Lal Lal - A Brief History

In the year 1838 a party of young men including; William C Yuille, Henry Anderson, Thomas Learmonth and headed by his brother Sommerville Learmonth, left Geelong to look for land suitable for sheep.

They climbed a mountain called Bonin Yowang by the blacks (now known as Buninyong). Bonin Yowang means a man lying down with his knees up. They saw from the top the type of land they were looking for and returned to Geelong for supplies. They decided where each man should select his territory.

Learmonth selected near 'Bolorat' swamp. (Bolorat meaning: resting place - now called Ballarat) included in his land the place where the city of Ballarat now stands.

Anderson selected down along the Leigh and Yarrowee rivers.

Yuille built his house at Sebastopol and was actually the first resident of Ballarat.

Russel's selection was nearer to Geelong on the Moorabool river. Before leaving Geelong, Russell told his friend Andrew Scott, of the land available and this man came to select on the side of Mount Buninyong. A place that is now called Scotsburn.

The Lal Lal Run was first taken up by Blakney and Airey in 1840. The Lal Lal Run soon changed hands being purchased by Mr Peter Inglis, who also owned the adjoining Warrenheip run. in 1845, the then young Archibald Fisken took over the proprietorship of Lal Lal from his uncle Peter Inglis, the condition being that he pay for the property by the time he attained his majority. The Lal Lal Run, now somewhat reduced, has been the home of the Fisken family since that date.

In December 1886 there is mention of both the lignite and kaolin mines and there had been improvements made to the Lal Lal Falls reserve.

November 1, 1887 records a sad fatality at Lal Lal Falls. There was an excursion from Loreto College and a student drowns in the pool at the foot of the Falls.

There were still gold workings in 1891 and there was talk of bringing a diamond drill.

However like Buninyong, the rural peace of Lal Lal was also shattered by the discovery of gold in 1851. This time it was not gold and the date was a few years later. In 1854 the first iron ore was mined at Lal Lal. The Blast furnace still remains, a silent tribute to a once thriving industry.

In the following year brown coal and kaolin were discovered. The quality of kaolin was so good that it was sent to England for fine clay. Kaolin is still mined at Lal Lal.

In 1862 the Geelong Ballarat Railway was officially opened and the impressive station built. Lal Lal was a thriving township. There was a brickwork's, and of course the Lal Lal Turf Club formed in 1873. The New Year's Day Race Meeting drew the crowds from far and wide. In 1875 a special railway line was built to link up with the Race Course. The Lal Lal Races continued until the second world war. In fact the race course holds the record for the highest attendance at a country race meeting - 1937 - 32,000.

The original Lal Lal Falls Hotel was operating in 1890. The present Lal Lal Hotel replaces what was known and th Railway Hotel. This was destroyed by fire in 1923.

The reports on the Lal Lal New Year's Races are many. Even in 1887 there were about 30,000 people congregated around the race course, of these 10,000 going from Ballarat by trains. There had been many improvements including a new Grand Stand.

With the end of mining, Lal Lal like so many of the small district townships gradually declined and returned t its former role as the centre for the surrounding rural community.

Lal Lal - native meaning "water water". Geologists tell us that centuries ago Lal Lal was a lake and natural sand bank skirts the central flats.

A series of eruptions took place in the area, one at the Lal Lal Falls broke the bank, erosion then formed the creek which runs down to the junction of the Moorabool river. A half mile upstream are the Granite Falls with the Moorabool falls a little further on. The rocky water holes around eighty feet deep are above the Lal Lal falls, these are solid granite as are the granite falls while the Moorabool and Lal Lal Falls are basalt.

Several aboriginal ovens have been found in the district. probably there was a plentiful supply of food from the lake.