X-Nico

96 unusual facts about Victoria


1861 in Australia

8 July - The Geelong College is established by Reverend Alexander James Campbell in Newtown, Victoria.

1896 Carlton Football Club season

Carlton's primary home ground in 1896 was the University Cricket Ground, within the grounds of the University of Melbourne in Carlton; but, home matches were also moved to the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Jolimont, and to the Richmond City Reserve in Richmond.

1957 Night Series Cup

Games were played at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne, as it was the only ground equipped to host night games.

Alexander Robert Edgar

The family moved to Melbourne in February 1855, and about two years later his family settled at St Arnaud, then a small mining town.

Alice River, Queensland

The estate is also known as Rupertswood, the estate was named by the developer who was Sir Rupert Clarke, 3rd Baronet of Rupertswood, after his ancestral home "Rupertswood" at Sunbury, Victoria, Australia.

Alma Park, St Kilda East

In 1859, the construction of the then Brighton railway line from St Kilda severed the park into two.

Amway Australia

Amway Australia has four business centres opened in Loganholme, Queensland; Castle Hill, New South Wales; Coburg, Victoria and Kewdale, Western Australia.

Anderson Report

Wearne, a publisher from South Yarra, told the inquiry that 'Scientologists planned to take over Australia, after establishing a "Scientology Government"' and that 'he first heard of the plan to take over Australia in 1960'.

Australia Highlanders Pipe Band

The Australia Highlanders Pipe Band is a grade one pipe band, based in Nunawading, Victoria, Australia.

Banksia acanthopoda

Banksia acanthopoda is little known in cultivation, although it has been successfully grown and propagated at The Banksia Farm in Mount Barker, Western Australia, and at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne, Melbourne.

Bellarine Secondary College

They qualified to go to the Melbourne States Competition held on the 23rd of August at Scienceworks Museum (Melbourne) in Spotswood, Victoria.

Bill Nicholls

On 18 June 2012, a twenty-six-year-old man was shot outside Nicholls's home in Corio.

Bonnie Fagan

In 1987 her family moved to Talbot, Victoria, where Fagan was educated at Talbot Primary School, and Maryborough High School.

Cardinia Reservoir

Cardinia Reservoir is a 287,000 megalitre water storage located in Emerald-Clematis-Dewhurst in south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.

CCGS Bartlett

The homeport of CCGS Bartlett is CCG Base Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia.

Celtic nations

Festivals celebrating the culture of the Celtic nations include the Festival Interceltique de Lorient (Brittany), the Pan Celtic Festival (Ireland), CeltFest Cuba (Havana, Cuba), the National Celtic Festival (Portarlington, Australia), the Celtic Media Festival (showcasing film and television from the Celtic nations), and the Eisteddfod (Wales).

Charles Nuttall

Nuttall, son of James Charles Nuttall, was born at Fitzroy, Victoria.

City of Whittlesea

18% of its land area was ceded to entities created in 1994 — the Doreen and Arthurs Creek districts were lost to the new Shire of Nillumbik, while Kinglake West went to Shire of Murrindindi and Somerton to the City of Hume.

Clifton Springs

Clifton Springs, Victoria, a coastal town overlooking Corio Bay, approximately 20 km east of Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Craig Lowndes

Born in Melbourne, Lowndes began his racing career at age nine, driving go-karts at a track in the nearby town of Whittlesea.

Cranbourne, Victoria

The greater Cranbourne area consists of Cranbourne, Cranbourne North, Cranbourne East, Cranbourne South, Cranbourne West.

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There are other privately owned and managed facilities, such as the Briars Equestrian Centre in Clyde.

Division of Indi

Other towns in the electorate include Rutherglen, Mansfield, Beechworth, Bethanga, Myrtleford, Corryong, Tallangatta, Euroa and a number of other small villages (notably including the ski resort of Falls Creek).

Doriemus

Doriemus is now at Living Legends, the International Home of Rest for Champion Horses in Woodlands Historic Park, Greenvale, Victoria.

