Acheron is a small town in Victoria, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

It is located along the Maroondah Highway

Maroondah Highway

Maroondah Highway , is a major east-west thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and a highway servicing the lower alpine region Victoria, Australia.-History:...

37.2529°N 145.7064°W, near the junction of Acheron River

Acheron River (Victoria)

The Acheron River is a inland river in Victoria and a tributary of the Goulburn River. The river rises in Yarra Ranges National Park near Acheron Way and flows into the Goulburn River near Alexandra. It is 84 kilometres long and has 10 tributaries. Its major tributaries are Steavensons River,...

 and Goulburn River

Goulburn River (Victoria)

The Goulburn River is a major inland river in Victoria, Australia.The headwaters of the Goulburn River rise in the western end of the Victoria Alps, near Mount Buller. The Eildon Dam creates Lake Eildon, a major storage of water for irrigation...

. The town was initially known as Acheron Lower, with Acheron Upper being what is now known as Taggerty

Taggerty, Victoria

Taggerty is a town in central Victoria, Australia. It is located at the intersection of Maroondah Highway and Thornton Road. The Acheron River also crosses the highway at Taggerty. It is thought to be named after the Aboriginal word for blue clay. At the 2006 Census, Taggerty and the surrounding...

. Both towns developed following the discovery of gold in Acheron River in 1870.

The town was affected by the Black Friday

Black Friday (1939)

The Black Friday fires of 13 January 1939, in Victoria, Australia, were considered one of the worst natural bushfires in the world, and certainly the single worst in Australian history as a measure of land affected...

 bushfires of 1939. Seven people died near the town whilst fleeing the fires.

Acheron History Project

This is a short history of the area around Acheron. Acheron was called Upper Acheron (now Taggerty) and Lower Acheron (the settlement along the river from around Moir Lane, the area on Connelly’s Creek Road and all of the land from Mt Pleasant Road through Acheron Road and along Keens Road to the south. This area is now an area of small farm holdings although there are some larger holdings such as Gooramadda and the Dobsons’ holdings.
Many people who live in the area now have moved from the city, some are weekenders but there are still families in the district who have worked and worked the land for a few generations. The Dobson, McColl, Dick, Wilmot, Rennie, Webster and Cumming families are names known well because they have been here a long while. There are also still Aboriginal families living in the district representing the Taungurong families who lived along the Acheron and Goulburn rivers around Acheron.

Physical and geological heritage of Acheron

Acheron is located on the Acheron river. The to the west is the Black Range and the Blue Range is to the east. The view to the south is dominated by the magnificent Cathedral Range.

Geology of Acheron

The Acheron area is part of the Central Victorian Cauldron Volcanic Province

Aboriginal history: the Taungurong peoples

The Acheron Aboriginal Reserve 1859-1862

• Robert Hickson and John Green
• Papers of the Central Board of Protection of the Aborigines
• Simon Wonga and William Barak

Acheron Station

The Acheron Run extended about 24,000 acres on the south side of the Goulburn River bounded by the Rubicon and Acheron Rivers. As early as 1824, in an attempt to curb squatting, acts and regulations authorised occupation through grazing leases and depasturing licences, to regularise settlement of Crown Land. Under an act of 1836 licences were provided for these functions and commissioners were appointed to police them. Squatting licences of £10 per year were issued for any run under the 1839 Land Sales Act to restrain the unauthorised occupation of Crown Lands and to provide the means of defraying the cost of a border police.

The site of an early Acheron Station homestead from John Christie Aitken’s era is in Robertson’s Road Taggerty37.295°N 145.732°W. Several heritage Bunya Pines mark the site. Eugene von Guerard sketched the Acheron Station during a visit to Acheron in 1862. This sketch and several others of Acheron are in the NSW State Library.

Squatters on the Acheron Run were as follows:
1839: Ousely Cockburn (and brothers) and Dr Dugald Fletcher
1845: Major Alexandra Davidson
1849: John Christie Aitken
1866: Dr Robert Martin
1877: John Goodall Francis
1880: Donald McKenzie Brown and David Dobbie
1882: William Murray and Hugh Murray Strachan
The Cockburn brothers, Ousely, William, Kennedy and Henry, along with Dr Dugald Fletcher took up the land between the Rubicon and Acheron Rivers. This land was later divided into the Acheron and Niagaroon Runs. Major Davidson apparently arrived in the colony with a retinue of Indian servants in tow. Brenda Niall’s book on Georgiana McRae describes the eccentric Major Davidson and his tented camp at Abbotsford, with coolies, curries and hubble bubbles . There’s a very early map of the Acheron Run, from the State Library of Victoria which shows Ousely’s Paddock from the Acheron Road area to the Goulburn river. John Christie Aitken asked the Surveyor-General to return this land to the Acheron Run. John Christie Aitken, who also leased several other large runs including Thornton, later bought land on the Canterbury Plains around Christchurch and turned a four hundred pound 1851 investment there into eighty thousand pounds at his death in 1886. Dr Robert Martin is remembered as the great grandfather of artist, Arthur Merric Boyd as well as by his colonial standing. John Goodall Francis became Premier of Victoria in 1872.
The Acheron Station was a resting place for many travellers in the area including Eugene Von Guerard as mentioned earlier and Georg Von Neumayer in 1863, who completed a geomagnetic survey of Victoria and published his findings in 1869. He became a German polar explorer and also established the observatory on Flagstaff Hill in Melbourne.
So, Acheron was the home or resting site of many notable Victorians.
Niagaroon Run was also part of present day Acheron. More of that later.

