X-Nico

98 unusual facts about Victoria


1957 Night Series Cup

Games were played at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne, as it was the only ground equipped to host night games.

1999 Australian Grand Prix

The 1999 Australian Grand Prix (formally the LXIV Qantas Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 7 March 1999 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.

280hp Walker railmotor

The railcars soon saw use on the Bendigo-Deniliquin and Ararat-Portland services, and by the time the 91RM was delivered, Mansfield, Wonthaggi, Woomelang and Wangaratta were also being served by the units.

Amway Australia

Amway Australia has four business centres opened in Loganholme, Queensland; Castle Hill, New South Wales; Coburg, Victoria and Kewdale, Western Australia.

Anderson Report

Wearne, a publisher from South Yarra, told the inquiry that 'Scientologists planned to take over Australia, after establishing a "Scientology Government"' and that 'he first heard of the plan to take over Australia in 1960'.

Anglesea Power Station

From 1955 test bores for coal were made at Anglesea by the Roche Brothers, who were then operating a mine at nearby Wensleydale where the coal reserves were dwindling.

Ashwood Football Club

Ashwood play their home games at Essex Heights Reserve which is on the border of Ashwood and Mount Waverley in Melbourne, Victoria.

Australia Highlanders Pipe Band

The Australia Highlanders Pipe Band is a grade one pipe band, based in Nunawading, Victoria, Australia.

Banksia acanthopoda

Banksia acanthopoda is little known in cultivation, although it has been successfully grown and propagated at The Banksia Farm in Mount Barker, Western Australia, and at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne, Melbourne.

Bellarine Secondary College

They qualified to go to the Melbourne States Competition held on the 23rd of August at Scienceworks Museum (Melbourne) in Spotswood, Victoria.

Bells Beach, Victoria

The competition was first held in January 1961 and then at Easter every year since although occasionally, when conditions at Bells aren't suitable, the competition has been transferred to other breaks such as Johanna.

Bill Nicholls

On 18 June 2012, a twenty-six-year-old man was shot outside Nicholls's home in Corio.

Bonnie Fagan

In 1987 her family moved to Talbot, Victoria, where Fagan was educated at Talbot Primary School, and Maryborough High School.

Bruce Twamley

Bruce Richardson Twamley (born 23 May 1952 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a former Canadian international footballer.

Cardinia Reservoir

Cardinia Reservoir is a 287,000 megalitre water storage located in Emerald-Clematis-Dewhurst in south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.

Cardinia Transit

926 PakenhamWestfield Fountain Gate via Lakeside, Beaconsfield station & Berwick (Daily)

CCGS Bartlett

The homeport of CCGS Bartlett is CCG Base Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia.

Celtic nations

Festivals celebrating the culture of the Celtic nations include the Festival Interceltique de Lorient (Brittany), the Pan Celtic Festival (Ireland), CeltFest Cuba (Havana, Cuba), the National Celtic Festival (Portarlington, Australia), the Celtic Media Festival (showcasing film and television from the Celtic nations), and the Eisteddfod (Wales).

Charles Chenery

Chenery emigrated to Australia in 1878, settling in Mansfield, Victoria, where he had relatives.

Clifton Springs

Clifton Springs, Victoria, a coastal town overlooking Corio Bay, approximately 20 km east of Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Clyde North, Victoria

Clyde North is centred on BerwickCranbourne Road and was the original Clyde township before it moved to the area around the railway station to the south.

Cranbourne, Victoria

The greater Cranbourne area consists of Cranbourne, Cranbourne North, Cranbourne East, Cranbourne South, Cranbourne West.

Daphne Pollard

Daphne Pollard (19 October 1892 in Fitzroy, Melbourne – 22 February 1978 in Los Angeles) was an Australian actress in American films, mostly short comedies.

Division of Indi

Other towns in the electorate include Rutherglen, Mansfield, Beechworth, Bethanga, Myrtleford, Corryong, Tallangatta, Euroa and a number of other small villages (notably including the ski resort of Falls Creek).