Doris McRae

She soon enrolled in the University of Melbourne as an arts student, and by September 1914 was teaching at Faraday Street State School in Carlton.

Duke Trophy

They started skating at St Moritz Ice Palais in St Kilda in June 1946 and both eventually represented Victoria in interstate competition.

Dyson's Bus Services

520 Greensborough – Doreen via Greensborough Plaza, Greensborough station & Yarrambat (Daily)

Eden Park Kangaroo Cull

During October 2010 the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE (NMIT) applied for and received a 12-month permit from the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment for the Eden Park Kangaroo Cull - to cull 300 Eastern Grey Kangaroos on its 320 hectare Eden Park Vineyard and farm and Northern Lodge equine stud.

Empire Bay, New South Wales

The name was changed because there was already a post office named Sorrento in Victoria and Empire Bay was chosen because there was no other such name in the Commonwealth.

Ethiopian Australian

There were two Ethiopian Pentecostal churches in the Melbourne area as of 2001, as well as an Ethiopian Orthodox church in Maribyrnong.

Eureka Flag

Rebels swore an oath to the flag as a symbol of defiance at its first flying at Bakery Hill and 22 were killed at the Eureka Stockade defending the original flag (now held at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka, on loan from the Art Gallery of Ballarat).

Fairfield, Greater Victoria

Fairfield is a neighbourhood of Victoria, BC.

Fernwood, Greater Victoria

Fernwood is a neighbourhood near downtown Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, bounded by the neighbourhoods of Jubilee, North Park, Fairfield, Downtown, Oaklands and Harris Green.

Fields of Omagh

Fields Of Omagh retired after his second Cox Plate win, and now resides at Living Legends, the International Home of Rest for Champion Horses located in Woodlands Historic Park, Greenvale, Victoria, Australia.

Foster Fyans

He also constructed a rock ford across the Barwon River in 1837, which gave name to the area now known as Breakwater, an eastern industrial and residential suburb of Geelong.

Frederick Azzopardi

Azzopardi was first elected in 1997 as the Deputy Mayor for Victoria, Gozo's Capital, and later in 1998 contested the General Elections when he was elected in the House of Representatives of Malta.

Gippsland Art Gallery

The Gippsland Art Gallery is a Victorian Regional Public Gallery based in Sale, Victoria, 220 kilometres east of Melbourne.

Gold nugget

Considered by most to be the biggest gold nugget ever found, the Welcome Stranger was found at Moliagul, Victoria, Australia in 1869 by John Deason and Richard Oates.

Grevillea aquifolium

In Victoria the species is found in the Grampians region and northwards to the Little Desert as well as near the south coast at Kentbruck Heath near Portland.

Health Services Union

The national office of the Health Services Union of Australia is located in South Melbourne in Melbourne.

HMAS Goorangai

On the night of 20 November, Goorangai was crossing the mouth of Port Phillip Bay to anchor at Portsea for the night.

Ivan Durrant

1970-1972: Flinders Horses and Landscapes - reflections of the period during which Durrant lived in the coastal town of Flinders, Victoria.

Joseph Potaski

Catherine and Edward had a large family, and eventually migrated to Lara, Victoria.

Julien Wiener

Wiener's father had early sporting success in table tennis, which Wiener applied to his cricket, playing for Prahran in Melbourne grade cricket.

Keith Faure

Keith George Faure (born June, 1951), from Norlane, Victoria, is an Australian career criminal, convicted of multiple murders and manslaughters.

Kirriemuir

Bon Scott of AC/DC was born in nearby Forfar and lived in Kirriemuir for a short time from 1947 until 1950 when his family emigrated to Australia, where the family lived in the suburb of Sunshine for four years before moving to Fremantle, Western Australia.

Lake William Hovell

It supplies water for irrigated crops, vineyards and grazing properties along the King River from Cheshunt to Wangaratta.

