Birregurra is a town on Gulidjan Country 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 ...

approximately south-west of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. The town is located within the

Colac Otway Shire The Shire of Colac Otway is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 21,503. It includes the towns ...

. At the 2016 census, Birregurra had a population of 828. Birregurra is an Aboriginal word thought to mean ‘kangaroo camp'. In 1839, the Wesleyan missionaries and colonial government established the Buntingdale Mission Station in the area - Victoria's first Aboriginal mission. A Post Office opened in the area on 1 October 1858 and was renamed Mount Gellibrand in 1894, a few days before another office nearby was opened as Birregurra. The railway through the town was opened in 1877, as part of the line to the south west of the state. A branch line to Forrest left the main line here, opened in 1891 and closed in 1957. The local railway station is served by

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cross ...

passenger services on the Warrnambool line. The town has an

Australian Rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

football team competing in the

Colac & District Football League The Colac & District Football Netball League (CDFNL) is a minor country football league based in the South West of Victoria in the city of Colac. The CDFNL has 10 clubs, all located in the Colac Otway Shire, with the exception of Lorne, whic ...

. Golfers play at the Birregurra Golf Club on Hopkins Street. Birregurra is home to the restaurant

Brae :''"Brae" is also the Lowland Scots language word for the slope or brow of a hill.'' Brae (Old Norse: ''Breiðeið'', meaning "the wide isthmus") is a village on the island of Mainland in Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom. Description Brae wa ...

, which was number 44 in

The World's 50 Best Restaurants The World's Best 50 Restaurants is a list produced by UK media company William Reed, which originally appeared in the British magazine ''Restaurant'' in 2002. The list and awards however are no longer directly related to ''Restaurant'' magazine ...

, 2017. The town has a Primary School which has approximately 85 students and is located on Beal Street.

Local events

The town is host to the Birregurra Festival and Art Show. It starts each year on the 2nd full weekend of the month of October. A produce market is held on the second Sunday of each month from November to April, where local vendors sell cakes, jewellery, plants, fresh fruit and vegetables, wine, arts and crafts. Organisers hold a barbecue for patrons of the market and all proceeds return to the community. The town has cafes, serving food and coffee, a local providore showcasing local produce, The Royal Mail Hotel, a General Store, some gift shops and a hairdresser. Birregurra was the setting for the fictional Victorian town of Haven Bay in the Channel 10 television series ''

The Henderson Kids ''The Henderson Kids'' is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for Network Ten between 1985 and 1987. It was created and storylined by Roger Moulton, who also wrote 5 episodes in the first series and 2 episodes in the ...

''.

Notable people

Mary Glowrey Mary Glowrey (1887–1957) was an Australian born and educated doctor who spent 37 years in India, where she set up healthcare facilities, services and systems. She is believed to be the first Catholic religious sister-in-vows to practise as a ...

(1887–1957), an Australian born and educated doctor who spent 37 years in India, where she set up healthcare facilities, services and systems, was born in Birregurra *

Firth McCallum Firth William McCallum (27 December 1872 – 11 July 1910) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL). At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion playe ...

(1872–1910) was an Australian rules footballer with

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

and was named among the top players of the 1899 VFL season

References

External links

Community website
*
Birregurra Festival & Art ShowColac Otway ShireBirregurra Primary School
Towns in Victoria (Australia) Western District (Victoria) {{BarwonSouthWest-geo-stub