itellya on Family Tree Circles
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THE INVERNESS HOTEL(1853-1964) AND ITS PENNY POLE, NEAR TULLAMARINE, VIC., AUST. (with background notes.) AND FRANKLINFORD.
I would estimate that hundreds of people have helped me with my research. Some were referred to me for help, resulting in win-win situations. Some contacts, such as Judith Durham and Laurie Wilson (Bonnie William of Dundee) resulted from much digging but in the case of Bernard and Patricia Wright, it was just sheer luck.I taught at Gladstone Park with their daughter. She knew of my interest in local history and got her dad to write his memories of running the Inverness Hotel which was only a stone's throw north of the north end of the N-S runway at Melbourne Airport. The closed road that led from Bulla to Oaklands Junction is shown with a dotted line in Melway 177 F9 and G10. By tracing this to the south east and Oaklands Rd to the south until they intersect, you can find the location of the junction.
Here is Bernard Wright's story, from page I-L 5 -7 of DHOTAMA. I did not realise that I had missed the first portion of Bernard's story, which is in bold type, until I noticed that Ken Sier and the ride-in patron were not mentioned.
Some memories of THE INVERNESS HOTEL at Oaklands Junction.
The Inverness was a popular Saturday night spot because it had a fully enclosed Beer Garden, a band playing dance music of the times and there was strict policing of who was permitted to enter ensuring a pleasant trouble free night.
My knowledge of The Inverness runs from early 1962 until the end of 1964. The licensee before that time was a former Fitzroy footballer, named Ken Sier. He was so familiar with his customers he could tell from the sound of their footsteps who was coming.
Ken introduced me, as the new licensee, to numerous customers, among whom was Norm Oliver, a local transport operator who was also a keen horseman. Norm would often ride his horse to the hotel, sometimes even into the bar, to ensure he had a place to sit while having a drink.
The Inverness was often used by the Oaklands Hunt Club as the starting point for a hunt. Quite exciting to see the riders in their pink jackets, milling about, awaiting the call of the Master of the Hunt. Then the bugle called and the hounds bounded off after the scent.
The Inverness was situated on a bend of Bulla Road, notorious for accidents, because it was much sharper than it looked. This road has disappeared with the construction of Melbourne Airport, being replaced by Tullamarine Freeway and Sunbury Road to the north of the site of the old hotel.
In the late 1950's the hotel was purchased by the Commonwealth Government as part of the area that was to become Melbourne Airport. This meant that I leased the hotel at the Government's pleasure, until the end of 1964, when the licence was cancelled, and construction of Melbourne Airport began.
The hotel was a two storey building, the ground floor consisted of the main bar, saloon bar, dining room, kitchen, guests' lounge and guests' quarters, the upstairs being private residential.
The main bar was a large "L" shaped room which had a thick steel pole in the corner of the "L" reaching from the bar to the ceiling. This pole became known, during my time at the hotel, as "The Penny Pile" because it was suggested that any small change be placed around the pole and built up to the ceiling, the money to be donated to the the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal. This was so popular with our customers that it was followed up with with a suggestion that we organise a barrow push into the city on Good Friday to raise more money for the appeal.
A wheelbarrow was donated by KELSO and the manager of Balbethan Stud drove a utility car and horse float to carry the money donations as the barrow became too heavy to push, and to provide transport for the relief pushers.
As a further gesture of goodwill the hotel was open to prime the volunteers who were going to push the barrow and to quench their thirst when they returned after their efforts. In 1963 and 1964 The Inverness would have been the only hotel in Victoria that was open on Good Friday.
Water was always at a premium because we had only tanks for all our needs. If it didn't rain we had to buy water from a local carrier who might take two days to come and fill our tanks. Two days are a long time if you don't have water to wash.
In the cellar I installed a water tap and connections to the beer supply system so that at the close of business each night I could flush the pipes with water. One memorable day at lunchtime there was a degree of panic from the kitchen. The staff turned the taps on to wash the dishes and got beer instead of water. I had forgotten to turn off the water tap in the cellar when I connected the gas to the system. (The gas pressure in the beer barrels being greater than the water pressure in our overhead water tanks.)
Counter lunches were always very popular at The Inverness , especially among the pilots from Essendon Aerodrome. They loved the Scotch Fillet STeak and Fish in Beer Batter we used to put on, and one of the pilots, John Barnes, kept us regularly supplied with fresh King Island crayfish.
The genial gentleman befind the bar with the horseman was my father-in-law, Angus Grant, who was my partner in the business. He was formerly the licensee of the Echuca Hotel where I met him in 1956 through my future wife.
Our time at The Inverness was most memorable because our first two children were born while we were there.
We met many interesting people during our time there. Des Dumbrell who became President of the local shire was a regular customer as was the late Doug Elliot, media personality and politician.
Although close to the city, The Inverness had the ambience of a rustic hostelry, and for this reason it attracted many celebrities who wished only for a quiet drink away from the public view. Numbered among these were such people as the Police Commissioner and the State Coroner who each would arrive in chauffeur driven cars.
BACKGROUND NOTES.
The first thing I want to comment on is Bernard's masterful description of the prelude to a hunt; one word "milling" captured perfectly the atmosphere of impatient riders and mounts. I have read over a hundred reports on the Oakland Hunt and D.F.Cameron-Kennedy's excellent history of the club's 100 years but nobody has come close to such a vivid word picture.
KEN SIER. It is easy enough to find details about V.F.L. footballers on the internet but don't rely on one site. The wikipedia entry highlights his 41 goals from full forward in 1944 and 3 goals in the grand final. The A.F.L. stats site gives a breakdown of games and goals per season, jumper numbers, age in his first and last game, and so on. Full Points Footy gives a more personal picture, including a swap card. It describes him as excelling at both ends of the ground, which explains his low tally of goals except in 1944. It also explains his low tally of games and goals in 1942-3 when he did military service and probably only played when he had leave.However the number of goals kicked for both Fitzroy and Richmond differ from the A.F.L. stats, 61 and 13 instead of 36 and 23.Ken played in Fitzroy's last premiership. He was renowned for clever spoiling, prodigious drop kicking and well-timed breakneck runs out of the backline.
Coached by Jack Dyer (Captain Blood)you'd expect him to be a tough nut and flattening Hawthorn's Bobby Milgate behind play in his first game in 1948 would have delighted the coach. (www.hawthornfc.com). Ken would have received as much as he gave, such as when Carlton's Ken Hands jumped into his back and got off at the tribunal in 1946. (Round 15, 1946:blueseum)
My personal experience at Franklinford Primary School convinces me that Ken would have known each customer from the sound of footsteps.
Many of those who built the Airport were Americans. John Petersen (who lived on the east side of the Kindergarten site) and Leo Dineen told me that the Theresa St area in Tullamarine was developed to accommodate them.
John Barnes may have been the pilot -pictured- who left to work for Pakistan International Airlines in 1954. (Sun-Herald, of Sydney, 14-3-1954, page 11.) He may also have previously been at Townsville, Thursday Island, Brisbane and Cairns.
Des Dumbrell was President of Bulla Shire in 1774-5 and 1980-1 and leased Woodlands for many years.(DHOTAMA D77.)
THE INVERNESS HOTEL; 111 YEARS OF HISTORY.
I.W.Symonds mentioned that a Mr Kennedy had built the Inverness Hotel. I can't remember whether he specified a given name but I do remember wondering if it was Donald Kennedy of Dundonald, near Gellibrand Hill. I also have a recollection that his "Bulla Bulla" stated that Robert O'Hara Burke's expedition struck its second camp on the site of the Inverness Hotel.I remember wondering when it was built. Trove reveals all!
The earliest reference to the Inverness Hotel found on trove was on page 6 of The Argus of 2-3-1853.
Henry Kennedy made an application for a new licence, for the Inverness Hotel, Bulla Bulla. This was under the heading of COUNTY OF BOURKE QUARTERLY LICENSING DAY. Above this was more information about licences which showed that the licence for the Robert Burns Inn in Lonsdale St was transferred from Henry Kennedy to Ewen McKinnon.
Why would Henry want to leave the big smoke (literally!) to set up a hotel in the sticks? In the days when there was a hotel on practically every corner, the competition in the bustling town might have been too great, or perhaps Henry's lease on the hotel had expired and the owner was increasing the rent BECAUSE OF THE GOLD RUSH. As for the location of his new hotel, it was situated on the great road to the diggings to quote an advertisement of the time.
Even those headed for McIvor's Diggings (near Heathcote)would travel this road as far as the Lady of the Lake (just south of Derby St Tullamarine) before veering to the right through "the Broadmeadows".
Unfortunately 1854 was a bad year for Bulla and Sunbury. Much Government money was spent on improving the road to Mt Alexander (Castlemaine.)This improved the surface but also allowed the construction of Samuel Brees' timber bridge which was to serve for 15 years until it was replaced by the iron "flower basket" bridge. Keilor Rd maintained the name of Mt Alexander Rd into the 1900's and this became the popular route. The mail route through Bulla had disappeared a few years earlier despite the fierce opposition of Peter Young of "Nairn" who hinted that Taylor of Overnewton and Robertson of Upper Keilor had used undue influence to divert the mail route through Keilor.
However Henry did not live long enough to see his hopes of a quick fortune dashed. Henry Kennedy, of the Inverness Hotel, died at Bulla Bulla at the age of (26/28?) on the 4th December. (Argus 8-12-1853, page 6.)His widow had obviously transferred the licence before she died in March, 1855, at 130 Collins St with her funeral leaving for the new cemetery from 126 Collins St. (A. 29-3-1855, pages 4 and 8.) Perhaps the new licensee was Charles Melville, of the Inverness Hotel near the Deep Creek, whose property was stolen (A. 5-12-1856, page 6.)
George Melville was running the hotel by 1860 and was also a victim of theft. (A.28-8-1860, page 8.)He had been landlord of the hotel for some time and was a witness regarding an alleged theft at John Beech's Beech Tree Hotel in Tullamarine in 1857. (5-5-1857, page 5.)It was probably George who offered the Bulla District Road Board free use of a room when Frost of the Deep Creek Inn sought to impose a charge.
("Bulla Bulla",I.W.Symonds.)
In 1860, the great race was on. That was the race to cross the continent from south to north. It was a matter of boasting rights between South Australia and Victoria.Former policeman at Castlemaine, Burke, was our leader and Landells, who had obtained the camels, was his deputy; the latter resigned later en route and was replaced by Wright, who caused the death of Burke, Wills and Charlie Gray.(Google "the dig tree".)
The expedition's departure from Royal Park was delayed enormously by endless speeches so that they had to strike the first night's camp in the vicinity of today's Queen's Park at Moonee Ponds. On the next day, they travelled to the site of the Inverness Hotel, as Symonds puts it. Two little girls, Catherine and Minnie O'Niall, daughter of the late David O'Niall (who had established the Lady of the Lake Hotel) and who died as spinsters in Docker St, Richmond in the 1930's, peered through the Cape Broom Hedge (that led to the farm being called Broombank) as the procession passed by. (The late Colin Williams whose family leased the property for many years. See the O'Niall/ Beaman journals.)
Symonds' reference to the camp being on the site of the hotel may have been meant to convey the fact that the hotel no longer stood there rather than the impression I gained, that the hotel had not been built by 1860. The expedition's camp sites would most likely have been chosen because of the availability of water. The Beech Tree had an enormous water tank, the building of a tank was one of the first priorities for Michael Loeman at Glenloeman, and no doubt the Inverness had a good supply.AS WE HAVE SEEN, THE HOTEL HAD BEEN THERE FOR SEVEN YEARS!
There is possibly a body buried near the north end of the runway at Melbourne Airport. The Sydney Morning Herald of 13-1-1862 had a par on page 5 about Ludwig Becker, an artist whose scientific talents and enthusiasm made him an ideal selection as a member of the expedition but whose health gave way early leading to his burial on Bulla. This was a retelling of an Argus article in which I'm sure it said in Bulla but the type was hard to read. Near the Inverness, I thought. But then my memory of reading "Coopers Creek" kicked in and I doubted whether Becker had died that soon. I consulted his biography which stated that he had been buried at Bulloo, 8 miles south of Coopers Creek, on 28-4-1861. "Sloppy journalist!" I thought until I discovered that all references to this place during the inquest into the tragedy were as "Bulla".
Ah well, there goes the dramatic announcement about Becker being buried near the Inverness. If he had been buried so close to Melbourne, his remains would almost certainly have been moved to a place of honour anyway. (I did read that moves were afoot to raise funds to enable his remains to be brought back from that more- distant "Bulla".) However the first sentence of the previous paragraph will remain.
An exhausting scroll through every one of the 2346 burials registered at Bulla Cemetery has convinced me that the first burials took place at the cemetery in 1867. (One would expect details of the cemetery's history to be on the City of Hume Website, as Neil Mansfield says it once was, but I couldn't find it.) One of the conditions of victuallers' licences was that bodies discovered nearby had to be accepted until an inquest could be held.
The following inquest report appeared on page 6 of the Argus of 29-1-1868. An unknown man, who had no money, and had kindly been fed by McKenzie of the Inverness, was found dead in the vestry doorway of the Woodlands Church* (Melway 177 J9). Although the report did not say so the inquest would have been held in the Inverness Hotel, 20 chains (400 metres) south of the church block.
