Researched and written by Craig Dunham, edited by Elizabeth Cotterell
The proclamation of the township of Penguin was ratified by parliament on October 25th, 1875. It was the culmination of a relatively short-term process given that demands by a group of local residents only began earlier that year.
Penguin was the last of the North West coast settlements to be granted town status; Ulverstone (originally known as Leven) was conferred in 1861, along with towns such as Stanley (1842), Latrobe (1861), and Burnie (1866).
But what was Penguin actually like at that time?
Following its settlement in 1861, enterprising pioneering settlers cleared the land along the coast and started to expand into the hinterland. The demand for timber and agricultural produce from Victoria, still benefitting from the Gold Rush, was the chief driving force for this development.
The little town that emerged contained most of the essential services expected at that time:
• a post office, with a telegraph system soon to be operating
• a police station, along with a police court
• a government school
• a basic road system, which was part of the Leven Road Trust
• a tidal port with a breakwater and some boat building enterprises
• two well supported churches
• a small commercial district including general stores, hotels and a blacksmith
• mining operations, which attracted considerable local and mainland investment
• some sporting and recreational activities.
Some of the influential civic leaders of that era were prominent businessmen and developers, including names such as Clerke, Anthon, Taylor, Sullock, Cann, Counsel and Drew.
The larger proportion of the town’s population were early pioneering families, many of whom shared similar backgrounds – sponsored immigrants with farming experience, ostensibly from the county of Norfolk in England.
By 1875, those families were beginning to settle in growing numbers, and it was their ambition and commitment that encouraged the growth of the newly established town of Penguin.