The Wadawurrung peoples are the Traditional Owners of the land that includes today’s Golden Plains Shire and they remain strongly connected to this and the rest of their Country today. Wadawurrung Country embodies songlines and storylines that connect Wadawurrung people to places. Places where Wadawurrung old people lived and contemporaries are still living today. Places for hunting, fishing and harvesting. Places that witnessed large gatherings, as well as spiritual and ceremonial locations. Through their cultural practices, stories and traditions, knowledge was built and shared, generation by generation and continues to be today.
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Messrs. Rowe & Ferrers Station, Woady Yallock - State Library Victoria
The early European settlement of the Shire, like much of the colony, was by pastoralists. Many came from Van Diemen’s Land and were members of the Clyde Company or the Derwent Company. Runs with names like Barunah Plains, Laurence Park, Warrambine, Golf Hill, Moranghurk, Emu Hill and Darra still litter the landscape of the Golden Plains Shire.