Moe
The city of Moe is situated in the Latrobe Valley between the towns of Trafalgar and Morwell.
Much of the land west of the site of Moe was once a vast swamp through which the Moe River made tis way to join the Latrobe River. Pastoralists first moved into the district in 1846. However, the district was sparsely populated until the coming of the selectors in the mid-1870s.
In the early 1870s Merton Rush run occupied the land bounded on the north by the Latrobe River, on the west by the swamp, on the east by the Morwell River and on the south by the Narracan lobe of the Strzelecki Ranges. Mountain Glen run was situated south of the swamp several km south-west of the site of the present city. The old Melbourne - Sale Road followed a course north of the swamp.
The name "Moe" or "Westbury" was applied to a coach changing station and post office at an inn beside the old Sale Road on the western side of the swamp crossing near the outlet into the Latrobe River. In 1876 a small township known as "Mooretown" sprang up on the eastern side of the swamp crossing.
In 1874 selectors began to take up land south of the swamp on the slopes and hills of the Strzeleckis.
In 1878 the Melbourne - Sale Railway line was completed, passing south of the swamp. Moe railway station and the new township of Moe were built about 3 km south of Mooretown. At about this time the lease of Merton Rush run was terminated and selectors began to move into the area east of Moe between the railway line and the Latrobe River.
In about 1900 the vast Moe swamp was drained and converted into farmland.
In 1920 an area of land about 6-10 km east of Moe was repurchased by the Victorian Government, and in the following year construction began of Yallourn township and power station and also excavation of the open cut brown coal mine. In 1939 the township of Newborough began to develop about 3 km east of Moe. In the 1980s the township of Yallourn was dismantled in order to facilitate extraction of the underlying coal.
Until 1909 the offices of the Shire of Narracan were located in Moe. However, Moe broke away from the Shire in 1955, becoming a borough (later a city).
Prior to 1878, births in the Moe district were usually registered at Traralgon.
This website includes entries for individuals born up to 1920 at or near Moe township and also in the following localities -
Moe South (MS) - south of Moe on the slopes of the Strzelecki Ranges;
Westbury (W) - west of the junction of Moe and Latrobe Rivers;
Hernes Oak (H) - about 6 km south-east of Moe.
Births for the Driffield and Morwell Bridge localities are listed at the site for Morwell.
Hosted by Walter Savige Email: savigew@hotkey.net.au
Births/VIC
1852
FARLEY James | P: William Robert FARLEY & Mary Ann.
1895
SAVIGE Ernest George | P: Frederick SAVIGE & Eliza Anne ALLISS | email host
1897
SAVIGE Dorothy Myrtle |P: Frederick SAVIGE & Eliza Anne ALLISS | email host
1898
SAVIGE Frederick | P: Frederick SAVIGE & Eliza Anne ALLISS | email host
1900
SAVIGE Ina Baden-Powell | P: Frederick SAVIGE & Eliza Anne ALLISS | email host
1901
SAVIGE Mabel Evelyn | P: Frederick SAVIGE & Eliza Anne ALLISS | email host
1907
SAVIGE Henry Albert Geoffrey | P: Albert SAVIGE & Alice LONG | email host
1908
SAVIGE David Eric Victor | P: William Russell SAVIGE & Ada ALLISS | email host
SAVIGE John Russell | P: Albert SAVIGE & Eliza Anne ALLISS | email host
1911
SAVIGE Ronald Norman | P: William Russell SAVIGE & Ada ALLISS | email host
SAVIGE Keith Valentine | P: Condah SAVIGE & Alice HUNTER | email host
1914
SAVIGE Alice Hazel | P: Condah SAVIGE & Alice HUNTER | email host
