Warragul & District Historical Society

22/09/2026

The Warragul Football club is one of rich history and dates back to railway workers who helped establish the township, as they progressed the train line towards Sale in the late 1870s.

A new exhibition by the Warragul and District Historical Society, on display in the old Shire Hall in Queen St, is tracing the town's love affair with Australian Rules football earlier than many would even know.

Running until the end of the month, the display shows how the first iteration of the team began before the rules of the game were entirely formulated, from rough paddocks dotted with tree stumps - leading to modern-day starts exported to the AFL.

Warragul Football and Netball Club

30/08/2026

Monday Night’s General Meeting

A reminder that former Surveyor General for Victoria John Parker, an internationally recognised authority on land administration and geographical names, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of Victorian Land Management, will be the guest speaker at the General Meeting of the Society to be held upstairs in the Shire Hall on Monday 31 August 2026 at 7.30 pm.

John will discuss the most interesting question of ‘what are the boundaries of Victoria?’

Where is the boundary between Victoria and Tasmania? And what is it with New South Wales? And why doesn’t the western boundary of Victoria with South Australia align with that of New South Wales - according to the attached image, it is 3.13 km out of alignment?

These questions, and many other interesting aspects of Victoria’s boundaries, will be addressed by John in the course of his talk.

Supper will be served at the conclusion of the meeting.

08/06/2026

Mike McCarthy to speak at the W&DHS

The Warragul and District Historical Society is pleased to announce the guest speaker at its next General Meeting on Monday 29 June 2026 will be a former Warragul boy and prominent rail and tramway historian, Mike McCarthy.

Mike is well known for his well-researched books on timber tramways, sawmills, and the industrial railways of Victoria. He has written five definitive regional histories focussing on railways and tramlines, and the timber industries they supported, together with numerous papers and articles.

The topic of Mike’s presentation will be the rail and tram -lines of the Erica area, previewing the subject of his eagerly-awaited forthcoming sixth book.

Mike’s books are highly regarded for their meticulous documentation of the historical logging and narrow-gauge rail networks, especially in the rugged forest regions of Victoria.

His research goes far beyond mainline railways, focusing on the fascinating, temporary, and often innovative light railways and tramways built by timber cutters. His books are known for featuring extensive historical photographs, detailed maps, and rich descriptions of the remote bush communities, and the experimental locomotives they used.

The meeting will be held upstairs in the Old Shire Hall, 72 Queen Street Warragul, commencing at 7.30 pm.

Visitors, and prospective members of the Society, are most welcome to attend. Supper will be served.

23/05/2026

The Society's May General Meeting

W&DHS member, artist, art gallery proprietor, and enthusiastic researcher of all matters ‘Arts’ in Warragul and the district, Laurie Collins, will be the guest speaker at the next meeting of the Society, at 7.30 pm on Monday 25th May 2026, upstairs in the Old Shire Hall..

Laurie will preview Chapter One of his yet to be completed book on the ‘arts’ in the Warragul and Drouin districts. This chapter covers the very early days of settlement in the area, and demonstrates how ‘art’ was prominent from the very beginning. He will, among others, discuss Charles Henry Round and Neville Henry Cayley, and provide a valuable insight into their artistic contribution to a better understanding of the district’s historical origins.

He will make reference to the Society’s treasured Round sketches and Cayley paintings (two of which are shown hanging on the wall in the Society's rooms at the Old Shire Hall) in the attached photo.

He will also mention in passing a lesser known, but equally valuable, artist, Charles Edward Bruges (Charlie) Hammond, who was in the area somewhat (comparitavely speaking) later. Many local history societies make claim to Charlie’s contribution to the artistic understanding of their local history – and we can now begin to do so as well. Hammond's painting of Brandy Creek c1900 is also attached to this post.

Another not to be missed presentation.

29/04/2026

Do not miss out!!!

Last opportunity tomorrow, Thursday 30 April 2026

Opens at 10.00 am Closes at 3.00 pm

The Warragul and District Historical Society’s

ANZAC Day Exhibition ‘Les Barr’s War’

Old Shire Hall, 72 Queen St Warragul

26/03/2026

The Warragul and District Historical Society will be holding its March General Meeting this coming Monday evening, 30 March 2026 at 7.30 pm, upstairs in the Old Shire Hall, 72 Queen St Warragul.

Society President Wayne Hardie will be giving a talk on how Warragul came to be established in the late 1870s. He will discuss its origins within the context of the exploration and white settlement of Gippsland over the previous forty years.

This year is the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of James Biram opening his store in what came to be known as Warragul. That significant occasion is being celebrated this coming Sunday. This talk is a further event in the Society’s program of recognizing Warragul’s sesquicentenary.

Warragul is arguably the last significant regional town to be established in Victoria. Why was that so? And how did the town come to be?

Wayne will address these questions, and seek to provide the answers by suggesting there were a number of factors, and their serendipitous convergence, that led to the establishment of the town.

His talk will be extensively illustrated with supporting material in a PowerPoint presentation.

Visitors, and those interested in joining the Society, are always welcome to attend the Society’s General Meetings. And supper will be served.

25/03/2026

Late March 2026 is the sesquicentenary of the opening of the first store in Warragul, and the Warragul and District Historical Society, together with members of the Biram family, will be celebrating the occasion with the ‘re-unveiling’ of a plaque on Sunday 30 March.

James Biram’s store was the first building to be erected in the densely forested unnamed “township reserve, Drouin East, adjoining the railway, on the new road from Brandy Creek;” the settlement that grew up around Biram’s store soon came to be known as Warragul.

The building was located in the middle of Queen Street, about opposite what was the Railway Hotel. After the town was surveyed in 1877, Biram was obliged to relocate, and built a more substantial building on the site of the D McNeil & Co Central Emporium building at 75 Queen St Warragul.

In 1975, the Warragul and District Historical Society sought to mark the centenary of the occasion be erecting a plaque on the side of the McNeil building. Unfortunately, they were a year too early.

It was a mistake easily made. In 1875, James Biram selected land to the south-east of the present town – the land immediately to the east of the Logan Park sporting facility. The railway reserve abutted the northern boundary of his selection.

It would seem Biram saw an opportunity to service the workers constructing the railway line, and in March 1876 opened his “Druggist’s Shop and General Store.” In advertising the opening of the store, Biram offered “Prescriptions dispensed, genuine drugs and patent medicines, grass and other seeds, and an assortment of general goods.”

James Biram made a significant contribution to the early development of Warragul, all well recorded in the recently released ‘The Life and Time of James Biram 1846-1905 – A Warragul Pioneer’ by local historian and writer Vaughan Fox.

The Biram family, together with the Warragul and District Historical Society are seeking to correct the record.

An unveiling ceremony for the new plaque will take place on Sunday 29 March 2026 at 2:00 pm on the footpath outside 75 Queen St, directly opposite the Old Shire Hall. Present and past members of the Society, the Biram family, and the general public are warmly invited to attend to celebrate the occasion.

The Society will be providing afternoon tea in the Old Shire Hall following the unveiling ceremony.

14/01/2026