Stratford / Brimming with history, local colour and things to do...

History

Situated at a ford, on the banks of the beautiful Avon River 232 kilometres (km) east of Melbourne via the Princes Highway — is the Gippsland town of Stratford. Less than 3 hours drive from Melbourne and brimming with history, local colour and things to do, Stratford is a fantastic holiday destination for all ages and tastes.

 

There is some dispute about the origin of the town's name although the most plausible explanation seems to be that it is named after the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-on-Avon in England. In any case we locals have embraced the connection and a Shakespearean Festival is an annual event held for the fortnight following Shakespeare's birthday on April 23rd.

 

The region was settled by Gippsland's first great explorer, Angus McMillan, who named the Avon River after a body of water in his native Scotland. He established a pastoral run in 1840 at Bushy Creek, to the north-west of the current township.

 

Journalist John Stanley 'The Vagabond' James claimed in 1886 that "the first house in Gippsland was built on the site of Stratford, and it was, after Sale, the first surveyed township in the north". He may have been referring to Strathfieldsaye, the homestead of squatter, William Odell Raymond, who established a run in the area in 1842. Although, Hartwich's Hut on the same property, is thought to have been built before the house.

 

Stratford prospered in the 1860s as a supply centre for diggers at the Omeo and Dargo goldfields. Other early buildings which are still standing include what is now the R.S.L. Hall (built 1866), the Church of Holy Trinity (1868), the Methodist Church, including its bell tower (1873), and the Post office (1884).

 

In 1863, the Ramahyuck Moravian Mission was established several kilometres downstream from Stratford, on the north bank, by Reverend August Hagenauer. The name combines 'Ramah', the home of Samuel in the First Book of Kings, with 'yuck', an Aboriginal term reputedly meaning 'our place'. Its intention was to remove the local Aborigines from their tribal culture and accustom them to Christianity and white traditions. To this end the Mission taught cricket.

 

Though it was never self-sufficient, the mission cultivated fruit, vegetables, sheep, cattle and bees. A church, school and orphanage were built and the 931 hectares were fenced in. At its peak, 80 Aborigines were permanent residents.

 

Financial difficulties caused a slow decline from 1888 until the Mission's closure 20 years later. The Aborigines were taken to another mission, thebuildings were destroyed and theland was sold off. Today, all that remains are three headstones and some lacerations around the trees where the bark was torn off to make domestic implements, shields and canoes, and where toeholds provided access to the trees' possums. One of the gravestones belongs to Hagenauer's first Aboriginal convert, Nathaniel Pepper. About 90 other tombs, 80 of them belonging to Aborigines, were marked only by perishable wooden crosses.

 

Stratford has two parks adjacent to the Avon River, the bed of which has proved attractive to gemstone collectors over the years. Author and naturalist, Tarlton Rayment, lived at Briagolong (meaning people of the west), 14 km north. Those interested in the tribal customs of the local Aborigines may wish to read his volume of tales, Prince of the Totem, published in 1933.

 

For more information on the history of Stratford Visit the Stratford Historic Society — open every Tuesday on Hobson Street just off the main road.