Djargurd Wurrung

The Djargurd wurrung are Indigenous Australian people who traditionally occupied the territory between Mount Emu Creek and Lake Corangamite, extending to Mount Emu and Cressy in the North, and to Cobden and Swan Marsh in the South in central Victoria and are still represented in the region.

Doriemus

Doriemus is now at Living Legends, the International Home of Rest for Champion Horses in Woodlands Historic Park, Greenvale, Victoria.

Doris McRae

She soon enrolled in the University of Melbourne as an arts student, and by September 1914 was teaching at Faraday Street State School in Carlton.

Drumcondra

Drumcondra, Victoria, Australia, a residential suburb of Geelong, overlooking Corio Bay.

Dyson's Bus Services

520 GreensboroughDoreen via Greensborough Plaza, Greensborough station & Yarrambat (Daily)

Eden Park Kangaroo Cull

During October 2010 the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE (NMIT) applied for and received a 12-month permit from the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment for the Eden Park Kangaroo Cull - to cull 300 Eastern Grey Kangaroos on its 320 hectare Eden Park Vineyard and farm and Northern Lodge equine stud.

Edward Davy

For a short while, he took up farming near Malmsbury, Victoria then moved into Malmsbury where he practised as a physician for the rest of his life.

Elizee De Garis

Ordained in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1880, he married Elizabeth Buncle on 2 February 1881 and was formally ordained as a minister in 1882 for Durham Ox and Kerang.

Eureka Flag

Rebels swore an oath to the flag as a symbol of defiance at its first flying at Bakery Hill and 22 were killed at the Eureka Stockade defending the original flag (now held at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka, on loan from the Art Gallery of Ballarat).

Fantome-class survey motor boat

All eight vessels were constructed by Pro Marine at Seaford, Victoria.

Frederick Azzopardi

Azzopardi was first elected in 1997 as the Deputy Mayor for Victoria, Gozo's Capital, and later in 1998 contested the General Elections when he was elected in the House of Representatives of Malta.

George Pakos

He began work at the same time as a water-metre tecnnician for the city of Victoria, a job he continued for over 25 years.

Gisborne

Gisborne, Victoria, Australia, a town named after Henry Fyshe Gisborne

Glen

The designation "glen" also occurs often in place names such as Great Glen in Scotland, Glenrothes in Fife, Scotland, Glendalough in Republic of Ireland (Éire), Glengowrie in Australia, Glenn Norman in Canada, Klamath Glen in California, Glen Waverley in Australia and Glendowie in Auckland, New Zealand.

Gold nugget

Considered by most to be the biggest gold nugget ever found, the Welcome Stranger was found at Moliagul, Victoria, Australia in 1869 by John Deason and Richard Oates.

Harness Racing Victoria

Tabcorp Park opened a new racing complex at Melton, which incorporates a 1,000 metre track as well as a host of amenities such as restaurants, gaming machines, hotel accommodation and conference facilities.

Heston Phoenix

:Sold in Australia, on 5 July 1936 it crashed in bad weather near Melton, Victoria.

History Teachers' Association of Victoria

Collingwood Football Club became a difficult venue once poker machines were installed, and after a long search a move was made to the Veneto Club in Bulleen.

Hugh Victor McKay

McKay died at Rupertswood, a mansion in Sunbury, Victoria (notable as the birthplace of the Ashes) on 21 May 1926 and was survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons.

Jarvis Walker

Founded in Balwyn, Victoria in 1946 making it one of the oldest family owned fishing companies in Australia.

John Hepworth

From 1977 to 1978 he was the assistant priest in the Colac parish and, from 1978 to 1980, was the rector of the South Ballarat parish based in Sebastopol.

Julius Vogel

He emigrated to Victoria, Australia in 1852, being editor of several newspapers on the goldfields, including the Inglewood Advertiser and the Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser.

Karen Simpson Nikakis

Nikakis was raised in the central Victorian town of Mansfield, surrounded by the mountains of the Victorian Alps.

