William Cross Yuille (28 March 1819 – 19 July 1894)[1] was a Scottish Australian pastoralist notable as, after immigrating to Australia, as a founder of Ballarat as well as for his role in the establishment of the Victorian horse racing.
William took possession of a run at Murgheboluc on the Barwon River near Inverleigh and in January 1838, a small party made up of John Aitken, Henry Anderson, Thomas, Somerville, Learmonth and Yuille struck out north to search for Joseph Gellibrand and G.B.L.
Yuille settled south of Black Swamp in the area which was to become part of the gold rush settlement of Ballarat in 1838, and two years later, having sold his station there, went to New Zealand, where he was present at the ceremony of taking possession of those islands for the British Government by Governor Hobson, and the signing of the treaty of Waitangi.
Returning to Victoria, Yuille embarked in squatting at Rockbank, on the Werribee Plain, occupying the country from within a few miles of Williamstown to Mount Cottrell.
There he owned and trained a number of successful performers on the Victorian turf, and after revisiting England several times, where he made fresh purchases, he settled in Williamstown in 1885, and reared numerous winners in his stables.