itellya on Family Tree Circles

The attached map shows Kensington as it was in about 1882. John Rankin's house stands in splendid isolation at the corner of what were known as Raleigh's Punt road (Macaulay Rd; the name also applied to Epsom and Maribyrnong Rds) and Princes Street. The northern boundary of Kensington was Geelong road. Kensington Rd was called Footscray Rd and Dynon Rd was called Swamp Rd. Kensington Park, which had housed Peter McCracken's dairy and then William Samuel Cox's Kensington Park racecourse, was about to be subdivided so Cox moved to Feehan's farm near Dean's hotel at Moonee Ponds. The Maizena factory was probably the first secondary industry not situated near (and polluting) the Moonee Ponds Creek or Maribyrnong River. The original Lynch's punt was actually on present racecourse land but was soon moved south to the line of Smithfield Rd, which was so-named because the first recorded race meeting in England was held at the Smithfield market.
People travelling to Flemington Hill probably used Princes St (the part of it in Kensington now known as Rankins Rd.) because Boundary Rd did not originally reach Racecourse Rd, possibly because of a swamp. Princes St was high and dry. What was the name of John Rankin's house? You'll have to read REV. JOHN REID RUFFLES SOME FEATHERS to find out!
A belated acknowledgement! The map in the attachment was supplied to me by Ken Fraser of Flemington. How I ever came into contact with Ken is beyond me but it just shows how historians (family and local) are ever ready to share. I want you to look at the map now and find the building that is shown in the wrong location, and should be shown where I have drawn a dot. I've teased you long enough. Hardiman's Hotel was shown on the site of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, which is now the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church.

TO BE CONTINUED.

As I could only list a small proportion of the surnames included in the Journal, THE OAKLANDS HUNT (1), they are listed below in the order of first appearance. There is no known connection between the Methodist Andersons of Tullamarine and William& Catherine, James, Don and Peter Anderson of Keilor. Likewise there is no known connection between Edmond Dunn of Viewpoint ( Tullamarine Methodist Trustee) and the Dunn who leased Dunn's Farm of 123 acres (all but 12 acres on section 23 Doutta Galla.) Otherwise surnames apply to one family. Pardon the capitals.
McRAE, McCRACKEN, McARTHUR, McDOUGALL, BRANNIGAN, CLARK, DAVIS, BLACKWELL, WARNOCK, DUNN, DANIEL, GREENE, FISHER, FISHER, PORTA, LLOYD, SCOTT, BAMFORD, GILLIGAN, COCK, JUDD, LOCKHART, WRIGHT, DELAHEY, FISHER, NAPIER, KERNAN, PECK, STEVENSON, WILLIAMSON, TAYLOR, McINTYRE, HOFFMAN, ANDERSON, ST JOHN, BARBOUR, LOEMAN, COBB, FRANKLIN, ENGLISH, MORGAN, LONIE, MANSFIELD, KENNY, SMALL, HOWSE, O'NIAL, FOSTER, LAVERTY, PHELAN, JOHNSON, CONNOR, CORCORAN, WILSON, ROBERTSON, HENDRY, EVANS, KNAGGS, NASH, PARR, PURVIS, COCK, BEAMAN, LOFT, GREEN, CROTTY, BRANNIGAN, McCORMACK, FOX, THOMPSON, HARRICK, ANNAND, TURNER, BLYTHE, McNAB, MILBURN, GUTHRIE, BERTRAM, BORRELL, BONFIELD, GOUDIE, STENSON, LYNCH, FULLARTON, STEELE, MAIN, MORRIS, MULLENS, BEALE, MORAN, CROOKE, DAVIES, SMITH, WATSON, PATTERSON, MILLAR, SINCLAIR, CHIRNSIDE.

This journal covers the Keilor area. Other areas will be covered in The Oaklands Hunt (2) etc, with areas specified in the title.

This organisation was founded in 1888 and there is an excellent history about it called THE OAKLANDS HUNT and written by D.F.Cameron-Kennedy. The author used a small number of the numerous newspaper articles about its hunts in his book, which also has excellent photographs of buildings which no longer exist, such as Alexander McCracken's "Cumberland" and the Inverness Hotel as well as J.B.McArthur's beautiful "Arundel", which like the Dromana Hotel suffered "Modernisation!!!"
Its first event was following a trail laid by Farquhar McRae from Warlaby, the McDougall property at the south west corner of Craigieburn and Oaklands Rds (Melway 384 J8). The Brannigans' "St Johns Hill" (probably 384 G5) adjoining Warlaby on the north, "Harpsdale" (385 E5) across Konagaderra Rd from the Brannigans, and Oaklands (385 B9)were the other prominent properties at the corner. There was supposed to have been an Oaklands Junction School on Warlaby in early days according to "Vision and Realisation".
McRae was at the time in charge of the hunters at "Glenara". This was after the death of Walter Clark and Glenara (as well as many properties on Oaklands Rd including Glenalister) was occupied by Davis and ??. Glenara was later owned by Alister Clark, famed rose breeder and President of the Moonee Valley Racing Club, after whom Glenalister was named. Because of Alister, there was a strong link between the M.V.R.C. and the Oaklands Hunt Club. The Glenalister homestead was probably at 385 A11. Most of the square mile property was, by 1999, occupied by the Readymix Oaklands Junction quarry. The location I have indicated for the Glenalister Homestead is labelled Balbethan Stud. Bob Blackwell was the manager of Glenalister when it changed hands. The new owner wished to rename the farm Balbethan so Bob was given permission to use the Glenalister name for a farm he established at Elmore.
As mentioned elsewhere, there was also a strong link between the horsey fraternity and the Essendon Football Club. Cameron-Kennedy mentioned the unusual circumstance of a horseman winning a race at Moonee Valley and taking the field for Essendon a short time later. There was also a strong link between the Oaklands Hunt and the farmers over whose properties the quarry was pursued. This was probably due to so many local farmers being members (although many were members of the Melbourne legal fraternity) and the consideration they showed to their neighbours. Before the Club's formation, Edmond Dunn of Viewpoint had taken Warnock, Master of the Melbourne Hunt, to court over damage to his crops and trauma suffered by his ewes.
Before the purchase of Sherwood, the club's social activities mainly occurred at Alex. McCracken's "Cumberland", Alister Clark's "Glenara" and the Inverness Hotel while the hounds were based on "Narbonne", the property of the Daniel family. "Woodlands" had been involved with frantic horsemanship since the days of Rawdon Greene in the early 1840's, as illustrated by the accounts written by the author of "Robbery Under Arms", and the tradition continued after the club's formation. If I remember correctly, the kennels were located at Woodlands until a change of ownership occurred.
One owner of Woodlands has been described as the father of the Australian Turf. This was Charles Brown Fisher of the famed Maribyrnong Stud who also owned much of the land at Avondale Heights between Military Rd and the river as well as the land north of Raleigh Rd at Maribyrnong. Charles and his brother Hurtle (who established the stud, are recalled by Charles and Hurtle St, in Ascot Vale West, and Fisher Pde behind Flemington Racecourse. (Maribyrnong: Action in Tranquility".
The Hunt was a matter of excitement to the children of Bulla and Greenvale, especially the Point to Point Steeplechase; incidentally a steeplechase was originally a race from one church to another with the most daring riders taking the most direct route.
The intention of this journal is to describe the location of the properties of the pioneers mentioned in the reports of the hunts. Many family historians may be aware of properties farmed by their ancestors because of "family legends" but many are not! One case in point is the family of Joseph Porta; the legend contained many details of bellows manufacturing but nobody knew about crown allotment 63 Moorooduc. Hopefully this journal will provide information for researchers such as the person who was trying to find the location of the Daniel family's "Narbonne". This person obviously had not read THE OAKLANDS HUNT!
When I began researching the area around Tullamarine, my first working title was "Every Square Inch" and with the help of Bob Blackwell and Sid Lloyd (whose brother, George, wrote "Mickleham Road 1920-1952") who knew the area like the back of their hands, parish maps and Bulla, Keilor and Broadmeadows rate records, I did discover occupants and farm names and locations for almost every square inch in the above shires as far north as Craigieburn Rd.

A nice easy one to start with.
Argus 24-6-1929, page 5. This is a photo of A. Scott and W.Bamford jumping a fence. You will notice that a rail has been removed. This was a common practice. (JimX) John Gilligan was killed when riding home in the dark, unaware that somebody had replaced the rail.
John Cock bought the 450 acre "Chandos" (which adjoined the Junction Estate between Londrew Ct and Freight Rd and extended north to the Moonee Ponds Creek) and subdivided it into three parts which became, from the north, Percy Judd's "Chandos Park", Bill Lockhart's, and the Wrights' "Strathconnan". William Moore Bamford bought Judd's farm in 1949 and built a new timber house, which still stands, surrounded by brick houses in Ashford Cres. It is not known where Bamford was living in 1929.(P.28, "Before The Jetport" by Ray Gibb.)
The Scott's purchased "Camp Hill" and renamed it "Gowanbrae", which is Gaelic for "Hill of flowers". They built a new homestead on the site of the Atco factory.

SUNBURY NEWS AND BULLA AND MELTON ADVERTISER 27-5-1893, page 3. (NOTE: This source will hereafter be abbreviated to SNABAMA.) The correspondent made a couple of mistakes, writing Delaney twice for Delahey and not realising that Sandy Smith's "Norwood" lay between Buckley Street and the paddock of Charles Brown Fisher. My comments are in italics.
Mr McDougall, the master, and many riders assembled at Essendon Crossroads. (1) Heading along Woodlands St, they entered Mr Napier's land (2) then passed through Mr Kernan's (3), Peck's (4), Stevenson's (5) and Williamson's (6) properties before taking a break at Tullamarine Junction (7).
Then their pursuit took them toward Keilor Chapel (8), through H. Delaney's (9), across into Mr Taylor's (10), over the Salt Water River at the Arundel Ford (11), thence into Overnewton (11a), along Mount Alexander Road and round by the Keilor State School.(12) After a rest, they resumed the chase again, crossing the Saltwater River at McIntyre's ford (13), due west through Mr R. Delaney's property (14), across North Pole Road (15), over Spring Creek (16) into Mr James Anderson's (17). The quarry hid in a blind gully but when discovered, went through Mr Hoffman's estate (18), across Buckley Street into Mr C.E.Fisher's (19) paddock where it was caught.

Open your Melway to 16 F12.
1. Essendon Crossroads was where the roads to Bulla and Keilor, Lincoln Road and Woodlands St met. Carnarvon Rd, earlier called Mawbey's Rd after an owner of St John's grant (Strathmore Heights to Lebanon Reserve)was by now called Lincoln Rd in directories. 2. This would be Theodore Napier's "Magdala" (Melway 16 G12); Thomas Napier had died and his son-in- law, George Barbour (an early Melbourne lawyer) had returned from Warrnambool to live on Rosebank and build the mansion which still stands. Theodore donated Napier Park to Essendon Council even though it was in the Shire of Broadmeadows, because the shire didn't want it. 3. John Kernan owned Merai Farm (Melway16 K8)but by this stage owned land in Section 15 Doutta Galla (Melway 16 H10)which he subdivided, naming Loeman St after his great mate Michael Loeman , who leased "Moreland" for 14 years before moving to Glenloeman on Tullamarine Island.(The bridge in Moreland Rd was called Loeman's Bridge.)
4. John Murray Peck was one of four young Americans, including Freeman Cobb, who established Cobb & Co. He came from New Hampshire and named his Ascot Vale House "Mascoma" after a river there. In 1882, he built a new house, still standing in Wendora St, and named it "Lebanon" after a town on the Mascoma River. Cunning John noticed that 12 acres north of Lebanon (purchased by Sir John Franklin and once part of "Dunn's Farm" was unoccupied, fenced it and paid the rates on the paddock; John English applied for the title for it decades later.The riders were now at Melway 16 G9.
5. Henry Stevenson owned "Niddrie" bounded by Keilor Rd, the Grange Rd/ Bowes Ave midline, approximately Fraser St and Treadwell Rd, later owned for decades by Dr Morgan's family. Strangely the farm's name is now applied to the suburb south of Keilor Rd. Henry also owned the western 300 acres of "St John's"; the eastern 200 or so acres being owned by Robert McDougall of "Arundel" until his death. As Harry Peck points out in "Memoirs of a Stockman", they were not the friendliest of neighbours. McDougall, the father of the Master of the Hunt, was an advocate of the Booth strain of shorthorns and Stevenson of the Baines strain and they actively ignored each other. The riders were now at 16 C6.
6. The Williamson's farmed several properties near Tullamarine but at this time they were on Camp Hill, between the tenures of Hay Lonie and the Gilligans. Camp Hill originally extended west to Broadmeadows Rd but the part west of Macedon road (Melrose Drive) became (Sam) Mansfield's Triangle, having been sold by Eyre Evans Kenny. Camp Hill Park (Melway 15 J1) indicates Camp Hill's north west corner and an eastern extension of Sharps Rd to the Moonee Ponds Creek its southern boundary. Bruce Small was a much later owner of Camp Hill and planned to build his Malvern Star bicycles there but could not get a railway siding. He must have also owned part of Jack Howse's old South Wait property where Malvern Avenue is located.
7. Tullamarine Junction (Melway 15 J1) did not exist until the 1860's. Those wishing to travel to Broadmeadows Township (Westmeadows) or Sydney would continue along Macedon road to David O'Niall's Lady of the Lake Hotel (near Millar Rd at 5 H11) and travel through Chandos to Fawkner St. Then Broadmeadows Rd (now Mickleham Rd) which was a boundary between crown sections must have been made. One possible reason that travellers continued to the Lady of the Lake is that the start of the more direct route would have been frequently under water. An early survey map has a note "plentiful supply of water" near the location of the western end of Brunton Cres. Contour lines do not indicate a catchment so the only conclusion is that the water came from a spring. The water flowed into William Foster's section 3, scouted the east side of the Spring St (now Leo Dineen) Reserve, passing through the right of way at its south end to collect water from a tributary near Clyne Crt and continuing through William Foster's section 21 Doutta Galla to join Steel's Chain of Ponds at Melway 15 F7.

It makes sense that the Fosters called their properties "Springs". This lead to the areas near their land being also called Springs, which could be a cause of confusion because both David O'Niall and James Laverty were described as being at Springs but David was on the road to Bulla and James was on the road to Keilor! Most farms south of the Foster land had names including Spring, such as Spring Park (Patrick Phelan, Johnson etc), Springfield (Connor), Spring Vale (Laverty, Corcoran),Spring Bank (James Wilson, James Anderson)and Spring Hill (later Aberfeldie, James Robertson.)

