Jeparit ( ) is a town on the Wimmera River in Western Victoria, Australia, north west of Melbourne. At the 2016 census Jeparit had a population of 342, five years earlier.

History

The area around Jeparit is originally home to the Gromiluk Aboriginal peoples prior to European settlement. The name Jeparit is believed to be derived from a Gromiluk word meaning "home of small birds". European settlement began in the 1880s when German Lutheran immigrants began to settle and grow wheat.

The town was surveyed in 1883 and gazetted in 1889, the post office opening on 31 August 1889 though known as Lake Hindmarsh until December 1889. Two earlier post offices called Lake Hindmarsh had existed in the area at various times since 1861 to serve a smaller population of graziers.

Jeparit's most famous resident is former Australian Prime Minister and founder of the Liberal Party, Sir Robert Menzies, who was born in the town in 1894. He is commemorated with a spire and a memorial bust installed at the town square. The spire, topped with an ornament resembling a Scottish Thistle, is inscribed:

Jeparit is the setting for Peter Carey's 1985 novel Illywhacker.

Climate

Sport

Golfers play at the course of the Jeparit Golf Club on Nhill Road.

Jeparit Football Club

The Jeparit Football Club appears to of first played a game of Australian Rules Football against Dimboola in June 1899 at Jeparit. The club wore black and white strips in their 1929 and 1934 North Wimmera Football Association premiership photos. When the club joined the Wimmera Football League in 1937, the club wore the red and black colours.

1928 Stawell Gift winner, Lynch Cooper played football with the Jeparit Football Club.

;Senior Football Premierships

  • North Wimmera FA
  • 1925 - Jeparit: 7.11 - 53 d Yaapeet: 4.8 - 32
  • 1926 - Jeparit: 3.10 - 28 d Rainbow: 2.7 - 19
  • 1929 - Jeparit: 6.12 - 48 d Peppers Plain: 5.8 - 38
  • 1932 - Jeparit: 13.21 - 99 d Rainbow: 4.8 - 32
  • 1933 - Jeparit: 13.12 - 90 d Rainbow: 12.10 - 82
  • 1934 - Jeparit: 13.14 - 92 d Rainbow: 7.10 - 52
  • Mid Wimmera FA
  • 1936 - Jeparit: 16.22 - 118 d Murtoa: 9.9 - 63

In November 1995, Jeparit FC merged with the Rainbow FC to form the Jeparit Rainbow "Lakers" FNC and played in the Southern Mallee Football League from 1996 to 2014. The club then played in the Horsham District Football League from 2015 to 2023.

From 2024, along with neighbouring townships Rainbow, Hopetoun, and Beulah, Jeparit has a football and netball club called the Southern Mallee Thunder, competing in the Wimmera Football Netball League.

References

  • Jeparit Football Club History via Footypedia
  • Further information about Jeparit and surrounding areas
  • Wimmera-Mallee Pioneer Museum
  • Lake Hindmarsh
  • 1929 - North Wimmera FA Premiers: Jeparit FC team photo
  • 1933 - North Wimmera FA Premiers: Jeparit FC team photo
  • 1934 - North Wimmera FA Premiers: Jeparit FC team photo via The Sun News-Pictorial
  • 1934 - North Wimmera FA Premiers: Jeparit FC team photo via The Weekly Times
  • 1938 - Wimmera FL team photos (Stawell FC & Jeparit FC) via The Weekly Times
  • 1938 - Wimmera FL Preliminary Final team photos (Stawell FC & Jeparit FC)
  • 1954 - Wimmera FL Premiers (Minyip FC) & Runners Up (Jeparit FC) team photos