Adelaide Lead is a locality in Victoria, Australia, located on Old Avoca Road, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south-west of Maryborough, west of the Paddy Ranges State Park, in the Shire of Central Goldfields.

Located on the northern slopes of the Central Highlands, the area is naturally characterised by Box-Ironbark forest.

[1] Adelaide Lead began as a mining settlement, and covered about 3 miles (4.8 km) along the banks of Timor Creek.

In the late 1880s head teacher David Bilton and wife taught at Adelaide Lead, driving across from Craigie by buggy each day.

[3] Adelaide Lead in 1866 was a busy centre with many cottages and puddling machines, gardens, two smithies, dairies, several stores but no hotel.

From a rudimentary beginning with primitive tools in a rough hut Mr Plumridge added kilns, mills and a decent building.

Early settler names – Abbott, Bartlett, Neyland, Dupuy, Delaney, Chadwick, Everett, Hibbins, Nole, Jose, Watson, Selman, Cruickshank, Williams, Sanders, Dillon, Keyes.

Reports in a range of official documents record the following population numbers at Adelaide Lead: 1855 (June)- 6000, 1858 (Aug)- 2000, 1859 - 1055, 1861 - 405 [4] 1865 - 600 [5] 1923 - less than 100, 1974 - 50.

[6] The 1861 Census return for Adelaide Lead, Blutchers Reef and adjoining gold workings showed a total population of 405 (275 males and 130 females).

The census listed occupations: 207 men engaged in alluvial sinking, 30 in gold puddling, 45 as diggers undefined, 10 in quartz crushing amalgam and gold quartz raising, 5 in trading, 5 carters, 2 labourers, 3 food and drinks, 184 domestics or children (58 male, 126 female).

[7] The first post office was opened on 1 August 1864 by William Noller, and was taken over by his widow after his death (Mrs Noller was the first lady postmistress in Victoria), later from 1879 by David Dillon and`following his death in 1910 by his son James until 1914 when James was formally recorded as Postmaster, an appointment which continued until 1945.

Mrs Martin collected the mail each week day from the train at the Adelaide Lead station, about 1.5 km from the Post Office.

Postal services by mail coaches to and from Maryborough and Avoca via Adelaide Lead and Bung Bong six times each week commenced in 1865.

At 5am each day the Cobb & Co coach passed through Adelaide Lead from Maryborough to Ararat, driven by Major Smith.

Adelaide Lead is close to Daisy Hill where a shepherd on Glenmona station had discovered gold in 1848 and sold it in Melbourne.

A major gold rush to Maryborough occurred from June 1854, although some miners had been working in the area from the previous December.

Three men, one of whom was William Howard, were camped on their way to the rush at Daisy Hill and found gold at Opossum Gully.

In March 1858 the Maryborough and District Advertiser reported that 9 oz of gold was gained from a load of wash dirt at Adelaide Lead.

After the initial rush in 1855, numbers of miners at Adelaide Lead fluctuated and declined as the surface alluvial gold was exhausted.

[10] The Alma Riots in June 1855 started over a small dispute over a claim involving Vigilante English groups formed to deal with criminal gangs, and Irish diggers on the Adelaide Lead.

Warden Alexander Smith worked to pacify the antagonists, however Governor Charles Hotham ordered S de Vignoles SM with 50 police to the area and the parties were taken to court, as he feared that the dispute could become another Eureka rebellion.

In 1955/6 Adelaide Lead railway station was closed to goods traffic and reduced in status to a rail motor stopping place.

The second reopening of this cross country line is primarily to allow for the carriage of mineral sands from Manangatang to a processing plant at Hamilton.