Camperdown, Victoria

Centre for the local wool, lamb and dairy producers. Camperdown's main street is shaded by magnificent English Elms.
Location: 195 km west of Melbourne on the Princes Highway. Map
Origin of name: Gov. Charles Joseph La Trobe chose the new township's name in 1854. It is said that he initially suggested the name 'Duncan' after Timboon settler Duncan McNicol but his companion on a kangaroo shoot, Niel Black, thought it a poor choice and, so, Latrobe thought of 'Camperdown' as the Earl of Camperdown was an Admiral Duncan who won his title due to his efforts in a 1797 naval battle.Recalls the Battle of Camperdown of 1797. Named thus by in 1854. The name was selected because a local farmer was named Duncan, the same name as the British commander who was victorious against the Dutch in 1797 who was made the Duke of Camperdown.
Brief history: prior to European settlement it is though that the Kuurn Kopan Noot Aborigines lived in the area. An Aboriginal reserve was established on the townsite in the 1860s to protect them as they had begun to steal crops and sheep from the white settlers. The area was pioneered for farming by John and Peter Manifold in 1838.The first house was built on the townsite in 1853 where the Commercial Hotel now stands. Postal services commenced the following year and the first hotel opened in 1857. A town known as Old Timboon began to develop at a site about 3 km north of Camperdown in the early 1850s.
Natural features: Mt Leura is an extinct volcano crater. 36 crater lakes are located in the vicinity, including Lake Corangamite (Victoria's largest salt water lake); Lake Gnotuk; Lake Bullenmerri; Lake Bullen Merri; Lake Purrumbete; Lake Bookar; Round Lake; Cobrico Swamp; Mount Porndon; Mount Koang
Built features: stone walls built by early settlers from volcanic rocks
Heritage features: Camperdown Buggy Museum; Court House (1886-87); 'Craigburn' (1851-53); 'Purrumbete homestead (1840s); 'Talindert' (1890); 'West Cloven Hills' (c.1850); 'Timboon House' (1853-55); 'Leslie Manor' homestead (1850s); 'Meningoort' (1886); 'Larra' homestead and stables (1875)