Deptford, Victoria

Deptford is a locality in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.[2] In the 2016 census, Deptford had a population of zero.[1]

Deptford Victoria
Deptford
Coordinates	37.571307°S 147.6833378°E / -37.571307; 147.6833378
Population	0 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)	3875
Location	27 km (17 mi) N of Bairnsdale 241 km (150 mi) E of Melbourne
LGA(s)	Shire of East Gippsland
State electorate(s)	Gippsland East
Federal division(s)	Gippsland
Suburbs around Deptford: Marthavale Stirling Tambo Crossing Ryans Deptford Double Bridges Bullumwaal Waterholes Fairy Dell Bruthen

A former mining town of which little remains, the Deptford locality today is entirely located in state forests, variously the Yowen-Burrun State Forest, Warriballat State Forest, Haunted Stream State Forest and the Bruthen State Forest. The former townsite, on the Nicholson River, is now the Deptford Picnic Area.[2][3] The Haughtons Flat Diversion Tunnel, south of the old townsite, is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.[4]

Deptford was established in 1864, replacing the nearby Store Creek settlement as the service town for the Nicholson River Goldfield.[5] Mining in the area was largely shaft-based across three main reefs, with some small-scale alluvial prospecting in the Nicholson River.[6] The population varied over the decades depending on the state of the mining industry, peaking at approximately 300.[5]

In 1867, the town had two stores, two butchers' shops and a bakery, with two hotels under construction. The Gippsland Times said of Deptford: "The manners and customs of the place are of a primitive nature, interspersed with a good deal of drinking and civil fights, especially on Saturday nights, a good index that there is money in circulation". The town had no doctors, clergymen or policemen at that time.[6] All buildings apart from the store, a hotel and three timber houses were reportedly "simple bush structures of spars and bark".[5]

The Travellers' Rest Hotel (also known as the Miners' Rest Hotel) opened in 1865, was extended in 1894, and burned down in 1905.[5][7] The first Deptford Post Office opened on 22 February 1868 and closed around September 1878; the second opened on 16 February 1885, was downgraded to a receiving office on 1 July 1927 and closed on 30 June 1928.[8] Deptford State School (No. 3151) opened in January 1892 and closed in 1928.[5] A church, used by both Anglican and Presbyterian congregations, was built in the 1890s.[9][10][11]

The original Deptford cemetery was located on Navigation Creek, but was eroded by flooding and was subsequently moved. The first recorded burial was in 1870 and the last in 1898 - the year in which the cemetery was officially gazetted.[9]

The former Store Creek settlement is now located within the broader locality of Deptford. It was the main settlement on the goldfield prior to the founding of Deptford. A government battery there was established in 1898.[2][12][5]