Coleraine is a town in
Victoria,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
on the
Glenelg Highway, west of the state capital,
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 ...
and north-west of
Hamilton
Hamilton may refer to:
* Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States
* ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda
** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
in the
Shire of Southern Grampians local government area. It was named after
the town in
County Londonderry
County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. At the
2006 census, the urban area of Coleraine had a population of 991.
History
The area was first settled by Europeans in 1838 for pastoral grazing. The town was surveyed later on Bryan Creek, a tributary of the
Wannon River.
In April 1840 the
Fighting Waterholes massacre of up to 60
Jardwadjali people of the Konongwootong Gundidj clan occurred near the current day Konongwootong reservoir.
The Post Office opened on 16 November 1854.
The Coleraine Magistrates' Court closed on 1 November 1981, not having been visited by a Magistrate since 1971.
Today, Coleraine's primary industries are
beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...
and
wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...
. The town hosts an Agricultural Show in November and an art show in August.
Notable past residents of Coleraine include
Helena Rubenstein - cosmetics manufacturer.
Sport
Coleraine has a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
team playing in the
South West District Football League.
It has a
horse racing club, the Coleraine Racing Club, which runs the Coleraine Cup meeting in September.
The meeting features the steeplechase race commemorating the feats of district horsemen and renowned Australian poet
Adam Lindsay Gordon.
[Gardiner, Frank, 2003, ''The Fields of Coleraine : at the heart of both Australia Felix and Western District of Victoria,'' Camberwell, Vic.]
Golfers play at the Coleraine Golf Club on Gordon Street.
References
External links
Towns in Victoria (state)
Western District (Victoria)
{{BarwonSouthWest-geo-stub