Trawalla
title: "Trawalla" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["towns-in-victoria-(state)", "australian-soldier-settlements"] topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trawalla" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox Australian place"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| type | town |
| name | Trawalla |
| state | vic |
| image | TrawallaRoadhouse.JPG |
| caption | Closed roadhouse on the Western Highway, 2008 |
| use_lga_map | yes |
| coordinates | |
| pushpin_label_position | right |
| lga | Pyrenees Shire |
| postcode | 3373 |
| est | 1839 |
| pop | 141 |
| pop_year | |
| pop_footnotes | |
| stategov | Ripon |
| fedgov | Wannon |
| dist1 | 154 |
| dir1 | W |
| location1 | Melbourne |
| dist2 | 41 |
| dir2 | W |
| location2 | Ballarat |
| dist3 | 52 |
| dir3 | E |
| location3 | Ararat |
| dist4 | 48 |
| dir4 | S |
| location4 | Avoca |
| :: |
| type = town | name = Trawalla | state = vic | image = TrawallaRoadhouse.JPG | caption = Closed roadhouse on the Western Highway, 2008 | use_lga_map = yes | coordinates = | pushpin_label_position = right | lga = Pyrenees Shire | postcode = 3373 | est = 1839 | pop = 141 | pop_year = | pop_footnotes = | elevation= | maxtemp = | mintemp = | rainfall = | stategov = Ripon | fedgov = Wannon | dist1 = 154 | dir1 = W | location1= Melbourne | dist2 = 41 | dir2 = W | location2= Ballarat | dist3 = 52 | dir3 = E | location3= Ararat | dist4 = 48 | dir4 = S | location4= Avoca Trawalla is a town in central Western Victoria, Australia, located on the Western Highway, 41 km west of Ballarat and 154 km west of Melbourne, in the Shire of Pyrenees. At the , Trawalla and the surrounding agricultural area had a population of 224.
Trawalla sits at the headwaters of the Mount Emu Creek where it crosses the Western Highway. The original inhabitants of the area were the Moner Balug clan of the Wadawurrung people (also known as the Wathaurong), who had occupied the land for at least 6,500 years. They called the area Trawalla, which means "wild water" or, possibly, "much rain".
In 1836, the district was traversed and described by explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell after ascending Mount Cole. The first European settlers to arrive in the area were squatters, Kenneth William Kirkland, his wife Katherine Kirkland (née Hamilton), their daughter Agnes Anna, and Katherine's brothers Robert and James McGregor Hamilton, and they established sheep and cattle grazing runs. Trawalla Station, was established by Hamilton in 1838 and acquired by Adolphus Goldsmith three years later. After passing through several owners, the property was taken over by Rear Admiral Bridges in 1887. It was under his ownership that Trawalla House was constructed.
Trawalla Post Office opened on 3 December 1864 at the time of closer settlement and closed 13 July 1974. | access-date = 21 March 2021}} The Ararat railway line passes through the town, and Trawalla railway station opened with the line in August 1874. The station was closed on 4 October 1981.
After Bridges' death in 1917, a large part of the Trawalla estate was acquired and subdivided by the Commonwealth Government as part of the soldier settlement scheme. Land was subdivided into 93 allotments, with sizes ranging from 250 acre to 680 acre. The land was deemed appropriate for grazing and farming.
The Langi Kal Kal pastoral run was subdivided for the same purpose after World War II in 1948. A local primary school, a roadhouse and the minimum-security prison farm HM Prison Langi Kal Kal, are the focal points of the area.
Trawalla is the birthplace of Australia's ninth Prime Minister James Henry Scullin, commonly known as Jim. He was born on 18 September 1876, and was the fifth of the nine children of John Scullin and Ann Logan, both immigrants from Derry, Ireland. His father, John Scullin had been a miner and later a platelayer on the railways. James Scullin attended small state schools, first at Trawalla and later at Mount Rowan near Ballarat. He married Sarah McNamara in 1907, but had no children. He died in Melbourne on 28 January 1953. A memorial cairn is located close to where Scullin lived.
References
References
- {{Census 2006 AUS
- "Archived copy".
- Pascoe, B. (2007). Convincing ground: Learning to fall in love with your country. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press. P264.
- (13 April 2023). "Trawalla Aboriginal Excavations". Dr Vincent Clark Archaeology & Heritage Pty Ltd.
- Hagger, Jean. "Katherine Kirkland (1808–1892)". National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
- "Historical Towns Directory". Australian Heritage.
- Scott Martin and Chris Banger. (October 2006). "'New Deal' for County Passengers - 25 years on". Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division).
- [http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/index.php/Trawalla_Estate_Soldier_Settlers " Trawalla Estate Soldier Settlers"] Retrieved on 20 September 2012.
- Nunan, Jim. "Squatters and Soldiers: Trawalla 1839–1971". Waller and Chester.
- "Prime Ministers of Australia: James Scullin". National Museum of Australia, Canberra.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::