Mystery origin of Horsham Australia

It seemed a simple enough idea for a post – how did Horsham, Australia, come to be named?

However, trying to track down the answer has ended in a series of dead-ends and scratching of heads!

One fact that is not disputed is that an early settler from the UK, James Monckton Darlot, gave the area its name in 1850. By the following year there was a post office and more than a dozen homes.

Today Horsham, Aus, is a thriving city in the Wimmera area, on the western side of Victoria. It’s the 11th largest city in Victoria.

Reading the Wikipedia entry for the city it sounds a delightful place to visit and back in Horsham, UK, the Museum here has welcomed a number of residents from Horsham ‘down under’.

The entry states that Horsham, Aus, was named as such by Darlot after its UK version.

This does beg the question, though, why?

Some websites and articles have assumed that Darlot was born in Horsham. He wasn’t!

In fact he was born in Finchley, Middlesex, in 1811.

When he settled in Australia he named his property Brighton Station and the village became known as Horsham.

Trawling through old newspapers and articles, both here and from ‘down under’, there does not seem to be a definite answer why he did this.

The best clue comes from a letter to the local paper in Horsham, UK, in 1960 from a Victoria schoolmaster who visited the UK. He tracked down Darlot’s father’s will which cited Brighton, UK, as his place of residence (he had also lived in Finchley and Reading).

It might be common knowledge among Horsham, Aus, residents as to their city’s origin (if so they’re keeping it close to their chest). So we’d be really interested if anyone reads this article and can shed some light on the answer!

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