Bromley

Bromley is a rural locality in the goldfields area between Bendigo and Maryborough. The nearest town of any size is Dunolly, which is three km north-west of Bromley.

Gold was discovered in 1854 at Burnt Creek, the original name of Bromley until 1864, attracting a rush of about 400 miners. As Burnt Creek was set in the midst of various alluvial diggings, miners were drawn away to better prospects and back again when new finds occurred at Burnt Creek. A peak mining population of 3000 was reported in 1856.

An Anglican school was opened in 1857 and the Bromley village was surveyed in 1864. It is thought that the name was inspired by Bromley in Kent, England. Bailliere's Victorian gazetteer (1865) stated that Bromley had two quartz-crushing mills and a population of about 500 people. A Methodist church was opened in 1870, and the Chinese mining community had a joss house. Bromley was described in the 1903 Australian handbook:

Mining continued until the turn of the century, although machinery was needed to pump out water. Burnt Creek mining companies worked a deep lead and carried out dredging until 1913. Bromley's farming community maintained a sufficient population for the school to celebrate its centenary in 1968, but the school closed during the next decade.

Bromley's census populations have been: