1840s: White settlement

European settlement began around 1840, the village beginning with the establishment of the Brefnay Hotel in about 1848. A store opened within the next decade, and a Presbyterian church in 1870. A great deal of land was cleared of trees in order to establish dairy farms and other forms of agriculture.^[2]

1861: Aboriginal reserve established

The Church of England in Warrnambool obtained 1,416 hectares (3,500 acres) of land for an Aboriginal mission station to "ameliorate the present wretched conditions of the Aborigines",^[2] and requested establishment of an Aboriginal reserve in the area. The Victorian Board for the Protection of Aborigines created Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve in response. The reserve was occupied in 1865 by many of the surviving members of the Kirrae Wuurong clans, who originally inhabited the area between Mount Emu Creek and the Hopkins River, and much of whose language was recorded by a Scottish squatter, James Dawson.^[3] Members of the Djargurd Wurrung from the Camperdown area and Gunditjmara people from Warrnambool were also relocated to Framlingham, but Gunditjmara from Portland and Lake Condah refused to settle here due to tension with the other clans, leading to the establishment of the Lake Condah reserve in 1869.^[4]

In 1867 the reserve was closed by the Central Board appointed by the Government of Victoria and attempts were made to relocate the residents to Lake Condah Mission but in September 1868 the Kirrae Wuurong won the re-establishment of the reserve. Residents of Warrnambool campaigned from 1877 to 1890 to close the reserve and turn it into an experimental agricultural farm, and in 1894 the reserve was reduced to 222 hectares (2.22 km²) and the majority of the land given to the Council of Agricultural Education. However, the agricultural farm plans never eventuated, with this land becoming the Framlingham Forest.^[5] In 1889 the Board attempted to close the reserve again, but it finally agreed to reserve 500 acres (200 ha)} for Aboriginal use.^[6]

In 1916 the Government of Victoria decided to concentrate Aboriginal Victorians at Lake Tyers Mission in Gippsland. The reserve was eventually closed but some residents were allowed to remain, with the community being granted ownership in 1971 of the 237 hectares (2.37 km²) they held at that time.^[5] In the 1930s, public concern over the conditions led the government to build extra housing and a school, and to provide rations.^[6]

When the reserve was established, it was declared to be 3,500 acres (14 km²) in area, although its actual size may have been closer to 4,400 acres (18 km²). As parts of the reserve were sold to private landowners, its size diminished, until only the 586 acres (2.37 km²) remained when it was closed in 1971. Some of this land was also set aside as a State Forest.

1970-1987: Land rights

In 1957 the Board for the Protection of Aborigines was abolished, and in 1970 the Aboriginal Lands Act 1970^[7] was passed by the Parliament of Victoria. Under the provisions of that Act, ownership of Framlingham was handed over to a trust held by Aboriginal residents of the site, Framlingham Aboriginal Trust,^[6] on 1 July 1971. Along with Lake Tyers, in the eastern Gippsland region of the state, Framlingham was the last reserve to close in Victoria.

In 1976 the Framlingham community began a campaign to regain rights to the Framlingham Forest, that had been excised from the original 1861 reserve in 1894. In April 1979 the community blockaded the road to the forest picnic ground. The Victorian Government proposed allowing Aboriginal management of the forest in 1980 but maintained that it would continue as crown land. The proposal was rejected by the community, who resumed the blockade.^[5][8][9]

In 1987, the Victorian Labor government under John Cain attempted to grant some of the Framlingham State Forest to the trust as inalienable title, but the legislation was blocked by the Liberal Party opposition in the Legislative Council. However, the federal Labor government under Bob Hawke intervened, passing the Aboriginal Land (Lake Condah and Framlingham Forest) Act 1987,^[10] which gave 1,130 acres (4.6 km²) of the Framlingham forest to the Framlingham trust. Although the title is essentially inalienable, in that it can only be transferred to another Indigenous land trust, the Framlingham trust has no rights to prevent mining on the land, unlike trusts or communities holding native title. The Kirrae Whurrong Aboriginal Corporation was established under the Aboriginal Lands Act 1970 in order to hold in trust "the land of the Framlingham Forest and Reserve returned to the Aboriginal community".^[11]

1983: Ash Wednesday

On 16 February 1983, one of the Ash Wednesday fires started here and swept through the district killing nine people, destroying many homes, farm buildings and livestock. The cause was believed to be poorly maintained power lines.^[12]

2009: Framlingham Forest IPA

In 2009, an Indigenous Protected Area was dedicated, known as the Framlingham Forest IPA, covering 1,130 hectares (2,800 acres) of native forests. It is the largest remnant of native forest containing the stringybark and manna gum savannah in the area. The Framlingham Aboriginal Trust manages the land.^[13]