The Broadmeadows Road Board, established 1857, probably could not afford to deal with the flooding problem due to so many competing requests for road works but the formation of the Bulla Road Board in 1862 and Keilor Road Board in 1863, plus a toll gate at the junction would have provided funds for the construction of a culvert. (Even up to the 1950's flooding occurred every time the culvert was blocked- Tullamarine Progress Association minutes book.) By 1863 James Hendry had a store on the present 711 site,and became Tullamarine's first post master in (1867?) C. Evans also had a shop. John Knaggs was the toll collector in 1868 but he never received any payment from Edmond Dunn of Viewpoint (the part of Gladstone Park south of Lackenheath Dr./ Windermere Cres.); he could leave his property near Stewarton or Camp Hill to avoid the tolls and despite being a trustee of The Tullamarine Methodist Church had no problems with his conscience. (Church Centenary Souvenir 1970.)

Another early feature near the junction was the Wesleyan school at the bend in Cherie St, started in 1855. Broadmeadows had a very high proportion of Scots, Bulla and Keilor had many Irish pioneers but Tullamarine's early pioneers included a large number of Methodists (Dunn, Nash, Parr, Wright, Anderson, Purvis etc.) They would not have been happy to have the Beech Tree Hotel, the Lady of the Lake Hotel and the Junction Hotel so close to their school. The Lady of the Lake had probably burnt down by the time John Cock started leasing Broombank from Richard Beaman in 1867 and the Junction Hotel was probably opened soon thereafter. It was a Methodist, Tommy Loft of "Dalkeith", who urged the Junction Hotel's closure in the late 1920's (See Hotels near Tullamarine journal.) Cec and Lily Green opened a shop and garage in the old hotel giving the junction its well-known name of Greens' Corner.

8. Keilor Chapel was St Augustine's Roman Catholic Church. It was commenced in the 1850's but due to a shortage of labour because of the goldrush, it was not finished until (1863?) Its congregations would have been huge during its construction because most of the workers constructing the Mt Alexander and Murray River Railway in the vicinity of Keilor Rd Station (Sydenham) in 1958-9 were Irish. Some worshippers came from Bulla, such as Maurice Crotty who was probably at that time working at the Brannigans' "St John's Hill", which I mentioned at the start of this journal (Victoria and Its Metropolis.) Maurice met at this church a young McCormack girl, who displayed courage of legendary status, when she placed her body between aborigines intent on revenge and a relative who had been pursued from Keilor to Corryong. Mrs Crotty was one brave woman!
St Augustine's continued as the parish centre until a temporary building was moved from the east end of Glass St (Napier Cres) to establish St Monica's in Mt Alexander Rd.

9. The land between Fosters Rd (now Keilor Park Dr.) and the river was granted to J.F.L. Foster and became known as Leslie Banks. The Delaheys and their relatives, the Dodds, were granted all the land constituting Brimbank Park and called Oakley or Oakleigh Park, (later The Oaks when Michael Fox leased it). For decades Delaheys also owned Leslie Banks, probably until David Thompson arrived. The Harrick family were their neighbours between Leslie Banks and Keilor Rd and the Harrick homestead is heritage -listed. As Mary Delahey farmed much land in the southern part of the parish of Maribyrnong, I urged the naming of a new suburb in the parish after this pioneering family.

10. Section 2 of the parish of Tullamarine was granted to George Annand, a Melbourne grocer who also seemed to have engaged in money lending. He called section 2 "Annandale" and following part of section 2 being included in the Arundel Closer Settlement, Cr Bill Parr retained the name for his farm on the north side of Annandale Rd which adjoined his brother Sam's "The Elms" fronting Bulla Rd just south of the Conders Rd (Link Rd) school. I no longer have my rate records but I believe William Taylor was assessed on the 640 acres of section 2 in 1868, the earliest assessment I found at Keilor. Anderson and Parr (James Henry, Bill and Sam's father) leased the farm in about 1890 but either the owner's name was not recorded or I failed to record it.
It is likely that William Taylor had bought the Browns Rd area near Bertram's ford (Melway 14 G2), Turner's
(4 E12) and the part of section 2 that was included in the Arundel Closer Settlement (about 320 acres.)The year 1892 was a hard one for rate collectors. (A search I did regarding the McIntyres resulted in the discovery of a history of the Shire of Braybrook (Sunshine area) which states that 6 out of every 7 residents could not pay their rates in that year.) It is possible that William Taylor had sold the eastern half of Annandale to Thomas Nash and "Pa" Parr in or soon after 1892. When refreshing my memory about Overnewton's boundaries, I found that in 1892, William Taylor owned section 1 (Arundel) and section 2 was owned Blythe & Co. It is likely that Blythe sold the east half of Annandale to Nash and Parr and the western half to Taylor.
Incidentally the part of section 2 south of the start of Annandale Rd west to and including the Star Trak property is labelled "Chesterfield" in my 1999 Melway. I thought at first that this information must have been supplied by Keith McNab but then I realised that it must have come from Glen Cotchen, a descendant of Maurice Crotty. This was the property that the McCormacks were leasing from Annand in the 1850's when Maurice met his future wife at St Augustines; it is directly across Keilor Park Drive from "Broomfield".
The image below shows the Delahey property (Leslie Banks). In Melway 15 A2, the riders would have passed from Henry Delahey's into Mr Taylor's "Annandale".

11. The Arundel Ford was known to locals such as the McNabs, Mansfields and Milburns as Bertram's Ford.
Read details of the Guthries and Bertrams in the J.T.SMITH AND HIS ELECTORS and BERTRAM journals. The ford is at Melway 14 H2, virtually underneath the new Arundel bridge.
11a. "Overnewton". Once across the ford the riders would be on the eastern boundary of Overnewton (Arundel Rd, part of which is now named after Jose Borrell of Gumm's Corner.) William Taylor's Estate went west of Keilor Township to well past Sydenham and south to include land on both sides of Taylors Rd.

12. The quarry went along Mt Alexander Rd towards the Keilor State School. Mt Alexander Rd was the road to Keilor and the main street of the Village (which in my 1999 Melway is named to recall its pre- gold rush name of Macedon Rd.) The school was originally on a Church of England reservation at the bottom of the street named after Ebenezer Bonfield but was now at the top of Bonfield Reserve.

