Planning for Trafalgar’s sesquicentenary (150th) anniversary celebrations in 2028 have begun with the formation of an organising committee.
The organising committee consists of Mick Bourke OAM, Judy Bishop, Jade MacGregor (Trafalgar Chamber of Commerce and Industry), John Weymouth (Trafalgar & District Historical Society), Michael Fozard OAM (Trafalgar Rotary Club), Jamie Marslen, Sue Murphy (Baw Baw Arts Alliance), Darren Wallace OAM, Mel Kemp and Moriah Taylor representing Community Bank Trafalgar & District.
Cr Brendan Kingwill, representing Baw Baw Shire Council, has a standing invitation to attend committee meetings as a guest.
While the anniversary is still two years away, the committee has started planning for the celebrations, with the dates being selected for the celebrations being 20 to 22 October 2028.
This weekend was selected as it falls at the same time the original Battle of Trafalgar occurred on 21 October 1805 when Britain’s Lord Nelson defeated a combined French and Spanish naval fleet near the Cape of Trafalgar in Spain (after which our town is named).
What will happen over that weekend is yet to be worked through; however, it is hoped that the whole community will be involved.
The committee is also considering whether to publish a book on Trafalgar’s past 50 years (1978-2028) to build on John Adam’s So Tall The Trees, which was published in 1978 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Shire of Narracan.
Consequently, So Tall The Trees covered much of the first 100 years of European Trafalgar’s history.
The organising committee will provide regular updates regarding the celebrations.
Community organisations, businesses and residents within Trafalgar are asked to start thinking of appropriate activities to celebrate Trafalgar’s sesquicentenary.
Local towns Moe and Yarragon have also formed organising committees for the 150th anniversary of their communities in 2028.
Why 2028 is the appropriate year to celebrate our 150th anniversary
The following is taken from artificial intelligence software and subsequently verified by Trafalgar & District Historical Society.
Trafalgar’s European history extends back to the first land selections in the Narracan district from 1875, with local historical tradition dating the establishment of the township to 1876.
The decisive event in the creation of modern Trafalgar was the arrival of the Gippsland railway.
Trafalgar railway station opened on 1 August 1878, establishing the railway township around which the present town developed.
During 1879 the settlement rapidly acquired the characteristics of a functioning township.
The post office opened, land was formally reserved for a State school, Crown town lots were surveyed and offered for sale, judicial arrangements were established, substantial improvements were already present on town allotments, and Trafalgar Primary School opened in October.
By 1881 Trafalgar was an established community.
The year 2028, therefore, marks 150 years since the establishment of Trafalgar as a railway township.
The 150th organising committee, therefore, believes that Trafalgar recognises this milestone, while also celebrating the earlier settlement and the people whose efforts created the town.
The logo for Trafalgar’s 150th anniversary
