Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

The Bendigo Talking Tram in Bendigo, Victoria
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bendigo_talking_tram.jpg
Author: Robert Merkel


Bendigo is a city in the central inland part of Victoria, Australia. It is close to the geographic center of the state. Bendigo has a population of 92,000 people (2012 estimate), making it the second largest inland city in Victoria and the fourth most populous in the state. The City of Greater Bendigo is a metropolitan area covering both the urban and outlying parts of Bendigo.

Until the arrival of Europeans, the Bendigo area was inhabited by the Dja Dja Wrung tribe of indigenous people. The first European to pass through the area was Major Thomas Mitchell in 1836. In his wake came squatters who established sheep runs in the area.

Bendigo Fire Station
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BendigoFireStation.JPG
Author: Mattinbgn


The discovery of gold in Bendigo was made by two women, Margaret Kennedy and Julia Farrell in 1851. When this is reported in the newspapers in Melbourne, it sparked a gold rush. There was an influx of Chinese miners to the area, creating a large Chinatown that still exists in Bendigo. Many of the Europeans in Bendigo trace their ancestry to Cornwall. This is so because in the 1880s, over 40% of the people there had either a father or mother born there.

The name Bendigo comes from the Bendigo Creek, which in turn was named after Nottingham prize-fighter William Abednego Thompson, popularly known as Bendigo Thompson. The city grew quickly out of the gold rush. This is reflected in its many magnificent 19th buildings, particularly those built in the 1870s, many of which are still standing today.

Visiting Bendigo

From Melbourne take the M79 until Ravenswood South, where it continues as the A79/A300 to reach Bendigo.

Places of Interest in Bendigo

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