13. McINTYRE'S FORD. The location of this ford has cost me brain strain and about seven hours. After crossing this ford they headed due west through Mr R.Delahey's property. Without this information, it would be easy to assume that the ford was the one near Garden Ave (not far from the school site, where they'd taken a breather.)
This would have taken them into Keilor Binn Farm, originally part of Keilor Township. By the 1890's this was owned by Matthew Goudie, owner of the remaining Keilor hotel. His daughter married a Dodd lad and insisted that their farm be called "Brimbank". I'm not sure whether they were on the property by this time but it was certainly never owned by a Delahey. The other reason that this was not McIntyre's ford is that by heading east (the author said west when he meant east, a mistake I've made about a million times)the riders would have encountered the river again.
My assumption is that the quarry followed the north and then west bank of the river until it was south of the east-west transmission line which indicates the southern boundary of Keilor Binn Farm. This would then take it to the Delahey share of section 10 Doutta Galla.(See map below.) The south east boundary of the Delahey grant is the Western Ring Road.McIntyre's Ford could have been at the end of Charles Stenson's road or at the end of Government Rd (14 H12)which has the tell tale signs of a bending approach to "something" so that the descent would not be too steep. I do not think that either was McIntyre's ford, mainly because of the location of the McIntyre land.
I cannot find a Cut Cut Paw map but I can say with certainty that McIntyre Rd was the western boundary of the parish and that the McIntyre grants were directly over the river from the Dodd/Delahey ones (north of Berkshire Rd if I remember correctly.) A question that needs to be posed is why McIntyre would want a ford. To me the answer would be to get produce to Melbourne. Thus the two alternatives rejected before would create a long detour. I have no information at hand about when they settled but I believe it would have been in the early 1850's. They would have had two choices to cross the river: (a) cross near the E.J.Whitten bridge and skirt the north bank of the river to Braybrook road (Buckley St), (b) pay to use Lynch's punt on present racecourse land and then Smithfield Rd, which would have been mighty expensive if you were transporting tons of hay or livestock in large numbers. My guess regarding the ford being near the Whitten bridge is based on dim recollections of a ride down the bike path from Brimbank Park to the city many years ago. The ford which obviously existed at the end of North Rd, Avondale Heights is another possibility but a report from the Melbourne Hunt (detailed later) indicates that there were two fords, safer than McIntyre's, further downstream and they would have had to be the North Rd ford and Solomon's Ford near the end of Canning St.

14. Mr R.Delaney's land. The reporting could be misleading to anyone who does not know every square inch. As stated before, Delaney should be Delahey and it was probably Richard (of "Richard's Lookout".) Also, if the quarry had gone due east (not west as stated) it would have been impossible to reach North Pole Rd through Delahey land. I have a theory that the Dodd and Delahey land on section 10 was separated by a wire netting fence and the quarry followed it in the hope of finding a gap. Then having reached a point near Dodds Rd near the Keilor Terminal Station (15 B11), it did head due east into 11A Doutta Galla, through the area with streets named after cricketers.This northern third of 11A was Delahey land as you can see on the map. The middle third was Dodd land.
15. This land fronts Milleara Rd, which was known until the 1940's as NORTH POLE ROAD. In the sale of the noble Spring Vale Estate, the North Pole Inn was referred to as the Essendon road. I presumed that the Essendon Road would have been Hoffmans Rd (the boundary between Essendon and the Shire of Keilor)but an examination of the acreage and Keilor Rd and Essendon road frontages proved that the North Pole Inn was on the west corner of Milleara Rd (not in some of the other sites suggested over the years.) Hoffmans Rd had a notorious dog leg (Moushall Avenue}and the road was deplorable until a Fullarton connection in the mid 1900's ended the lack of co-operation between the Essendon and Keilor councils. (Dorothy Fullarton, Eddie Deutcher.)
North Pole Rd, on the other hand had led to Solomon's Ford and Braybrook Rd from soon after Melbourne's foundation. I believe that there was a pole near the north and south side of the ford to indicate its location, thus giving Milleara Rd and Duke St, Sunshine their original names. (South Pole Rd, Braybrook was seen in an early directory.)

16.SPRING CREEK. Not being mentioned, the land between Milleara Rd and Spring St-Rachelle Rd must have been in a state of flux regarding ownership and occupancy but is mentioned below in 17 and in the Melbourne Hunt report(which follows soon.)It is likely that the creek was called Spring Creek in the 1850's. (See 7 re Springs at Tullamarine and Keilor Rd and the farm names right down to Aberfeldie with Spring in their names. The creek ran through "Spring Gully". The creek is now named Steeles Creek. It was also known as Rose Ck where it crossed the direct line of Buckley St and travellers had to detour slightly to the north through Dugald McPhail's "Rose Hill" and "Sinclair's Farm" to reach Solomon's Ford. Title documents constantly refer to the stream as STEEL'S CHAIN OF PONDS. I can find no link to anyone named Steel in the area so I presume that Steel was an early squatter or a surveyor; in 1900 a Rupert Percy Steele had land bisected by McNamara Ave, Airport West but this was well after the chain of ponds bore the name.

17.JAMES ANDERSON'S. James Anderson's "Spring Bank" was the north east part of Main's Estate (Section 12 Doutta Galla)purchases by James Wilson on 9-8-1855.Wilson probably built the homestead which stood on the south corner of Teague St until it was replaced by a service station in the 1930's. It is likely that the farm name was bestowed by James Patrick Main. Another Oaklands Hunt report describes it as Mr James Anderson's well-kept farm.The 1900 Keilor rates showed that James Anderson also had 50 acres accessed from North Pole Rd.
In 1892, James was possibly living on 11B, between North Pole Rd and Rachelle Rd, on "Shelton Farm" Keilor. His mother Catherine, widow of William Anderson, had died there on 10-9-1892 at the age of 87.(Argus 12-9-1892.) Catherine had been one of the early residents of Ardmillan Rd, Moonee Ponds, following the death of her husband, and her house was later occupied by Blinkbonnie College, run by Miss Morris and at its second location in the street. Mrs Mullens, its owner circa 1998, told me she had often dug up inkwells while gardening.What of the owner of Shelton Farm; where was he? John Beale Snr had moved to Ardmillan Rd and the house was called Shelton of course! His son followed him in the Ardmillan Rd house and the property passed to John Beale Jnr's son in law, Loftus Henry Moran. Hmmm, where have I seen that surname before? In which house on Shelton Farm was James Anderson living in 1892? I think it was Dr Crooke's Sanitorium and that John Beale had previously lived in it. I no longer have my titles transcriptions but it is possible that the sanitorium was on lot 8 of Main's Estate between Rachelle Rd and Craig St, bought by John Beale on 1-6-1865.

18.Hoffman had later bought land in Main's Estate from Dugald McPhail, so the quarry may not have crossed Hoffmans Rd before crossing Buckley St into Charles Brown Fisher's paddock.

19.Fisher's land appears on the map.
The land between Buckley St and Parr and Venice Cts had been granted to Isaac Davies and became Sandy Smith's "Norwood", which also included about 13 acres north of Buckley St. Smith and Fisher appear to have done a property swap. C.B.Fisher's older brother, Hurtle, had built a mansion (Beau Lejour?) on the Essendon hospital site in Holmes Rd and this became Sandy's "Coilsfield" while Fisher gained the Buckley St frontage, as shown by the map.


( Mr Hoffman's Estate, "Butzbach" was bounded by Hoffmans Rd, Keilor Rd, approximately Hedderwick St (named after a lawyer)where it adjoined the McCrackens' "Mar Lodge", and Buckley St. This and the land on Main's Estate was later called the Buckley Park Estate.)

