History of Moyston

The History of Moyston

In 1857, while sheltering from bad weather, two men who had struck out west from Ararat toward the Grampians, noticed a deserted shepherd’s hut on the outskirts of where Moyston now lies. The hut was only a rough structure of slab and bark walls and a chimney constructed of sods of earth. While warming themselves by the fire they had lit, they were amazed to see small specimens of gold in the chimney sods. They picked out nearly two pennyweights. Immediately there was a rush to the area, but only a few prospectors got any gold and the rush was described as a failure.

In 1859, the field was again tried and substantial quantities of gold were found and the payable reef was called Campbell’s Reef. For the next year, the rush was in full swing with the population of the settlement being estimated at several thousand souls. There was a fresh outburst of mining activity in 1860, one claim reporting they were securing 6 ounces to the ton.

In 1861, the township was surveyed into building blocks and was then sold to prospective homebuilders. Some eight mines were then working and a substantial amount of machinery had been installed at the various claims. There were then 2 churches, 3 stores, 3 hotels and a police station in the township and Daniel Sullivan was conducting a school.

In the late 1880s gold mining in the district had begun to decline mainly because the reef had been mined to a depth of 500 feet. From then on most attention was directed toward developing the district into a farming community, a move that resulted in considerable wealth being won from the soil. Subsequently, the farming community of the Moyston district has contributed much wealth to the Ararat district.

After the 1880s farms were springing up throughout the district, homes were being built and in several instances vineyards and orchards of modest proportions were established. Agriculture, grazing and dairying in varying proportions showed up in the district and the move from mining to other activities was taking place. However, the mining, although on a declining scale, was still being pursued.

The last of the working mines was the Golden Gate, which closed about 1910. Meanwhile land formerly leased by the stations was being thrown open for selection, beginning the new era of farming activities in the district.

Source: Reminiscences of Moyston by A.W. Vanstan, republished by MPA in 1981

Moyston - The birthplace of Australian Rules Football

Thomas Wentworth Wills was the son of Horatio Spencer Wills, the first squatter to settle the plains below Mt. William in 1841. Tom grew up on Lexington Station. His playmates were the children of those Aboriginal tribes who frequented the Station. Horatio believed that the Aborigines had right of free range to the pastoral lands.

Periodically two tribes met for corroboree. The Black Cockatoos met the White Cockatoos. Using a ball made from a possum skin stuffed with charcoal, the tribes played a game that could last for days and covered vast distances. A settler named James Lawson described this game. He called it Aboriginal Football. Tom Wills would have been exposed to this game and learnt skills with his playmate. His siblings were too young for rough games.

Occasional visitors to Lexington, Tom’s cousins George and Coley Harrison, would also have had some experience with Tom’s Aboriginal  playmates. Many years later when HCA Harrison was questioned by a reporter Alfred Bonticelli ( Spectator of Melbourne News), with reference to the Aborigines, Coley said “we were so used to having them around, we took them for granted. Tom was clever, he picked up their language and spoke it fluently”.

Tom’s early education was given by his father , Horatio. Later he was sent to Brickwood’s  Seminary, then in 1850 Horatio sent Tom to Riugby in England to complete his education. While there he played Rugby and excelled at cricket. He became captain of the Rugby cricket XI in 1855.

Tom later returned to Melbourne in late 1856. He was well known in England as a sportsman. He joined the Melbourne Cricket Club and soon made his name in the colony as a famous cricketer. Tom was obsessed with sport. He wanted winter sports or games. His studies were neglected, much to Horatio’s dismay.

Tom thought rugby was not a game for grown men to play. He wanted a game suited to Australian conditions, so set about persuading the young gentlemen of the Melbourne Cricket Club to his view. Tom wills invented his own football game. He combined parts of Rugby with parts of the Aboriginal game he played as a boy, to form Australian Football. High marking is characteristic of the Aboriginal game. The AFL recognises this as the origin of Australian Football, and especially Tom Wills as the founder of the game.

Tom encouraged his cousin Coley Harrison to also join the Melbourne Cricket Club. HCA Harrison soon became involved in Tom’s pursuit of an Australian game. Harrison was a fine athlete renowned as a foot runner. The Harrison room at the Melbourne Cricket Club commemorates his long association with that club. HCA Harrison was a fine administrator. He was honoured with the title “Father of the Australian game of Football”.

Early games were rough and tumble affairs. In 1858, a match was arranged between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar. Each team had 40 players, the goal post were one mile apart. First team to kick two goals was declared the winner. Tom Wills acted as an umpire. Scotch College kicked one goal but the match was abandoned after five hours play. This match is recognised as the first game of Australian Football.

In May 1859 the Melbourne Football Club was formed and the rules formalized. Tom Wills was the first Captain. Soon after clubs were formed by Sth. Yarra, St. Kilda and Geelong. Later Richmond and others followed.

In January 1861 Tom left with Horatio’s party to journey to the property in Cullinlaringo in Queensland. After a journey of eight months they arrived at their destination. On 17th October Horatio and eighteen members of his party were murdered by Aborigines. Tom Wills escaped. He was devastated. He returned to Victoria where he played and coached football where ever he was needed. Tom Wills captained a western district twenty-two cricket team against an English Eleven in Ararat in 1864. Some weeks after that game the first Moyston cricket team was formed and later the first Moyston Football team.

Many changes had happened in this district since Hotatio left in 1852. Campbell had owned the Lexington run when gold was discovered in 1857. This became known as Campbell’s Reef. The township of Moyston was surveyed in 1861. It was alive with people. At least six mines were working. The Aborigines of Tom’s youth had moved on. Lexington was now owned by big John Clark. In 1865 Tom Wills found himself in Edenhope.

He had been asked to coach an Aboriginal cricket team. There were more Aborigines playing cricket in that area than anywhere in the Colony. Cricket had been a pastime enjoyed and played on the Stations. Aboriginal players had more skills than many settlers, Tom spoke their language, he knew their culture. This Aboriginal team he took around the State of Victoria playing against local clubs.

The team played before a crowd of 10,000 people at the M.C.C. on Boxing Day 1866. Their athletic skills were a crowd pleaser. The team then went to N.S.W. where Tom had received such acclaim a few years earlier playing cricket. Unfortunately in Sydney the team’s manager absconded with the money and left them stranded. Charles Lawrence, a former English cricketer and friend of Tom, rescued them and arranged fares back to Edenhope. It was Lawrence who arranged for the Australian Aboriginal cricket team to tour England in 1868.

The next few years Tom drifted between cricket and football. He played where ever his skills were needed. He died by his own hand on 2nd May 1880 aged 44 years. The Melbourne Cricket Club raised money from the public and erected a substantial tombstone over his grave in Heidelberg cemetery.

The idea for a monument to commemorate Will’s place in Australian History came about when Moyston poet “Barry from the Bush”(Fred Homberg) addressed senior executives of Westpac Banking Corporation and raised the idea of Westpac donating funds for a monument. This concept was immediately and generously embraced by Westpac. Cray Bros of Stawell were commissioned to design and erect this monument, which is regarded by all as a fitting tribute to a local hero. The monument was unveiled by Colin N Hutchinson ( the Australian Football League Official Historian ) on 17th September 1998. In attendance were representatives of A.F.L.  Clubs, Scotch College, Melbourne Grammar, Indigenous Community, leading Media personalities and a large audience drawn from local and distant areas.