Heyfield is a 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, with a population of 1,993. It is east 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 ...

, in the

Shire of Wellington The Shire of Wellington is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 44,019. It includes the towns of Heyfield, Rosedale, Maffra, ...

local government area. Located on the Thomson River, Heyfield is a gateway to the Victorian High Country.

History

In 1841 an early settler,

James McFarlane James Walter McFarlane (12 December 1920, Sunderland – 9 August 1999, Stody, Norfolk) was a scholar of European literature, author of '' The Oxford Ibsen'', and founding Dean of the School of European Studies at University of East Anglia which ...

, described the district as resembling "a field of waving corn", and called it "Hayfield". By 1866, the spelling had changed to "Heyfield", but exactly when and why this happened is unclear. It may have been renamed to reflect the spelling of the nearby Heyfield Station. In 1866, McFarlane's property was taken over by

James Tyson James Tyson (8 April 1819 – 4 December 1898) was an Australian pastoralist. He is regarded as Australia's first self-made millionaire. His name became a byword for reticence, wealth and astute dealing. Early life James Tyson was born about ...

, a former member of the

Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which to ...

, a pastoralist, and considered Australia's first self-made millionaire. The town grew up as a stopping point for diggers on their way to the

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...

goldfields, and the Post Office opened on 24 September 1870. The Heyfield Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1983, not having been visited by a Magistrate since 1970. It is today known for its

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

and timber production. It is the principal source of hardwood in Victoria, and the largest timber mill in the Southern Hemisphere, Australian Sustainable Hardwoods, is located there. The district's irrigation water comes from Lake Glenmaggie. During the Gippsland bushfires in December 2006 and January 2007, the town was used as a staging area by the networked fire agencies, being, the

Department of Sustainability and Environment The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) was a state government department that managed water resources, climate change, bushfires, public land, forests and eco systems in the state of Victoria, Australia. It was created in 2002 wh ...

(DSE), Country Fire Authority (CFA),

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian state of Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victoria Police had over 22,300 staff, comprising over 16,700 ...

, and the Victorian State Emergency Service (SES). A skatepark was built in Heyfield in December 2005. Heyfield and its surroundings were also victims of severe flash floods twice during winter and spring in 2007. The Thomson River burst its banks and rendered the road out of Heyfield impassable. The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the

North Gippsland Football League The North Gippsland Football League (NGFL) is an Australian rules football league in the Central Gippsland area of Victoria, Australia. History The NGFL was formed in 1955 through the merger of the Cowwarr Football League and the Sale Distric ...

. Golfers play at the course of the Heyfield Golf Club on Golflinks Road.

Cultural notes

The author

Mary Grant Bruce Mary Grant Bruce (24 May 1878 – 2 July 1958), also known as Minnie Bruce, was an Australian children's author and journalist. While all her thirty-seven books enjoyed popular success in Australia and overseas, particularly in the United Kingdo ...

started writing her ''Billabong'' series of books in 1910 while staying at James Tyson's former house. The poet

Shaw Neilson John Shaw Neilson was an Australian poet. Slightly built, for most of his life he worked as a labourer, fruit-picking, clearing scrub, navvying and working in quarries, and, after 1928, working as a messenger with the Country Roads Board in Mel ...

spent some time in the Heyfield area in the 1920s, where he wrote several poems and helped in the construction of the Lake Glenmaggie weir wall.

Notable people

Wil Anderson William James Anderson (born 31 January 1974) is an Australian comedian, writer, presenter, and podcaster. Early life William James Anderson was born on 31 January 1974 in Sale, Victoria, and grew up on a dairy farm near Heyfield, Victoria.< ...

- Australian stand-up comedian and TV and radio personality *

David Wojcinski David Wojcinski (born 18 September 1980) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Career Wojcinski made his debut in 1998 . He won the club's Most Improved Playe ...

- Geelong FC Player. *

Leigh Brown Leigh Brown (born 23 February 1982) is a former Australian rules football player who played for Fremantle, North Melbourne and finally Collingwood in the Australian Football League. He is a Collingwood premiership player. After the 2011 Gran ...

- Retired Collingwood FC Player. Melbourne FC assistant coach. *

Brent Macaffer Brent Macaffer (born 29 February 1988) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited in the 2006 AFL draft. Macaffer is one of a ...

- Collingwood FC Player.

Gallery

File:Heyfield police station - April 2021.jpg, Police station File:Heyfield primary school - April 2021.jpg, Primary school File:Heyfield Railway Hotel - April 2021.jpg, Railway Hotel File:Heyfield war memorial - April 2021.jpg, War memorial File:Saint James Anglican Church in Heyfield - April 2021.jpg, Saint James Anglican Church

References

External links

Heyfield
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) Towns in Central Gippsland Shire of Wellington