Clunes is a town in Victoria, Australia, 36 kilometres north of Ballarat, in the Shire of Hepburn. At the 2006 census it had a population of 1,026. The 2011 census recorded a population of 1,656 usual residents.
History
Pre-colonial
The Djadja Wurrung people were the first inhabitants of the region including the settlement which later became Clunes. The words Djadja Wurrung defines the name of the tribe and the language they spoke. It is a combination of 'djadja' (yes) and 'wurrung' (speech). Being called the "yes people" suggests that the tribe were considered to be a friendly group of people. The "Gurabungalid Gundidj" clan were part of the Djadja Wurrung tribe and based around Mt Beckworth. The clans were also made up of small family groups. There is no evidence of their presence in the town of Clunes, however on farms and near outlying streams middens and stone formations can be found.
Discovery of gold
The town was home to Victoria's first registered gold discovery made by James Esmond. His discovery, first published in the Geelong Advertiser on 7 July 1851 triggered the first gold rush in Victoria. The township was established a few years later and subsequent gold mining, predominantly driven by the Port Phillip and Colonial Mining Company saw the town's population rising to well over 6,000 residents in the late 1880s.
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