Deptford, Victoria

Deptford is a locality in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.[2] In the 2016 census, Deptford had a population of zero.[1]

Deptford
Victoria
Deptford
Coordinates37.571307°S 147.6833378°E / -37.571307; 147.6833378
Population0 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)3875
Location
LGA(s)Shire of East Gippsland
State electorate(s)Gippsland East
Federal Division(s)Gippsland
Suburbs around Deptford:
Marthavale Stirling Tambo Crossing
Ryans Deptford Double Bridges
Bullumwaal Waterholes
Fairy Dell		 Bruthen

A former mining town of which little remains, the Deptford locality today is entirely located in state forests, variously the Yowen-Burrun State Forest, Warriballat State Forest, Haunted Stream State Forest and the Bruthen State Forest. The former townsite, on the Nicholson River, is now the Deptford Picnic Area.[2][3] The Haughtons Flat Diversion Tunnel, south of the old townsite, is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.[4]

Deptford was established in 1864, replacing the nearby Store Creek settlement as the service town for the Nicholson River Goldfield.[5] Mining in the area was largely shaft-based across three main reefs, with some small-scale alluvial prospecting in the Nicholson River.[6] The population varied over the decades depending on the state of the mining industry, peaking at approximately 300.[5]

In 1867, the town had two stores, two butchers' shops and a bakery, with two hotels under construction. The Gippsland Times said of Deptford: "The manners and customs of the place are of a primitive nature, interspersed with a good deal of drinking and civil fights, especially on Saturday nights, a good index that there is money in circulation". The town had no doctors, clergymen or policemen at that time.[6] All buildings apart from the store, a hotel and three timber houses were reportedly "simple bush structures of spars and bark".[5]

The Travellers' Rest Hotel (also known as the Miners' Rest Hotel) opened in 1865, was extended in 1894, and burned down in 1905.[5][7] The first Deptford Post Office opened on 22 February 1868 and closed around September 1878; the second opened on 16 February 1885, was downgraded to a receiving office in 1 July 1927 and closed on 30 June 1928.[8] Deptford State School (No. 3151) opened in January 1892 and closed in 1928.[5] A church, used by both Anglican and Presbyterian congregations, was built in the 1890s.[9][10][11]

The original Deptford cemetery was located on Navigation Creek, but was eroded by flooding and was subsequently moved. The first recorded burial was in 1870 and the last in 1898 - the year in which the cemetery was officially gazetted.[9]

The former Store Creek settlement is now located within the broader locality of Deptford. It was the main settlement on the goldfield prior to the founding of Deptford. A government battery there was established in 1898.[2][12][5]

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Deptford (SSC)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  2. "Deptford (entry 100943)". VICNAMES. Government of Victoria. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  3. "Deptford Picnic Area" (PDF). Department of Sustainability and Environment. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  4. "HOUGHTONS FLAT GOLD DIVERSION TUNNEL". Victorian Heritage Register. Heritage Council of Victoria. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  5. "Deptford Township". Victorian Heritage Inventory. Heritage Council of Victoria. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  6. "DEPTFORD". Gippsland Times. Victoria, Australia. 4 July 1867. p. 3 (Morning). Retrieved 2 February 2020 – via Trove.
  7. "OUR DEPTFORD LETTER". Bairnsdale Advertiser And Tambo And Omeo Chronicle. Victoria, Australia. 7 February 1893. p. 2 (morning.). Retrieved 2 February 2020 – via Trove.
  8. "Deptford". Post Office Reference. Premier Postal. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  9. "Deptford". Australian Cemeteries. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  10. "OUR DEPTFORD LETTER". Bairnsdale Advertiser And Tambo And Omeo Chronicle. Victoria, Australia. 19 May 1898. p. 2 (morning.). Retrieved 2 February 2020 – via Trove.
  11. "OUR DEPTFORD LETTER". Bairnsdale Advertiser And Tambo And Omeo Chronicle. Victoria, Australia. 4 November 1897. p. 2 (morning.). Retrieved 2 February 2020 – via Trove.
  12. "OUR DEPTFORD LETTER". Bairnsdale Advertiser And Tambo And Omeo Chronicle. Victoria, Australia. 19 November 1898. p. 4 (morning.). Retrieved 2 February 2020 – via Trove.
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