The cemetery would have been in operation, but did the trustees allow pauper burials? It is possible that he was buried near the side of the road as so many other had been. Symonds mentioned the bodies that had been found when the road was being made at Troopers Bend on the Sunbury side of the Bulla bridge. No doubt there had been previous deaths of "travellers" near the junction and burials near the end of the runway!
(* The Woodlands Church would have been St Mary's Church of England, built by Mary Greene of Woodlands in (1858?) This church was relocated by Walter V. Murphy, who attended St Pauls in Broadmeadows Township but undertook the huge task of ensuring that what was erected at Melway 177 B8 was exactly the same as what was dismantled at the south west corner of Woodlands.The move was Government -funded because vibration caused by planes was shaking the church to bits.) N.B. Google "St Mary's Bulla" and you'll see my memory of what I read over 20 years ago isn't too bad; it was 1858.
All the following come from The Argus unless otherwise stated.
17-2-1861. A plough had been stolen from Gilbert Alston, a smith at Inverness on the Deep Creek Road. This shows that the hotel's name was being used for the locality. Perhaps section 10 in the parish of Bulla (Mel.385 B9) was not yet known as "Oaklands", a name applied to the road leading to it from Oaklands Junction.
2-2-1863 page 8. Pony lost. Robert Grigor, Inverness Hotel. Assuming he was the publican, he must have continued Melville's offer of a free room for the Roads Board.
28-4-1863 page 7. A notice regarding tenders shows that the shire office (not just the meeting room) was at the Inverness. (See also 31-7-1867.)
8-5-1863 page 4. Thomas Chadwick was the Landlord of the Inverness Hotel. William Chadwick was assessed on the Broadmeadows Hotel in Broadmeadows' oldest extant rate book (1863-4), he was leasing the hotel from John Bethell. William Chadwick later ran the Broady, the Farmers Arms (still) on the south west corner of Mt Alexander Rd and Buckley St, Essendon, and then moved (between 1877 and 1880) to Benalla where he built a hotel of the same name and bought much land. (Victoria and Its Metropolis, page 326.) William, a native of Yorkshire, was no doubt related to Thomas.
22-11-1864. Uh, oh! Thomas Chadwick was insolvent and the Sheriff was to sell goods and the licence.
28-12-1866 page 2. A clearing sale was to be held, Mr Jamieson's lease having expired.
4-9-1867 page 5. James Munro McKenzie, publican, Inverness Hotel, was insolvent. (See inquest above.)
30-7-1887 page 3. The Glenara Estate of 4078 acres was offered for sale.The Inverness Hotel, which had obviously been the property of the late Walter Clark, was to be sold with one acre of land. The current tenant's lease was to expire on 31-12-1887. The buyer must have later purchased the Inverness paddock. I don't think the sale was a raging success because Russell and Davis (in-laws because Mrs Russell was a Davis)were still leasing the estate in 1888 when Farquhar McRae, who was in charge of their hunters, laid the trail from Warlaby for the first activity of the Oakland Hunt. ("The Oakland Hunt" D.F.Cameron-Kennedy.)
20-10-1900 page 3. The Trustees, Agency and Executors Co.Ltd. and A and W.Wiseman were selling 57 acres 2 roods and 38 perches being part 17A parish of Tullamarine and the Inverness Hotel and Oaklands Junction Post Office.This 58 acres included land on both sides of the closed road discussed in the first paragraph of this journal; I estimate that the triangular portion we traced to locate the junction had frontages of 29 chains on the parish boundary (e-w section of Sunbury Rd) and 20 chains to Oaklands Rd, giving the triangle an area of only half of the 58 acres. The Hume Library system should have the Airports acquisition map so this could be confirmed, but my email enquiring re the whereabouts of this, and other, material has not even been answered.
23-12-1903 page 2. Tenders were called for the purchase of a creamery and equipment close to Madden's Inverness. Bridget Madden was Maurice Crotty's daughter. Joe Crotty told me that Maurice, who leased and then bought Broomfield (indicated by Tullamarine Park Rd) had bought the hotel for her but it is more likely that he paid the lease. I remember something about Bridget's husband dying young but I'll have to check on this.
4-9-1928 page 18. Thomas Pickles of the Inverness Hotel, Oaklands Junction, had an accident near Riddells Creek.
LICENSEES AND CHRONOLOGY. --- to --- indicates a transfer of licence. The new licensee's full address is given in the notice.
1853. First application for a licence by Henry Kennedy as detailed elsewhere.(henceforth a.d.e.)
Dec. 1856. Charles Melville a.d.e.
1860. George Melville a.d.e.
Feb. 1863. Robert Grigor a.d.e. Road board office for several years.
May 1863-November 1864. Thomas Chadwick a.d.e.
1866.Jamieson's lease expired a.d.e.
1867- Jan. 1868. James Munro McKenzie insolvent a.d.e.
1870's. See CHANGE OF NAME following this. Dean, Hunt.
1879, 1882. Patrick Condon. (Bulla Rates.)
1884-5 Wise's directory. Patrick Condon.
A. 13-11-1889, page 1.Death and Funeral notices; MADDEN. On the 12th, at the residence of her brother, Mr Maurice Crotty, Keilor, relict of the late Thomas Madden (of Lisgibon, Bansha, Ireland), aged 50 years. The funeral was to proceed from the residence of Maurice to Bulla Cemetery at 1 p.m.
I was given to understand that Maurice paid for Bridget's passage to Australia and bought the hotel for her; perhaps this meant leasing it from the first day of 1888. No transfer of licensees in this period has been found; perhaps the notice was in "The Age" instead of The Argus. Bridget's children may have been running the hotel while she lay in her sick bed at Broomfield. (See Foster, Sharp and Crotty journal.)
A. 26-8-1901 page 1 and Sunbury News 312-8-1901 page 2. Mr T.Madden, brother of Miss Madden of the Inverness Hotel, who was only 27, died on the 24th at 1p.m. from rheumatic fever. He had been living at the hotel and was very popular.
A. 26-9-1893 page 2. The sheriff was instructed to sell 12 horses belonging to Robert M.Kerr.The sale was to take place at the Inverness, but as Miss Madden was already running it (see below), Kerr could not have been the publican.
Sunbury News and Bulla and Melton Advertiser, 23-9-1893 page 2. The late Arthur Wiseman owned the Inverness and the post office, occupied by Miss Madden and Miss Rolston (i.e. Ralston) respectively.
A. 18-5-1895 page 8. Miss Madden was badly burnt while cooking at the Inverness.
1914-5. Eleanor C. Gibb. (Bulla rates.)A Miss Madden was riding with the Oaklands Hunt in 1891 (Miss J.Madden) and 1914. This might have been one of Bridget's daughters or a member of the wealthy family that owned Travancore at Flemington. It was possibly Bridget's daughter(s) because I.W.Symonds said that Henry Howarth Daniel of Narbonne married Margaret Theresa Madden and the Daniel family was heavily involved in the Oakland Hunt.I have been unable to determine if Margaret was Bridget's daughter.
Talk about doing things the hard way. Two or more hours spent on Madden genealogical websites and biogs of the Flemington/ Mornington/ Kew etc Maddens were MADDENING! I discovered that Henry Madden of Travancore only had one daughter (not Margaret Theresa.)Then by chance I came across the Bulla Cemetery Index, compiled by Neil Mansfield and John Shorten.
484. DANIEL (NEE MADDEN),MARGARET THERESA, BORN 1873, DIED 4-8-1905,aged 32, DAUGHTER OF THOMAS MADDEN AND BRIDGET(CROTTY.) It was Bridget's daughter that married Henry Howarth Daniel.
A. 6-3-1916 page 2. Tenders called for the rebuilding of the Inverness Hotel in brick. "The Oaklands Hunt" by D.F.Cameron-Kennedy has photos of the old weatherboard and new brick versions of the Inverness.
May 1917. A flurry of advertisements advise that Mrs Eleanor C.Gibb, formerly of the Inverness, was now at the Keilor Hotel. She also ran the Essendon Hotel and there is a photo of her outside this hotel in "The Stopover That Stayed" by Grant Aldous.
A. 18-11-1922 page 29. Florence Mabel Saunders to Catherine Thersa Hutton of St Kilda.
A. 6-7-1923 page 10. A break in at the Inverness.
A. 3-5-1927 page 8. A disturbance at the Inverness; Meno McCoppin was the publican.
A. 16-10-1927 page 18. Christopher H.Hillto George Whatman.
1928. Thomas Pickles a.d.e.
A. 31-3-1934 page 3. Dora Lewis to John Short (of a hotel in Fitzroy.)
A. 11-9-1937 page 4. Catherine Anderson to Jean Hooper.
A. 16-7-1938 page 32. Jean Hooper to Catherine Veronica Morse.
A.13-12-1938 page 14. C.V.Morse to Alfred Norman Ebsworth.
A. 7-10-1941 page 5. L.N.Moebus to Iris Lawson.
A. 5-11-1949 page 29. Iris Winifred Lawson to Ronald Edward and Irene Wilma Downing of Caulfield.
A. 4-11-1950 page 31. Downing to Rita Elizabeth Stanley.
A. 18-1-1951 page 12. Death notice for Mrs Roberts inserted by her loving daughter, Rita, of the Inverness Hotel, Oaklands Junction.
A. 23-8-1952 page 15. Frederick Hamilton Wregg to Michael Meehan of Kingslake.Perhaps Wregg's enthusiasm had been destroyed when he was robbed about three months earlier, (Barrier Miner, of Broken Hill, 6-5-1952, page 3.)
A. 3-10-1953 page 25. Meehan to Downing (as above.)
A. 14-10-1953 page 12. Clearing sale-no name.
A. 9-4-1955 page 24. Olive M.Powell, formerly in partnership with M.H.Collins becomes the sole licensee.
The Age (via google not trove.) 28-5-1958 page 3. Flanagan. Was it all his fault??? Coroner advises inquiry on conduct of hotel.
A CHANGE OF NAME. 1.Argus.1-12-1871 page 8; 2. 2-8-1872 page 8; 7-8-1873 page 8; 3.14-12-1875 page 8;
4.18-4-1876 page 62; 5.30-11-1878 page 12.
1.William John Dean of Deep Creek, Bulla, notified his intention to apply for a licence for a house situate at Bulla, known as the Inverness Hotel, containing 12 rooms exclusive of those required for the use of the family . This justifies its description as a sprawling timber building (which I've seen somewhere, probably an Oaklands Hunt report.)
2. John Hunt of Oaklands Rd was elected unopposed as auditor for the Shire of Bulla in 1872 and 1873.
3.For Sale or to let, Hunt's Oaklands Hotel , Bulla with 70 acres of land. Apply on the premises to J.Hunt. (Some of the land would have been small blocks across Oaklands Rd from Woodlands.)
4. John Hunt, late of the Oaklands Hotel, Bulla married Mrs McNamara, of the Junction Hotel, Redesdale, at St Patrick's Cathedral.*
(*Something very strange about the wedding being in 1876! Andrew Hunt, the son of John Hunt and Anastasia McNamara was born at Bulla in 1866. When he died on 28-4-1868, he was buried at Bulla Cemetery (No.1002 in Neil Mansfield's index.) Either Andrew was born out of wedlock or the later marriage was perhaps between John's son from a previous marriage and a niece of Anastasia's.
Mrs McNamara may have been running the Beech Tree Hotel (opposite the present Henderson Rd corner in Tullamarine)during the 1870's. W.McNamara ran the Beech Tree in 1889 and was followed in rapid succession by Katchell, Rosenberg, Buggy & La Fonta and Huxtable in 1893. The locals still called it the Inverness, such as when the late Mr O'Halloran's livestock was being sold prior to Oaklands being leased (by C.B.Fisher as it turned out.)I loved their little fib about Oaklands being only two miles from the Inverness.
5. Oaklands Hotel with 58 acres of land, Oaklands Rd, Bulla. Apply Thomas Dean, Moonee Ponds Hotel.
The Moonee Ponds was built by Robert Shankland, a Greenvale pioneer, but the Dean family ran it for many years. It was at the south corner of Dean St but had to be demolished to allow road widening and was replaced by the Moonee Ponds Tavern. The Deans were a real hotel family. T.J.Dean was at the Prince Albert (1874-7, possibly longer) and Dean's Hotel, on the east corner of Wildwood Rd was operating by 1879.
It is unclear whether the Deans or John Hunt decided to rename the hotel. There was a hotel in North Melbourne called the Inverness and another in St Kilda called the Inverness Castle so the motive might have been to prevent confusion.
THE KENNEDY FAMILY.
THE FOLLOWING (in bold) IS A COPY AND PASTE FROM "CENTRAL VICTORIA SQUATTERS". MANY OF THE SQUATTERS WERE DISPLACED FROM THEIR RUNS BY THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LODDON ABORIGINAL PROTECTORATE. THE HEADQUARTERS OF THIS PROTECTORATE WERE NEAR THE SITE OF THE FRANKLINFORD PRIMARY SCHOOL.