The Argus 8-7-1893, PAGE 15, HUNTING. THE MELBOURNE HUNT. This report is added to the above in reference to the location of McIntyre's Ford and "Shelton".
The country was covered with water but the master, Mr Watson, decided it was past time for another hunt and the meet was at the gates of Flemington racecourse. After riding along Epsom Rd and past Maribyrnong Rd, the quarry was released near Aberfeldie. They had ridden along Orford St; Corio St,Burns St, Scotia St and Huntly St did not seem to exist. The only mention of Corio in Moonee Ponds in 1893 concerned the death of the wife of George Patterson, inspector of works for the Victorian Railways at her residence "Corio" in Grace St; I wonder if Patterson was responsible for the naming of Corio St! The throw off must have occurred on Thomas Millar's old Ringwood but the property name was no longer used. The Ringwood homestead was at the end of Burns St according to Bob Chalmers of the Essendon Historical Society.
The quarry went north west through the Aberfeldie Estate (of James Robertson Jnr of Upper Keilor) towards Budesbach (sic, Budzbach)between Hedderwick St and Hoffmans Rd as mentioned previously, and crossing Buckley St, inclined to the left, crossing Spring Creek and entering Mr Beale's property (Shelton.)
They might have passed through Rose Hill and Sinclair's Farm unless the quarry crossed Rosehill Rd and entered John Beale's lot 8 of Main's Estate (between Rachelle Rd and Craig St (Melway 27 H1). The term "inclined to the left" suggests the latter path. The pursuit took the riders across North Pole Road into Dodd's paddock (between Keilor Park Drive and Lauricella Ave)with Keilor Cemetery on the right and entering Mr W.Delahey's property they arrived at McIntyre's ford.
Because crossing at the ford was so dangerous, most of the riders detoured to the Keilor bridge and the path towards the railway is not specified in much detail; Mrs Dodd's paddock would appear to be the land in the parish of Maribyrnong (owned by Mary Delahey) referred to regarding the naming of the suburb of Delahey.
I quote the end of the report verbatim. "It was a great disappointment to Miss Chirnside and Miss Watson, who were the only ladies out, that the fox had crossed at such a dangerous ford as McIntyre's for if he had gone to either of the lower fords they could have crossed with perfect safety."
McIntyre's ford was on the Delahey portion of section 10 so it would have had to be just north of the E.J.Whitten bridge or at the end of Stenson or Government Rds. As the latter two locations make no sense for the purpose of McIntyre travelling to Melbourne or Keilor, I will state my belief that McIntyre's ford was just north of the Whitten Bridge, and rest my case.The two lower fords would have been the one at the end of North Rd and Solomons Ford.
Further hunts in other areas will appear in other journals entitled THE OAKLANDS HUNT (2) etc. with areas specified.

Those who have read JOHN THOMAS SMITH AND HIS ELECTORS would have seen a reference to the Rev. John Reid receiving a letter of encouragement and donations to further his mission after visiting the Goulburn Region. One of those who gave support was Peter Young who was a Free Presbyterian. The Presbyterian Church was quite fragmented and Young was involved in a battle with another faction over the establishment of a church at Broadmeadows Township.

However, the nastiness seems to have stepped up to another level in the case of Rev. John Reid. I will not quote from the many newspaper articles but merely give an outline of the story as I understand it. I came across this saga while seeking more information about Alexander Blair and investigating a theory that Peter Young's "Clyde Park, Westernport" might have actually been near Essendon, since the Historical Society near Clyde had never heard of Young or Clyde Park.

A meeting was held at Thomas Armstrong's "Coalville" to get a Presbyterian Church (which became St John's, Essendon) erected. The meeting resolved to ask Rev. John Reid to be the congregation's minister.(Argus 1-7-1852 page 5.) Alex Blair had been chairman at this meeting and was to occupy the chair at a later one concerning Rev. John Reid's call to the new North Melbourne church. He was also to be Rev. Reid's staunchest ally in his darkest hour.
Those prominent in the formation of the church were Armstrong, Blair,Thomas Rogerson, Dugald McPhail, James McNay (McNae), John and Quintin Dick, Joseph Pitcher (Pitches), George Barry, James Crighton and John T.Hinkins. Thomas Millar (the subject of another of my journals) was later appointed a trustee. Hinkins, the first postmaster and teacher at Moonee Ponds, if I remember "The Stopover That Stayed" correctly, was not a member of the church and was thanked for acting as Secretary and Treasurer. Dugald McPhail of Rose Hill was Alex Blair's neighbour, James McNae (possibly an early squatter?), whose house still stands, was in charge of Davies' vineyards on Ngarveno, south of Dean St, Moonee Ponds, John Dick was involved with land on the south side of Keilor Rd,and Joseph Pitches ran what was later Chadwick's Farmers' Arms Hotel across Buckley St from St John's and near Pitches St (Melway 28 G5).Of the other three I know little except that the Crighton name was prominent in the Essendon Football Club and a grandstand at Windy Hill bore the name.

Rev. Reid was soon busy performing marriages. In June, 1853, he conducted two of particular interest to me. He married Robert McDougall of Glenroy and Margaret, the daughter of John Rankin, at Roseneath Cottage near Flemington. This was almost certainly Rankin's house at the corner of Princes St and Raleigh's Punt Road (or in later terms, the corner of Rankins Rd and Macaulay Rd) a stone's throw from the Kensington Station of 1860. It is possible that John Rankin was one of those who enticed Rev. Reid to North Melbourne. Robert McDougall had been involved nearer to town in about 1850 when he built the original section of Dean's Hotel, at the corner of Mt Alexander Rd and Dean St, where the Moonee Ponds Tavern now stands. More details about Robert's time at Glenroy, Aitken's Estate and Arundel at Tullamarine are given in JOHN THOMAS SMITH AND HIS ELECTORS.
The other marriage hints at a relationship (through marriage) between Alex Blair and Thomas Rogerson, who took opposing sides in the issue of the manse at Essendon. Rev. Reid married Robert Rogerson and Christina, daughter of Alex. Blair, at St John's Presbyterian Church, Doutta Galla.

There seem to have been two issues behind Rev. John Reid's problems. The first is that he spent his own money improving the manse at Essendon and then placed it in the hands of people (who were not trustees) for the benefit of the parish. Two of the trustees, Thomas Millar and Thomas Rogerson, laid a complaint about this. The second problem stemmed from Rev. Reid bad-mouthing some of his prominent seat-holders in the new North Melbourne parish. A Flemington doctor must have copped a real spray and probably had enough influence with the trustees to have Rev. Reid and his congregation locked out of the Presbyterian school where services were held.
Rev. Reid was suspended as a minister. What happened next?

As will be the case in a future journal, SHOVEL TROUBLE AT HOBSON'S FLAT, (about an ongoing barney between two Rosebud pioneers), I will let you find the actual details on trove as I did, and make your own judgement about who were the goodies and baddies. All the articles are in The Argus, except for a good summary of the conflict on page 3 in the Sydney Morning Herald of 14-11-1856.

Postscript. Thomas Rogerson rang a bell but softly, like Guthrie and Glengyle. I have not been able to find my reference to the family but the attempt produced information about Dick and Crighton.
The 1849 applicants for admission to the electoral roll included: Thomas Rogerson, dwelling house, Saltwater River.
John Dick purchased crown allotments 17C and 17D, Doutta Galla bounded by Keilor Rd, Hoffmans Rd, the line of Farrell St (Melway 15 K11) and Spring St, from William Nicholson on 15-3-1854 but the title reverted to Nicholson on 22-7-1861.
Allotment 22 F, bounded by Parer Rd, the line of Nomad Rd in Essendon Aerodrome, Fraser St and Thomas St, was granted to A.Wright and J&T.Crighton in 1848.
Bob Chalmers of the Essendon Historical Society told me that David Rogerson was leasing Robert Hoddle's grant (the northern third of the present Moonee Valley Racecourse)at the time and "Coleville" might have been a house still standing in Thomas St. The Rogerson and Dick families were related by marriage and also an Armstrong family.(See ROOTSWEB WORLD CONNECT PROJECT: COTTERS, RUTHS, KEALEYS, CLANCYS by Mary Cotter.)
The Farmers' Society had a ploughing match on Messrs Rogerson and Dick's farm, which was probably in the parish of Yuroke, in 1849.(See The Argus 8-6-1849 page 2 DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE.)

