From Gold to Eucy and Firewood: A Wedderburn Family Story

For most people, Wedderburn's history begins with gold. But for many local families, the real story started after the gold rush faded.

When the alluvial gold that had attracted thousands of hopeful diggers began to run out, the people who remained had to find new ways to make a living. Farming expanded across the district, but another industry also emerged from the surrounding bush. The Blue Mallee country around Wedderburn and Inglewood became one of Australia's most important eucalyptus oil-producing regions.

My family has been part of that story for six generations.

Among them was my grandfather, Connie, who worked as both a eucy cutter and woodcutter. Like many men of his era, he made his living from the bush. The job was physically demanding and often undertaken in extreme conditions. Summer heat, dust, flies, snakes, and spiders were simply accepted as part of everyday life.

The mallee scrub that covered much of the district was not the same as the large gum trees people associate with Australian forests. Blue Mallee (Eucalyptus polybractea) grew as multi-stemmed scrub and was prized for its exceptionally high oil content. Cutters harvested the leafy stems, which were carted to local distilleries where steam extracted the valuable eucalyptus oil.

That oil travelled far beyond Wedderburn.

It was used in medicines, inhalants, antiseptics, disinfectants, and cleaning products throughout Australia and overseas. The region's oil became known for its high cineole content and pharmaceutical quality, helping establish eucalyptus oil as one of Australia's earliest export products.

The industry proved especially important after the gold rush and continued through both World Wars, providing employment and economic stability for many local families. While gold had built the town, eucalyptus oil helped sustain it.

Yet the story of the bush was not only about oil.

Alongside the mallee industry was a thriving woodcutting trade. Larger eucalyptus trees such as red gum, box and ironbark supplied fuel for homes, bakeries, blacksmiths, steam engines, and industrial boilers. Before electricity and gas became widespread, wood was an essential source of energy across rural Victoria.

The railway played a significant role in connecting these industries to wider markets. When the Wedderburn railway branch opened in 1887, it helped local producers move goods more efficiently and connected the district to Melbourne and beyond. Products that began in the mallee scrub of Wedderburn could find their way across Australia and overseas.