References
http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/archives-in-brief/archives-in-brief-60#historical-background-1
Context (2006) Murrindindi Shire Heritage Study Vol 1 Brunswick, VIC :Context
Lloyd, B (2006) Alexandra and District incorporating The Red Gate by Gerald Noble Brighton East: Histec Publications p 33
Brenda Niall, (1994) Georgiana: a biography of Georgiana McCrae, painter, diarist, pioneer (Carlton South, Vic.: Melbourne University Press at the Miegunyah Press
http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/9127353?searchTerm=John+Christie+Aitken The Hobart Mercury Monday 11 October 1886

Georg Balthasar von Neumayer (Georg von Neumayer

Georg von Neumayer

Georg Balthazar von Neumayer , was a German polar explorer and scientist who conceived the idea of international cooperation for meteorology and scientific observation....

)

Georg Neumayer first arrived in Australia as a crew member of the Reiherstieg in August 1852. As was the custom, the entire crew then deserted and headed for the nearby goldfields. Neumayer stayed with the ship and eventually was released from his contract and after 18 months he returned to Europe.

He returned to Melbourne on 27 January 1857, much to the surprise of the scientific community with the intention of establishing a major geophysical observatory complete with the latest scientific instruments paid for by the King of Bavaria. Initially he met with considerable opposition from the established scientific community including professor William Parkinson Wilson and professor Frederick McCoy.
Von Neumayer carried out the first geomagnetic survey of Victoria which included 2 observations at "Mr Connelley's station" in Acheron

Eugene von Guerard (Eugene von Guerard

Eugene von Guerard

Johann Joseph Eugene von GuérardHis first name is variously spelled "Eugen", "Eugene", "Eugène", one source mentions "Jean" ; his surname is spelled "Guerard" or "Guérard". The most frequent combination is that used by the National Gallery of Australia: "Eugene von Guérard"...

)

Noted artist of the 19th centuary, von Guerard painted 2 landscapes of the Acheron valley, one of which ("Valley of the Acheron River") sold in 1999 for $A 1 102 500 The painting is looking south, with the Cathedral Peak highlighted in the rays of the setting sun. On the right is the Acheron River, a flock of cockatoos are wheeling over the valley, and the sunlight touches on flowering gum blossum. In the foreground are the diminutive figures of a traveller, a shepherd and his sheep. Niagaroon station in the middle distance was owned at the time by Hugh Glass.
Von Guerards sketchbooks of the period are held in the Mitchell library

Naming of Acheron

How did Acheron get its name?

Acheron takes its name from the river. However there are several suggestions as to why this so.
As with other local place names it would seem that the name Acheron has its roots in Greek mythology and was known as one of the rivers of the Underworld.
(located here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acheron )
Georg Von Neumayer, the German scientist and polar explorer, believed that the name Acheron was derived from the name the local Aboriginals used for the river. He writes:
The Acheron, a named derived from Agaroon in the Blacks’ language, is a fine stream, and I should think well adapted for the rearing of trout.
Niagaroon was the name of the 16,000 squatting run between the Acheron River, the Black Range and the south of the Goulburn River which also forms part of present day Acheron.
Niagaroona was the name of Mrs McIlwraith’s 1873 school in Acheron.
References
http://www.answers.com/topic/acheron
Context Pty Ltd Murrindindi Shire Heritage Study Volume 1 http://www.murrindindi.vic.gov.au/Files/Murrindindi_Heritage_Study_Volume_1.pdf
Neumayer, G (1869) Results of the Magnetic Survey of the colony of Victoria Executed during the years 1858-1864 Mannheim: Schneider Press (from Trip VIII March 9-April16, 1863 p 91 onwards)
Cumming, R., 1982, ‘Acheron Primary School: A History 1872-1895’, fourth year Bachelor of Education (Primary) thesis, Bendigo College of Advanced Education.

