Barkly is a locality in

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

, about northwest of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. It is near the intersection of the road from Landsborough to Redbank, and the road from Frenchmans to St Arnaud. It is close to the west boundary of the St Arnaud Range National Park. It is located in the

Pyrenees Shire The Shire of Pyrenees is a local government area (LGA) in Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 7,353. It includes the towns of Avoca, Beaufort, Lexton and ...

. At the 2016 census Barkly had a population of 43. The area was first called the Navarre Diggings when gold was discovered there in June 1859 by a group led by James Law (1827-1910). It was about from the

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

township. There was an immediate goldrush and there were soon about 700 people on the diggings. At the peak of the rush, there were over 6000 people in the area digging for gold. James Law, who had come to Australia from Scotland, received a reward of 150 pounds for finding gold. Other members of his group, John Fewster, W.R. Marshall and George Mill also were rewarded. The name was changed to Barkly on 1 November 1861, after the

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of Monarchy of Australia, the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the premier of V ...

, Sir

Henry Barkly Sir Henry Barkly (24 February 1815 – 20 October 1898) was a British politician, colonial governor and patron of the sciences. Early life and education Born on 24 February 1815 at Highbury, Middlesex (now London), he was the eldest son of Su ...

. ''Navarre Rush'' Post Office opened on 1 June 1861, was renamed ''Barkly'' in November 1861 and closed in 1981. A school was started, the Barkly Common School. A cemetery, now called the Pioneer Cemetery was established close to the original diggings. The town of Barkly developed about two miles from this area, and a new cemetery was begun. Barkly has a small

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church, a hall, and a few scattered houses. The school has been closed and the buildings removed. There is a rose and lavender farm which is open to the public at various times during the year. A headstone was placed on James Law's grave on 5 May 1985. In 1996 a memorial stone was placed at the site of the first gold discovery. File:Gold diggings Barkly.jpg, Old gold diggings at Barkly File:James Law grave Barkly.jpg, James Law's grave in the Barkly Cemetery File:Cottage at Barkly.jpg, Old cottage at Barkly

References

External links

Culture Victoria website with photo of the Barkly goldfield

{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state) Mining towns in Victoria (state) 1859 establishments in Australia