Dr John Blair will be discussed at the end of this journal. One source stated that he was William Allison Blair's son and I must confess that I had similar thoughts when I found out about his involvement at Blairgowrie. The details provided by Bob Chalmers make it highly unlikely that he was related to either of our Essendon pioneers.
Alexander and William Allison Blair were early settlers in the Essendon area and it is unknown whether they were related. I have been unable to find much about either family on genealogical websites. Alexander Blair has been described as a farmer of Flatfield, Saltwater River, Essendon. In one newspaper article, his farm was referred to as Floodfield, a name unlikely to attract buyers if you wanted to sell it! At first, I thought Flatfield might have been in Braybrook Nth Township,(the part of Avondale Heights including Clarendon St and bounded by the river and Glenside St) but a check proved this to be wrong. Then I thought of Main's Estate, and this guess was correct.
Alexander Blair had probably been leasing Flatfield from the grantee, J.P.Main, for some time before he bought about 50 acres from him for 2700 pounds 10 shillings on 27-5-1857. This land, lot 5, was on the north side of Rosehill Rd between Steeles Creek and Hoffmans Rd , its northern boundary indicated by the end of Albert St (Melway 27 K1.) Alexander mortgaged it to John Catto on the next day for 1000 pounds. I believe Alexander became insolvent; he never regained the title from Catto. Although the early 1860's have never been mentioned in the same breath as the 1890's or 1930's as a time of depression, many lost their properties at this time (such as Ralph Ruddell of Tuerong and Victoria's first manufacturer of bellows, Joseph Porta.) Catto sold the farm to Dugald McPhail (of Rose Hill)for 630 pounds on 6-7-1861. McPhail sold it to William Hoffman at a 120 pound profit on 16-3-1868. As Dugald McPhail was a neighbour, he probably let Alex and his SPEEDY wife remain on the farm; it will be of interest to compare the dates of Dugald's sale of the farm and of the death of Alexander's ailing wife, which I think was also in 1868. Alex and Dugald were two of the stalwarts of St John's, Essendon.


Although I had seen the name Blair on the Essendon and Hawstead map years ago, it had not made much impression on me because I was concentrating on the area north of Glass St. When I started researching Mornington Peninsula History, W.A.Blair became a centre of attention. Lime burning was from the late 1830's the industry between Boneo Rd, Rosebud, and the Heads. The widowed Mrs Rowley had married Kenyon and they had possibly come across from Van Dieman's Land to burn lime for J.P.Fawkner. The Skeltons, Kettle, Robert Rowley and Henry Cadby Wells, the Sullivans and Owen Cain of "Tyrone" were some of the others who set up kilns soon after.Later others, such as Edward Russell, many of whom had jumped ship, set up their own kilns. They had licences from the Crown for their lime stations but when the land in Wannaeue and Nepean parishes was alienated, William Allison Blair bought up huge tracts of land in Rosebud West and around Rye. By sheer coincidence, most of his grants had a kiln on them; he was trying to create a monopoly! As a result most of the lime burners lost their income with only the Cains and Sullivans surviving in this trade.In Lime Land Leisure, C.N.Hollinshed stated that William Allison had built Navarno at Essendon. No doubt, he meant Ngarveno, in the street of that name, but it was not only his spelling that was wrong- as you will see.
There were, to my knowledge, four family members named William Allison Blair, the third died as a baby and his replacement died in WW1. As well as being a lime merchant William Allison had a farm in Braybrook 200 yards from the Saltwater River, presumably on the south side of the river because the burning of his haystacks was caused by some boys from Footscray. (The farm was, as later information shows, on the site occupied by the Medway Golf Club.) W.A. lived at Netherlea at the corner of Hoddle St and Buckley St, Essendon. This became Essendon Technical School; since 2000 this has become a housing estate with a street named after John Coleman(who became a Bombers champion thanks to Hastings!)

ALEXANDER BLAIR.
A=The Argus.
A. 1-7-1852 p.5. A meeting was held at Thomas Armstrong's "Coalville" to consider the best means to erect a place of public worship in the parish of Doutta Galla. Alex. Blair was unanimously elected to the chair. Details of the meeting and of those attending can be found in my journal, REV. JOHN REID RUFFLES FEATHERS.
A. 2-7-1853, p.3. DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. The chairmsn, Mr Blair, Dr Pearce and Messrs Young and Williamson were appointed a committee to forward the erection of a manse at St John's, Doutta Galla as speedily as possible.
A.30-7-1853 p.4.At St John's Presbyterian Church, Doutta Galla, Robert Rogerson married Christina, daughter of Alexander Blair of FLOODFIELD, Saltwater River, Doutta Galla. The parish of Doutta Galla extends from West Melbourne to Sharps Rd, Tullamarine and is between the Saltwater (Maribyrnong) River and the Moonee Ponds Creek.
A. 25-5-1855 p.3, 2nd last column. Alexander Blair, proprietor, advertised the sale of a lease of "Flatfield".He had crops on 66 acres so he was obviously farming lot 6 as well as lot 5. If it had not been sold by 21 May, the lease would be sold by auction at the sale of Mr Main's Springbank Estate. (It was this advertisement, found by chance while looking for references to Peter Young, that compelled me to write the Blair of Essendon journal.) This item confirms my theory of the location of "Flatfield". The Springbank Estate, by far the biggest portion of Main's Estate, joined Flatfield on the north. It was purchased by James Wilson and later farmed for many years by James Anderson of Keilor.
A. 6-3-1856 page 5. Alexander Blair of Flatfield occupied the chair at a meeting to discuss the call of St John's minister, Rev. John Reid, to North Melbourne.
A. 2-9-1856, p.8, column 6. Rev. John Reid said that the false accusations made against him could be disproved by documents provided by Alexander Blair Esq. of Flatfield. (See REV. JOHN REID RUFFLES SOME FEATHERS journal.)
A.1-4-1858 p.8. "Working bullocks-for sale, four quiet bullocks (all leaders) with yokes, bows and chains. Apply to Alex. Blair, near Hainson's Punt across the Saltwater River, on the Geelong road.
It will be hard for you to believe that the above advertisement cost me three hours! I had a fair idea where the punt would be, but I just had to investigate this Hainson fellow. Then, having found that Hainson did not have the punt, and that Queenstown was probably where Alex was based, I went looking for a Cut Cut Paw parish map to confirm where section 7 was. And that is how I discovered exactly where WILLIAM ALLISON BLAIR died!
Firstly the punt. Alex Blair's Flatfield was fairly close to the original Geelong Road. This route was along Macedon (Mt Alexander) road to Braybrook Road (Buckley St west, Essendon)and west to the end of Canning St, Avondale Heights. They would deviate slightly to the north into Rose Hill to cross Rose Creek (Steele's Creek)
and probably then took a bee-line across unfenced paddocks to Solomon's ford (Melway 27 B8.) It seemed like a good idea for the Government to establish the Township of Braybrook on this well-established route in 1850. But it was in the same year that Joseph Raleigh opened a punt that led to both Maribyrnong Rd and Epsom Rd being called Raleigh's Punt Road. The Township of Braybrook, partly in Doutta Galla and partly in Cut Cut Paw, was stillborn. In 1851, a timber bridge was built at Keilor but it lasted only until the next downpour, with the result that "the great road to the diggings" was through Tullamarine and Bulla until Brees' bridge was built at Keilor in 1854. A punt had operated at Keilor in the interim. Those travelling to the Ballarat diggings extensively used Raleigh's Punt until Brees' bridge was built and then went through Keilor and along Ballarat Rd (Keilor-Melton Highway.)
These advances did little to help Geelong- bound travellers. Then Michael Lynch established a punt on present racecourse land at the top left corner of Melway 42 F3. Racecourse Rd was known as Geelong Road and a road parallel to Smithfield Rd and probably 200 metres north took travellers to the punt. As I have a mountain of notes on about 20 topics, I do not have time to find when he first set up the punt or why he moved it to the line of Smithfield Rd (which got its name because the first recorded race meeting in England was held at Smithfield Market.)He had the punt and his Punt Inn going by 1853. By 1856, C.J.HARRISON (not Hainson!) was calling for tenders for a brick dwelling (which hopefully has been preserved.) Alex. was near HARRISON'S PUNT!
I am guessing that Alex Blair was on the western side of the river where Queenstown was being subdivided into farms of about 10 acres on part of section 7, Cut Cut Paw. Apparently not making much money from Flatfield, he might have been using the bullocks to cart bluestone from quarries for Wills etc. to Spottiswoode's craft. (Did you notice the origin of the name of Spotswood?)
And where did WILLIAM ALLISON BLAIR die? On Medway Golf Course. William bought land including the golf course from the grantee, Judah Solomon in 1858. It was sold to Thomas Williamson in 1901. Information supplied by Bob Chalmers of the Essendon Historical Society, which will be given verbatim later, shows that both Alex.Blair and William A.Blair died at Maidstone.(Environmental History of Maribyrnong, vol.2 pages 6-7.)

