Panmure is a small town in the south west of

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 ...

. At the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, Panmure and the surrounding area had a population of 421. Situated on the

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

, the town is half way between

Terang Terang is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Shire of Corangamite and on the Princes Highway south west of the state's capital, Melbourne. At the , Terang had a population of 1,824. At the 2001 census, T ...

and

Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Al ...

. The township was established in the 1850s. Timbercutters came to the area to harvest the

River Red gum ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...

stringybark A stringybark can be any of the many ''Eucalyptus'' species which have thick, fibrous bark. Like all eucalypts, stringybarks belong to the family Myrtaceae. In exceptionally fertile locations some stringybark species (in particular messmate strin ...

and

messmate Messmate is a common name for a group of species of tree in the plant genus ''Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other ...

trees, which were transported by

bullock Bullock may refer to: Animals * Bullock (in British English), a castrated male bovine animal of any age * Bullock (in North America), a young bull (an uncastrated male bovine animal) * Bullock (in Australia, India and New Zealand), an ox, an adu ...

teams to nearby sawmills. The clearing of the native forest and relatively high rainfall gave rise to a thriving

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

industry, which persists today. Panmure Post Office opened on 1 January 1867. At its peak in the late nineteenth Century, Panmure consisted of a police station and courthouse, two sawmills, a blacksmith, a butcher, three churches, a pub, two stores, a bakery, and a school. The railway though the town was opened in 1890, and the town once had its own local railway station. The town hit international headlines, in 1883, when a ten-year-old girl, Margaret Nolan, was brutally murdered and sexually assaulted by a man called Henry Morgan. Margaret Nolan was the eldest daughter of local grazier John Nolan, and his wife Bridget (née Curtis). The girl's body was found by her father, at the intersection of the Ellerslie-Panmure Road and the Princes highway. Morgan was executed for the crime in 1884, at Ararat. On 16 February 1983, the "

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent (the six weeks of penitence before Easter). It is observed by Catholics in the Rom ...

" bushfires swept through the district destroying many homes, farm buildings and livestock. Today, the town has a pub, a general store/post office, a primary school and sporting facilities that host

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

clubs and 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

Warrnambool & District Football League Warrnambool District Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the region of rural of Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of ...

. The

Mount Emu Creek The Mount Emu Creek, (Aboriginal Australian:''Tarnpirr'') a perennial creek of the Glenelg Hopkins catchment, is located in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. Course and features The Mount Emu Creek is a long and small meanderi ...

runs through the town, and forms a nice swimming hole known as the "hole" or the "big hole". Adjacent to the swimming hole in the Recreation Reserve is a natural spring that is of cultural significance to the local Indigenous community.

Mount Warrnambool Mount Warrnambool is a single large scoria cone volcano that is high. It is southwest of Terang, Victoria, Australia. It is visible from the Princes Highway on the way to Warrnambool. Volcano Mount Warrnambool is an outstanding example of co ...

, a prominent landmark, is nearby.

Traditional ownership

The formally recognised

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

for the area in which Panmure sits are the

Eastern Maar The Eastern Maar people are a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples whose traditional lands are in the south-western part of state of Victoria, Australia. It is a name adopted by a number of Aboriginal Victorian groups who identify as Maar, incl ...

people, who are represented by the

Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation The Eastern Maar people are a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples whose traditional lands are in the south-western part of state of Victoria, Australia. It is a name adopted by a number of Aboriginal Victorian groups who identify as Maar, incl ...

References

Towns in Victoria (Australia) {{VictoriaAU-geo-stub