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Welcome to the Bacchus Marsh History Website. This site explores historical aspects of the town and surrounding area of Bacchus Marsh, a community of 17,000 people (as of 2012) located 54 km west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
This site has been created out of our own interest in our town.
While we try to include accurate and well researched information,
we do not claim this site to be the official and authoritative historical website
of Bacchus Marsh and District.
While we try to include accurate and well researched information,
we do not claim this site to be the official and authoritative historical website
of Bacchus Marsh and District.
Bacchus Marsh is located in a fertile valley through which the Lerderderg and the Werribee rivers both pass. Before the arrival of Europeans the area was inhabited by two Aboriginal tribes the Wurundjeri and the Wathaurong.
The first European to settle in the area was Kenneth Scobie Clark who arrived 1836. Soon after his arrival came William Bacchus after whom the town is named. After gold was discovered in the Ballarat region in 1851 the town became an important stopping point for travelers to and from the goldfields. Over time industries developed in the area such as wheat and dairy farming, quarries, and then orchards, market gardens and coal mines.
The town was connected by railway to Melbourne in 1887. The advent of motor transport, improved roads and increased rail services has gradually led to Bacchus Marsh developing as a commuter community for Melbourne based workers who prefer a rural township lifestyle.
The town also has a significant literary heritage, being the birthplace and childhood home of one of Australia's most acclaimed writers, Peter Carey, a two-time winner of the Booker Prize for literature. Frank Hardy, most famous as author of Power Without Glory, also grew up in the town. Other writers to have written about the area, or to have lived here, include Joan Lindsay and Sumner Locke Elliott.
Today the town continues to grow and prosper, with the proximity to Melbourne, relatively cheap housing, and scenic surroundings, continuing to attract new residents.
The first European to settle in the area was Kenneth Scobie Clark who arrived 1836. Soon after his arrival came William Bacchus after whom the town is named. After gold was discovered in the Ballarat region in 1851 the town became an important stopping point for travelers to and from the goldfields. Over time industries developed in the area such as wheat and dairy farming, quarries, and then orchards, market gardens and coal mines.
The town was connected by railway to Melbourne in 1887. The advent of motor transport, improved roads and increased rail services has gradually led to Bacchus Marsh developing as a commuter community for Melbourne based workers who prefer a rural township lifestyle.
The town also has a significant literary heritage, being the birthplace and childhood home of one of Australia's most acclaimed writers, Peter Carey, a two-time winner of the Booker Prize for literature. Frank Hardy, most famous as author of Power Without Glory, also grew up in the town. Other writers to have written about the area, or to have lived here, include Joan Lindsay and Sumner Locke Elliott.
Today the town continues to grow and prosper, with the proximity to Melbourne, relatively cheap housing, and scenic surroundings, continuing to attract new residents.