THE NAMES OF MT FRANKLIN AND FRANKLINFORD HONOUR SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, GOVERNOR OF TASMANIA AND ARCTIC EXPLORER; THE FORD WOULD HAVE BEEN ON JIM CROW CREEK.
STATIONS - Bough Yards
The establishment of the Aboriginal Station not only displaced the Jumcra* run, but took a good portion of Mollison's Bough Yards run. Now effectively separated from the Coliban run by Holecombe and the Protectorate Mollison possibly found Bough Yards an imposition.
In 1840 Alex Kennedy (1801 - 1877) had arrived in the Guildford area. He was related to William Campbell. William Campbell and Donald Cameron had arrived on the "Wm Metcalfe" from Invernesshire in late 1838.
Kennedy and his wife Margaret, and five children arrived aboard the "S Boyne" in January 1839. The Kennedys made their way to Clunes where Donald Cameron had set up his run. Kennedy had selected a run near Newstead whist on route to Clunes. By the time he returned, Norman Simson had established the Charlotte Plains run on the site.
Fortunately, William Campbell had purchased the lease for Bough Yards which was adjacent to his run, Strathloddon. Campbell gave Kennedy the remains of the Bough Yards run and the Kennedys established a homestead on the Loddon River. The homestead was named Bowyards.
The Strathloddon run homestead was near Yapeen. The township of Campbell's creek was named after William Campbell. Specific location given later.
*There is a theory that Jim Crow is a corruption of Jumcra but an article in the Yandoit, Franklinford and Clydesdale Chronicle points out that an American entertainer of the time did a disparaging negro act as "Jim Crow" and that may have been the origin of the name.
(Argus 5-7-1877 page 1. Alexander Kennedy died at his residence, Bowyard Station on the 3rd inst., aged 76.
He was an old colonist, much respected. "Inverness Courier" please copy.
The notice does not mention how cunning he was but more of that later! Notice his relationship to William Campbell and that Alex, Campbell and Cameron were all from Inverness -shire.
William Campbell, son of the forester of the Duke of Montrose, arrived in Australia in December 1838. In early 1850 he found gold on Donald Cameron's station at Clunes but, fearing danger to pastoralists, did not announce his discovery until the middle of the next year. He eventually received half the 1000 pounds reward he was voted and used it benevolently. Read about his life and involvement in politics by googling "campbell' william, biographical entry".
With Kennedy and Campbell being such common names, it is dangerous to jump to conclusions but William Campbell and Alexander Kennedy may have been members of the new committee of management of the Pickpocket Mining company. The Strangways Hotel (i.e. Campbells Creek) was mentioned in the article. (The Star, Ballarat, 7-6-1861, page 15, YANDOIT.) William Campbell had returned home but was back by 1862 when he entered politics for another ten years before leaving again.
William Campbell's will was detailed on page 7 of The Argus on 2-3-1897. When I saw McIntyre and Anderson, I thought there might have been a Keilor connection but James Anderson was a soldier, not a farmer.
A KENNEDY CHRONOLOGY.
(Argus 5-3-1851 page 2.) On the 4th, Henry Kennedy, eldest son of Alex Kennedy, Loddon River, had married Mary Augustus, eldest daughter of James Buchanan, Rose and Crown Hotel, Collingwood. James Buchanan had earlier operated the Scottish Hotel in Bourke St (1843-6), Burns Tavern in Little Bourke St (1849) before taking over the Rose and Crown in 1850. (Publicans of the 19th Century in Victoria website.) He was not the pioneer of Berwick who arrived at Port Phillip in 1849(Aust. Dict. of Biog.), but he was a pioneer of organisations representing publicans, in 1843, while at the Scottish.
(Argus 26-9-1853 page 4.)Henry's mother and Alexander's (1st) wife, of Bowyard Station, Upper Loddon, died at the Inverness Hotel, Bulla Bulla, on the 4th.
4-12-1853, Henry died.(As mentioned previously.
)
29-3-1855. Notice of the death of Henry's wife,(Mary).
(Argus 22-12-1855 page 4.) John Johnston, wine and spirits merchant of 295 Elizabeth St had married Harriet, eldest daughter of Alexander Kennedy of Bowyard Station, Loddon River, at 117 Collins. Henry and Mary certainly had a connection with pubs and grog; hope that wasn't the cause of their early deaths!
1856 ARGUS 29-3-1856 page 7 ; 29-5-1856 page 5; 14-6-1856 page 6 etc.re Alexander's insolvency. Alexander was cunning. He owned Bowyard Station and 17 A, Tullamarine, which he may have named after Inverness, of which he was a native. Like John Pascoe Fawkner, who used a similar tactic to save Belle Vue Park circa 1843, he shrewdly transferred the ownership of Bowyard Station to a trust for his second wife, of whom details are given, as a sort of marital agreement. Henry had borrowed about 2500 pounds from Brown and Stewart in March 1853 (probably to pay the builders of the Inverness) and Alexander had taken responsibility for this debt.
Alexander's second bit of cunning didn't work as well, and in fact landed him in jail for a few days for contempt of court. In an attempt to convince the court that he did not realise the full impact of mortgages he had signed, he pretended to understand only Gaelic but a chink in his facade led to the discovery of his deception.
The case dragged on and by the time of the hearing in July, Brown and Stewart had sold 17A, Parish of Tullamarine, as they were perfectly entitled to do under the terms of the mortgage. As I wrote last night (but obviously in another journal), it was in 1856 that Walter Clark established Glenara, according to Symonds, so he was obviously the buyer.
(The Star, Ballarat, 5-5-1858 page 2.) Alexander Kennedy, 36, from Inverness, died on the 11th at Clunes. He was born in about 1832, so he could have been Alexander's second son or his nephew. The Scots had an annoying habit (for rate collectors, other officials and genealogists) of naming sons after uncles as well as the father. There were so many of the McNab clan at Tullamarine called Angus, Duncan and Donald the rate collector just assessed "McNab Bros". The Cairns family of Boneo had to use nicknames to distinguish the Harrys, Davids etc. This seems to confirm the statement in the squatters excerpt about Henry's father going to Cameron's run at Clunes.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. NEAR TULLAMARINE, VIC. AUST. (New entries listed in comments.)
While looking for specific information on trove, I can't help having a peek at other articles, with the result that my sheets of notes for the NAMES IN A LIST AIN'T MUCH GOOD journal, contain detail which I could: put into existing journals (taking hours to find the right journal and right spot),use to start new journals, to which I add other information later, or add those sheets to the mountain of such sheets whose primary purpose has been fulfilled.
I have decided to start a miscellaneous notes journal for the area around Tullamarine and another for the Mornington Peninsula so that the information is available now and so I can locate the information easily if I wish to add it to another journal later.
CAMP HILL/ GOWANBRAE.
Colonel E.E.Kenny was the grantee of crown allotment 4 of Section 4, Parish of Tullamarine, and later bought crown allotment 3. His property was called Camp Hill because many bound for Mt Macedon and later going to the diggings near Castlemaine, Bendigo and Heathcote would camp there on the way. It was bounded in the west by today's Broadmeadows Rd, Tullamarine and extended east to the Moonee Ponds Creek. In 1853, Kenny sold what became known to all the Tullamarine pioneers as Mansfield's Triangle on the west side of Macedon road (Melrose Drive).By 1859, a Mr McDonald was advertising the triangle as Gretna Green but had little success as it eventually became three portions, from Sharps Rd (Caterpillar Drive) of 26, 52 and 11 acres, owned by Sam Mansfield.
By 1863, J.Brown (appointed a magistrate) was the owner of Camp Hill. Under the same name, the property was later occupied by such as Hay Lonie, the Gilligans and the Williamsons. See THE OAKLANDS HUNT (1). They would have lived near the south end of Primula Bvd with a view of the creek valley and after 1928, of the trestle bridge.
There were two houses; one, an old timber one was pictured in the Broadmeadows Observer article "The Last of the Broady Farms" in about 1989. The last occupant of this house, Ian Farrugia, who had also been the last occupant of John Cock's Gladstone Park homestead, told me that the second house was a double storey house, slightly further south, that had been burnt down despite the sacrifice of a fireman's life in attempting to save it.
I don't know who was living in the house at the time but I suspect it was Scott, who owned the property by 1933. (Argus 10-3-1933, page 10.) He renamed the farm "Gowanbrae" and built a new mansion on the site of the present Atco factory (16 A2.) I was told back in 1989 that a Caulfield Cup winner had been spelled on Gowanbrae but the horse connection was stronger than that. I was told that Scott was a Dodge dealer but I don't know whether this was the father or one of his sons.G.L.Scott owned the farm by 1933 and used the property for beef cattle and sheep. He was also a horse owner and his son Alan had a licence as an owner trainer. Latrobe, owned by G.L., came third in the Melbourne Cup (Argus, December, 1934.)Alan and his wife had a holiday at the Hotel Canberra, perhaps a honeymoon. (Canberra Times, 27-4-1938, page 4.) An Oaklands Hunt report of 5-8-1935 shows that Alan was deputy Master of Hounds.The marriage of John Douglas, youngest son of G.L.Scott of Gowanbrae, was mentioned in Social Notes on page 8 of the Argus of 23-1-1940.
On page 215 of "Broadmeadows A Forgotten History", Andrew Lemon states that R.K.Morgan bought 35 acres from the Stanhill Group in 1961. This land was on the Moonee Ponds Creek floodplain and Morgan relocated his engineering business from Glenroy to this site. Gowanbrae had been Ansell and Cowan's dairy farm when Stanley Korman bought it. It is possible that R.K.Morgan was born on Gowanbrae and was a descendant of an early pioneering family in the Strathmore/Pascoe Vale area which was related by marriage to John English, who bought J.P.Fawkner's Belle Vue (later renamed Oak Park.) (I think this family is discussed at length in THE STOPOVER THAT STAYED or BETWEEN TWO CREEKS.)
The association of racehorses and the name, Morgan, with the Tullamarine farm was not new. When I listed the occupants, I forgot about W.R.Morgan, who was probably there between the Gilligans and Williamsons.
(Argus 13-7-1916.) A horse that had been injured in the Myross Handicap at Flemington had been sent for a spell at W.R.Morgan's farm at Tullamarine. (Myross was a farm established by George Newsom near Myross and Newsom Sts in Ascot Vale West.)
I think it was during Bruce Small's ownership of Gowanbrae that the Caulfield Cup winner was spelled there. Malvern Avenue recalls Bruce and his Malvern Star bicycles, made famous by (the later) Sir Hubert Opperman. Later Sir Bruce, he was the Gold Coast Mayor and gave his city great publicity by bringing his meter maids to Melbourne each year. Bruce was apparently not his first name.
(A. 19-6-1952, page 8. 4 FREED ON SIGN CHARGE.) A building in South Melbourne, owned by A.B.Small, Bulla Rd, Tullamarine, had been painted with a slogan expressing disapproval of Bob Menzies. This great orator was disliked by more than the defendants as my paraphrased version of a popular joke illustrates. Bob was flying over a city and said that he might throw a tenner out and make somebody happy. Somebody suggested that he should throw 10 one pound notes out and make more people happy. A third passenger said, "Why don't you throw yourself out and make everybody happy?"
(More about Hay Lonie and W.R.Morgan will be added later under CAMP HILL, CONTINUED.
(Argus, 22-7-1930, page 7, CATCH HIM AND KEEP HIM. This picture shows Tommy Reddan supposedly catching the piglet in a contest run by the Oaklands Hunt Club.
My HOTELS NEAR TULLAMARINE journal has a newspaper account confirming the claim of many Tullamarine oldtimers that Tommy Loft was single-handedly responsible for the closure of the Junction Hotel. No name is mentioned in the following but I'll bet the victim was Tommy Loft and the perpetrators were from the non-Methodist element of Tullamarine's population (perhaps spurred on by Squizzie Taylor!)
(18-1-1929, page 3.) A man responsible for the hotel's closure was being harrassed by locals and the police had to be called.
Chaffey is a name more often associated with irrigation and Mildura than horse racing, but Benjamin Chaffey, owner of 164 acres surrounding the Woodlands Homestead, was the Chairman of the V.A.T.C., as a report of his involvement in an accident shows. (Barrier Miner, 7-5-1935, page 1.)Woodlands, the residence and stud farm of the late Ben Chaffey, consisting of 164 acres was advertised for sale (Argus, 19-6-1937 page 2.)
Mr E.E.Allen, teacher at Tullamarine State School for a bit over eight years, was leaving for Moe Swamp. Miss Rowe from Holden School was to replace him.(Sunbury News, 25-4-1903, page 2.)
She was still there in 1906 when the Mansfields drowned at Bertram's Ford but married Frank Wright of Strathconnan and Mr Rogers filled in for a while until Alec Rasmussen arrived in 1909, teaching there for nearly twenty years.
(Argus, 23-3-1867, page 4.)Enoch, the second son of the late William Trotman, died on the 5th aged 26 at his residence "Springfield", Broadmeadows.
