Alexandra, the town

...a place in the KellyGang story 

Location

On the road to Mansfield

Beginings

This area was explored by Hume and Hovell in 1824 on their trip from the Murray River to the Western District.
The area was inhabited by the Taungurong Aboriginal community.

There was some white settlement in the area from squatters in the 1840s.

The town was named Alexandra, after Alexandra, the wife of King Edward VII. They married when he was Prince of Wales and she was the Princess

Importance of Alexandra

Gold was discovered by Alexander McGregor, Alexander Don and Alexander Luckie in 1866.
The area was originaly called the Red Gate Diggings, and the town Red Gate.

What was Alexandra like in the late 1870s

What was the area like (Argus9/5/79)

Alexandra had a correspondent for the Argus who was very active

By about 1884 the gold rush had ended and the town was nearly deserted but it was sustained by the timber industry and as a centre for the farming community. Most of the buildings were made of timber and very few of them survive

Facilities in Alexandra in the late 1870s

Union Bank

The Alexandra shire was formed in 1869

Links to the KellyGang

Const Irwin led search party to Alexandra .(Argus30/10/78)
SConst Irvine led a search prty near Alexandra (Argus31/12/78)
He gave evidence against Walter Lynch. (Argus21/11/78)

The KellyGang in the area ?(Argus13/11/78) (Argus19/11/78) (Argus13/12/78) (Argus23/12/78)

All the gold was taken from the bank to Melbourne (Argus17/12/78)

Members of the Alexandra community

 

 

 

 

 

What happened at Alexandra after the time of the KellyGang

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22-apr-10

What is happening at Alexandra today - a part of the Kelly Country and Ned Kelly's story

The country around Alexandra is slowly recovering from the 2009 bushfires

Enjoy this wonderful part of our history, but Please respect the privacy of the current owners