Taradale is a small 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 ...

. It is located beside the

Calder Highway Calder Highway is a rural highway in Australia, linking Mildura and the Victoria/New South Wales border to Bendigo, in North Central Victoria. South of Bendigo, where the former highway has been upgraded to freeway-standard, Calder Freeway link ...

between

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 ...

and

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

. Its local government area is the

Shire of Mount Alexander The Mount Alexander Shire (officially Shire of Mount Alexander) is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central part of the state. It covers an area of and, in June 2018, had a population of 19,514. It includes the to ...

. At the , Taradale had a population of 448. The town is also located on the Melbourne to Bendigo railway line, although the station was

closed Closed may refer to: Mathematics * Closure (mathematics), a set, along with operations, for which applying those operations on members always results in a member of the set * Closed set, a set which contains all its limit points * Closed interval, ...

in 1976. The Taradale Viaduct, designed by William Bryson, carries the railway 36 metres above Back Creek, and was built between 1858 and 1862. Taradale has now been bypassed by the

Calder Freeway Calder Highway is a rural highway in Australia, linking Mildura and the Victoria/New South Wales border to Bendigo, in North Central Victoria. South of Bendigo, where the former highway has been upgraded to freeway-standard, Calder Freeway lin ...

. Facilities in town include a petrol station/general store/post office and a cafe. There is also a primary school, public hall and CFA fire station plus a riverside park, picnic area, mineral springs and playground. Taradale provides a convenient approach to the Fryers Ridge Nature Conservation Reserve, an excellent wildflower area. The observation period runs from August to December.

History

Establishment of Taradale began with the discovery of gold in Central Victoria around 1851. The town lies on the route between Melbourne and Castlemaine, and was possibly a stopover for the famous

Cobb and Co Cobb & Co was the name used by many successful sometimes quite independent Australian coaching businesses. The first was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name Cobb & Co grew to great prominence in the late 19th ...

. coach line which began in 1854 between Melbourne and Bendigo. A number of gold mining activities were carried out in and around the township itself including washing for alluvial gold in Back Creek and the sinking of shafts. Taradale Primary School opened in 1855. Taradale Post Office opened on 1 March 1856. A petition was made to the Governor of Victoria to proclaim the Municipality of Taradale in 1861. The town was named after the birthplace of

Sir Roderick Murchison Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet, (19 February 1792 – 22 October 1871) was a Scottish geologist who served as director-general of the British Geological Survey from 1855 until his death in 1871. He is noted for investigating and ...

, Tarradale House, in Scotland, and many of the streets are named after famous figures of the day in science and geology, including

Charles Lyell Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of ''Principles of Geolo ...

Roderick Murchison Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet, (19 February 1792 – 22 October 1871) was a Scotland, Scottish geologist who served as director-general of the British Geological Survey from 1855 until his death in 1871. He is noted for investigat ...

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

and

Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for t ...

Notable people

Notable people from, or who have lived in, Taradale:
Daniel Brophy
miner, businessman and politician * William Chalmers, Anglican minister * Robert Russell, surveyor *

Frederick William Wray Frederick William Wray (29 September 1864 – 18 November 1943) was an Australian Anglican minister, army chaplain and colonial militia. Wray was born in Taradale, Victoria, and died in Sandringham, Melbourne, Victoria. His father was English-bo ...

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

minister, army chaplain *

Jack Dore Albert Richard "Jack" Dore (23 May 1875 – 19 December 1937) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Aust ...

, Australian rules footballer One of the early residents of the area, an Irish emigrant named Henry Alley, moved to New Zealand in the late 1850s and named his farm in the Hawke's Bay area, " Taradale", which is now a thriving town.

References

External links

Taradale Community Forum Website
Towns in Victoria (Australia) Mining towns in Victoria (Australia) 1861 establishments in Australia {{VictoriaAU-geo-stub