Boorcan

Boorcan is a rural locality in western Victoria, on the Princes Highway and railway line, 12 km west of Camperdown. Two crater lakes lie between Boorcan and Camperdown, and it is thought that Boorcan’s name was derived from an Aboriginal word meaning deep water hole.

In 1840 the Marida Yallock pastoral run was taken up in the area later to become Boorcan. The run was heavily timbered, but laborious clearing and excavation of drains converted it to a prosperous stock fattening property. The McKinnon family has owned the property since 1854, and the homestead (c1865) is on the Register of the National Estate.

Boorcan was a very minor locality until after World War II when nearly 60% of the Marida Yallock property was purchased for soldier settlement farms. Boorcan’s most famous soldier settler, Bill Roycroft, won an Olympic gold medal in Rome (1960) in a three day equestrian event, despite having a broken collar bone and other injuries on the third day. His children have also been successful equestrians.

Boorcan’s census populations have been: