Stawell, Victoria towns in Victoria (Australia)]] [[Category:Populated places established in 1853]] [[Category:1853 establishments in Australia]] Stawell, Victoria Stawell (pronounced /stɔːl/, "Stawl"), is an Australian town in the Wimmera region of Victoria west-north-west of the state capital, Melbourne. Located within the Shire of Northern Grampians local government area, it is a seat of local government for the shire and its main administrative centre. At the , Stawell had a population of . It was founded in 1853 during the Victorian gold rush and is one of few towns in Victoria retaining an active gold mining industry. Stawell is famed for the Stawell Gift,
Shire of Victoria Plains Act 1960". The shire is divided into four wards. Shire of Victoria Plains The Shire of Victoria Plains is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, about north of the state capital, Perth. It covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of Calingiri. In 1871, the Victoria Plains Road District was created over an area extending as far north as Carnamah and east to the South Australian border. These areas gradually obtained their own local government over the next 40 years. On 1 July 1961, the area that remained became