Springfield was a 360 acre crown allotment in the parish of Yuroke on the north east corner of Mickleham and Somerton Rds, with roughly a mile frontage to the former and a half mile frontage to the latter. Lavars' Greenvale Hotel was not on Springfield as a map in Symonds' "Bulla Bulla" indicates; it was on the south west corner on Machell's early subdivision.Springfield was later split into two parts and old Mrs McKerchar had Springfield North, which passed into the ownership of the Gambles who called it Brocklands after an ancestor, John Brock of Bulla and Janefield (near Bundoora.) It is now occupied by Aitken College. The southern portion is indicated by French Rd, named after Wally French who occupied this 180 acre farm.
The entry for Gilbert Alston in VICTORIA AND ITS METROPOLIS: PAST AND PRESENT mentions that Gilbert spent time at Tullamarine before settling at Bulla. His advertisement for an apprentice shows that he was still at Tullamarine in 1863. (Argus 10-7-1863, page 1.)It is likely that he was near the site of the electricity sub station, almost opposite the Melrose Drive/ Link Rd corner, which has been pinpointed as the site of Fred Wright's smithy. Mounsey probably bought it from Gilbert and it was taken over by Fred. (Victoria and Its Metropolis.)The Mounsey family was later prominent at Sunbury. Gilbert trained his nephew, William Alston, and Jenkins, who became early blacksmiths at Mornington. ("The Butcher, The Baker, The" by Bruce Bennett.)
The Bulla 1868 directory, which can be found in Kathleen Fanning's FANNING FAMILY website shows that William was still with Gilbert.
GOODBYE TO ONE SCRAP OF PAPER!
HANDLEN. The house which used to be immediately north of the Tullamarine Reserve in Melrose Drive until the early 1970's and whose acre block (1 chain x 10 chains) is now part of the reserve, was known as Handlen's house. Every single entry for HANDLEN on trove concerns William and James. William (formerly of Tullamarine) fought in the Boer War and was given a welcome home at the Tullamarine State School of which he was a former pupil (Argus 5-2-1902 page 5.) James, whose name is on the war memorial at the corner of Dalkeith Ave, was killed in W.W.1. His death notice (A. 20-7-1918 page 13) reveals that he was the brother of Willie, who was again serving) and sister of May.
Patrick Handlen (No. 867 on the alphabetical register)died at the age of 10 and was buried at the Bulla Cemetery in 1871. The son of Patrick Handlen and Mary (nee Guthrie)he was born in Tullamarine in 1861. The house demolished in the early 1970's may have been there in 1861 but the Handlens weren't living in it, according to Broadmeadows' 1863 rates. All the land bounded by Derby St was called Hamilton Terrace, part of Riddell and Hamilton's Cameston Estate which was subdivided in the early 1850's. Keilor's first available ratebook of 1868 shows that the Handlens weren't living on the south west side of Bulla Road either. Where were they?
Given the information about Patrick's parents, it seems reasonable to assume they were on Camp Hill (now Gowanbrae.) Broadmeadows' rates of 1863 reveals that H.J.Brown and Glenn and Guthrie were the occupants of Camp Hill. (page 12, "Tullamarine: Before the Jetport.") John Handlen, a drover, was in Handlen's house by 1900.(page 17.) By 1948-9, E.T.Morgan owned 2 acres plus the Handlen's old acre block. John Handlen's neighbour, on 6 acres towards the junction, was Noah Holland, another drover, who was discussed by Harry Peck in "Memoirs of a Stockman".
Young Patrick's father could have been in Tullamarine in the early 1850's, on "Glengyle" with the Guthries. This farm, later Thomas Bertram's Ellengowen, now comprises the market gardens in the horseshoe bend of the Maribyrnong River bisected by Browns Rd (Melway 14 G2.) The Guthries later moved to a large farm at Sunbury and the Handlens may have gone there with them for a while.
GUTHRIE-EADIE. The Eadies were prominent Sunbury pioneers. As mentioned just before, the Guthries moved to Sunbury. One of the Eadie boys, Alan John, had a farm at Berwick called Glady's Park (probably Gladys') by 1904 but would have met Elizabeth M, the second daughter of the late Peter Eadie, while growing up near Sunbury.They married at Dunblane, the residence of Elizabeth's mother in Sunbury. (Argus 22-10-1904.)
SEE MUCH DETAIL ABOUT THE GUTHRIES IN MY JOURNAL "John Thomas Smith and his electors."
BEALE-DUTTON (twice!) John Beale Jnr married Annie, the second daughter of Thomas Dutton, Glenroy. (Argus 3-2-1877 page 1.) Amazingly, Andrew Lemon's "Broadmeadows: A Forgotten History" does not even mention the Duttons; his superficial coverage of the pioneers is one of the reasons I started writing my history.I have been told that Bethal Primary School (6 G-H2)was so named because of Mrs Dutton's given name (which actually might have been Bethell.) However, Angela Evans' "Keilor Pioneers: Dead Men Do Tell Tales" has detail about the Duttons, involving, if I remember correctly, a wooden leg.
John Beale Senior of "Shelton" only had one* daughter, Sarah, who married Thomas Dutton (obviously Annie's bro.) She gave birth to a daughter and died on the same day at the age of 30. (Argus, 26-7-1878 page 1.)
* At the time of the marriage. See below.
Crown Allotment B of section 11, parish of Doutta Galla is bounded by Buckley St, Milleara Rd, Clark's Rd and Spring St-Rachelle Rd. Shelton consisted of three quarters of this, excluding the land west of Quinn Grove, plus lot 8 of the subdivision of Main's Estate (streets joining Craig St) which John Beale purchased on 1-6-1865. (Title documents.) Rachelle Rd may have been named after John Beale's daughter who died in 1859.
EXTRACT FROM "Early Landowners: Parish of Doutta Galla".
John Beale called his farm ?Shelton? and when he moved into No 18 (now 24) Ardmillan Rd. in 1890, he gave the same name to the house. John Beale?s twin daughters, Rachel and Rebecca, died of Diptheria on 3-10-1859; I wonder if there is any connection with the naming of Rachelle Rd. His two surviving children married members of the Dutton family, which farmed at Glenroy and Meadow Heights where a school was named after
Bethal Dutton. (I?d bet the Christian name was really Bethell; her mother was probably a daughter of Broadmeadows Township?s postmaster and pub owner, John Bethell!) John Beale Snr. died in 1906 and his son in 1916, after which the Ardmillan Rd. house passed to the latter?s son in law, Loftus Henry Moran.
GOODBYE TO ANOTHER SHEET OF NOTES MADE WHILE I WAS DOING THE J.T.SMITH AND HIS ELECTORS JOURNAL.
ARGUS 9-11-1921 P.9. Peter Niall was selling the bluestone Somerton Inn and 60 acres one mile from Craigieburn station. Was he related to David Niall of the Lady of the Lake at Tullamarine 70 years earlier?
ARGUS 1-12-1871 P.8. Michael Reddan of Deep Creek, Bulla, was intending to apply for a licence for the Bulla Hotel, which had 8 rooms exclusive of those required for family use.
ARGUS 6-8-1887 P.3. The Arundel herd (200 stud shorthorns) of the late Robert McDougall was to take place in November, with the sale of Arundel and Warlaby at about the same time.
ARGUS 30-7-1887 P.3. A terrific description of Glenara homestead, grounds, 4070 ac. estate (830 ac. with the residence) and neighbours. "Woodside" of 442 acres further up deep Creek may have been the 442 ac 2 roods 3 perches 13(2) Bulla Parish involved in the mortgagee sale, Argus 15-11-1902-Dillon? C.B.Fisher had Woodlands and Cumberland.
SUNBURY NEWS AND BULLA AND MELTON ADVERTISER 26-3-1898. Meeking the teacher praised for his efforts in the Hillary tragedy (NAMES IN A LIST AIN'T MUCH GOOD journal)was leaving this calling to become an inspecting entomologist under the vegetation diseases act.
CAMP HILL, CONTINUED.
W.R.MORGAN.
A thoroughbred genealogy website about the Australian turf mentions W.R.Morgan under COLONIAL FAMILY 13. STRALIA, brown gelding, 1919, was bred by W.R.Morgan, a prominent racehorse owner. He was raced by M.R.Morgan, mainly at small agricultural meetings. In 1925, however, he won the S.A.T.C. West End Draught Stakes. (It is only recently that the original names of races, such as the Cox Plate and Alister Clark Stakes,were replaced, or swamped, by sponsors' names. This would not have been the name of the race at that time.)
Western Australian Argus (Kalgoolie), 18-9-1917, page 36. Mrs W.R.Morgan's Roll of Honour won the Trial Handicap at Mentone.
Argus, 3-8-1926. Mr W. Morgan was President of the Glenroy Progress Association. He may not have been the owner of Camp Hill (Red Dome Stud.)
The Register (Adelaide) 20-9-1927 page 3. SPORTSMAN'S DEATH. Mr W.R.Morgan, who died last week, was well-known in racing circles in this state, for he paid several successful visits with horses. Mr Morgan had a small stud farm at Tullamarine etc.
ARGUS 9-11-1921 P.9. W. R. Morgan referred to Camp Hill as Red Dome Stud Farm .
The Western Australian (Kalgoolie), 4-10-1927, page 36. Information similar to the Advertiser but adds that his son Horace trained the horses and that one of the horses bred by W.R. was Red Dome. The stud may have been named after the horse or t'other way around.
H.J.BROWN.
This pioneer is mentioned regarding CAMP HILL near the start of the journal. He must have been on Camp Hill by March 1863; amendment, 1862, as you will see. Hugh Junor Brown, Thomas Bertram and Jeremiah Hanmer were appointed to the committee of the Common School at Tullamarine (The Star, Ballarat, 23-4-1863 page 3; 1-6-1863, page 4, gazetted.) This could have been the Wesleyan School at the bend in Cherie St, but could also have been the Seafield school. This latter school was mainly attended by the children of Presbyterians and may have been initiated by Rev. Reid, the subject of one of my journals; its agenda-"in short, the School to be assimilated as nearly as possible to the parochial schools of Scotland." (P.38 "Broadmeadows: A Forgotten History.)Thomas Bertram is the subject of another journal. I have never heard of Hanmer, which means that he resided on the west side of Bulla Rd as his name was not in the Broadmeadows rates of 1863. He could have been one of J.P.Fawkner's yoeman farmers near Mansfields Rd but was not mentioned in Keilor's 1868 rates. It is possible that he was a cousin of Richard Hanmer Bunbury, the grantee of Arundel.
The Mercury, Hobart, 11-12-1935, page 3s. WOMEN WHO HAVE HELPED TO MAKE AUSTRALIA. Pattie Deakin was born at Camp Hill, Tullamarine on 1-1-1863. She was the daughter of Elizabeth and Hugh Junor Browne. (This is the first time I have ever seen the e on his surname.) She lived there until 1867, when Hugh became a merchant in Melbourne. Pattie married Alfred Deakin in 1882. The article is well-worth reading.
HAY LONIE.
I can still remember the day, almost 24 years ago, that I first saw this name. The rate collector's writing was so bad that you really had to guess the names (after ten minutes spent identifying some of the letters in them.) The letters in this name were easily identified, but why would anybody name a child after fodder. It was a name I was destined never to forget!
Illustrated Australian News, 25-1-1888, page 14. George, the youngest son of James Lonie of Eden Bank, Pellueber, died at Camp Hill, Tullamarine on 28 December, aged 21 years.
Kilmore Free Press, 29-12-1892 page 2. DEATH OF MR LONIE. This article mentioned Hay's properties, Camp Hill, Lochton, at Bulla (Melway 177 A3 to D4) and the one near Kilmore, which was Valley Field if my memory of Victoria and its Metropolis is correct; I can't remember if the article mentioned the farm name but his funny christian name, surely a genealogical clue, certainly wasn't. Hay had drowned in the Yarra and some had suggested suicide but the article poo-pooed the idea. Missing teeth suggested a mugging although no bruises were found.
PURVIS AND HENDRY.
Somewhere, I have written about two Hendry youths vandalising Tullamarine S.S. 2613, on the Conders Lane corner, in about 1880. (Perhaps it was only a note about the article on the 30+ A4 sheets that made this journal necessary.)
Argus, 29-6-1855, page 4. James Purvis of Tullamarine and Christina Hendry, youngest daughter of Mr James Hendry of Perth, Scotland were married by special licence by the Rev. Thomas Odell. I believe that Purvis was a Methodist and that the wedding may have been in the Wesleyan school (at the bend in Cherie St. The Methodists purchased adjoining blocks near Post Office Lane (across Melrose Drive from Derby St) and in Riddell and Hamilton's Camieston Estate on Section 15 Tullamarine, west of Springbank-Wright St. The name of Purvis appears in both subdivisions, alongside those of Parr, Nash, Wright and Anderson, well-known Methodist stalwarts. Christina was probably a Methodist so they may have been married in Odell's Independent (Congregational) Church in Lonsdale St as a compromise.
The Star, Ballarat, 16-7-1863, page 3. James Hendry was gazetted as the postmaster at Tullamarine.
3(PM + NAUGHTY LADS)
PUBLICANS.Essendon Gazette, and Keilor, Broadmeadows and Bulla Reporter, 10-2-1916, page 4. ESSENDON POLICE COURT. Elizabeth Alexander, licensee of the Junction Hotel at Tullamarine, was a witness in a case. Minnie S.Anderson, licensee of the Lincolnshire Arms at the start of Keilor Rd, hadn't locked her doors as required.
