The Naming of Castlemaine
The following excerpt is from the ‘1930 Jubilee Book with Editions 1984‘ regarding how Castlemaine came to be named.
“According to “The Vagabond” (Mr Julian Thomas), Castlemaine was so named at the request of Mr Charles Joseph La Trobe, the first Lieut.-Governor of Victoria, who called it after a town of that name in Ireland, where he was for some time Inspector of Schools.
In the Melbourne “Argus” of July 5, 1924, a correspondent (G.B.) states that Castlemaine was so named by Mr Wright, chief Commissioner of Goldfields, at whose estate on the banks of the River Shannon, in Ireland, Mr Wright had spent much of his boyhood.
At a quarterly meeting of the Castlemaine Pioneers’ Association on December 29, 1893, Mr J.F. Hughes stated that he had just received a letter from Mr Maylon, of Ballarat, stating that he was present at the ceremony of christening our town “Castlemaine” by Commissioner Daly, whose father was a native of Castlemaine, Ireland, and that his proposal to call the town “Castlemaine” met with unanimous approval. A large crowd of diggers was present at the baptismal ceremony.
The population at this period would be between 10,000 and 15,000, as the diggers were a floating body, whereas the population at present time (1930) is about 5,000 persons, who are for the most part, in settled residence.”