Sunbury, Victoria

History

The Sunbury area has several important Aboriginal archaeological sites, including five earth rings, which were identified in the 1970s and 1980s, and believed to have been used for ceremonial gatherings. Records of corroborees and other large gatherings during early settlement attest to the importance of the area for Aboriginal people of the Wurundjeri tribe.

Sunbury was first settled in 1836, by George Evans and William Jackson. It was Jackson and his brother, Samuel, who named the township Sunbury, after Sunbury-on-Thames, in Middlesex, England when it was established in 1857. The Post Office opened on 13 January 1858.

Sunbury's connection with the history and development of Victoria is influential because of its most famous and powerful citizen, "Big" Clarke. Clarke's role as one of the biggest squatters in the colony and his power and position within the Victorian Legislative Council were critical in the early days of Victoria.

During the early days of self-government in the Colony of Victoria, post 1851, there was a continual struggle in parliament, between the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council for the ascendancy and control of government. It was the Council members, such as Clarke, who attempted to negate the excess of manhood suffrage, republicanism and Chartism as expressed in the Assembly, in order to protect their own squatters' agenda and position.

"Big" Clarke as a member of the Victorian 'bunyip aristocracy' also frustrated any legislative reforms to opening the lands to small farm selections. Melbourne Punch depicted Clarke in anti-squatter cartoons, such as "The man in Possession" In 1859, "Big" Clarke was involved in a scandal around the discovery of gold on his holdings in nearby Deep Creek. Shares in the Bolinda company soared, Clarke sold his shares at the peak of the rush before the fraud was exposed. The gold assay was actually 'salted', possibly via a shotgun blast of golden pellets into the samples. Clarke claimed the rich assay was proved when washed in a soup bowl. The ever barbed Melbourne Punch explained how this fraud work in a cartoon of a chipped Chinese Willow Pattern plate titled the "The Soup Plate". In 1837, William "Big" Clarke, came to the area, and gained vast pastoral licences encompassing Sunbury, Clarkefield and Monegeetta.

In 1874, Clarke's son, William, built a mansion, which resides on an estate named "Rupertswood", after his own son, Rupert. This estate also has access to a train station, which was used to transport bales of hay to Adelaide. Though the private station was constructed in the late 19th century the Clarkes did not pay the railways for its construction until the 1960s (Rupertswood railway Station no longer exists after the fast rail upgrade. There were two trains each way to and from Melbourne stopping daily during school term only, but now it is only a disused platform). The Clarkes also had a connection to the Kelly Gang story via their police connection with Supt. Hare.

The younger William, Sir William as he was to become, was the president of the Melbourne Cricket Club, and it was through his position that the touring English cricket team came to spend Christmas of 1882 at Rupertswood. On Christmas Eve, the English team played a social game of cricket against a local team, which they won. Lady Clarke took one or more bails, burnt them, and interred the Ashes in a small purple velvet pouch, which she presented to the English Captain, Ivo Bligh. She proposed that the ashes be used as a perpetual trophy for matches between the two countries. Later the remains of the burnt bails were placed in a small urn. The Ashes have since become one of the world's most sought-after sporting trophies.

In 1922, the Clarke family sold the property to H V McKay, the owner of the Sunshine Harvester Works, whose estate subsequently onsold it in 1927 to the Salesian Catholic order. Until recently the mansion and surrounding property has been used for educational and agricultural purposes, and as a boarding school for students of both academic and agricultural endeavours (Salesian College). The mansion has now been restored, and is used for weddings and other formal functions. The school, known as Salesian College, Rupertswood, is still located on the property.

In the early 1970s the area (which was then still largely rural) became famous in Australia as the site of the Sunbury Pop Festival, which was held annually from 1972 to 1975.

Culture

The demographics/culture of Sunbury up until the mid-1980s was predominantly White and some other minor ethnic groups. It has only been in the last 20 years that Sunbury has seen an increase of other nationalities (predominately from an immigration from New Zealand and the United Kingdom).

Sunbury's residents represent diverse cultural backgrounds, partly due to the working-class background, and proximity to major manufacturing and transport hubs, with Melbourne Airport only being 17.5 kilometres (11 mi) from the township. A recent trend for people who work in the Melbourne CBD to trade longer commute times for a more economic lifestyle (due to cheaper housing), has seen the population of Sunbury grow in number, with numerous new housing estates ringing the borders of the established township. Sunbury's population was recorded as being 25,086 in the 2001 census, and is estimated at approximately 34,000 in 2006, making it the 38th largest urban centre by population in Australia. Sunbury has a high Caucasian population.

Retail and entertainment

Sunbury has a town centre containing Jaycar Electronics,Calco Electrical, Coles, Woolworths, Foodworks and IGA supermarkets as well as Big W, Harris Scarfe and Target, Good Guys, Godfrey's department stores. Away from the town centre is an Aldi Supermarket, and Bunnings Warehouse hardware store. There are also many food outlets located in Sunbury such as Nando's, Vics Cuisine, Rocquette, Restaurant 77 and a variety of pizza restaurants, fish and chip shops and Asian restaurants. Sunbury also has many great little cafes to dine at such as The Spotted Owl, Sacco Coffee, cafe Circe and Mac's Lounge. Sunbury has a Reading Cinema, three Hotels and The Alley Sunbury nightclub, a 330 person capacity nightclub located 150 metres from the railway station and taxi hubs.

Transport

Sunbury Railway Station is connected by Metro services to Melbourne and by V/Line services on the Bendigo train line to both Melbourne and country Victoria. V/Line services are not as frequent as those on the metropolitan Metro service — an approximate hourly frequency is provided by V/Line on weekdays, although on weekends service levels can be as infrequent as once every 80 minutes.

The State Government electrified the tracks between Sunbury and Sydenham in a $270 million investment, bringing more frequent passenger services to the town - these Metro services started running on 18 November 2012.

In mid 2015, the State Government announced that Sunbury commuters would lose access to 200 weekly V/Line services travelling between Sunbury and the city, effective 1 January 2016. Services between Sunbury and Bendigo will not be affected. Sunbury resident and commuter groups have been actively lobbying the State Government to replace the services. The Government has offered to provide an additional 10 weekly Metro electrified services, leaving a nett loss of 190 weekly services for the growing Sunbury community. Transport Minister Jacinta Allen stated at a public meeting in October that the denial of service to Sunbury commuters was a result of overcrowding on 4 daily peak-services, which impacted passengers in the Minister's home electorate of Bendigo.

Education

Primary schools

Secondary schools and high schools

Others

Sport

Sunbury is represented in the following sporting leagues:

Athletics

Historical books on Sunbury district and identities

Politics

Sunbury is represented by Cr Ann Potter, Cr Jack Ogilvie and Cr Steve (Jack) Medcraft in the Jacksons Creek Ward of the City of Hume. At State level, Sunbury is in the Electoral district of Sunbury, represented by Josh Bull . Federally, Sunbury is located in the Division of McEwen, represented by Rob Mitchell.

Notable people