THOMAS OF CARINYA.
The 1930 Keilor rates and plans of Loft's subdivision on Dalkeith show that Bertie A.Thomas was assessed on the present Tullamarine Primary School site, apart from the library site and the playground near Dalkeith Ave.
The Airport Acquisitions map (hopefully being cared for by the Hume Library) shows that R.S. Thomas had purchased much land, naming one farm, north of Annandale Rd,Tullamar. The Reddans' Brightview (later the Doyles' Ristaro), between Dalkeith (Fisher Grove)and the west end of Sharps Rd, was another of his purchases. The Thomas family had settled in the early 1940's on James Sharp's old Hillside (whose most recent occupants included Michael Reddan and George Dalley) naming it Carinya Park. They renovated and extended Sharp's house, using the stone from Sharp's kitchen to make gate pillars, according to Edie Thomas.
Edie told me that her husband's name was not really Joe; everyone called him Joe or Butcher Thomas. I happened to be passing Carinya Park one day and dropped in for a chat, which lasted for about two hours. One thing I forgot to jot down when I got home was Joe's real name. It appears from the following that he preferred to be called by his second given name of Stan.It was Harry Heaps who told me how Barrie Rd got its name (as in STREETS AND ROADS, verse 1, in the journal RHYMES OF OLD TIMES IN TULLAMARINE.)
Sunshine Advocate, 18-11-1949, page 8. Gone but not forgotten were:
Barrie Raymond Thomas, son of Edie, who died on 16-11-1947 aged 4 years and 7 months;
John Eward Brown who died on 15-11-1948. The two notices indicate that John was Edie's father and that Barrie's father (and John's son in law) was called Stan. Other family members are mentioned.
(Page 24 "Tullamarine Before The Jetport".)He may have continued Tommy Loft's saleyards and cornstore.
PAUL AND PETER ELLIS, GREEKS.
Harry Heaps, Olive Nash and Vivien Sutherland (a daughter of Ellis of Ecclesfield (south corner of Lancefield and Grants Rd, now the bend in Melrose Drive) all independently told me about Paul Ellis, a Greek, who had the land between the Nash farm (Fairview) and Glendewar. This would have been the triangular 77 acres which the Loves had from early days as illustrated somewhere by me, probably in Early Landowners, parish of Tullamarine, section 15. The new information (as usual found while looking for something else), name and date of paper not recorded, and in a death notice for Peter Ellis if I remember correctly, is that this Greek family called their property "The Chalet".
ALBRESS/ BENNETT/ MCINTYRE CONNECTIONS, THE NORTH QUEENSLAND ALBRESS STORY, BOXING AND THE TIGERS.
EXTRACT FROM AN EMAIL SENT TO jotreloar, AN ALBRESS DESCENDANT.
In regard to your query, the most important thing, and the reason genealogical sites don't have death details for Maria Albress, is that she was Mrs McIntyre when she died!
Here's the file that I supplied to Jason Albress.
ANTONIO ALBRESS.
My local history research on the Mornington Peninsula began in August, 2010 because I discovered that there was little information about Rosebud available for loan. My desire to write about pioneers who had not been acknowledged led to this entry in my ?Peninsula Dictionary History? about a month later.
ALBRES(S). See pages 25, 26 ,51, 142 of ?Rye Primary School 1667?.
Antonio?s name was written on the Wannaeue parish map (with the res ending) to indicate that he was the grantee of lot 37B (40 acres) on 16-5-1884 and lot 37 A1 of 50.75 acres on 12-8-81. This land is indicated by Melway 168 K 9 -10.
I believe that Albres was the original spelling of his surname, and, like the Greek fishermen at what became Rosebud, he anglicized his name. Obviously he retained (Portugese?) pronunciation of his name and introduced himself to the limeburning community at the present Weeroona St/ Browns Rd. corner with the re ending as in centre. Thus it is likely that Antonio?s name would have been written as Albas by any member of the Blair, Page, Sullivan or White families and not just the one whose anecdote was on page 142 of Rye Primary School 1667.
His son (I presume) John Albress was born on 5-2-1895. When he was in Grade 3 (1905 has been wrongly written on the document; it should be 1903), there was a chance that John and his classmates would have to walk to the Rosebud school. The headmaster was asked to provide details of how far pupils had to travel to each school. According to him, John would have to travel 7 miles. Now, as we know, the peninsula is much wider as you go east and Browns Rd gets further from the bay. Eager to protect his position, the teacher visualized John?s route as being all the way down Browns Rd to Jetty Rd. and then north to the School, exactly 7 miles. (Shorter routes are 4.6 and 5.1 miles!)
The eastern boundary of Antonio?s 90.75 acres is indicated by an extension of Springs Lane across Browns Rd and its road frontage is 360 metres. (18 chains.)
As the photo in ?Rye Primary School 1667? shows, John (or Julo?) was one of the Rye lads that served in WW1. Antonio Albress died at the age of 68 and was buried in the Rye Cemetery on 2-8-1909. In 1910 Jessie Johnson was occupying the Albress farm and by 1920 it had become part of the 475 acres on which Andrew Leonard Ball of Rye was assessed.
I hope that Antonio Albress will now be given proper recognition as a pioneer of Rye and not get the treatment he did in LIME LAND LEISURE i.e. Don?t know him but perhaps he was Tony Salvas.
The following is an extract from my ?Dromana, Rosebud and Miles Around on Trove?.
THE PORTUGESE.
A large number of Portugese came to the peninsula in early days, perhaps at the suggestion of J.B.Were who acted as the Consul for many countries including Portugal (page 83 Lime Land Leisure). Many worked at lime burning for Kettle near The Heads. De Galvin (Portugese Joe) and De Peana (John Grant) were two given nick names by the Scottish captain who brought them out (page 130.) Antonio Albres and Nicholas De Mas settled on Truemans Rd at Melway 168K10 to 169 A 10 and Ascensio De Freitas bought Alford?s 83 acre grant (Melway 169 E11) before 1910. Albres pronounced his name, anglicized to Albress, in such a way that it was presumed by oldtimers to be Albas; Hollinshed thought that he was Tony Salvas but they were two different men. See detail about the Albress family in LOOK FOR ONE THING AND FIND ANOTHER.
Two of the Portugese were descendants of former slaves taken to the Cape Verde Islands by the Portugese. They were Emanuel De Santos, who farmed and lit the pier light at Rye, and Joe Peters (Joe the black fiddler.)
John Lima Moraes, a farmer on the area west of Troon Rd (golf course) by 1910, may have been a descendant of a Portugese immigrant.
ALBRESS GENEALOGY.
Extensive information has been provided by Andrew Thompson and Emma Burkitt on the rootsweb and mundia websites and Cecilia?s christening at Moorooduc (on 14-9-1884) is recorded on the International Genealogical Index website. I will not repeat it all here, but some detail is necessary so that what I do write makes sense.
ANTONIO ALBRESS was a native of Boa Vista, one of the Cape Verde Islands off the westernmost point of the African mainland. I have given much information about this island on the rootsweb site and also hinted about a French origin for the Albress/Albres surname. A Thompson ancestor was also from the Cape Verde Islands. Many of the islanders are classified as Creole (mixture of African and European ancestry). No doubt this description applied to Antonio (see the article about footy and the Anzac tradition re William Albress of Richmond), Emanuel de Santos (Rye) and Joe Peters, the black fiddler of Rosebud.
(boards.ancestry.com)
Antonio married Maria Bennett, the daughter of Thomas Alexander and Eliza Bennett. The names of two of their children, Thomas Alexander and Cecilia, came from the Bennett family. There are two Bennett entries in the International Genealogical Index (Nos. 3860 and 3863) which probably refer to two of Maria?s brothers, Thomas and Thomas Alexander, who were both christened at Moorooduc. The parents? names are given in two different ways, Thomas and Eliza for the first and T.A.Bennett and Elizabeth for the second. The first was born on 23-9-1860 and christened on 3-11-1861 and the second was born on 30-6-1862 and christened on 15-8-1875. This would seem to indicate that the first Thomas had died soon after a hasty baptism; Thomas Alexander?s christening was far from hasty!
Cecilia Albress and these two boys were christened at Moorooduc. This could mean that the Bennett and Albress families were residing in that parish (bounded by Port Phillip Bay, Eramosa Rd, Jones Rd, Tyabb Rd, Derril Rd and Ellerina (Bruce) Rd.) There was a William Bennett who owned Crown Allotment 74 at the south west corner of Bungower and Stumpy Gully Rds, and I seem to remember a T.Bennett having land, perhaps in Balnarring parish. It is more likely that they travelled to Schnapper Point (Mornington) to attend church.
N.B. POSTSCRIPT 5-7-2018, THE BENNETTS MENTIONED WERE PROBABLY NOT RELATED TO MARIA.
The Cains of Tyrone arranged for occasional masses for the Catholics of Rye with a priest coming across the bay, and a priest from Mornington used to come occasionally to Dromana (until 1869 and the incident at Scurfield?s hotel!) Antonio and the Bennetts may have attended church at Dromana and a bishop may have visited Mornington to conduct baptisms and confirmations. That would be why Antonio was well-known at Dromana!
The children of Antonio and Maria Albress were posted on mundia by Emma some time ago but two names were missing. These were Cecilia, who married William Medley in 1906, and Maria who married Percival Alexander James (1889-1948.) Those listed were:
Rachel 1878-1920; Thomas Alexander 1880-1917; Pantaleon 1882-1940; Saramphina 1889-1915; Julo 1891-1970; Louis 1892-1982; John 1895-1969; William 1897-? It is likely that Cecilia was born in about 1884 and Maria in about 1887; Maria would have been a bit older than Percy James. Incidentally, a James family had land (C.A. 19A, Wannaeue) right next to the Ditterich Reserve at Main Ridge where Jason Albress continues (with bat and ball) the family tradition of excellence in sport.
The following details have been provided about Thomas Alexander Bennett by descendants of Louis Thompson and Cecilia (Bennett), namely iscant and thommo99.
Thomas Alexander Bennett, born circa 1828 to Charles Bennett (mason/builder) and Margaret (Summons/ Simmons, apparently decoded as Summers), married Elizabeth McMurray in 1855. (Elizabeth?s family hailed from Belfast, Ireland.) These details come from the marriage certificate of Tom and Eliza(beth). It seems that Tom?s wife preferred to be called Eliza- see poetic tributes to Harriet Skelton later- and this would explain the different parents? names for poor Thomas Bennett and Thomas Alexander Bennett (of the very late baptism.)
Cecilia Bennett married Louis Thompson and thommo99 listed their descendants. Peter Thompson, father of Louis, was born on Fogo Island in the Cape Verde Islands circa 1818-1822. Both Louis and Cecilia died around 1900 and their children were taken in by Rachel (Bennett) and William Thompson.
LOCAL HISTORIES.
In ROOTSWEB and FAMILY TREE CIRCLES, details from ?Lime Land Leisure?, parish maps and rate records have been posted under ALBRESS for the families of Antonio Albress and Tom Bennett. The following two books have no index but I have made my own for each.
RYE PRIMARY SCHOOL No. 1667 by Patricia Appleford.
P. 25. Antonio signs an 1895 petition opposing Rye being made a half-time school with Rosebud. The Government was almost broke because of the 1890?s depression and half-time schools were common. One school would operate in the morning and the other in the afternoon, with the teacher?s lunchtime spent travelling from one to the other.
P. 26. In 1905 there was a move to close the Rye school altogether and make the children walk to Rosebud S.S. The teacher (who was about to lose his job) was required to supply details of his pupils and how far they lived from each school. Who could blame him for bending the truth in regard to William Albress? If William had gone the longest possible way (via Browns Rd and Jetty Rd), he would have travelled 7 miles to reach the Rosebud school. He was 1 ? miles from the Rye school if he carried an axe to cut an ?as the crow flies? direct path through Blair?s dense ti-tree and rabbit infested grants that became the Jennings family?s Kariah a decade later. William Albress, born on 15-10-1897, was in grade 1 and lived 1 ? miles from the Rye School.
(This could be a mis-reading of my scribbled notes; Football sites give it as the 13th.)
P.51. The W.W.1 Roll of Honour, State School Rye, lists the following ex pupils:
E.Myers, J.Albress, G.Carlton, J.Connop, O.Cain, W.Darley, D.Edmonds, N.Edmonds, S.George, J.Hayes, W.Hill, R.Myers, J.McMeikan, R.Perrin.
P.142. James Sullivan employs Antonio Albas to run the kiln south of Weeroona St.
Patricia?s book mentions Muriel Bennet starting school in 1936 (P.54) and repeats information about young Eliza Bennett?s grave in the Rye cemetery and the Bennett property in its present north west corner (P. 124.)
FAMILY, CONNECTIONS, SORRENTO AND PORTSEA by Jennifer Nixon.
P.10. Details of Harriet Skelton?s death and burial and two poetic tributes from her loving friends, Thomas and Eliza Bennett.
