Redan

Redan is a residential suburb immediately south of central Ballarat. It was most probably named after the Redan deep lead, one of Ballarat's later gold discoveries in 1856. The lead was named after the fortification at Sebastopol in the Crimean War the year before. The suburb of Sebastopol, once a self-governing borough, is immediately south of Redan. The borough included part of Redan.

One of Redan's earliest public facilities was the Miners' Racecourse (1862), now the site of a raceway in Morshead Park. It ran for 100 years, when its events were transferred to the Dowling Forest racecourse, Miners Rest.

A government primary school opened in 1874 and a Catholic school opened the next year. The parish was a strong one, and built replacement school buildings in 1886 and 1924. Its church building dates from 1914, and the parish helped establish a school in neighbouring Delacombe in the late 1980s. Pupils from both schools had mullock heaps as playgrounds, even after many of them were taken down for filling for public works and reservoir embankments. Mining ended in 1918.

Redan was on an electric tramline (1913) along Drummond and Skipton Streets from Ballarat to Sebastopol. Shops, local businesses and the Atlantic and Globe Hotels, interspersed with houses, were established along Skipton Street.

Morshead Park has tracks for greyhound and harness racing and a large soccer venue. The State primary school has a handsome jubilee arched gateway (1934), although the present boundaries for Redan have put the school in Sebastopol.

Redan's census populations have been: