The children of Halls Gap Primary School have started a campaign to change the name of Mackey’s Peak back to the previous name of Cherub Peak.
For many years the children have taken responsibility for maintenance of the child’s grave which sits below the peak as one leaves the camping area. The child, Agnes Folkes, died aged three months in 1870 when her sawmilling parents were unable to get her to a doctor in Stawell because of flooding in the valley. Soon the cliff top was named Cherub Peak by the small community in the valley. However some 50 years later the name was officially changed following a visit to the Grampians by the then Minister for Lands, Mr Mackey.
Now the children are agitating for a return to the early settlers’ name, with a petition and letter to the minister.