Fyansford
Historic
Fyans Ford
X
Fyansford
A community
that
does not stand still....
Ca 1906
Ca 1906
The ever-changing face of....
Fyans ford
Fyansford
Pre-European Settlement...
The Wathaurong people occupied the Fyansford region for more than 25,000 years ~ long before European settlement. They made use of the natural environment – grasslands, wetlands and coastal areas. They lived, hunted, fished and cropped in ongoing harmony with their little-changing environment....
Early European Settlement...
The first European recorded as visiting the region was Lt. John Murray, commander of the brig HMS Lady Nelson in 1802. Later that year Matthew Flinders, on HMS Investigator, entered Port Phillip charting the Geelong area. This led to settlement of the Port Phillip region with wool became the driver for pastoral expansion. Early settlers soon dispersing over a wide area. Fyans ford appears on plans in 1837, when Foster Fyans, a Police Magistrate, camped in the area. With Fyans ford providing a convenient crossing-place across the Moorabool River, the small settlement subsequently became an important stopping point for pastoralists and others travelling to the western district.
Commercialisation of Fyansford...
1844 First flour mill erected by
William Henry Collins
1846 Fyans ford became increasingly important as a stopping point for bullock teams serving the wool market.
1859 Post Office opened.
1861 Agriculture contues to expand.
1876 Barwon Paper Mill opened beside
Buckley's Falls.
1890 Cement production began in Fyansford.
A place to drive through...
2001 The Fyansford cement works ceased
operation and the township returned
to being little more than 'a place to drive through’. And, I'm sure, this
was how many of the old long-time local inhabitants would have liked to see it remain.
A commuter Community...
2014 Gen Fyansford released land in a large residential estate located north of the Fyansford township; between Hyland street and the Moorabool River.
2016 A large commuter community grows as members of the public begin to move into Fyansford; a locality which, though having a few local businesses, is comprised largely of residents who commute to employment centers elsewhere.
2018 More and more families call Fyansford 'home' as the estates to the east of the Moorabool River fill.
Fyansford pre 1890 Showing the first timber bridge, the toll house, the Fyansford and Balmoral hotels
2018 just has to be close to 1,000!
2023 guaranteed to hit 3,000!
For ongoing commentary on the Barwon River and its immediate locality,
I recommend Jo Mitchell's Barwon Blog;
with an archive spanning 2010 - 2017, great links to explore,
an exhaustive array of blog topics (AFL to Zillah Crawcour) and an invaluable in-site search tool.
A popular perspective..
Fyansford
Wood engraving published in
The news letter of Australasia, No. 50, 1860