Lee Troop

He became involved in athletics at the age of 11 when he joined his father's weight loss campaign by taking training runs around the Geelong suburb of Whittington.

Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail

By 1998 the trail was continuous from Maroondah Highway, Lilydale to the site of the former Warburton station, with only a relatively short section between Lilydale Station and Maroondah Highway remaining incomplete.

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The trail's compacted gravel surface between Lilydale and Millgrove is pram and wheelchair friendly and accommodates activities such as walking, cycling and horse riding.

Live at the Continental and the Esplanade

It had been recorded from two performances at the (now defunct) Continental Hotel in Prahran and one performance at the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda, both in Melbourne.

Lonnie Cameron

Lonnie Cameron (born July 15, 1964 Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian National Hockey League linesman, who wears uniform number #74.

Lorri Bagley

Bagley made her television debut at a young age appearing on Late Night with David Letterman in 1982, and had made a name for herself as a model in Europe by the age of fourteen, modelling for the likes of Dior, Chanel and Issey Miyake as well as modelling for Victoria's Secret for five years.

Louis Buvelot

He lived for some years in Latrobe Street East, and then moved to George Street, Fitzroy.

Louis Matheson

When Monash opened, Matheson led and oversaw rapid development, from an empty site in Clayton, to a university recognised internationally for excellence in research and teaching.

Mary Fortune

On 25 October 1858, Mary married Percy Rollo Brett (possibly bigamously) at Dunolly, Victoria.

Melbourne Polytechnic

The first higher education course developed and delivered by Melbourne Polytechnic is the Bachelor of Agriculture and Technology, which is taught at NMIT's Yan Yean farm and Epping campus.

Melbourne Wireless

These projects including extending the network into the Western Region between Melbourne and Melton, extending the network north over the ranges into the Seymour area and adding capacity and reach to the Mornington and Bellarine Peninsulas.

Mephan Ferguson

To enable this expansion he brought the Glasgow Iron works in West Melbourne.

Michael Atchison

He was born in Sandringham, Victoria and moved to South Australia with his family in 1939.

Michael Perrin

Born 13 September 1905 in Victoria, British Columbia he moved to England in 1911 with his British parents, who sent him to Twyford School and Winchester College, and from there to study chemistry at New College, Oxford and the University of Toronto.

Minnie Bell Sharp

In 1919, the now impoverished and decidedly eccentric Sharp announced her candidacy for the constituency of Victoria—Carleton in the first post-war Canadian federal election.

Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery Works on Paper Award

The award and its concomitant exhibition are hosted by the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, located in Mornington, Australia.

Mornington Secondary College

Mornington Secondary College is a secondary school in Mornington, Victoria, Australia serving the communities of Somerville, Tyabb, Moorooduc, Mount Martha, and Mornington on the Mornington Peninsula and offers the Hands On Learning, The Victoria Police Youth Corp and Drum Corp, and many other extra-curricular programs to its students.

Muckleford railway station

Muckleford station was opened for tourist services in 1996 after the section of line between Maldon and Muckleford had been restored.

Murrayville, Victoria

The area of the locality contains a number of smaller areas namely Duddo which had a post office open from 1913 until 1918, Duddo Wells with a post office from 1914 until 1950, Danyo with a post office from 1912 (when the railway arrived) until 1975, and Goongee.

Neon Jungle

In October the girls then announced they would be supporting Jessie J. On the November 12, 2013 it was announced that Neon Jungle would be a performer at the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Olive Zakharov

Zakharov also remained involved in her local community; she used her political connections to help save her historic neighbourhood in Port Melbourne from demolition, and at one point painted "NOT FOR SALE" on her roof in order to promote the message.

Peter Ladner

He later worked at newspapers on Vancouver Island and was editor of the Victoria alternative weekly Monday Magazine from 1981 to 1986.

Phryne Fisher

Phryne was not always rich, having been born into a poor family in Richmond, Melbourne.

Pomaderris vacciniifolia

The only significant remaining wild population of the round-leaf pomaderris is at Toolangi, about 70 km north east of Melbourne.

