Mildura takes out Excellence in Place Naming Award

Published on 16 August 2024

Mildura Rural City Council has been honoured with an Excellence in Place Naming Award for its recent initiative to name local laneways after pioneering women of Mildura’s early settler community.

The Award was presented at the Victorian Geospatial Excellence Awards in Melbourne last week, supported by Geographic Names Victoria.

Council’s initiative celebrates and honors the contributions of pioneering women in Mildura’s early settler community by naming several laneways after them, providing a very public and long-lasting reminder of their legacy.

Councillor for Arts, Culture and Heritage Helen Healy attended the event, accepting the Award on behalf of Mildura Rural City Council, along with Mildura Historical Society’s Barbie Cornell who was instrumental in supporting the project.

Council's Ouyen Service Centre Team Leader Dianne Donaghy, who coordinates Council’s Road Naming processes, also played a key role.

The following names were endorsed:

• Hattie Lane serves as a tribute to the wives of WB Chaffey. Following the tragic passing of William's first wife, Hattie, shortly after the birth of their sixth child in 1889, William remarried in the United States. His second wife, Heather Schell, also known as Hattie, accompanied him back to Mildura upon his return in 1891.

• Betsy Bellman, Eliza Bilton, and Martha Abramowski were pioneering women who owned land in the early days of Mildura. Using first names in this initiative honors the legacy of women in Mildura's settler community, in line with the existing first name themed street names of Mabel and Ruby Avenue.

• Sarah Appleby, Rose Garland and Esther Bolard were pioneering women who owned land in the early days of Mildura.

Cr Healy said the work in this space is just the beginning to ensure more of our municipality's pioneering women are recognised and acknowledged.

“This Award is a significant acknowledgment of our efforts but there is still a lot more work to be done - and this accolade motivates us to continue down this path,” she said.

“I’m also hopeful that our work will serve as an inspiration for future generations, and we will continue to look deeper to identify local women who deserve recognition in their own right.”

ENDS