Keith Faure

Keith George Faure (born June, 1951), from Norlane, Victoria, is an Australian career criminal, convicted of multiple murders and manslaughters.

Lee Troop

He became involved in athletics at the age of 11 when he joined his father's weight loss campaign by taking training runs around the Geelong suburb of Whittington.

Lillydale Lake

Lillydale Lake (the name retaining the earliest spelling and the name of the former Lillydale Shire) is an artificial lake and wetlands area created in Lilydale, Melbourne, Australia.

Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail

By 1998 the trail was continuous from Maroondah Highway, Lilydale to the site of the former Warburton station, with only a relatively short section between Lilydale Station and Maroondah Highway remaining incomplete.

Live at the Continental and the Esplanade

It had been recorded from two performances at the (now defunct) Continental Hotel in Prahran and one performance at the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda, both in Melbourne.

On 19 and 20 September, Kelly and his band performed at the Continental Hotel in Prahran, the sessions were recorded live.

Lonnie Cameron

Lonnie Cameron (born July 15, 1964 Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian National Hockey League linesman, who wears uniform number #74.

Lorri Bagley

Bagley made her television debut at a young age appearing on Late Night with David Letterman in 1982, and had made a name for herself as a model in Europe by the age of fourteen, modelling for the likes of Dior, Chanel and Issey Miyake as well as modelling for Victoria's Secret for five years.

Louis Buvelot

He lived for some years in Latrobe Street East, and then moved to George Street, Fitzroy.

He is represented in the galleries at Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Castlemaine, and his bust by Bertram Mackennal and a portrait in oils by J. C. Waite are also in the Melbourne gallery.

Louis Matheson

When Monash opened, Matheson led and oversaw rapid development, from an empty site in Clayton, to a university recognised internationally for excellence in research and teaching.

Margaret Stones

Elsie Margaret Stones AM, MBE (born 28 August 1920 at Colac, Victoria) is an Australian botanical illustrator.

Mary Fortune

On 25 October 1858, Mary married Percy Rollo Brett (possibly bigamously) at Dunolly, Victoria.

Mary Gaunt

Mary was the eldest daughter of William Henry Gaunt, a Victorian county court judge, and was born in Chiltern, Victoria.

Melbourne Wireless

These projects including extending the network into the Western Region between Melbourne and Melton, extending the network north over the ranges into the Seymour area and adding capacity and reach to the Mornington and Bellarine Peninsulas.

Michael Atchison

He was born in Sandringham, Victoria and moved to South Australia with his family in 1939.

Michael Perrin

Born 13 September 1905 in Victoria, British Columbia he moved to England in 1911 with his British parents, who sent him to Twyford School and Winchester College, and from there to study chemistry at New College, Oxford and the University of Toronto.

Minnie Bell Sharp

In 1919, the now impoverished and decidedly eccentric Sharp announced her candidacy for the constituency of Victoria—Carleton in the first post-war Canadian federal election.

Mornington Secondary College

Mornington Secondary College is a secondary school in Mornington, Victoria, Australia serving the communities of Somerville, Tyabb, Moorooduc, Mount Martha, and Mornington on the Mornington Peninsula and offers the Hands On Learning, The Victoria Police Youth Corp and Drum Corp, and many other extra-curricular programs to its students.

Mount Hawthorn, Western Australia

When this group subdivided their land in 1903, Hicks called his portion of the subdivision Hawthorn Estate, as he had recently been in Melbourne and stayed at Hawthorn.

Murrayville Community College

Murrayville Community College is a State P-12 School located in the north western corner of the Mallee in Murrayville, Victoria.

Murrayville, Victoria

The area of the locality contains a number of smaller areas namely Duddo which had a post office open from 1913 until 1918, Duddo Wells with a post office from 1914 until 1950, Danyo with a post office from 1912 (when the railway arrived) until 1975, and Goongee.

Olive Zakharov

Zakharov also remained involved in her local community; she used her political connections to help save her historic neighbourhood in Port Melbourne from demolition, and at one point painted "NOT FOR SALE" on her roof in order to promote the message.

Phillip Island Road

Phillip Island Road is a tourist highway in Victoria, Australia and branches off the Bass Highway at the township of Anderson.

Phresh Out the Runway

Rihanna performed "Phresh Out the Runway" for the first time at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show alongside "Diamonds", on November 7, 2012.

Pier to Pub

The Lorne Pier to Pub is an annual, 1.2-km open water swimming race held in January at Lorne, a town located on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia.

Pirate radio in Australia and New Zealand

On 5 October, the Australian Communications and Media Authority reported that it shut down an unlicensed AM radio station operating on 1485 kHz from Chadstone following a complaint.

Pomaderris vacciniifolia

The only significant remaining wild population of the round-leaf pomaderris is at Toolangi, about 70 km north east of Melbourne.

Rainbow Serpent Festival

The more recent festivals have been held on farmland in the vicinity of Beaufort, Victoria.

Redan

Redan is also a southern suburb of the regional city of Ballarat in central western Victoria, Australia.

Robert Murray Smith

Smith died at his home in Toorak, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 31 August 1921 predeceased by his wife and a son, survived by three daughters.

Rowan steam railmotor

Both Kitson power units were purchased by the Sanderson and Grant sawmill at Forrest in 1907.

Saintly

Saintly now resides at Living Legends, the international home of rest for champion horses (open to the public) in Greenvale, Melbourne, Australia.

Sheep shearer

Henry Salter (1907–1997) MBE won the first organised shearing contest at Pyramid Hill in 1934 and in 1953 was a machine shearing champion.

Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 10th Baronet

As a result of that visit, the suburb of St Kilda was named after the ship, and Acland St, one of St Kilda's main commercial centres, was named after Acland.

Skipping Girl Vinegar

The band comprises siblings Mark and Sare Lang and their respective childhood friends Chris Helm and Amanthi Lynch, and are named after the Audrey the Skipping Girl Vinegar sign, located in Abbotsford, Victoria.

Slayain

Slayain are an Australian rock band, formed in Frankston, Victoria, in 2005.

St Mark's Abbey

St Mark's Abbey, Camperdown, is an Anglican Benedictine monastery situated in Victoria, Australia.

Stinson Model A

On the morning of 31 January 1945 Tokana was on the Essendon to Kerang leg of its regular service when the port wing separated in flight between Redesdale and Heathcote, fifty miles north of Melbourne.

Sweet and Wild

The album's fourth track "What You Are" was chosen to be part of the runway-soundtrack for the 2010 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

The Deakins

Over their 10 year journey, performing live concerts and dance venues mainly in Melbourne, Geelong, through to Torquay circuits and later, appearing on television’s rock shows Kommotion and the GO!!

Ursula Frayne

Six weeks after her arrival in Melbourne Frayne had raised loans to pay off the mortgages on her convent in Nicholson Street, Fitzroy. Speedy development followed and considerable construction of buildings for social and educational work was undertaken, peaking in the erection of the first wing of the present ‘Academy’ for £6000 in 1870.

Val Royal

He stood from 2003 through 2006 at Oak Lodge Stud in County Kildare, Ireland and was shuttled to Eliza Park stud near Kerrie, Victoria, Australia for the Southern Hemisphere breeding seasons.

Virgil Reilly

Virgil Gavan Reilly, was born on 29 November 1892, the son of the local postmaster in Creswick, Victoria.

VK3RTV

The station's repeater is located on Mount Dandenong and is one of a number of audio and video repeaters licensed to Amateur Radio Victoria.

W. J. Lincoln

W. J. Lincoln was born in Melbourne and was bought up in St Kilda.

Warburton Hospital

Warburton Hospital was a private Adventist hospital in Warburton, Victoria in Australia.

Watersun Swimwear

Operating a retail outlet with manufacturing at the back of a small shop in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Watersun employed young new designers to gain notoriety with swimwear designs in a very conservative post-war Australia.

What A Nuisance

What A Nuisance was retired to Hyland's property at Clyde, near Cranbourne, Victoria.

Whitfield, Victoria

It is close to the township of Cheshunt and the localities of Rose River and Dandongadale.

Wood splitters

Roberts painted the picture from sketches made at a camp he made with Frederick McCubbin at Box Hill, then a rural locality east of Melbourne.


2010 Winton V8 Supercar Event

It contained Races 11 and 12 of the series and was held on the weekend of May 15–16 at Winton Motor Raceway, near Benalla, in rural Victoria.

Acacia murrayana

It is widespread throughout Australia's arid zone, occurring on sand ridges and in disturbed areas in every mainland State except Victoria.

Acanthaeschna victoria

Acanthaeschna victoria, the Thylacine Darner, is a species of dragonfly in family Aeshnidae.

Alexander Malcolm Jacob

He is best known for having sold the Jacob Diamond, which is the seventh largest diamond known in the world (previously known as the Victoria Diamond, Imperial Diamond, or Great White Diamond).

Antares

The Wotjobaluk Koori people of Victoria, Australia, knew Antares as Djuit, son of Marpean-kurrk (Arcturus); the stars on each side represented his wives.

Archibald White

Archie Cecil Thomas White (1890–1971), English recipient of the Victoria Cross

Australian heritage law

Australian heritage laws exist at the national (Commonwealth) level, and at each of Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia state levels.

Australian Plague Locust Commission

With 19 staff members at its headquarters in Canberra and field offices in Narromine, Broken Hill and Longreach, the Commission is funded half by the Commonwealth government and half by the Australian states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland.

AYCE

Access Yea Community Education Program - an alternative high school program in Victoria, Australia

Bishopscourt

Bishopscourt, East Melbourne, a gothic architecture building in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Brad Green

Braddon Green (born 1959), first-class cricketer for Victoria and Devon

Byres Road

During the period when Hillhead and Partick were independent burghs, Byres Road was known by its original name of Victoria Street.

Charlotte Grayson

In Reckoning, after a cold goodbye with her mother, she finds out that Victoria was a victim in a plane crash.

However, Emily isn't able to speak to her before Victoria shows up, and Charlotte not wanting to deal with Victoria, walks away ("Chaos").

Constitution Hill, London

It was the scene of three assassination attempts against Queen Victoria—in 1840 (by Edward Oxford), 1842 (by John Francis) and 1849 (by William Hamilton).

Cunliffe-Owen baronets

Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen, father of the first Baronet, was Director of the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum) from 1874 to 1893.

Earl of Fife

In 1889, Alexander Duff married Princess Louise, the third child and eldest daughter of the future King Edward VII; two days after the wedding, Queen Victoria elevated him to the dignity of Duke of Fife in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

East African Railways and Harbours Corporation

Also in 1961 EAR&H introduced the new Lake Victoria ferry RMS Victoria.

Edwin St Hill

Against Tasmania he had first-innings figures of four for 57 and against Victoria he took six wickets in the game.

Electoral district of Bass

It is covers a diverse range of terrority, from outer suburban Pakenham to the rural towns of Lang Lang and Nar Nar Goon to the coastal tourist centres of Phillip Island and Inverloch.

Environmental planning

The Environment Effects Act 1978 was the first environmental planning control in Victoria, and it assessed the environmental impact of significant developments via an Environmental Effects Statement (EES).

Francis Newton Parsons

His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Essex Regiment Museum, Chelmsford, Essex, England.

Frederick Illingworth

After his resignation from the Legislative Assembly in August 1907, he must have returned to Victoria, for he died at Brighton, Victoria on 8 September 1908, and was buried in Melbourne Cemetery.

Green Party of Canada

Sonya Chandler was elected municipally to Victoria City Council in Victoria BC in 2005, and re-elected with her co-candidate Philippe Lucas in 2010 - both under the Green Party banner (noted on the ballot)

Grevillea aquifolium

In Victoria the species is found in the Grampians region and northwards to the Little Desert as well as near the south coast at Kentbruck Heath near Portland.