P. 11. The ten children of Harriet and Edward Skelton are listed. The third, Henry William, married Hannah Bennett.
P. 26-8. H.W.Skelton was born at Point Nepean on 6-5-1843. He married Hannah Bennett in 1869.Soon after the birth of their third child in 1876, they moved to Waratah Bay (Walkerville) where the Hughes boys also relocated.
P.71. Repeats known details.
TROVE. This website was recommended to me by a family historian while I was transcribing rates. It is a digitized collection of hundreds of newspapers prepared by the National Library of Australia and indeed a treasure-trove of information.
MORNINGTON AND DROMANA STANDARD (MDS) 14-8-1909, PAGE 2.
The late Mr A.Albress, whose death was mentioned in last week?s issue, was one of the oldest residents on the ?Heads?. For many years he has been a well-known figure in Portsea, Sorrento and Dromana, where his cheery smile and a genial disposition endeared him to many. He was one of the pioneers of the district, his extended residence of over 40 years earning for him the distinction of one of the ?Daddies? of the ?Heads?, the future of which he regarded as of great promise. He was a native of Bona Vista, one of the Portugese islands in the Cape Verde group, and was in his 68th year. He leaves a wife, four daughters and six sons to mourn his loss.
MDS 7-8-1909, P.2. SORRENTO. Mr Albress of Rye died after undergoing an operation in Melbourne. He was interred in the Rye Cemetery. Mundia.com gives his place of death as Fitzroy. This would probably mean that he died in St Vincent?s Hospital in Victoria Parade, which the Sisters of Mercy opened in converted terrace houses in November 1893.
THE ARGUS 1-6-1910 page 2, column 5.
Auction tomorrow. In the estate of Antonio Albress, deceased. Charles Forrester& Co. in conjunction with Mr James Rowley of Rye, have received instructions to sell by auction:
All those pieces of land being allotments 37A1 and 37B of section A in the parish of Wannaeue containing 90 acres 2 roods and 30 perches. There is an eight roomed dwelling on allotment 37A1 and about 20 acres are cleared, the balance of the land being covered with light scrub. The property has a frontage of 18 chains to main road and is about 2 ? miles from Rye.
(See what I meant about needing an axe to reduce this distance to 1 ? miles?)
THE ARGUS, 21-4-1910, P.4. Those with claims against the estate of Antonio Albress, late of Rye, send particulars.
So, that?s why I couldn?t find details of the death of Antonio?s widow!
Maria Albress did not die!
THE ARGUS, 24-5-1930, p.15.
The probate of the will of Maria McIntyre, married woman, deceased, late of 11 Rogers St, Richmond, will in 14 days be granted to Louis and William Albress, labourers, both of 11 Rogers St, Richmond, sons of the deceased.
No reference to a McIntyre- Albress wedding could be found in trove but Frederick Vernon McIntyre of Richmond, a young man who got into trouble in 1939 might have been Maria?s second husband?s son.
SPORTS, STYLE, SPIRIT, SINGERS AND STRIFE.
(Google ?anzac, Richmond, albress?.)
Excerpt from ?Australian football and disputes over the Anzac legend?, a talk given in Richmond.
I spent my adolescence a few streets south of here, within earshot of the roar of the MCG crowd. One of my domestic jobs was to carry the slops of an elderly man, a retired waterside worker of West Indian descent, down to the backyard privy behind the mulberry tree. I can still remember the press of his chocolate-skinned hand as he gave me a two shilling coin as a thank-you. When he died I was bequeathed his upstairs bedroom. His name was Billy Albress. He played eight senior games in the last two years of the war, 1917 and 1918. Only Richmond and three other clubs, Carlton, Collingwood and Firzroy, played on during the war.
Billy Albress was a typical Richmond player. He was born locally, but of distinctly non-white background, and sport was his only means of earning some social mobility. He remained a waterside worker his entire life, and died in his late sixties. He was ?a Richmond six footer? (to borrow a phrase from Victoria Park), standing just five foot eleven inches, wiry and athletic. His brother and sister lived locally also, and he was part of a tight kinship group, children of Nellie and Pantelon, described in the genealogical records as a ?labourer?. No Albress served in the Australian military in the Great War. (Talk by Prof. Robert Pascoe on 24-4-2009.)
The mistake about being West Indian is understandable. I?d never heard of the Cape Verde Islands until I read about some of our Portugese peninsula pioneers. It is possible that Bill was born in Richmond.WRONG!
POSTSCRIPT 5-7-2018. BILLY'S BIRTH RECORD.
EventBirthEvent registration number31747Registration year1897
Personal information
Family nameALBRESSGiven namesWilliamSexMaleFather's nameAntonMother's nameMaria (Bennet)Place of birthTOOTGAROOK
There is no doubt that Billy Albress was a child of Antonio and Maria Albress. In a post, I wrote that his brothers played for Richmond City but these Albress stars (circa 1939) would have been Antonio?s grandsons. I also made a mistake about Bill playing for Port Melbourne.
(Google ?albress, richmond?, click on AFL Tables.) This confirms that Billy was Antonio?s son. He was 180cm tall and weighed 83 kg.
MORNINGTON STANDARD 9-4-1904 P.5.
Albress won the Sheffield over 130 yards, collecting the 10 pounds first prize, at the Sorrento Sports. Dromana ran their Sheffield over 150 yards, perhaps a little beyond the preferred distance and P. Albress could only manage a second in the second heat. (25-5-1905 p.5.)
MDS, 18-9-1909 p.3. Sorrento v Dromana. The latter was a bit short of players; Myers and T.Albress were useful substitutes for Dromana. Myers probably lived next to the Rye school.
THE ARGUS, 23-9-1935, P.15. Richmond City won the first semi final of the first grade of the Victorian Junior League, defeating South Kensington and Albress kicked 2 goals.
28-7-1937, p.5. L. and T. Albress were among Richmond City?s best players.
10-3-1939, p.20. L.Albress, living in Richmond, is to play in Richmond?s practice match.
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Any time the lady folk had for leisure was probably spent dreaming up and manufacturing their outfit for the next dance or ball- and how to display their culinary skills in the plate they would take. Any dreaming the men did would have involved the mouth -watering supper that was their highlight of the dances and balls. Newspapers gave accounts of the dresses worn but perhaps the correspondents were too fearful of a hip and shoulder to inspect the food too closely!
MS, 29-7-1897, P.3. Rye Jubilee Ball with a description of the outfits worn by Miss Rachel Albress and others. (Also see the 11-7-1903 concert re dresses.)
MS. 3-1-1901, p.3. Seraphina Albress won a handwriting competition for girls at the Kangerong (Dromana) Show.
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As concerts had packed programs, it was rare for any performers to be accorded an encore. One such performer to be received enthusiastically was the Peninsula?s Don Quixote, Sidney Smith Crispo of Manners Sutton (Canterbury/ Blairgowrie) and Eastbourne. For a young Albress girl, receiving an encore must have been a huge thrill. Cecilia, Saramphina and Rachel all enjoyed singing.
See Mornington Standard: 30-5-1895, p.2; 20-12-1900, p.3 (the encore); 11-7-1903, p.4.
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It would be a rare pioneering family that did not have a member charged with an offence such as insulting behavior and of course strife can refer to accidents.
M.S.9-12-1905, p.2. P.Albress and J.J.Kennedy were charged with insulting behavior and fined.
Argus, 22-3-1923, p.7. Louis Albress, a wharf labourer of Gipps St, Richmond, was charged with stealing a wallet that a woman had dropped. When asked if it was his, he, and a woman that was with him, were said to have replied that it was. However, the man involved was not Louis at all and the case was dismissed.
Argus, 13-3-1933, p.19. John Albress, of Gipps St, Richmond, was fined for not disclosing his wife?s earnings when he obtained sustenance.
An incident involving William is discussed in a separate section about our ?travelling sportsman?.
Argus, 9-10-1939, p.5. Raymond Albress, 8, saw his mate slip into the Yarra near Richmond and drown.
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THE EXAMINER ( Launceston). 13-1-1938, p.5. The Tamar. Mr W. Albress of Richmond was reviving his spirits by holidaying with Mr V. Frost at Birralee. I wonder if one of Antonio?s daughters had married Mr V.Frost. The Examiner (page 2 of the.22-4-1913 issue) listed Albress as one of the horses in a race for hacks; the name of the horse?s owner was not given but it?s a strange name for a horse isn?t it?
THE ARGUS. 6-11-1950, p.5. Antonio Albress, 21, of Richmond and five other youths from Melbourne walked to Rupertswood for the 20th Eucharistic Festival.
The Queensland branch.
It is uncertain when this branch was established but the move was probably prompted by the opportunity to find work during the depression of the 1930?s. Newspaper articles do not provide certainty about who led the move but I believe it was Pantaleon who died in 1940. What causes the confusion is that when Beryl Jean Albress married Donald Arthur Gulliver in 1948 she was called the daughter of the late Mr A.S.Albress but when she made her debut in 1946, she was called the daughter of the late Mr. P. Albress.
The first mention of the family in Queensland was on page 2 of the Brisbane Courier on 21-1-1937. A.Albress had gained a 3rd class engine driver?s certificate at Mareeba.
On page 2 of its 30-11-1945 issue, the Townsville Daily Bulletin reported that Private A.S.Albress of Ayr, previously listed as a prisoner of war, had died. (See details after trove information.)
The Cairns Post of 5-9-1946 reported on page 6 that Miss Beryl Albress, the second daughter of Mrs and the late Mr P. Albress of Mossman was one of the debutantes, describing her dress in detail. One would presume that this was Beryl Jean Albress who married Donald Arthur Gulliver in the Mossman Methodist Church but who was described on page 6 of the Cairns Post of 18-2-1948 as being the daughter of Mrs and the late Mr A.S.Albress. Her maid of honour was the bride?s sister, Mrs K. Craven. By the greatest stroke of good luck, the unhighlighted article above this one concerned a marriage that had taken place in the same church on Monday, 26 January. Keith Craven had married Maree Grace Gilligan Albress, the eldest daughter of Mrs and the late Mr A.S.Albress.
Before I deal with the name of Maree and Beryl?s father (A.S. or P?), I must mention that Maree?s third given name offers interesting possibilities. It is possible that the girls? mother had been a Gilligan and I know of two ways that the Gilligan and Albress families may have become acquainted. Many peninsula lads tried their hand at the diggings and Antonio might have done so too, passing through Keilor on the way, just as I believe John Sullivan from Rye did. Due to the huge number of Irish workers building the Mt Alexander and Murray River Railway in 1858, St Augustines at Keilor was commenced at an early date. Irish pioneers near Bulla such as the Crotty, Reddan, Brannigan and Gilligan families would make the long journey to St Augustines very regularly and Antonio may have met the Gilligans after mass.
Thomas and Catherine Gilligan settled on 60 acres at the south west corner of Bungower and Jones Rd near Somerville and the widowed Catherine obtained the grant for crown allotment 61A, Moorooduc in 1882. As speculated earlier, Antonio may have attended mass at Mornington on a fairly regular basis since Dromana did not have its own Catholic Church till Lawrence Murphy got things going in the early 1900?s. The Sullivans in Tyabb parish, the Gilligans and the Albress family might have become acquainted at the Mornington Church.
As both Pantaleon and A.S.Albress had died, it is hard to decide which report was accurate. A.S. was born in 1904 (according to a source) so assuming Maree was about 20, A.S. would have only been about 20 when she was born, highly unlikely.
The Cairns Post of 13-2-1948, page 5 article about rents being raised by the court, shows that Mrs P.M.Albress was renting a shop in Mill St, Mossman. Although it was usual for widows to use their own initials rather than their husband?s, I presume that she was Pantaleon?s widow. Pantaleon was born in 1884 so if he was Maree and Beryl?s father he would have been about 44 when the girls were born, hardly too old.
Using a bit of guess work for the girls? birth years, and assuming that Pantaleon was the father, that would make his children A.S.(1904, when Pantaleon was 22), Maree (1926?) and Beryl (1928?) so there should have been quite a few children born between A.S. and Maree.
Page 3 of the Cairns Post of 21-8-1947 reports a boxing tournament at Mossman as a fundraiser. In one bout M. Ah Wong was beaten on points by J.Albress. As their weights were, respectively 7 stone 6 pounds and 7 stone 5 pounds, they were either midgets or boys of about 13. J (possibly John) could have been a son of A.S.Albress. The Albress lad playing minor junior Rugby League for Southern Suburbs against Babinda was probably the young boxer.(C.P. 5-5-1950, p.3.)
A.S.ALBRESS.
Arthur Stanley Albress was born in Melbourne in 1904. (pipl)
The Australian War Memorial gives the following details.
A.S.Albress. Service No: QX24479. Rank: Private.
Unit: Australian Army Ordnance Corps. Theatre: Malaysia.
Casualty: P.O.W. Location of camp: Borneo.
The A.I.F. Project adds:
Cemetery: Labuan Memorial, Malaya. Details: 19/06/45.*
Son of Moira Albress, husband of Pearl Mavis Albress of Home Hill, Queensland.
*Mundia gives Arthur?s year of death as 1944.