Redan

Redan is also a southern suburb of the regional city of Ballarat in central western Victoria, Australia.

Robert Murray Smith

Smith died at his home in Toorak, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 31 August 1921 predeceased by his wife and a son, survived by three daughters.

Rocky Valley Dam

The Rocky Valley Dam is located on the Bogong High Plains, near Falls Creek, Victoria, a winter ski resort.

Roger Savage

One of his earliest film credits was as an audio engineer on Getting Back to Nothing, Tim Burstall's documentary of the 1970 World Surfing Championships staged at Bells Beach, Victoria.

Roy Cameron

He was educated at state schools in local villages including Mitiamo, Lancefield, Dunkeld and finally (from 1911 to 1917) at Kyneton, although from 1913 to 1917 he was occupied with compulsory military service.

Saintly

Saintly now resides at Living Legends, the international home of rest for champion horses (open to the public) in Greenvale, Melbourne, Australia.

Seymour-FM

The station was originally intended as a local service for Seymour and nearby Puckapunyal.

Sheep shearer

Henry Salter (1907–1997) MBE won the first organised shearing contest at Pyramid Hill in 1934 and in 1953 was a machine shearing champion.

Sheffield Rules

Henry Creswick (possibly a relative of Nathaniel Creswick) was born in Sheffield but emigrated to Australia with his brother in 1840 (the town of Creswick is named after them).

Slayain

Slayain are an Australian rock band, formed in Frankston, Victoria, in 2005.

St Mark's Abbey

St Mark's Abbey, Camperdown, is an Anglican Benedictine monastery situated in Victoria, Australia.

Star News Group

Star News Group is a newspaper company based in Pakenham, Victoria, with a circulation of 450,000 per week.

Stu Harvey

Before moving to Triple J, Harvey got his start on 979fm in Melton, Victoria, hosting Mondo Bizarro, before teaming up with Nick Kocsis (aka Nick Mondo) and moving the show to 3RRR.

Ted Tripp

Tripp moved to Melbourne in 1938 and on 30 July married Ruby May Bullock at Carlton.

Thomas Grigg

Born in Maldon to miner Thomas Henry Grigg and Elizabeth Jones, he attended state school before becoming a miner in 1902.

Tuff Monks

The collaboration only ever appeared live once, at Richmond's Tiger Lounge venue doing a cover version of "Ring of Fire".

Ursula Frayne

Six weeks after her arrival in Melbourne Frayne had raised loans to pay off the mortgages on her convent in Nicholson Street, Fitzroy. Speedy development followed and considerable construction of buildings for social and educational work was undertaken, peaking in the erection of the first wing of the present ‘Academy’ for £6000 in 1870.

Valhalla Cinema, Melbourne

In 1987, the Valhalla relocated from Richmond to High Street, Westgarth after the sale of their original venue (it was later demolished).

Victoria-la-Vallée

It moved south taking in parts of Victoria County north of the Aroostook River and north taking in the areas around and including the Town of St-Leonard.

Victoria, Entre Ríos

Designated a "city" in 1851, Victoria also features an abbey (Abadía Los Monjes del Niño Dios), founded by Benedictine monks who arrived in 1899.

Virgil Reilly

Virgil Gavan Reilly, was born on 29 November 1892, the son of the local postmaster in Creswick, Victoria.

VK3RTV

The station's repeater is located on Mount Dandenong and is one of a number of audio and video repeaters licensed to Amateur Radio Victoria.

Walter Flight

The later papers were chiefly upon meteorites, dealing in detail with the recorded circumstances of their fall, and with their mineralogical and chemical constituents; several, written in conjunction with Professor Story-Maskelyne, give accounts, published in the 'Philosophical Transactions,' of the meteorites which fell at Rowton in Shropshire, at Middlesbrough, England, and at Cranbourne, Australia.

Warburton Hospital

Warburton Hospital was a private Adventist hospital in Warburton, Victoria in Australia.

