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With thanks to Trentham & District Historical Society
Trentham first appears in government records in 1857 when Assistant Surveyor John Wrigglesworth surveyed a new parish to the south of Tylden.
Tylden, then the larger of the two settlements, was named after Brigadier-General William Tylden (1790-1854), who died in the Crimean War (1853-56). Being named around the same time, it was thought “Trentham” also honoured a Crimea veteran, but no information has been found to support this.
A more recent assumption is that we were named after the English village of Trentham, in Staffordshire, on the River Trent. Our Trentham is also built on the Trent (creek!). But which was named first, creek or village, is also hidden in the mists of time.
The “why” of the village location is more easily accounted for: its proximity to the Daylesford-Woodend Rd junction, its situation between two creeks (Trent and Stony) and, most importantly, its halfway position between Tylden and Blackwood – the rest stop for diggers flocking to the Blackwood goldfields.
✍️ Sue Worthington, curator of Trentham & District Historical Society.
📘 Early History of the Trentham District, by G. W. Trewhella (updated 2017 by Ina Bertrand), can be purchased from Trentham & District Historical Society for $10 (plus postage). A package of the historical society’s publications is available for $55 from Trentham Post Office or via email.
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