Ensay (Victoria)
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 Ensay on the Great Alpine Road |
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Ensay is a small town in eastern Gippsland in the Australian state of Victoria and is located on the Great Alpine Road between Swifts Creek and Bruthen on the Tambo River . The nearest major town is Bairnsdale 80 km south. Melbourne is 366 km to the west.
The city center is located a little north of the confluence of the Little River in the Tambo River at an altitude of approx. 400 m above sea level. NN At the last census in 2006 the population was found to be 331.
history
The Aboriginal name of the area around today's Ensay was Numblamunjie (German: river black fish ). In 1843 the pioneer Archibald Macleod (see Bairnsdale: History ) built a sheep station in this area. He named the place after a now uninhabited island in the Outer Hebrides called Ensay , his Scottish homeland.
The land around Ensay originally claimed in 1839 the well-known explorer Angus MacMillan for his employer at the time, Lachlan Macalister (see also Macalister River ). After large parts of the central Gippsland were settled soon afterwards in 1841, this land was given up again.
The original Ensay sheep station covered a huge area of 155.4 km² (15,540 hectares) up to Swifts Creek, where the area of Tongio Station joined. Some areas in the immediate vicinity of today's Ensay, such as B. Reedy Flat , but did not belong to the station and were only settled by Europeans in the 1870s. The first post office in Ensay opened on March 1, 1864.
The Ensay sheep station was increasingly split up into smaller farms. In particular, former soldiers looking for work after the end of World War I were given land by the government. They built farms and mainly raised calves and sheep.
Institutions (then and now)
The population in Ensay has decreased over the past few decades. In the past, Ensay had an elementary school, a number of sports teams, and other facilities such as B. two larger pubs, two churches, a meeting hall, a scout group and a cemetery. Today only a few of these institutions remain in one form or another.
The Ensay Primary School (originally simply Ensay School ) opened in 1889 and received a new building in 1912. In 1971, three other primary schools in the area (Reedy Flat, Ensay North and Tambo Crossing) had to close and the school in Ensay was slammed. In 1994 this school also had to be closed after there were only 6 students left. Since then, the children from Ensay have had to take the school bus to Swifts Creek Primary School , and older students to Swifts Creek Secondary College .
The Little River Inn originated in the 1840s as a bar serving grog . The first liquor license was issued in 1847 and alcohol can still be served there today, which makes the establishment popular with the population. This makes it the oldest inn in the Omeo district and probably in the entire eastern Gippsland. The earlier buildings appear to have been very endangered by fire, as the inn burned down at least three times. The current building was constructed in the 1920s after the 1921 fire. Since then it has stood at a point that was formerly called Calcutta Corner and is approx. 1 km outside the town center, approx. 500 m down an eastern side street of the Great Alpine Road.
For many years the Ensay post office operated in a small annex to the Little River Inn. After moving to the general store, a bookstore moved there, stayed there for a few years, then moved to the former elementary school building and was eventually relocated to Swifts Creek. The Ensay South Hotel on a residential street about 500 meters south of the city center opened in 1892 and closed in 1961.
A medical station was opened in Ensay in 1912 and was given a new building in 1958. In 1978 it was renamed the Ensay Community Health Center . Ensay also owns a fire station which was established in 1940 as the Ensay Bush Fire Brigade .
Sports
The Ensay Football Club ( Australian Football ) played in the Omeo District Football League (OFDL) for many decades . In 1934, 1936, 1940, 1946, 1947, 1950 and 1960 they won the championship in this league. The affiliated Ensay Netball Club played in the corresponding netball league.
Ensay's colors were blue and gold. The women of the netball club wore yellow blouses and blue skirts.
Both clubs played their last competitions in 1995, then no longer had enough players and had to close. The sports facilities are still maintained today and special competitions are occasionally held there.
The Ensay Tennis Club plays in the Omeo District Tennis Association (ODTA). When the football and netball teams had to give up, the tennis club held out for a few years, but also stopped its activities in 2001-2003. Since the 2003/2004 season, however, he has been taking part in the ODTA games again. The ANA Turin also takes place in Ensay on the Australia Day weekend at the end of January.
On New Year's Day there was a sports carnival in Ensay, which mainly consists of equestrian events. It has been held since 1916, but has recently stopped taking place. A number of other equestrian events take place on the sports grounds in Ensay and there is also a bowls area.
Gallery images
source
- PD Gardner, PD: Names of the Great Alpine Road Between Bairnsdale and Omeo Ngarak Press. Ensay (1997)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics : Ensay ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ Post Office List . Premier Postal History