Warrnambool has a rich history for a town that has only been settled for some 160 years.

Even before famed explorers Baudin and Mitchell found their separate ways to the district, the area had been well populated by the Gunditjmara people for millennia and was probably visited by the Portuguese centuries ago in what locals call the Mahogany Ship, said to be buried in the sands just west of Warrnambool.

All of that aside, since the first land sales were promoted in 1847, Warrnambool has grown to be Victoria’s fifth largest city. Settlers came here from all parts of the UK and Ireland, from Europe, especially Germany and Holland, and parts of the Mediterranean.

Warrnambool & District Historical Societies is a collection of voluntary groups dedicated to preserving and honouring the record of settlement and progress of so many people in such a short time. Theirs is the responsibility of much of the early archives of the town.

The society holds weekly working bees at their temporary headquarters at the curator’s cottage of the Old Baths, just below the RSL at Cannon Hill.

The society is in good hands but could do with a few extra helpers for the mammoth task of keeping intact and in one place the many records that chronicle the speed and spread of settlement in the district.

If you can help, and any help is appreciated, contact Les and Elizabeth O’Callaghan.
Address: Warrnambool 3280
Phone: (03) 5562 6940
E-email: locall@hotkey.net.au