A. 24-7-1858 p.8. "Two first rate farms for sale, on Steel's Ponds, near the Saltwater River six miles from Melbourne. The proprietors, Messrs Alex. Blair and James Laverty, in whose occupation they now are, offer them together or separately, comprising 54 and 50 acres respectively, fenced and cultivated, with buildings on each.
The very desirable farms have good black soil and are watered by the ponds running through them, situate adjoining the land recently sold by Mr Watkins and that on which Mt William Hoffman has built his residence."

The two farms were on the north side of Rosehill Rd and separated by Steeles Creek.Laverty had bought the western farm, lot 6 of Main's Estate from the Bears on 21-10-1848. It is likely that both Laverty and Blair were experiencing financial problems; the former mortgaged lot 6 on 21-10-1858 about three months after the advertisement appeared. James Laverty owned the Springvale Estate (on the south side of Keilor Rd between Webber Pde and Milleara Rd; John Laverty (his son) was charged with abandoning the North Pole Inn, which was on the west corner of "The Essendon Road". I had presumed that this road would have been Hoffmans Rd but details of the sale of "Springvale" re frontage and acreage make it certain that the Essendon Road was Milleara Rd (known as North Pole Rd until 1947 in Keilor rate records.)
Peter Somerville maintained that North Pole Rd got its name from the icy winds that swept along it but it was far more likely that there were two poles marking the location of access ramps to Solomons Ford at the end of Canning St, one on the north and another on the south. (A source about the Cut Cut Paw parish, which includes Braybrook, referred to South Pole Road- probably Duke St.) If Milleara Rd led to Braybrook, why was it not called Braybrook Rd? It would have been too confusing because Buckley St was called Braybrook Rd!
The 1856 electoral roll makes it appear that James Laverty was calling the North Pole Inn the Harvest Home Hotel, but this was not the case. Edward Fegan was running the North Pole and the Harvest Home was on J.P. Bear's subdivision of James McNae's farm, just south of Dean's Hotel on the Dean St corner in Moonee Ponds.

It is almost certain that Mr Watkins' farm which he had just sold was lot 7, the southern third of Springbank, immediately north of Alex. Blair's lot 5; Watkins had probably sold it to James Wilson, who had bought the northern 2/3 of Springbank earlier, after running the Golden Fleece Hotel at Pentridge (Coburg.) William Hoffman was involved in Main's Estate but his land adjoining the Blair/ Laverty farms was Butzbach, which extended east from Hoffmans Rd to about Hedderwick St. The house that Hoffman had just built was near Croft St (Melway 28 B2) and accounts for the bend in Price St.The Crofts renamed Butzbach as "Buckley Park".
Hoffman, who had probably been living at "Laluma" nearer to Essendon, had probably just moved onto Butzback and built a grand house. Soon after receiving his grants, he had leased the farm to Alexander Earle McCracken, who had returned to England in 1857 because of the poor health of his wife, Jane.

A.28-3-1866 p.4. John Kirk, son of the late Robert Kirk of Scotland, married Jessie, the fifth daughter of Alexander Blair, Saltwater River.
A. 26-10-1868 p.4. Elizabeth Speedy, the wife of Alexander Blair, died at her residence, Saltwater River.She had endured a long illness before her death at the age of 65. She was a native of Forfarshire, Scotland. It could be presumed that Elizabeth was Janet Young's daughter.
A. 27-10-1868 P.8. The funeral of the wife of Alexander Blair was to leave his residence, Saltwater River.
A. 3-3-1871. Alexander Blair had died on the 2nd at his residence, Saltwater River, aged 72.
A. 3-3-1871 p.8. The funeral of Alexander Blair was to leave his late residence, Saltwater River.
A. 19-7-1871 page 8. The funeral of Mrs Janet Young was to leave the home of her son-in-law, Mr Blair, Saltwater River. She had obviously been living with her daughter and son in law, but both of them had died before her. I WONDER IF JANET WAS RELATED TO PETER YOUNG OF NAIRN.