Watersun Swimwear

Operating a retail outlet with manufacturing at the back of a small shop in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Watersun employed young new designers to gain notoriety with swimwear designs in a very conservative post-war Australia.


Acacia murrayana

It is widespread throughout Australia's arid zone, occurring on sand ridges and in disturbed areas in every mainland State except Victoria.

Acanthaeschna victoria

Acanthaeschna victoria, the Thylacine Darner, is a species of dragonfly in family Aeshnidae.

Alexander Malcolm Jacob

He is best known for having sold the Jacob Diamond, which is the seventh largest diamond known in the world (previously known as the Victoria Diamond, Imperial Diamond, or Great White Diamond).

Antares

The Wotjobaluk Koori people of Victoria, Australia, knew Antares as Djuit, son of Marpean-kurrk (Arcturus); the stars on each side represented his wives.

Archibald White

Archie Cecil Thomas White (1890–1971), English recipient of the Victoria Cross

Australian heritage law

Australian heritage laws exist at the national (Commonwealth) level, and at each of Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia state levels.

Australian Plague Locust Commission

With 19 staff members at its headquarters in Canberra and field offices in Narromine, Broken Hill and Longreach, the Commission is funded half by the Commonwealth government and half by the Australian states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland.

AYCE

Access Yea Community Education Program - an alternative high school program in Victoria, Australia

Bishopscourt

Bishopscourt, East Melbourne, a gothic architecture building in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Brad Green

Braddon Green (born 1959), first-class cricketer for Victoria and Devon

Charlotte Grayson

In Reckoning, after a cold goodbye with her mother, she finds out that Victoria was a victim in a plane crash.

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However, Emily isn't able to speak to her before Victoria shows up, and Charlotte not wanting to deal with Victoria, walks away ("Chaos").

Constitution Hill, London

It was the scene of three assassination attempts against Queen Victoria—in 1840 (by Edward Oxford), 1842 (by John Francis) and 1849 (by William Hamilton).

Dennis Charter

Charter began his music industry career in 1967 working at live band club venues in Melbourne such as Sebastian's and Berties and writing for Go-Set Go-Set magazine before establishing live music venues and promoting concerts of his own around Melbourne and throughout country regions of Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia.

Distant Waves

It is there that it is proven that the twins, Amelie and Emma, have their mother's gift of being able to speak to the dead after having Queen Victoria speak to Conan Doyle.

Djargurd Wurrung

The Djargurd wurrung are Indigenous Australian people who traditionally occupied the territory between Mount Emu Creek and Lake Corangamite, extending to Mount Emu and Cressy in the North, and to Cobden and Swan Marsh in the South in central Victoria and are still represented in the region.

Edward Donald Bellew

Edward Bellew's Victoria Cross is believed to have been stolen from the Royal Canadian Military Institute, Toronto, between January 1975 and 22 July 1977.

Elizabeth Sorrell

Sorrell lived for many years at the family home on Farragut Street downtown and then on Victoria Street in a house, since demolished, within the St. Peter's Historical District.

Francis Newton Parsons

His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Essex Regiment Museum, Chelmsford, Essex, England.

Frankston High School

The names for each of the houses come from early explorers of Victoria and the Port Phillip region - George Bass, William Collins, Matthew Flinders, and John Murray.

Frederick Illingworth

After his resignation from the Legislative Assembly in August 1907, he must have returned to Victoria, for he died at Brighton, Victoria on 8 September 1908, and was buried in Melbourne Cemetery.

Gary Gait

Gary Charles Gait (b. April 5, 1967 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian retired lacrosse player and currently the head coach of the women's lacrosse team at Syracuse University, where he played the sport collegiately, and an assistant coach with the Hamilton Nationals in Major League Lacrosse.

Geoff Watt

Geoff Watt (died 1969) was a local distance runner from Warragul, Victoria of some international note who died from exposure in 1969 while training on Mount Erica in Baw Baw National Park.

