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Thanks Paul

I will look at those maps you mentioned.  I believe the newspaper reports of the fires are what led my friend to initially place Sellecks Flat at Scotsburn.  It was some later research that caused him to have doubts about that location.

I know that Chapman owned property immediately south of the present Federation University (previously University of Ballarat), where current maps show Chapmans Lane.

A advertisement for a clearing sale at George Selleck's property in 1862 stated that it was...
To be held on the Proprietor's Farm, at Mount Buninyong, near the Toll-bar, about nine miles from Ballarat, on the Geelong road.
There were a number of toll gates in the district at the time, so I'll need to do some reasonably accurate mapping to determine where the nine mile mark would have been.  (I have some old 1" to 1 mile maps which I'll use for this task.)

Many thanks and kind regards,
Ron

A friend (who is not an "on-line" person) has been trying to identify the location of Sellecks Flat, which is shown in the 1871 Victorian census as having 12 dwellings, 12 females and 29 males.  The census shows it as being in the Parish of Buninyong, County of Grant.

Initial information suggested that it may have been near Scotsburn, east of Buninyong, however more recent information confirms that it was "between Ballarat and Buninyong".  This and some additional information has led him to believe that it may have been in near the intersection of Magpie Road and Aubreys Road in present-day Magpie, however this is by no means certain.

He has contacted the Buninyong & District Historical Society, however they had no record of Sellecks Flat.  It occurred to me that some Rootschatters may know of it.

Ron

The land description
...part of a subdivision of parts of portions 103 and 104 marked as lots 47 and 48 on the plan of subdivision by Edward De Carle of parts of said portions 103 and 104 Parish of Jika Jika County of Bourke...
indicates an "Old Law" title and a "paper" subdivision - one prepared by a solicitor without an actual on-ground survey.  Edward De Carle may have been the landowner or the solicitor.  The two lot numbers and two portion numbers indicate that the land comprised two lots that straddled the boundary between the two portions.  The portions would be the equivalent of Crown Allotments on later Parish Plans.

Most "Old Law" titles in Victoria have been converted to modern "Torrens" titles.  The local Council should be able to identify the current description of the land concerned, which would then enable you to obtain a copy of the current title as a starting point. 

Hope this helps.
Ron

For anyone researching street and locality names in Ballarat, the following link should take you to an alphabetical list of locality, street and reserve names within the present City of Ballarat. 

http://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/media/2253695/roads_and_open_space_historical_index.pdf

This document lists current and historical (and also currently proposed) names, with cross references where appropriate, together with the origin of the name and date of name change where that information is available.  The document is updated on a reasonably frequent basis.

Over a period of around 70 years, most longer streets in Ballarat were renumbered using a block system, in which numbers allocated to properties in each block increased by 100.  For example, travelling west along Sturt Street, no 1 Sturt Street is on the south-west corner of Grenville Street South, no 101 is on the south-west corner of Albert Street, no 201 on the south-west corner of Lydiard Street South, and so on.  Many Ballarat streets also have a North and a South, with the same numbers in both sections, so it's ESSENTIAL to ensure the appropriate North or South is included in addresses.

Unfortunately, except for a small number of more recent renumberings, records showing how the block numbers relate to the original numbers have been lost.  To aid research, the document also gives suggestions for finding present-day numbers for addresses shown on records that pre-date the renumbering.

Hope this helps anyone researching in the Ballarat area.