1870-1900 Selectors and the Victorian Land Act of 1869

• John Connelly
• Robert Dobson
• Alexander Doak
• John Wylie
• James Cumming
• John Dick
• David Moir
• Jules Madouit
• Elizabeth Robertson
• Rennies
• Popple
• Weeks
• Creighton

Water and Fire in Acheron’s history

• The punt over the Acheron river
• The flood of 1870
• The breakaway
• The bushfires of the 1930’s, 1969 and 2009
• The 1930’s pipeline proposal
• Lake Eildon Weir and flood mitigation

Transport

• Horses, Cobb & Co, Burchalls’ transport and hotel at Taggerty
• Road building and subdivision
• The Acheron Valley Railway proposal
• The Breakaway Bridge
• Widening of Acheron Road

The development of Acheron township

• Hugh Glass and Robert Pinninger and the alternative township site
• The layout and naming of Acheron
• Acheron and the main road
• Electricity in Acheron Lower ( mid 1930’s) and Acheron Upper (mid 1950’s)

Civic activity in Acheron township

• The Acheron Mechanics Institute est. 1914 - events and uses, the tennis club, The Red Cross, PMWU, annual events, back to Acheron Hall 70th anniversary 1984, current uses, Marysville Kindergarten and the Acheron hall
• Acheron School in Anderson Dobson’s paddock: Mr Brownson, Mrs McIlwraith, the free Education act of 1872, and the building of the government school, history of the school until its closure.
• Acheron CFA’s history
• Acheron Post Office and manual telephone exchange
• Tourism in and around Acheron
• Acheron in the Argus and the Alexandra and Eildon Standard (incorporating the Acheron Express)
• Shopping from Acheron ( the Kennedy Brothers Taggerty Store Ledger of 1906)
• Interviews with Acheron residents and others

Acheron Post Office

Acheron Post Office opened on 15 April 1876 and was renamed Taggerty in 1893. Acheron Lower Post Office opened in 1884, was renamed Acheron in 1894 and closed in 1974.

Wilmot

Thomas Vivian Wilmot was the first of the Wilmots to settle in Acheron (date?). His grandfather William Byam Wilmot (1848-1854) was Victora's first coroner.
Born in County Gloucestershire, England in 1805, William Byam Wilmot studied for his Doctor of Medicine in Edinburgh qualifying in 1826, and becoming a
Member of the Royal College of Physicians, London in 1827. Between 1827-1838, he was a physician at the Royal Infirmary for Children and Female
Orphanage Asylum, and the Surrey Dispensary. He immigrated to Port Phillip in 1840 and took up residence in Flinders Lane and later Brighton. He was
appointed Coroner for Melbourne in 1841, and in 1848, was elected as an honorary physician to the Melbourne Hospital, a position he held until 1854.
Wilmot was involved in many charitable and educational movements as well as serving as a magistrate and on the Port Phillip Medical Board. In 1857, he
left Melbourne to return to England where he died in 1874.

WW2

From the Australian War Memorial's WW2 Nominal rolls, for Acheron, all who were born or enlisted for WW2.

Born Acheron ww2

Name	Service Number	Date of Birth	Place of Birth	Service
DOBSON, ALLAN MURRAY	V371444	19 Jun 1902	ACHERON, VIC	Army
HOWARD, LEONARD ROBERT	V13707	12 Mar 1891	ACHERON, VIC	Army
ROBERTSON, LEO GEORGE	V380622	27 Sep 1898	ACHERON, VIC	Army

All who enlisted at Acheron in WW2

Name	Service Number	Date of Birth	Place of Birth	Service
ANDERSON, WILLIS JOHN	VX105267	5 Aug 1916	ALEXANDRA, VIC	Army
ANDREWS, JOHN EDWARDS	V371459	27 Sep 1899	ALEXANDRA, VIC	Army
ASHTON, FRANK WILLIAM	11840	28 Oct 1918	MELBOURNE, VIC	RAAF
ASHTON, FRANK WILLIAM	V7558	28 Oct 1918	MALVERN, VIC	Army
BARTLETT, KEVIN JOHN	V24176	2 Nov 1922	RICHMOND, VIC	Army
CREIGHTON, IAN	VX101089	10 Aug 1918	ALEXANDRA, VIC	Army
CUMMING, ALAN	V24179	13 Dec 1922	ALEXANDRA, VIC	Army
CUMMING, ALLAN MACKENZIE	PM4398	13 Dec 1922	ALEXANDRA, VIC	RAN
CUMMING, ERIC JAMES	VX133844	23 Dec 1923	ALEXANDRA, VIC	Army
DICK, HECTOR HEMINGWAY	VX110170	23 Aug 1912	ALEXANDRA, VIC	Army
DOBSON, ALLAN MURRAY	V371444	19 Jun 1902	ACHERON, VIC	Army
KELLY, HARRY	VX46199	28 Oct 1909	HAWTHORN, VIC	Army
MACKRELL, JAMES STANLEY	V5547	16 Jan 1892	BONNIE DOON, VIC	Army
MCCOLL, WILFRED ROBERT	11382	21 Nov 1901	TAGGERTY, VIC	RAAF
MELVILLE, ARTHUR ROBINS	V24071	5 Feb 1922	CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND	Army
RICHINGS, CLIFFORD LEWIS	VX130734	27 Nov 1912	ALEXANDRA, VIC	Army
ROBERTSON, LEO GEORGE	V380622	27 Sep 1898	ACHERON, VIC	Army
WEBSTER, ARTHUR OSWALD	V380670	6 Sep 1920	GLENPATRICK, VIC	Army
WILMOT, PETER WILLIAM	VX120911	28 Dec 1914	ALEXANDRA, VIC	Army