PLACES. Mossman (originally Mosman but changed to avoid confusion with the Sydney suburb) just up the coast from Port Douglas and quite close to the Daintree where the Gullivers were from. Mareeba (meeting of the waters) is at the confluence of the Barron River and two other streams on the Atherton tableland a bit south of due west from Cairns. Ayr is south east of Townsville about half way to Bowen and Home Hill is 12 km further on.
THE TRAVELLING SPORTSMAN.
Billy Albress played eight games for Richmond in the V.F.L. during the 1917 and 1918 seasons. At that time and for many decades afterwards, there was little money in it and most players worked all Saturday morning, requiring a rapid trip to the ground especially when playing away.
Jock McHale was a boss at the Carlton and United Brewery and there was one celebrated occasion when he made a worker, who was due to play against Collingwood, remain at work later than usual on the Saturday morning. There were no two- hour warm ups in those days. It may have been because of tiredness that Billy never cemented a spot in the team.
By December, 1918, Billy, by occupation a combination of tanner and shearer was up near Yea.
There was an entertainment at Glenburn followed by a dance. Two men caused a disturbance at the door and for some reason, although he was not involved, Billy kicked over a kerosene tin in which water was boiling for the supper cuppa. Billy had sung at the concert and had been asked to sing between dances but must have felt guilty and had travelled home in such a way that the police would .not spot him. Although evidence showed that his behavior had not been as bad as the charges suggested, Billy was still fined. (Yea Chronicle 12-121918, p.3.)
Billy was back in town by 1920 and was one of Port Melbourne?s best players when they beat Essendon A?s 11-11 to 6-14. (Earlier known as Essendon Town, the V.F.A. team which played at Windy Hill enjoyed great success circa 1911 when Dave McNamara played for them but were in decline by about 1920 when the Jolimont Railway Yards construction started, forcing Essendon?s V.F.L. team off the East Melbourne ground and the Essendon Council gave the Same Olds the use of Windy Hill at about the same time that planes (not bombers yet) started landing at the northern end of what is now Essendon Aerodrome. (Argus, 24-5-1920, p.11.)
By Easter of 1921, Billy seems to have been working in the Western District, perhaps as a shearer again. It was time to test his athletic ability against the best in the country. At the Stawell Gift, he entered the Stewards? Purse, a race over the distance of 220 yards. He did well too, winning the seventh heat and the second semi final. (The Register, Adelaide, 30-3-1921, p.8.)
Some Horsham Times articles have not been digitized yet but it seems that Billy might have been appointed as Minyip?s coach and was in good form (17-6-1921, p.5.) He may have remained in the district and was set to compete again at the Stawell Easter Gift. For the Sprint Handicap, over 75 yards he had a mark of 6 ? yards with the back-marker on 2 yards and the front markers on 12 yards. (The Register, 6-4-1922, p.11.)
By the winter of 1923, Bill must have been working near the Murray River, as he was playing for Ebden Rovers and forming an effective combination with the coach, Condon.
(Wodonga and Toowong Sentinel, 13-7-1923; 20-7-1923, p.3.) It is possible that Bill only played the two games for the club as he was not named in the team in early August. Perhaps when Bill was working in an area, the coach, knowing of his reputation, would invite him to play for whatever period he would be around.
Was Bill working in a shearing gang? He competed at the Sale Athletic Carnival seven months later. He won the Longford Purse, a handicap race over 440 yards. Running off a mark of 22 yards and giving his competitors generous starts, he won his heat easily in 52 seconds. Despite strong opposition he won the final and collected the 30 pound purse.
By the winter of 1924, Bill was again playing for Minyip. He showed his fitness by rucking right throughout games but once again, it looks as if he has only played a couple of games.
(Horsham Times, 1-7-1924, p.3; 19-8-1924, p.5.)
THE NORTH QUEENSLAND STORY (FROM ANOTHER EMAIL.)
Dear XXX thank you for your reply it is much appreciated I looked up the mentioned site and found the information very interesting. I am one of the Queensland mob of which there aren t too many . We ve known that we have descended from Antonio and that he came from the Cape Verde Islands for some years but to get some information about their personal lives is amazing. As you were kind enough to email me I would like to add some information to clear up some things that were unknown. We come from Antonios daughter Maria who gave birth to an illegitimate son named Arthur Stanley Albress. As there was no father named on the birth certificate he was given Marias last name. He married Pearl Mavis Rushby and had three children at a young age Beryl Jean, Marie Grace and my father John Stanley Albress, he was the one mentioned having a boxing match in 1947. he would have been about 17 and was a small wiry man when he was young so the weights would have been correct. So as far as we know there are no other Albresses in north Queensland apart from us descendants of Arthur Stanley so I guess it was him that migrated north for whatever reason.Arthur Stanley was killed in 1945 in the sandakan marches at borneo during the second world war. His son John, my father, is 81 years old and the only remaining child of Arthur and is interested in finding out this information so thank you once again.
A TOAST TO THE ALBRESS FAMILY, PIONEERS OF RYE.
Here?s to Antonio, the lad from Boa Vista Isle
Who gave the whole peninsula his genial smile;
He earned the title ?Daddy of the Heads?,
And kept adding rooms to fit in all the beds.
Here?s to Maria who milked and cooked and sewed
While hubby?s dark skin glowed at the kiln just up the road.
Here?s to the Albress boys, at sport much to the fore;
Here?s to the Albress girls whose voices we adore.
Pioneers we were: Sullivan, Cain, Rowley and Wells,
Skelton, Clark, Watts; none of us were swells.
How sad we were to see you go,
Our good old mate, Antonio. 12-11-2011.
THE ATTACHMENT IS PART OF THE WANNAEUE PARISH MAP ON WHICH I HAVE PAINTED TWO WOBBLY ARROWS TO SHOW ANTONIO'S GRANTS. ALICEA CAMPBELL IS A GREAT GREAT GRAND DAUGHTER OF ANTONIO ALBRESS.
HISTORIC ORIGINS OF STREET NAMES ON THE MORNINGTON PENINSULA, VIC., AUST.
The following is an extract from my Peninsula Dictionary History, which I have not touched for over a year since I read Leila Shaw's THE WAY WE WERE and got sidetracked into Henry Gomm, Joseph Porta etc. The Mount Martha section is based on much speculation and should be taken with a grain of salt.Irvine St has no connection with the Coburg pioneering carpenter. The street names that are simply listed have definite historic origins and I'll have to take a holiday from family tree circles soon (with the occasional visit only) in order to continue with PENINSULA DISTRICT HISTORY and DROMANA AND ROSEBUD ON TROVE.
Other speculation, such as the origin of Hope St in Rosebud, has since been disproved. Hindhope was the original name of the farm including all Hope St house blocks and bounded by Boneo Rd, Point Nepean Rd and First Ave.I will edit this when I have time to read it through. It was Peter Young who was granted Nairn but Airey's did become part of Patullo's Craigbank.
HISTORIC STREET NAME ORIGINS
Co-ordinate given is where the street name is written.
MOUNT MARTHA.
I was tempted to start with Mornington (where I have a relationship to the Harraps dating from 1861) and ?Green Island? where Sam Sherlock settled after working at many occupations and places in and near the parish of Wannaeue. That will have to come later as my original intention was to start with Safety Beach and if I don?t control myself, I?ll be telling you that the family of Thamer Burdett (H.W.Wilson?s wife) might be connected with the naming of a street in Frankston North.
Therefore I will start at Balcombe Creek with what I like to think of as ?Essendon By The Bay?. It is possible that John Thomas Smith (seven times Mayor of early Melbourne and builder of the lovely Ascot House, which still stands in Fenton St, Ascot Vale) started the annual summer migration; a book I read yonks ago in the old Rosebud Library called him a pioneer of the area.
WELLS RD.
I know Wells Rd is nowhere near Mt Martha but Henry Cadby Wells? daughter was probably the first white child born on the Southern Peninsula. Robert Rowley?s mother and stepfather, Richard Kenyon, along with Captain Adams at McCrae, were the first permanent settlers in the area. Shortly after, Robert arrived and within months, he and his friend, Wells had started a limeburning venture and ?Polly? Wells had been born (7-6-1841).
By 1846, the depression caused a slump in demand for lime and many limeburners had departed while others turned to timber-getting or fishing. In about 1849, Wells, (a bootmaker by trade), returned from Melbourne to launch a crayfishing venture with Robert. It was hugely successful but wishing to see their families for a few days, they anchored in Westernport. The vessel was destroyed because of the huge tidal variation
In 1859, Wells planted a vineyard at Ranelagh in Mt Eliza but before long it was wiped out by a disease that destroyed almost every vineyard in the state. Wells retained his interest in the limeburning industry and visited the Sorrento area many times, probably staying with the Rowleys. (Google ?The Wells Story.?)
MELWAY P.150-1
There are just so many names associated with the history of the area near Essendon found on these two pages that I feel justified in assuming that there was a summer exodus from that area to Mt Martha similar to that from Toorak to Portsea in slightly later times.
KILBURN GR. 150 H1.
See Fairview Ave.
ELMIE TCE. 150 H1
This was possibly the location of the holiday home of a prominent citizen of early Coburg. See ?Between Two Creeks? Richard Broome.
AILSA ST 151 A1
This was possibly the site of a holiday home owned by Robert McCracken of Ailsa on Flemington Hill where Essendon Football Club played its first few seasons.
TAL TALS Cres. 151 C3
This was a name given by early settlers to a local aboriginal group.
CUMBERLAND DR. 151 C1
This was possibly the site of a holiday home of Alex. McCracken who lived at North Park in Woodlands St, Essendon and owned Cumberland which is part of Woodlands Historic Park near Tullamarine Airport.
SINCLAIR ST. 150 K1
This was possibly the site of a holiday house of Mrs Sinclair who had a farm fronting Rosehill Rd in West Essendon. The origin of the name could also have something to do with the family of Peter S.Sinclair, a grantee in Rye Township, after whom Sinclair St in Rye was obviously named. Peter only owned his land fronting Weir St for a decade so he might have been a speculator. If so, Sinclair St in Somerville might also be named after a member of his family.
LEMPRIERE AVE. 150 G2
HERE I WILL DISCONTINUE USING ?This was possibly the site of etc.?
Lempriere at one time owned St Johns, a farm granted to Major St John who was famously libelled by J.P.Fawkner. This property became Essendon Aerodrome.
A member of the Lempriere family with very French Christian names was assessed on land in Sorrento in about 1880.
PRESCOTT AVE. 150 H2
Prescott was probably a developer who subdivided land here and at Safety Beach. He may not have been a resident of Sorrento but he was a guest at a wedding there. The newspaper account of the wedding of Florence Maud Dark and George Sutton is reproduced on page 77 of Jenny Nixon?s FAMILY, CONNECTIONS, SORRENTO and PORTSEA. Unfortunately, no date is given for the article but it may be from about 1920. My hunch is that Sutton and Prescott were friends from Mornington. One day, while walking in Mornington, I inspected an old house called Sutton Grange. Always on the lookout for historical connections, I wondered if it had any connection with the place east of Castlemaine and Faraday. This fine house might have been where George Sutton lived.
IRVINE AVE. 150 H2
Irvine was a prominent carpenter in Coburg?s early days. Notice the proximity to Elmie Tce. See Broome?s history.
RAMSAY CT. 150 J1
Ramsay built Clydebank in West Essendon, which now serves as a Catholic College.
From New Zealand, he invented a boot polish and named it KIWI.
FAIRVIEW AVE. 150 K2.
There were two farms in Tullamarine with this name but a nearby street makes it clear which one is associated. The Kilburns received land grants in Keilor Rd in what is now called East Keilor and Keilor Park, and also bought part of the subdivision of Thomas Napier?s land at what is now Strathmore. Mrs Kilburn also owned 400 acres bounded by Sharps and Broadmeadows Rds at Tullamarine; this farm, which she called Fairview, was later split into Brightview and Dalkeith.
DURHAM CT. 151 A3.
Durhams owned and possibly subdivided McMeikan land at Kensington in the 1880?s. Perhaps he found Mt Martha too hilly and moved to the very flat Durham Pl. in Rosebud.
DEAKIN DR. 150 F2.
Although the street may have been named by others to honour his contribution to Federation, he did defeat Alexander McCracken for the seat of West Bourke and represented the area from which these prominent holiday makers came, and he might have shared their summer relaxation at this ?watering place? as promoters such as Dromana?s Spencer Jackson so quaintly put it.
PENLEIGH CRES 151 A2.
You might have noticed that many of the families mentioned are Scottish. Some of their daughters would have been educated at Penleigh in Park St, Essendon.
SHERWOOD CRES. 151 A3.
Alexander McCracken was heavily involved in the Oaklands Hunt Club and many of the post hunt get-togethers took place at Cumberland and the Inverness Hotel (near the north end of the runway). Eventually the hunt club established its own headquarters on a property called Sherwood. (See 178 D6.) Ref. ?The Oaklands Hunt? by D.F.Cameron-Kennedy.
