk station at Healesville.
Between 1851, and when Daylesford was declared a municipality and formed its first Council in 1859 - the population had risen to approximately 7000. Men and women of all nationalities came to this town of muddy-streets and numerous hotels.
Although the local mineral water and bracing climate were additional attractions, people came to make money. The evidence of mining is still visible in many places, like Argus and Cornish Hill, around 150 years later.
A huge amount of timber was required by this population for building, fuelling homes and industries and as supports in the deep lead mines. This led to the establishment of a large timber industry, and the denuding of native forests throughout the wider area. The Wombat Forest took 50 years to recover. Timber was also supplied to the burgeoning Melbourne area, and men like J P Wheeler made a fortune from their timber mills.
In 1884 a gas company was formed by Henry Courtis, and the commercial extracting and bottling of mineral water began at Hepburn Springs. It was a selling-point when some waters were found to be radioactive. A large variety of shops and industries advertised in the local newspapers, and the early buildings were replaced by more substantial structures, some of which remain today.
Agricultural activity quickly followed the miners, and many Chinese miners quickly turned to market gardening. The early Europeans, particularity Italians, established vineyards. As gold production declined and the population diminished, the railway came in 1883, offering options for employment, travel and transporting goods.
The railway also offered the beginning of a tourist industry, which is still very important to the area.Many guest houses operated in the late 1890's and early 1900's.
Long-time Town Clerk Donald McLeod resigned, and was elected to the Victorian Parliament in 1900, becoming Minister for Mines. He was influential in encouraging a second stage of gold mining, with the reopening of the Argus Hill mines. This led to another boom, and some town buildings date from this era. By the 1920's gold was no longer economical to extract, and mining fell into a terminal decline. Many miners moved to Western Australia.
Some public works proceeded, like the construction of Lake Daylesford, but the depression intervened and finance was hard to attract.
Daylesford & Hepburn continued to be the centre for a farming community, with a small manufacturing base, timber industry, and a tourist industry based on mineral water and the surrounding forest. Indulgence tourism has become a recent feature.
Location
100 Vincent Street, Daylesford 3460 Map
✆ (03) 5348 1453
Email Enquiry
Web Links
→ daylesfordmuseum.net
