Whiskey Stills Incorporated running a tour at Cobden, Terang, Camperdown on May 7

America's famed prohibition era of the 1920s is well documented but the south-west was also home to its own bootleggers who were doing a roaring whiskey trade in the late 1800s.

The south-west's illegal trade may not have been on as grand a scale as what was happening in the United States of America, but it's a story that fascinated former Cobden police sergeant Alan Hart.

It was a time where local police would don disguises to raid the illegal distilleries under the cover of darkness.

"I think the Americans were making it even before the 1920s, in the 1870s and '80s," Mr Hart said.

"Theirs was more dramatic - in some states it was legal and in others it wasn't.

"They were going through the hills at night and the cops were chasing them.

"It was a bit of that Irish influence - some came to Australia and others went to the US."

During his 22-year stint in Cobden, Mr Hart came across some old records of the south-west region's bootleg whiskey industry.

He was so enthralled by what he uncovered he formed a group called Whiskey Stills Incorporated in 2003 to bring the stories back to life through district tours. One of the members also wrote a book on the history.

Two of the group's 10 members - vice president Alan Wilson and secretary Geraldine Delaney-Davison - have family ties to the bootleggers.

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The tours return on Sunday, May 7 - the first since the pandemic - and will take people on a journey back in time to the 1880s and 1890s.

One of the things Mr Hart discovered while researching the history of the police members that had come before him was one who was at the capture of notorious bushranger Ned Kelly at Glenrowan in 1880.

Mr Hart said mounted Constable James Murdoch Arthur had been involved in the capture of a whiskey still - people making the whiskey without a licence to distil alcohol.

"That led me to more research and I found that Arthur went onto three still captures (whiskey raids) in western Victoria," he said.

Mr Hart said it was a time when most of the legal products were being imported from England and the tax was going to the Australian Government.

"We weren't getting the best products from England and it was very expensive to buy," he said.

"The government thought these people were making a great fortune and a great deal of whiskey illegally.

"It's anyone's guess how much they were making but they were certainly making quite a bit."

Sunday's tour starts at 10.15am at the Cobden Uniting Church Op Shop - the site of the former police station where Constable Arthur worked for 13 years.

He worked there alongside Scotsman John Mitchell Christie - an ex-policeman who was then in the role of inspector of customs.

The pair would go on "hunts" in the "wee hours of the morning" looking for people illegally making the whiskey, with Inspector Christie going undercover by dressing in disguises to capture them.

Mr Hart said for a country policeman, Mr Arthur had "quite a great career" which included the Ned Kelly capture.

"He was an ex-bushman, a great rider and rifle shot," he said.

"They sent him up because he wasn't a city person. He did the three whiskey raids - the last one was with Mr Christie at Mortlake."

The tour also visits the Camperdown Court House where illegal distiller James Paterson Wilson was tried.

"Whiskey Tom" Delaney was the most well-known figure making the illicit whiskey.

He was also known for selling goods that spilled out from the Fiji shipwreck at Moonlight Head in 1891.

The 1800s was a time when numerous ships were coming to grief along the coast, their contents often washing up.

"He was hiding lead, candles, cutlery and anything else that washed ashore in the sand dunes and coming back and getting more," Mr Hart said.

Tours also stop at cemeteries in Camperdown and Terang where those with links to this part of our history were laid to rest - one of which was at first an unmarked grave.

Paterson's time in the region lead police to Brucknell where he was caught by Constable Arthur and Inspector Christie while working his still.

Just a few kilometres away is the appropriately named Whiskey Creek Road which was given to it by Inspector Christie because that's where he found Delaney and a guy called James Love.

Sills were also captured at Delaney's Corner in 1881 and 1887.

The tour finishes at Boggy Creek Hotel for lunch - another location that forms part of the history.

"Hopefully some of the people will be wiser about the south-west illicit whiskey making as it's not well known," Mr Hart said.

A second tour - which uncovers the other half of the south-west's bootlegging history - will run later in the year and trace Warrnambool and Koroit's links to the illegal trade.

Interest in the region's history is spread far and wide with Whiskey Stills Incorporated members hailing from Geelong, Wonthaggi, Timboon, Boggy Creek, Warrnambool and Glenfyne.

While Mr Hart is interested in the history, he said he also didn't mind the "occasional whiskey" with his drink of choice being Jameson Irish Whiskey.

And depending on which country you are drinking your whiskey from, the spelling changes.

In Ireland whiskey is spelt with an 'e', and in Scotland without.

"If you drink Scottish whisky it warms you up but the Irish whiskey, which is triple distilled, is not a bad drop," he said.

Mr Hart said he had a love for local history. "I researched the Timboon, Port Campbell, Cobden and Camperdown police stations," he said.

"There are so many histories that are intertwined, there's tentacles everywhere."

After leaving Cobden in 2005 and relocating to Geelong, Mr Hart worked as a security guard for about 10 years.

"When I was about 65 years old, I thought I can retire now," he said.

"I'm in Rotary, into local history and still follow the Geelong footy club. Family keeps you going too."

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