Jung

Jung is a rural village in the Wimmera region on the railway line between Murtoa and Horsham. It is 18 km north-east of Horsham. The name came from the Parish of Jung Jung, derived from an Aboriginal expression of uncertain meaning but ingloriously recorded in some places as meaning a big mess.

The original Jung settlement was on the Yarriambiack Creek, about 3 km north of the present location. It was known as Taylor’s Creek, Green Hills (the name of an adjacent livestock station) and Jerro. The last name was given by surveyors when a township was laid out in 1877, the year after a school was opened.

In 1879 the railway line from Murtoa was extended to Horsham and a railway station was opened. It became the nucleus of the present village. Local residents petitioned for the removal of the school building to the railway location, and among them was George Coles, a wheat buyer. He later started a store at Jung and in 1885 the second of his children, also named George, was born there. George junior also became a storekeeper, and later the founder of G.J. Coles and Company, chain of variety stores.

When the petition for removal of the school was made in 1881, the signatories included three storekeepers, three hotelkeepers and two blacksmiths. Jung also had a Methodist church. In 1903 the village was described in the Australian handbook:

Jung is not on a main or arterial road, and with the decline of the importance of railway Jung has grown smaller. A septic tank sewerage scheme has slowed the loss of population, but not enough to prevent the closure of the school in 1993.

Jung has several houses, a recreation reserve, a public hall and silos at the railway siding. Jung has fielded many successful cricket teams, particularly during the 1930s to 1960s. It has teams in the Horsham district competition for players ‘of all ages from 5 to 100’.

Jung’s census populations have been: