Peechelba is a town in north eastern

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 ...

. The town is located in the

Rural City of Wangaratta The Rural City of Wangaratta is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and, ...

and the

Shire of Moira Moira Shire Council is a Local Government Area in the Northern Victoria Region of Victoria, Australia. Located in the north-east part of the state, it covers an area of . As at August 2021 the population was 30,522. It includes the towns of C ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

between

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had a population of 29,808 per the 2021 Australian Census. The city is located at the confluence, junction of the Ovens River, ...

and

Yarrawonga Yarrawonga is a town in the Shire of Moira Local government in Australia, local government area in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. In the 2021 Australian census, 2021 census, Yarrawonga had a population of 8,661 people. ...

and north east 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 ...

. At the , Peechelba and the surrounding area had a population of 345. The town is home to a nature reserve, not far from the

Ovens River The Ovens River, a perennial river of the north-east Murray catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Alpine and Hume regions of the Australian state of Victoria. Location and features Formed by the confluence of the Ea ...

History

Peechelba Post Office opened on 2 September 1880 to the north of the township now, and was renamed Bundalong South in 1883 when a new Peechelba office opened. This closed in 1889. In 1890 Peechelba Town office opened, closing in 1969. To serve soldier settlers in the area, a branch railway was opened to Peechelba East on 31 October 1927, from Bowser station on the main

North East railway line The North East railway line is a railway line in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The line runs from Southern Cross railway station on the western edge of the Melbourne Melbourne City Centre, central business district to Albury rail ...

. The line was closed on 8 December 1986.

Mad Dog Morgan

The

bushranger Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in The bush#Australia, the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia ...

Daniel "Mad Dog" Morgan bailed up the occupants of Peechelba Station, the MacPhersons, on the evening of 8 April 1865. On the pretence of attending to a crying child (supposed to be

Christina Macpherson "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing ...

), a nursemaid, Alice Macdonald, escaped through a window and raised the alarm. Police soon surrounded the main homestead. Jack Quinlan, a stockman at the station, shot and fatally wounded Morgan, who died at about 1.45 p.m. on 9 April 1865. Locks were cut from his hair, his body was publicly displayed at Wangaratta (site left of current Court House), his beard was flayed from his face as a souvenir, and his head severed, to be forwarded to the professor of anatomy at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. He was buried on 14 April in Wangaratta cemetery.

References

*Tom Prior, Bill Wannan, H. Nunn, ''A Pictorial History of Bushrangers'', Hamlyn, Sydney, 1968.

Notes

External links

{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state) Rural City of Wangaratta Shire of Moira