Green Party of Canada

Sonya Chandler was elected municipally to Victoria City Council in Victoria BC in 2005, and re-elected with her co-candidate Philippe Lucas in 2010 - both under the Green Party banner (noted on the ballot)

Henry Robson

Henry Howey Robson (1894–1964), English recipient of the Victoria Cross

James A. Smith

James Alexander Smith (1881–1968), British soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross

Kevin Lincoln

In 1990, a survey exhibition of his paintings and drawings was mounted by the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, which toured Tasmania and Victoria.

Lafone

Alexander Malins Lafone (1870–1917), English recipient of the Victoria Cross

Linking and intrusive R

Other recognizable examples are the Beatles singing: "I saw-r-a film today, oh boy" in the song "A Day in the Life", from their 1967 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, at the Sanctus in the Catholic Mass: "Hosanna-r-in the highest" and in the phrases, "Law-r-and order" and "Victoria-r-and Albert Museum".

Lucy Meacock

She then moved to Australia, where she attended the independent Morongo Girls College in Geelong, Victoria.

Maratha titles

Knight Grand Commander (GCIE): It is a title created by the British and is a part of The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878.

Moondarra Rail Trail

The Moondarra Rail Trail is a little-maintained, 7  km section of the former Walhalla Railway in Gippsland, Victoria.

Nabarlek

The nabarlek is found in three distinct population areas: in Arnhem Land (including Groote Eylandt); between the Mary and Victoria Rivers in the Top End; and the coastal Kimberley region of Western Australia, including some islands in the Bonaparte Archipelago.

ODL

Ordnance Datum Liverpool, an ordnance datum recorded at Victoria Dock in Liverpool, England

Pantages Theatre

the McPherson Playhouse in Victoria, BC was originally opened as a Pantages Theatre in 1914

Peter Rouw

The Victoria & Albert Museum holds a medallion in pink wax on black glass made by him of Prince Lucien Bonaparte (1814), the Duke of Wellington (1822) and posthumously in 1814 of Matthew Boulton, the partner of James Watt.

Phresh Out the Runway

Rihanna performed "Phresh Out the Runway" for the first time at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show alongside "Diamonds", on November 7, 2012.

Prince of Denmark's March

The march is used as the background music during the hourly performance of the Royal Clock in the Queen Victoria Building, Sydney, Australia.

Rod Beattie

Other productions include The Loveliest and Sylvia in Victoria, The Crucible and Blessings in Disguise in Manitoba, Oleanna at the National Arts Centre opposite Sandra Oh, and Love Letters opposite wife Martha Henry in an Ontario tour.

Southgate River

Its namesake was Captain James Johnson Southgate, a retired ship-master, who came to Victoria in 1859 via San Francisco and launched a commission and general mercantile business, largely in connection with the Pacific Station of the Royal Navy at Esquimalt, operating as J.J. Southgate & Co.

Swedish Royal Family

HRH Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland (the King's son-in-law, husband of Crown Princess Victoria)

Ten Mile Point

Ten Mile Point, British Columbia, a residential neighbourhood in Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

The New Adventures of Black Beauty

The series focused upon the character of Victoria 'Vicky' Denning (played by Amber McWilliams).

Thomas Austin

After farming near Ouse, Thomas and his brother James crossed Bass Strait in 1837 and settled as pioneer pastoralists in the Western District of the Port Phillip District (now called Victoria).

Victoria of Albitina

Her legend states that she was of the North African nobility and refused an arranged marriage (a story told also of another Saint Victoria).

Victoria Park, Cardiff

The park was created as a municipal recreation ground by Cardiff City Council through a city charter between 1897 and 1898 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee marking her record sixty years on the throne.

William Tricker

He introduced a water lily with 6-feet pads from South America, which he named Victoria trickeri, although it is now known as Victoria cruziana.

Wingan Inlet

On the return trip, the party encountered marooned sailors along the Victorian coast from the wreck of the ship Sydney Cove south of Victoria at Preservation Island, Tasmania.