WILLIAM ALLISON BLAIR.
A= The Argus.
A. 29-9-1855, p.7. The dissolution of the partnership of Forrest Hay, John Thompson and William Blair, merchants was announced.
A 1-12-1856 p.4. The wife of William Allison Blair had a son at Emerald Hill (South Melbourne.)See 19-5-1858.
A 23-9-1857 p.4. The wife of W.A.Blair had given birth to a daughter at Wattle Bank, Essendon.
A 19-5-1858 p.4. William Allison, only son of William Allison Blair, died at Essendon aged 18 months.
A 20-12-1865, p.4.Margaret Allison, 2nd daughter of William Allison and Isabella Blair had died.
A. 14-2-1867, p.7. A netter to the Essendon-Flemington council from W.A.Blair was not read because it was disrespectfully worded.
A 9-1-1869 p.6. Charles Gavan Duffy accused William Allison Blair of employing dummies. Because the Land Act was intended to break up large holdings, those such as Blair, who had quite opposite intentions' would naturally be suspected of getting friends to buy crown allotments on their behalf. David Swan, another dispossessed lime-burner earned valuable income fencing Blair's property and would be willing to assist his schemes. Charles Gavan Duffy became an Irish hero because of his fight for land for yoeman farmers there and continued his efforts in Victoria. It was because of a battle between Blair and Duffy over another allotment that S.S.Crispo suggested that the disputed piece of land be declared a village (Sorrento!)
A. 15-7-1875, p.7. W.A.Blair is listed as a director of the City of Melbourne Bank Ltd.
A 17-4-1880 p.1. At Netherlea,James Boyd of Ballarat married Lizzie Ewart, eldest daughter of William Allison Blair.
A. 7-5-1887, p.2. A sale of W.A.Blair's land in the city was advertised.
A 26-4-1888, p.1. William Allison, elder son of W.A.Blair of Netherlea, had married Minnie Waters, younger daughter of J.M.Peck of Lebanon, Pascoevale. (The elder daughter had married Alexander McCracken of "North Park", the foundation President of the V.F.L.) William and Minnie's son was described at being born at Pascoe Vale. This could have been at Lebanon or at the house, which Peck was said to have built for a daughter and which was later called Cook's Homestead. Illegally demolished, it was on the site now occupied by Red Rooster, across the footbridge from Mascoma St, Strathmore. "Lebanon" still stands in Wendora St.
A.10-9-1894, p.5. The will of Isabella Blair of Buckley St, Essendon is detailed. Mabel Blair was given the Braybrook farm, which we now know was, or included, the Medway Golf Course. Minnie Ann Blair was described as her daughter, but she was a daughter-in-law, being the daughter of John Murray Peck and the wife of Isabella's son, William Allison Blair.
A 15-1-1938 p.4. HOMESTEAD HOME FOR SCHOOL.This article had a picture of Netherlea, which was to be demolished for the construction of Essendon Technical School.
A 19-1-1957 p.24. John Ronald, son of the late William Allison and Isabella Blair of Netherlea, Essendon had died at Kardinia House, Geelong.
OTHER SOURCES. Sgt. William Allison Blair, son of William Allison and Minnie Waters Blair, was killed in action on 16-2-1917, his age recorded on the grave as 27. He was born at Pascoe Vale and enlisted at Essendon. ("Lest We Forget", which gave his parents' address wrongly as "Meruda".) The "A.I.F. Project" adds the following details. William attended Scotch College and had been a stock and Station agent at Dookie before enlisting on 29-7-1915 with the rank of sergeant. His father was described as Captain William Allison Blair of "Mernda", 42 Jolimont Terrace, Jolimont.He was 26 and single when he embarked and died at Armientieres, while serving with C Company of the 38th Battalion at the age of 28.
The farm at Braybrook was probably the one, including the Medway Golf Course, which William Allison Blair bought from the grantee,Judah Solomon, in 1858. It was sold to Thomas Williamson in 1901. The first clubhouse on the golf course was the house built by Solomon or Blair. (Environmental History of Maribyrnong.) The destruction of the deliberately lit haystack by the Footscray lads is detailed in The Argus (5-12-1889, p.9 and 31-12-1889 p.7.)


The following details about Alexander and William Allison Blair have been kindly supplied by Bob Chalmers of the Essendon Historical Society.
ALEXANDER BLAIR.
Great to see that you are still on the job with our history. Yes, I was aware of Alezander Blair's involvement at St John's. He chaired the important meeting at Thomas Armstrong's residence at which the Presbyterian Church was established. His farm was, as you stated, "Flatfield Farm, which was in section 12 north of Rosehill Road. He was born in Angus, Scotland in c1799, married and raised his family in Kettins, Angus and arrived in Port Phillip aged 50 in October 1849 accompanied by his wife Elizabeth (nee Speedy) and seven children- Margaret (21), Ellen (19), Euphemia (17), Christina (15), Janet (14), John (12), and Eliza (7) on the ship "Mahomed Shah". Christina married Robert Rogerson (son of William Rogerson), Eliza married a Robert Cherry, and Euphemia married James Bell- all from prominent families. Ellen (also known as Helen) married John McPhail, the step brother of Dugald McPhail and partner (on Miller's Farm) with James Bell. Jessie (probably referred to as Janet on the shipping record) married John Kirk. Elizabeth Blair (Speedy) died in 1868 aged 63 and Alexander died in Maidstone on 2-3-1871. His father was Alexander Blair and his mother Mary Duff. His will can be downloaded from PROV.
NOTES ON THE ABOVE. Having been alerted by Bob of the Maidstone connection, I discovered that Alex was a trustee of the Presbyterian Church in Maidstone (The Argus,11-1-1862, page 7, Government Gazette.) This seems to confirm my guess that his bullock team had been working on the Cut Cut Paw side of the Saltwater River.

WILLIAM ALLISON BLAIR.
William Allison Blair (no relation to the above) was born in Mearns, Renfrewshire, Scotland, to William Blair and Margaret Allison on 9-9-1821. He married Isabella Ewart (born Durham, England in 1827) in Gorbals (Glasgow) on 6-1-1850. The couple arrived in Australia on the Catherine Glen"in August 1853 together with a James Blair (presumably a 20 year old brother of William Allison. William Allison Blair was shown in the 1841 census as a tailor and in the 1851 census as a hat and cap manufacturer, a trade he took up after arriving in Australia. Willianm Allison Blair and Isabella Ewart had a large family, with 8 children born to them, firstly at Emerald Hill, Fitzroy and Collingwood, but later at Essendon, where Margaret was born in 1859. Three children died in infancy or early childhood. One of his daughters married James Boyd (who served on the Essendon council) and Blair and Boyd were both involved with the mining of lime. Isabella Blair died at Netherlea (Buckley St, Essendon) in 1894 and William Allison Blair died 27-9-1896 in Maidstone. There is more about William Allison Blair in "Fine Homes of Essendon and District".
NOTES ON THE ABOVE. William Allison Blair's death notice can be seen on page 1 of The Argus of 3-10-1896. It confirms that he died at Maidstone.

THE ESSENDON HISTORICAL SOCIETY IS FORTUNATE TO HAVE SUCH A DEDICATED HISTORIAN AS BOB CHALMERS. IT HAS PRODUCED A HUGE NUMBER OF BOOKS SO RESEARCHERS SEEKING DETAILS ABOUT THEIR FAMILIES' INVOLVEMENT IN THE AREA SHOULD CONTACT THE SOCIETY.


Dr John Blair.
LAUNCESTON EXAMINER 15-3-1887 P.2. Dr John Blair was born in Linlithgow, Scotland in 1835.
THE ARGUS 18-11-1876, page 9. Someone who was in a position to know stated that Dr John Blair was the real founder of the Alfred Hospital.
THE ARGUS 29-8-1921, page 1. Mary Hunter, the widow of Dr John Blair, died at the age of 83.
THE ARGUS 12-4-1930 PAGES 3S AND 6S AND 5-4-1930 PAGE 10S. Dr John Blair did not hold to the common view that aborigines were unintelligent. He adopted an aboriginal boy, which his wife Mary was not too keen about, but she soon grew to love him. The boy was named Lani after an Indian cook and was fondly remembered by friends of the Blair family. Lani died in 1900 (Argus 18-1-1900 page 1.)
BLAIRGOWRIE VILLAGE BY THE SEA, a pamphlet published by the Nepean Historical Society, states that Michael O'Grady built the mansion whose later name, Blaigowrie, was used for the settlement known firstly as Manners-Sutton and then Canterbury. (See Sidney Smith Crispo journal.) O'Grady built the stately home in 1874, naming it "Villa Maria" and following his death Dr Blair bought it in 1877 and gave it the name that translates as "field of goats" according to a genealogy website.
Blairgowrie was sold in 1887. (Argus 21-11-1887, page 2, column 7.)