Arthurs Creek is a town in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, 33 kilometres north-east of Melbourne's

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, located within the

Shire of Nillumbik The Shire of Nillumbik ( ) is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It contains outer northern suburbs of Melbourne and rural localities beyond the urban area. It has an area of 432 square kilometres and at th2021 census the Shire had ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. Arthurs Creek recorded a population of 478 at the . It is named after Henry Arthur, a member of

John Batman John Batman (21 January 18016 May 1839) was an Australian grazier, entrepreneur and explorer. He is best known for his role in the founding of Melbourne. Born and raised in the then-British colony of New South Wales, Batman settled in Van Die ...

's Port Phillip Association and nephew of

George Arthur Sir George Arthur, 1st Baronet (21 June 1784 – 19 September 1854) was Lieutenant Governor of British Honduras from 1814 to 1822 and of Van Diemen's Land (present-day Tasmania) from 1823 to 1836. The campaign against Aboriginal Tasmania ...

, a governor of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. Another source says that it was named by the surveyor Thomas Nutt, supposedly because one of his party, a Mr Arthur, died and was buried in this location.

History

The proclamation of the Duffy Land Act in 1862 saw the beginning of the permanent settlement at Arthurs Creek. Arthurs Creek began as a horticultural settlement with numerous orchards, with the Post Office opening on 7 October 1889 (it closed in 1972). After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, cattle and sheep farms replaced orchards as the principal industry. Today, the land-holdings of Arthurs Creek are a mixture of smaller farm properties including vineyards, orchards, and life-style properties. The township of Arthurs Creek consists of a primary school,

Mechanic's Institute Gray's School of Art is the Robert Gordon University's art school, located in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of the oldest established fine art institutions in Scotland and one of Scotland's five art schools today, and ranked among the Top 20 S ...

Hall, CFA Station and a Uniting church. There is also a cricket oval known as Ryders Flat and the Arthurs Creek Cemetery, dating back to the 1840s. The Hazel Glen Cemetery, now the Arthurs Creek Cemetery, was established by Patrick Reid as a private burial ground for his young wife Agnes (née Hay) who died on 17 May 1847 at the early age of 49. Agnes had expressed a wish to be buried at her favourite picnic spot on the nearby hilltop overlooking the Hazel Glen homestead and former Stewart's Ponds pastoral run. Historical residents of Arthurs Creek include

Frank Dalby Davison Frank Dalby Davison (23 June 1893 – 24 May 1970), also known as F. D. Davison and Freddie Davison, was an Australian novelist and short story writer. Whilst several of his works demonstrated his progressive political philosophy, he is be ...

, the author of novels such as ''Man-shy'' and ''Dusty''. Davison lived on a property called "Folding Hills" from 1951 to 1970.

Arthurs Creek was hit by the

Black Saturday bushfires The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were among Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. T ...

in February 2009. The East Kilmore fire hit parts of Arthurs Creek and adjoining communities of Strathewen, Kinglake and

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

Facilities

Arthurs Creek Cemetery, first called Linton, was gazetted as a cemetery in 1867. Arthurs Creek Primary School is situated at 900 Arthurs Creek Road, Arthurs Creek VIC 3099, and is a Prep to Grade 6 school. It was opened in 1876. The school and schoolhouse was burnt in 1962 and a new school was built in 1963. A Mobile library services Arthurs Creek which is managed by

Yarra Plenty Regional Library Yarra Plenty Regional Library (YPRL) provides a public library service to the local government municipalities of the City of Banyule, Shire of Nillumbik and City of Whittlesea in the northeast of Melbourne Australia and located on the lands of ...

The Mechanics Institute Hall is located at 906 Arthurs Creek Road, Arthurs Creek, and is a function room available for hire. It is run and maintained by the Arthurs Creek Hall committee. Members of the local community commenced work on the hall in 1886, and a grand concert and ball to celebrate the official opening was held on the evening of Friday 2 September 1887. A public library was later added.

References

External links

Australian Places - Arthurs CreekVictorian Places - Arhurs CreekUp the Creek: a collection of published and unpublished historical articles by Bruce G. Draper
Towns in Victoria (Australia) Shire of Nillumbik {{VictoriaAU-geo-stub

History

Facilities

See also

References

External links