Shelford, Victoria
Shelford is a rural locality in Victoria, Australia. The locality is in the Golden Plains Shire near the regional city of Geelong and 106 kilometres (66 mi) west of the state capital, Melbourne.
| Shelford Victoria | |||||||||||||||
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Former general store | |||||||||||||||
Shelford | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 38°01′0″S 143°58′0″E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 253 (2016 census) | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 3329 | ||||||||||||||
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | Golden Plains Shire | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Polwarth | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Corangamite | ||||||||||||||
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Shelford is nestled in a valley divided by the Leigh River, Golf Hill Station was established in 1836 on the river banks. Most of the local squatters came from Scotland so the town had a strong Presbyterian feel and had two churches. The Post Office opened on 1 July 1847 with the town names The Leigh which was renamed Shelford in 1854. By 1865 the town had a court house, post office, a mechanics institute and two hotels. In 1874 the Shelford Bridge was constructed using iron imported from Liverpool.
The town was never large; in the 1930s the town had a population of 130 persons. After the Second World War the larger land holding were carved up for a soldier settlement scheme. Sixty-nine farms covering 45,000 acres were sold off to returning servicemen and their families.
In 1994 the Post Office became a Licensed Post Office, and has since closed; the date of closure is unknown.