Clunes

History

The Dja Dja Wurrung, an Aboriginal Australian people belonging to the Kulin nation, first inhabited the region which included Clunes. Most of their population was decimated in the twenty years after Scottish explorer Thomas Mitchell surveyed the land in 1836. This was due to the introduction of European occupation and diseases; Mitchell probably encouraged his fellow clansmen to take up pastures which, on his travels, were bordered by a line dug into the earth by his drays. They included overlander Donald Cameron, who took up a run in mid-1839 and named it Clunes for his Scottish hometown, building a homestead in the 1850s. While Cameron was the first European settler, his run was soon bordered by those of other Scottish pastoralists. In March 1850, a party of four, including Cameron and his friend William Campbell MLA, found traces of gold on his station. The discovery initially was kept secret as it was feared that announcing it would be detrimental to the Clunes run. In April 1851, German physicist George Hermann Bruhn arrived at Clunes while on a journey to examine the Colony of Victoria's mineral resources and was shown specimens of gold by Cameron. Bruhn spread the discovery across Australia and sent specimens to the Gold Discovery Committee on 30 June. After confirming the area was auriferous, James Esmond—who had been informed by Bruhn—and his co-worker James Pugh enlisted the help of sawyers Burns and Kelly; they obtained gold in quartz rocks near Clunes on 29 June. The Geelong Advertiser announced these findings on 7 July and the precise location of Esmond's discovery on 22 July. saw the town's population rising to well over 6,000 residents in the late 1880s. Clunes post office opened as early as 1 October 1857. In 1871, the bluestone St Paul's Anglican…

Most-observed species

• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,557
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  953
• Little Raven

  Corvus mellori Mathews, 1912 · Aves
  938
• Superb Fairywren

  Malurus cyaneus (Ellis, 1782) · Aves
  925
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  760
• Long-billed Corella

  Cacatua tenuirostris (Kuhl, 1820) · Aves
  675
• Gray Shrikethrush

  Colluricincla harmonica (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  620
• Welcome Swallow

  Hirundo neoxena Gould, 1842 · Aves
  611

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2023-05-28
  5 km W of Mickleham, Australia
• M 2.7 — 2007-12-09
  38 km SE of Charlton, Australia
• M 2.8 — 2003-02-02
  9 km N of Trentham, Australia
• M 2.7 — 2001-12-31
  10 km SW of Kilmore, Australia