# Moyston

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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Moyston.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyston
> Source revision: 1318368625
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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type     = town
| name     = Moyston
| state    = vic
| image    = Entering Moyston.JPG
| caption  = Approaching Moyston
| lga      = Rural City of Ararat
| use_lga_map = yes
| postcode = 3377
| est      = 1857
| pop      = 403
| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}}
| pop_footnotes = <ref name="ABS"/>
| elevation= 
| coordinates = {{coord|37|18|0|S|142|46|0|E|display=inline,title}}
| maxtemp  = 
| mintemp  = 
| rainfall = 
| stategov = [Lowan](/source/Electoral_district_of_Lowan)
| fedgov   = [Wannon](/source/Division_of_Wannon)
| dist1    = 224
| dir1     = NW
| location1= [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne)
| dist2    = 110
| dir2     = W
| location2= [Ballarat](/source/Ballarat%2C_Victoria)
| dist3    = 17
| dir3     = W
| location3= [Ararat](/source/Ararat%2C_Victoria)
}}
[[File:Tom wills monument moyston victoria.jpg|thumb|200px|Monument and pavilion to [Tom Wills](/source/Tom_Wills), inventor of [Australian Football](/source/Australian_Football)]]

'''Moyston''' is a town in the [Western District](/source/Western_District%2C_Victoria) region of [Victoria](/source/Victoria_(Australia)), [Australia](/source/Australia), near the [Grampians](/source/Grampians_National_Park) mountain range.  The town is located in the [Rural City of Ararat](/source/Rural_City_of_Ararat) [local government area](/source/Local_government_in_Australia), {{convert|224|km|mi|0}} north west of the state capital, [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne).  At the [2021 census](/source/2021_Australian_census), Moyston and the surrounding area had a population of 403.<ref name="ABS">{{Census 2021 AUS
|id=SAL21822
|name=Moyston (Suburbs and Localities)
|access-date=2022-11-16
|quick=on}}</ref>

Moyston is the self-proclaimed "Birthplace of [Australian Football](/source/Australian_Football)", based on its connection to the sport's founder, [Tom Wills](/source/Tom_Wills), who grew up in the area in the 1840s, and, according to some, played [Marn Grook](/source/Marn_Grook) with the Indigenous people of the area.<ref>Harris, Amelia (22 March 2008). [http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/moyston-where-footy-dreams-lie/story-e6frf9jf-1111115857681 "Moyston where footy dreams lie"], ''The Herald Sun''. Retrieved 4 January 2015.</ref>

== History ==
The first [European](/source/European_land_exploration_of_Australia) to see the Moyston area was the explorer Major [Thomas Mitchell](/source/Thomas_Mitchell_(explorer)) in 1836.<ref name="SMH">{{cite news
 | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/Victoria/Moyston/2005/02/17/1108500207063.html
 | title = Moyston
 | work = Travel
 | publisher = [Sydney Morning Herald](/source/Sydney_Morning_Herald)
 | access-date = 2007-08-28
 | date=2004-02-08
}}</ref>  [Squatters](/source/Squatting_(pastoral)) and their flocks of sheep followed soon after, among them [Horatio Wills](/source/Horatio_Wills). His son, [Tom Wills](/source/Tom_Wills), was Australia's first great [cricket](/source/cricket)er and a pioneer of [Australian rules football](/source/Australian_rules_football).  It has been claimed that, while living in the Moyston area, Wills witnessed or played [Marn Grook](/source/Marn_Grook), an Aboriginal football game that inspired his laws for Australian football.<ref name="Plan">{{cite web
 | url = http://www.ararat.vic.gov.au/Files/Moyston.pdf
 | title = Moyston Community Action Plan
 | publisher = [Rural City of Ararat](/source/Rural_City_of_Ararat)
 | access-date = 2007-08-28
}}</ref>  The discovery of [gold](/source/gold) in 1857 started a small [gold rush](/source/Victorian_gold_rush) and the establishment of a township. The Post Office opened on 19 March 1860 as Campbell's Reef and was renamed Moyston in 1866.<ref name = "a">{{Cite web | last = Phoenix Auctions History  | title = Post Office List | url =http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=*Moyston* | access-date = 13 March 2021}}</ref>
In 1861, a formal survey of the township was made and blocks offered for sale.  By then, the town included two churches, three [hotels](/source/Australian_pubs) and a police station.<ref name="Plan"/>

By 1880, mining in the area had declined and [vineyard](/source/vineyard)s and orchards were established along with [dairy](/source/dairy)ing and [grazing](/source/grazing) on newly developed [selections](/source/Selection_(Australian_history)).  The last mine in the area, the "Golden Gate", ceased operation by around 1910.<ref name="Plan"/>

== The Town today ==
Today, Moyston is an historic town surrounded by farming properties and where workers employed in the nearby towns of [Great Western](/source/Great_Western%2C_Victoria), [Ararat](/source/Ararat%2C_Victoria), [Stawell](/source/Stawell%2C_Victoria), and [Halls Gap](/source/Halls_Gap%2C_Victoria), reside.  Several public businesses operate in and near the town which included the post office, the general store and Clayfield Winery.<ref name="Shire">{{cite web
 | url = http://www.ararat.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.asp?Page_Id=345&h=1
 | title = Moyston
 | publisher = [Rural City of Ararat](/source/Rural_City_of_Ararat)
 | access-date = 2007-08-28
}}</ref> The town shares an Australian rules football team with nearby [Willaura](/source/Willaura%2C_Victoria), the Moyston-Willaura [Pumas](/source/Mininera_%26_District_Football_League), competing in the [Mininera & District Football League](/source/Mininera_%26_District_Football_League).<ref name="Footy">{{cite web
 | url = http://www.moystonwillaurafc.vcfl.com.au/
 | title = Moyston-Willaura Football & Netball Club
 | access-date = 2007-08-28
}}</ref>

==References==
{{commons category}}
{{reflist}}
{{Towns in the Rural City of Ararat}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Towns in Victoria (state)
Category:Mining towns in Victoria (state)
Category:Western District (Victoria)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Moyston](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyston) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyston?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.