The town lies within the traditional lands of the Girai wurrung (Kirrae Wuurong) people. In the decades following European settlement in the 1840s, a general store, post office, hotel, school and Presbyterian church were established in Framlingham, as increasing numbers of graziers and dairy farmers settled the area. The Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve was established by the Board for the Protection of Aborigines between Purnim and the township of Framlingham in 1861, upon the request of an Anglican mission. It was located beside the Hopkins River, not far from the boundary with the Gunditjmara people. After various attempts at closure, the reserve operated until 1916, albeit with the land reduced in size. Much of the Aboriginal community continued to live there until the present time. Some of the land that was originally part of the reserve became Framlingham Forest, which is now part of the Framlingham Forest Indigenous Protected Area (IPA).