Seymour

seymour, vic., austr.

Seymour, town, central Victoria, Australia, on the Goulburn River. Founded in 1837 and proclaimed a town in 1841, it was named after Edward Adolphus Seymour, 12th duke of Somerset and first lord of the Admiralty. The town developed as a river-crossing point. Now a focus of road (Hume and Goulburn Valley highways) and rail lines, Seymour is also the site of an auxiliary airport for Melbourne, which lies 60 miles (100 km) south. The district has cattle, sheep, and cereal farming, granite quarrying, and lumbering. Its industries include a slaughterhouse, gas plants, and bulk petroleum storage. Seymour lies at the southern end of the Goulburn Valley wine region, and the area’s restaurants and wineries make the town a popular tourist destination. Puckapunyal (11 miles [18 km] west), an important military training base during World War II, is still active. Pop. (2001) urban centre, 6,422; (2011) urban centre, 5,915.