Henry Douglas

Henry Edward Manning Douglas (1875–1939), British soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross

Henry Robson

Henry Howey Robson (1894–1964), English recipient of the Victoria Cross

Jon Hume

In May 2012 Hume was featured on the Hook N Sling song "Surrender," which he co-wrote from his studio in rural Victoria (The Stables Recording Studio).

Joseph Potaski

Catherine and Edward had a large family, and eventually migrated to Lara, Victoria.

Jubilee clock

In 1897 the village of Thornford decided to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee by erecting a Jubilee tower clock and incorporating a water tap at its base.

Kevin Lincoln

In 1990, a survey exhibition of his paintings and drawings was mounted by the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, which toured Tasmania and Victoria.

Lafone

Alexander Malins Lafone (1870–1917), English recipient of the Victoria Cross

Laverton North Power Station

Laverton North Power Station is a power station in Laverton, on the outskirts of Melbourne, Victoria.

Lewis Evans

Lewis Pugh Evans (1881–1962), British Brigadier General and World War I Victoria Cross recipient

Linking and intrusive R

Other recognizable examples are the Beatles singing: "I saw-r-a film today, oh boy" in the song "A Day in the Life", from their 1967 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, at the Sanctus in the Catholic Mass: "Hosanna-r-in the highest" and in the phrases, "Law-r-and order" and "Victoria-r-and Albert Museum".

Maratha titles

Knight Grand Commander (GCIE): It is a title created by the British and is a part of The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878.

Moondarra Rail Trail

The Moondarra Rail Trail is a little-maintained, 7  km section of the former Walhalla Railway in Gippsland, Victoria.

Nabarlek

The nabarlek is found in three distinct population areas: in Arnhem Land (including Groote Eylandt); between the Mary and Victoria Rivers in the Top End; and the coastal Kimberley region of Western Australia, including some islands in the Bonaparte Archipelago.

ODL

Ordnance Datum Liverpool, an ordnance datum recorded at Victoria Dock in Liverpool, England

Old Gippstown

It is currently used by a number of local groups, and is one of the newest Masonic Lodges in Victoria.

One Special Night

This was Garner's and Andrews' third film pairing as romantic leads, after Paddy Chayevsky's The Americanization of Emily (1964) and Victor/Victoria (1982).

Pantages Theatre

the McPherson Playhouse in Victoria, BC was originally opened as a Pantages Theatre in 1914

Peter Rouw

The Victoria & Albert Museum holds a medallion in pink wax on black glass made by him of Prince Lucien Bonaparte (1814), the Duke of Wellington (1822) and posthumously in 1814 of Matthew Boulton, the partner of James Watt.

Royal descendants of Queen Victoria and King Christian IX

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is also descended from Queen Victoria and not Christian IX, but he is her descendant twice, as his parents were second cousins because they were both great-grandchildren of Victoria.

Serendip Sanctuary

Originally used for farming and other purposes, it was purchased in 1959 by the state government of Victoria for wildlife research and the captive management and breeding of species threatened in Victoria, such as the Brolga, Magpie Goose, Australian Bustard, and Bush Stone-curlew.

Southgate River

Its namesake was Captain James Johnson Southgate, a retired ship-master, who came to Victoria in 1859 via San Francisco and launched a commission and general mercantile business, largely in connection with the Pacific Station of the Royal Navy at Esquimalt, operating as J.J. Southgate & Co.

The New Adventures of Black Beauty

The series focused upon the character of Victoria 'Vicky' Denning (played by Amber McWilliams).

Victoria of Albitina

Her legend states that she was of the North African nobility and refused an arranged marriage (a story told also of another Saint Victoria).

Victoria Park, Cardiff

The park was created as a municipal recreation ground by Cardiff City Council through a city charter between 1897 and 1898 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee marking her record sixty years on the throne.