Werribee Hotels

Werribee is a city in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 32 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Wyndham. At the 2006 Census, Werribee had a population of 36,641. Werribee is located halfway to Geelong on the Princes Highway. It is also positioned on the Werribee River, which starts to the north of the town of Ballan. Early leasing of pastures was led by members of John Batman's Port Phillip Association. A rural township began in the early 1850s. This village was named Wyndham (the name of the local municipality today). The name derived from a suggestion by the owner of a local village inn, Elliott Armstrong, who sought to honour Scottish soldier Sir Henry Wyndham. The Post Office opened on 12 January 1858 as Wyndham and was renamed Werribee in 1904. However, its adjacent river was called the Werribee River, and the town's name was later changed to Werribee in 1884, and the shire council at that time was also renamed Werribee in 1909. The name Werribee is said to come from an Aboriginal word which meant spine or backbone, which described the curve of the Werribee River. Werribee at this time was very popular for development. Thomas Chirnside, a person famous in this area even today, was attracted to the open plain's suitability for agricultural uses. By 1863 he controlled more than 280 square kilometres around Werribee. Chirnside bought other smaller holdings of land at this time. The town grew steadily, helped by a railway line from Melbourne to Geelong, with a station at Werribee in 1857. A religious school was opened in 1855 but was replaced by a public school in 1861. A Catholic church was also opened in the same year. On October 10, 1862, the first council - the Wyndham Road District - was started, but was replaced by a shire council in 1864. The shire was huge, extending from the inner suburbs of Melbourne to Little River near to Geelong to the northward town of Melton which covering 715 square kilometres. Between 1860 and 1890, Werribee had two epicentres, the township and Werribee Park Mansion, owned by Chirnside. In 1878 a mansion was built and completed in Werribee Park, a major landmark today.