Lamplough

Lamplough is a rural locality on the Sunraysia Highway, 8 km south-east of Avoca in central-west Victoria. It was named after the Lamplough pastoral run which was taken up by John Brooksbank in 1841.

In 1859 a rush on alluvial gold at Lamplough resulted in a population estimated as high as 20,000 people within about a year. The mining leads gave good yields, but they rapidly diminished. The lure of better prospects at Moonambel and Redbank caused a loss of population, although sufficient remained for a school to be opened in 1873.

In 1903 Lamplough was described in the Australian handbook:

The school building (1875) remains one of the few buildings left standing, having closed in 1949. Lamplough’s other signs of settlement are old gold workings, mullock heaps and a reservoir. The last mullock heap had a life span of 1859 to 1936, when mining briefly revived.

Lamplough’s census populations were: