Panmure is a town in the south west of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

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 ...

. At the 2006 census, 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 halfway between

Terang Terang is a town in the Shire of Corangamite, Victoria, Australia. The town is located on the Princes Highway and is south west of the state's capital, Melbourne. At the , Terang had a population of 2,254. History The semi-nomadic Kirrae W ...

and

Warrnambool Warrnambool (; Eastern Maar, Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2021, 2021 census, Warrnambool had a populati ...

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

River Red gum ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as river red gum, is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to Australia. It is a tree with smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in ...

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 trees, which were transported by

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

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

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

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 marks the first day of Lent: the seven weeks of Christian prayer, prayer, Religious fasting#Christianity, fasting and ...

" 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 games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

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, Victoria, Warrnambool. It is a ten team competition starting in April and finishing in September. The league was found ...

. 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 waterway and is the longe ...

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 set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

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 the state of Victoria, Australia. It is a name adopted by a number of Aboriginal Victorian groups who identify as Maar ...

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 the state of Victoria, Australia. It is a name adopted by a number of Aboriginal Victorian groups who identify as Maar ...

References

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