Stanley, Victoria

Stanley is a small town approximately 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from Beechworth in Victoria noted for its apple and nut farms. At the 2011 census, Stanley had a population of 324.[1]

Stanley Victoria
The now closed general store and post office (circa 1852)
Stanley
Coordinates	36°24′0″S 146°46′0″E
Population	324 (2006 census)[1]
Postcode(s)	3747
Elevation	800 m (2,625 ft)
Location	296 km (184 mi) NE of Melbourne 49 km (30 mi) E of Wangaratta 12 km (7 mi) SE of Beechworth
LGA(s)	Shire of Indigo
State electorate(s)	Benambra
Federal Division(s)	Indi

The town was formerly known as Snake Gully and Nine Mile Creek. Many parts of this rural community have the remains of gold diggings from the Victorian gold rush of the mid-1800s.

Gold rush era

The district has an important historic gold mining past and produced some colourful people during that heyday. Among them was John Scarlett (1824-?), a Scottish miner. Scarlett was involved in all things associated with writing to the newspapers, calling meetings and voicing his opinions. Originally a dry miner, he advocated rights for this type of operator, then on acquiring access to water he became an advocate for wet miners to the exclusion of the dry operators. He stood for mining board elections and then Victorian parliament in 1859. He appears in two historical works of the district: Woods, Beechworth and more so in O'Brien, Shenanigans. Scarlett eventually became the Secretary for the local roads board. No known photo of him exists. In her book, Carole Woods termed Scarlett the "Nine Mile Warrior". O'Brien's work with the local 1850s papers uncovered an advertisement against Scarlett and much doggerel verse: a local paper christened Scarlett a "water squatter".

During the gold era, the Stanley region comprised a higher proportion of miners from Scotland, in comparison to other localities in the surrounding area (O'Brien). The gold mining carried out in the district involved (wet) sluicing operations.

Like many goldfields in northeastern Victoria there was a Chinese presence at Stanley.

Stanley today

The town centre includes the Old Store Cafe (Closed), Stanley Pub, Primary School (currently not used as a school), CFA Fire Shed, Uniting Church, Recreational Reserve, Town Hall and Athenaeum (library). A store was built by Syd Mathieson (circa 1852). The Post Office was officially recognised and opened on 1 October 1857 as Nine Mile Creek and was renamed Stanley the next year, but ceased trading in 2010.[2] Stanley Primary School closed in 2012.[3]

There remain only two of the original buildings in Stanley, they being the store and powder magazine at the rear and the old police lock-up on Collins Road.

The Indigo Shire planning scheme notes that the lack of a reticulated sewerage system in Stanley has contributed towards water pollution in the area, and resolves that the area is "unsuitable for further un-sewered urban development". It accordingly resolves to "restrict future development until such time as a reticulated sewerage system is developed."[4]

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Stanley (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
2. Premier Postal History, Post Office List, retrieved 11 April 2008
3. "Towns under threat as more small schools fear closure". The Weekly Times. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
4. "Indigo Planning Scheme". Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. Retrieved 31 January 2019.

• Craig. G.F. The Chinese Miners at Stanley, Beechworth, 1987,
• O'Brien, Antony. Shenanigans on the Ovens Goldfields: the 1859 Election, Artillery Publishing, Hartwell, 2005.
• Williams, David. Gold and Granite Grandeur: Living History of Beechworth, Stanley and Eldorado, 1994. (fine sketches of several pioneer Stanley buildings and surrounds)
• Woods Carole. Beechworth: A Titan's Field, Hargreen, North Melbourne, 1985.