Greta

Greta is a district in Victoria, Australia, located east of Benalla, in the Rural City of Wangaratta.

Greta is a district in Victoria, Australia, located east of Benalla, in the Rural City of Wangaratta. At the 2016 census, Greta had a population of 107 and Greta West had a population of 162.

The district had four villages, all of which were called Greta at some stage. The original township known as Greta, located on Fifteen Mile Creek, is now called Greta West, and was once home to the family of bushranger Ned Kelly and Aaron Sherritt. The name is thought to be derived from Greta River in Cumberland, England.

Following the discovery of gold near Beechworth in 1852, roads to the diggings passed through the Greta area. At that time, the area contained the Greta Swamp, which was later drained. The town site was surveyed at Fifteen Mile Creek in 1852. During the 1860s the land was subdivided into farming lots, used for cereals, cattle grazing, and dairying. At this time the township developed and the Post Office opened on 4 September 1863 (closed in 1971, though offices at Greta West and Greta South remained open until 1994).In 1867 a Catholic school was established. By the 1880s there were five schools in the Greta area; Greta, Greta South, Greta West, Hansonville, and Fifteen Mile Creek. Today, only two of the five schools remain; Greta Valley and Fifteen Mile School Camp.

The nearby town of Benalla was connected to the railway network in 1873, which reduced traffic through the Greta district, and it became principally a farming community.

A Methodist church was established in 1878 and an Anglican church in 1890. A public hall was built in 1916.

Ned Kelly's relatives granted his last wish to be buried at his birthplace on 20 January 2013 in Greta Cemetery near his mother in consecrated ground. The burial followed a requiem mass held at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Wangaratta on 18 January 2013.

The area known today as Glenrowan West was Greta back in Ned Kelly's day. Over time the post office moved further East and the town virtually relocated to the current boundaries. The Glenrowan-Moyhu Road is of significance; the dog leg to the left before the creek is the site of the old Greta Hotel (O'Brien's Victoria Hotel) the well is still visible. This is the site where Ned Kelly had a fight with Superintendent Hare. Also this was the main road to Sydney during the mid to late 19th Century. As the Greta township back then was built and surrounded by mainly swamp land the township moved to better pastures. The Greta Police Station was broken up in 1879 and a new station was opened at Glenrowan - Constable Anthony Alexander registered number 1649 was Gazetted to Glenrowan on 01/11/1879. Constable Robert Graham was one of the last policemen stationed at Greta and was well liked by the Kelly family amongst others. Today Greta, Greta West and Greta South remains a picturesque portion of the North East of Victoria where people live, visit and play amongst the creeks, rivers, bushland, mountains and grasslands just like the pioneers of yesteryear and years to come.