Australia’s first international touring sports team and Australia’s first cricket team to tour England, was a team of Aboriginal men who lived and worked in south-west Victoria, in the 1860s. This fascinating and significant chapter in Australia’s history, is the foundation for the…….
HARROW DISCOVERY CENTRE aka The Johnny Mullagh Interpretive Centre.
A museum that tells the story of Unaarrimin- Johnny Mullagh and the First XI of 1868.
Then known as the Johnny Mullagh Cricket Centre, the museum was officially opened by Geoff and Helen Handbury OAM, on April 18, 2004.
Our principal purpose at the Harrow Discovery Centre is to tell this story of national sporting, cultural and historical significance to the broader community in an accurate and respectful manner.
Harrow is a place of many stories. The story of how and ancient land was changed forever by hooves and roads. The stories of Major Mitchell, gold mining, Chinese market gardeners, sheep farming and the growth of one of the earliest inland towns in Victoria. Learn how Harrow became the supply centre for three large farming selections becoming the modern-day dynamic, rural community it is today.
But most remarkably, Harrow is the story of Unaarrimin- Johnny Mullagh, a proud Jardwadjali man who was the ‘world famed cricketer’ in the late 1800’s. It is also the story of how a group of Aboriginal men became Australia’s international sporting heroes, only twenty years after violent clashes between Aboriginal people and the new settlers was commonplace in a time of early colonisation.
How did this happen? Come and see how.
Spend some time viewing our…..
BRADMAN EXHIBITION– one of the largest privately held collections of its kind, including some significant bats once yielded by the great Don and a broad brim hat once worn by Shane Warne.
More recent exhibitions highlight the Aboriginal cricket tours of 1988 and the 150th commemorative tour in 2018, as well as the BUILD THE MAN A STATUE exhibit dedicated to none other than Scott Boland.
View the MULLAGH MEDAL on display at the HDC all year before it makes its journey to the G in December for the much anticipated Player of the Match award.
The Centre also has tours and programs available for visiting commercial tour operators and private groups, please call the centre for more information.
The Harrow Discovery Centre survives on spirit, kindness and generosity. To enable us to continue doing this important work, you can donate here.
https://square.link/u/sOsZF0KD
Your donations are greatly appreciated and fully tax deductible.
CONTACT:
55881 387
Josie Sangster
