Whroo – Abandoned but not Forgotten

whroo cemetary

Seven km south of Rushworth and ten km south-west of the Waranga Basin reservoir lies the abandoned gold mining town of Whroo. The name is pronounced ‘roo’ and comes from an Aboriginal word meaning lips. The town is completely gone with little evidence of its existence, save for Whroo cemetery. The final resting place of 400 of the town inhabitants. Whroo is abandoned but not forgotten as the Whroo Cemetery trust works to restore the graves.

Gold!

In October 1854, the year after Rushworth, two sailors, John Thomas Lewis and James Meek Nickinson discovered gold at Whroo on Balaclava Hill. Balaclava Hill was a rich field and was later mined by open cut. The call of gold brought thousands of miners to Whroo; however, the population had shrunk to around 450 by 1858.

By 1865 Whroo had a flourishing gold mining industry. Serviced by a mechanics’ institute, library, two churches, three hotels, a cordial factory and three ore crushing mills. By 1933, at the last census, the population had dwindled to 52, and by 1955 it was a ghost town. Walking there today it is a silent, empty place of dry, dusty earth and ironbark forest.

Whroo, is abandoned but not forgotten
Whroo is abandoned but not forgotten.
Whroo Cemetery

The Whroo cemetery epitomises the difficulties of living in a harsh, unforgiving environment before modern medical care. Regardless of status, health, age or nationality, a simple illness or accident led to death. Chinese miners account for 15% of 400 graves. The Chinese were a significant part of the community as miners, puddling machine operators and market gardeners. Of the 400 graves, only around 200 names have been identified by the Whroo cemetery trust due to the deterioration of the grave markers.

whroo cemetery

Many of the graves are of children. These were either stillborn or died when Diptheria, Typhoid or dysentery swept through the town. Tuberculosis was also a common cause of death at the time. Among the graves is six children from one family. The eldest of which was a girl who died at just two years old. Their mother is also buried with them, who passed in her early 40s. Other graves as those of miners who died of illness or mining accidents

historic graves

The cemetery trust is working on naming all the graves, and to that end, it has unveiled a new plaque with the names of all those interned there.

burial list of adults
childrens burial list

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