Another possible reason for the name is that there might have been a family of this name in the area. The 1879-80 Kangerong assessments record that George Sherwood, journeyman, and William Copeland, journeyman, constituting a firm called Sherwood & Co., had 173 acres and a building in the parish. This would have been crown allotment 10 A of just under 173 acres granted to G.Sherwood on what looks like 19-8-1876. This land was bounded by Tumbywood Rd, Eatons Cutting Rd and Mornington-Flinders Rd and extended east to the end of Holmes Rd. It is probable that Sherwood had moved on by 1900 and the property is not even mentioned; it might have been absorbed by Thomas Appleyard or passed into the hands of creditors during the depression of the 1890?s. By 1910, it had become the property of Charles Bennett of St Kilda.
No detail of which trade Sherwood was following is given, but readers may wonder what a journeyman was. A tradesman could progress through three stages. Usually an apprenticeship lasted seven years during which a lad would live with his master, receiving little payment other than food and shelter. On successful completion of the term, he would become a journeyman. He could conduct business on his own account but as can be seen, he probably would not have a nest egg to do so. Most likely, he would wander from place to place, working for various master tradesmen, picking up new ideas and techniques that might enable him to submit a piece of work to the guild and qualify as a master. The term journeyman comes from the French word for ?day? and the master for whom he was now working had to pay him for each day?s work.
Perhaps Sherwood?s father was a master tradesman and actually owned the company. Therefore Sherwood and Copeland could obtain equipment and materials, but they could not employ anyone until they reached the status of Master.
McLEOD RD. 150 F4.
The McLeods were pioneers in the parish of Holden. (See 176 A11.)
HALL ST. 150 E4.
The Halls received grants near Lempriere?s St Johns and Kilburn?s Fairview and next to Kilburn?s grant in Keilor Rd. Joseph Hall had the Tuerong run briefly.
BARROW ST 150 F4.
Jim Barrow was an owner of Gladstone, which makes up the northern 777 acres of Gladstone Park.
SPENCER, JACKSON, PANORAMA 150 G5.
Spencer Jackson did much to promote Dromana. He even wrote a history of Dromana but some of its pages look suspiciously like an advertisement for his Panoramic Estate at Dromana. The history is not for loan but is available at Rosebud Library.
GLENCOE DR. 153 A1.
Glencoe was the Duncan farm just north of the McLeod farm in the parish of Holden. It was on this farm that the famous Sunbury Music Festival was held. Ref. ?Bulla Bulla? I.W.Symonds. (See 352 J5.)
NAIRN PL. 150 G7.
If I remember correctly (this whole work is written from memory as I gave all my maps, notes and the 3500 pages of ?Dictionary History of Tullamarine and Miles Around? to custodians when moving to Rosebud) Nairn was granted to Captain Airey but became part of David Patullo?s Craig Bank. It was west of Wildwood Rd where it bends near the turn off to the Brannigans? ?St Johns?. (See 177 C3.)
HEARN RD. 150 E4, CLARKES AVE. 145 B8, BRUCE RD 150 F10.
Hearn had the Mt.Martha Run and in1865 appears to have built the forerunner or original 4 rooms of Heronswood at Dromana. He also received the grants of extensive property on both sides of Purves Rd on the south side of Arthurs Seat?s summit. His son, James married a daughter of W.J.T.(Big) Clarke who had bought Jamieson?s Special Survey, the property south of Hearn?s run. Colin McLear said that Clarke gave another son-in-law, (a Mr Bruce of the family that produced a prime minister) part of the survey as a wedding present. This was probably the northern 1000 acres leased by E.L.Tassell. ( Hollinshead stated that Clarke sold it to him at a profit of 600 pounds). Big Clarke was looked after in his last days at James Hearn?s Roseneath in Woodlands St, Essendon. Woodland St apparently got its name from a huge Clarke property. The Roseneath estate was earlier owned by E.Clarke and later owned by William Salmon who donated Salmon Reserve to the council.
Sources: Wannaeue map, Kangerong rates, Dreamtime of Dromana, Lime Land Leisure, Essendon &Hawstead map, Essendon rates, Lenore Frost?s books on Essendon homes and street names.
N.B. Big Clarke?s son, W.J.Clarke, built Rupertswood at Sunbury (the birthplace of ?TheAshes?) and named it after his son.
FAIRBAIRN AVE. 150 C7.
The Fairbairn family settled near Ballan very early. Like Hugh Glass, Big Clarke and John Aitken near Sunbury, they bought grants on the way to Newmarket to rest and fatten their stock. Fairbairn?s was on the south side of Raleigh?s Punt Road. Today it is Fairbairn Park. Fairbairn owned an impressive house (called Ardoch Towers if my memory serves me right) just north of the Essendon Footy Ground.
DALKEITH HOUSE. Being so far from Essendon on the Bay, this is pure conjecture, but there might have been some connection with Tommy Loft?s farm, Dalkeith, at Tullamarine. (See Kilburn and Fairview.) Tommy Loft owned land on the west side of Truemans Rd in 1920, which adds to the possibility of a connection.
Safety beach and dromana now on USB.
BURTON ST 159 C9
There might be a connection with the Burrell or Coburn families.
It might also have been intended to be Burston Ave. I cannot be sure that, in 1919, George Burston of Fitzroy had 368 acres of the Arthurs Seat Pre-emptive Right because the same section and allotment was used to detail land there, and at Boneo. If he did there would be another 272 acres to account for.
Since 1900 and probably the 1890?s depression, Catherine Burrell had owned 70 acres and the Coburns 88 acres. The Rudducks? Wonga was 25 acres, Judge Higgins had Heronswood on 10 acres, the Hearns nearby had 40 acres and the Cornells had 10 acres where Smythe had built the hut for old Tom who tended his wattles. Charles Wedge of Ringwood had 26 acres taking us to a total of 637 acres, so with a few subdivision blocks the 640 acres are accounted for. Hmmm! By the way Burston also had 709 acres in another riding.
CHARLES ST 159 A10 HENRY ST 159 B10 CATHERINE ST 158 K 12
BURRELL ST 158 K12 COBURN AVE 159 B9 BARTELS ST158 K10.
Charles was the given name of one of the four Burrell brothers who took over the Arthurs Seat estate in 1851 with their sister Kitty. The author of ?Rosebud: Flower of The Peninsula? said that he married Miss Coburn.
Henry was another of the four Burrell brothers. By 1910, he was living in East Melbourne but he was leasing a house and 4 acres from the Coburn family, possibly Killarney.
Catherine Burrell and her four brothers took over the McCraes? Arthurs Seat Run in 1851. Brook and Joseph were the two brothers after whom streets were not named unless the author of the book mentioned under Charles St made a mistake. Rate records do little to verify the names of the brothers but they do indicate the shrinking acreage of the Burrell property. In 1864, Charles Burrell had a six-roomed house and a large garden (orchard) on 34 acres and ? Burrell had an eight-roomed house and large garden on a 42 acre frontage and the remaining 4400 acres of the Run. Edward Burrell was assessed on a slab hut and 15 acres.
In 1865, the rate collector assessed only Joseph Brooks Burrell, on the 640 acre pre-emptive Right. By 1879, Joseph John Burrell, grazier, was assessed on 580 acres, leased from C.Burrell. In 1900 and again in 1910, Catherine Burrell was assessed on 70 acres. I had assumed that she was a widow but she might have been Kitty who arrived with the four brothers. Her next- door neighbour was Caroline Coburn, possibly mother in law of Charles Burrell, living on the 88 acre Springbank.
The first mention of the Coburns that I have transcribed was from the assessments compiled for the 1887-8 year; W.J.Coburn was assessed on 370 acres. He might have been leasing part of the Arthurs Seat Pre-emptive Right of 640 acres. The author of ?Rosebud: Flower of the Peninsula? states that Mr Coburn built several houses including Killarney in 1891 and Springbank in 1894. She says that Springbank burnt down in 1912 but the Coburns must have given the name to another house that he had built, as their address was still Springbank in 1919. The house on the site of the one that was burnt down was built in 1927.
In 1910, Mrs Caroline E.Coburn, a farmer, was assessed on the 88 acres of Springbank while William John Coburn, farmer of Springbank, was assessed on two allotments on Crown Allotment 17 (near McDowell St.)
By 1919, Miss Catherine Burrell had only 40 acres. The remaining 30 acres must have been sold to such as Frank and June Cornell (10). David Cairns Jnr (10) and ?Back Road (Now Bayview Rd) Bob? Cairns may have had the rest. There is no mention of the Coburns in the West Riding, but there is a separate listing for the Springbank Estate.
The lots themselves were of little value and, no matter whether one or five lots were owned, the nett annual value was almost always two pounds. As mentioned before, Springbank consisted of 88 acres. C.W. Coburn was assessed on 44 acres and part of lots 4 and 5. Mrs S.Burrell who was living at ?Springbank?, Dromana (or more correctly Dromana West as McCrae would be called for another couple of decades), had lots 8, 9, and 4 and 5 (of which Coburn had a part.) Charles N.Coburn, of Caulfield, had lots 22-5, 30-32, 22-81, 59, 60, and 87-95. (That?s right; assessed twice on lots 22-25!) E.J.Alexander (Queensland), Edith Anderson (Camberwell), and The Phillips (Murrayville), like the above, had buildings and thus a NAV of ten pounds or above.
The Bartels family from Oakleigh had property with a total NAV of L12.J.Bartels had lots 11, 18, 19 and buildings, while Mrs E.J. and E.C. and A.C. Bartels had lots 61-64. No doubt this family later did their own subdividing.
GEORGIANA PL. 159 A11.
Georgiana Place is named after Georgiana McCrae who supported her husband in his bid to establish a successful Run at Arthurs Seat. A cultured lady, she was asked by Gov. Latrobe to accompany him at the opening of the first Princes Bridge when his wife did not feel well enough to attend. In her famed diary, she recorded life in the infant colony with descriptions of pioneers rivaled only by those of Harry Peck. How else would I have known that Captain Bunbury (granted section 1 of the parish of Tullamarine, and head of the Water Police at Williamstown) had lost the use of his right arm but could paint beautifully left-handed?
Now doubt the walls of the Arthurs Seat homestead displayed some of Georgiana?s fine paintings. The McCrae homestead can provide a glimpse into the life and times of Georgiana. The artistic tradition at the homestead was carried on by John Twycross, who married one of the Burrell girls; noted as a photographer later, he produced some beautiful paintings, which are housed in display drawers in the new Burrell Room.
A NAVIGATOR THEMED ESTATE? 159 A12 and pages 170-1.
Poole St may be named after Captain J.Poole who commanded a 368 ton barque named the Indus. The Maitland Mercury of 12-2-1853 reported the arrival of the ship from Melbourne.
Parkes St, named after Sir Henry Parkes (the father of Federation whose enthusiasm was caught by Alfred Deakin) seems to be the exception to the theme; perhaps it was a later addition to provide access to the water tower.
Somers Ave seems to be part of the estate too. This was named after Lord Somers, the Governor from 1926-1931 who started a youth camp on Merricks Creek.
Matthew. Flinders, Cook and Bass need no explanation but an examination of the monument outside the Dromana Museum will help to explain the choice of Murray and Bowen. Have a look at it on a Sunday afternoon drive and visit the museum.
Dorothy Crt probably resulted from the subdivision of a homestead block later.
CAIRN (sic) RD 158 K12
This road was intended to be named after Robert Cairns, or ?Back Road Bob? as he was known- as he lived on Cape Schanck Rd, which has been renamed Bayview Rd. He received grants for almost 180 acres on the east side of the back road with the northern and southern boundaries indicated by the extent of streets named after British cars. His northern boundary divided his property from the Arthurs Seat Pre-emptive Right and the southern boundary had bends which are the northern boundaries of the present Rosebud Golf Course. His land extended to Melway 171 A2.
GELLIBRAND ST 158 J11
Joseph Tice Gellibrand was one of the members of the Port Phillip Association on whose behalf John Batman made his purchase of thousands of square miles on the north and west of the bay. Gellibrand, appointed attorney-general of Van Diemans Land, took up his post in 1824 but the despotic Governor Arthur probably conspired to ensure his dismissal within a couple of years.
In 1827, he and Batman applied for a grant in the Port Phillip District (as Victoria was called until it gained Separation) but the request was refused. In 1835 he joined the P.P.A. and devised the treaty. After landing at Westernport in 1836 and strolling to Melbourne and then to Geelong, accompanied by William Buckley, and then towards Gisborne, then Melbourne, then the Plenty River, he went back to Tassie for a well-earned rest. He returned with George B.L.Hesse and, landing at Geelong on 27-2-1837, they set off to follow the Barwon River to its junction with the Leigh River and then cut across to Melbourne. They disappeared and no trace was ever found of them.
PARKMORE RD 158 H11
?Parkmore was a comfortable house built in 1896 by Mr Holloway, an architect. A lovely fountain graced the garden. Parkmore was later occupied by Mr and Mrs Fair. The Clemingers bought it in 1908 and introduced tented accommodation.? This information comes from ?Rosebud:Flower of the Peninsula?, which as well as being ? not for loan? is no longer kept in the local history room at the library. I have written a summary of its information, with notes, under the same title.
The rate assessments for 1900-1 show that Albert Holloway had 5 acres and a building; it would have been too much trouble to call it a house, let alone give its name!
Wise?s 1893-4 directory lists Albert Holloway as a resident of Rosebud and gives his occupation as ?builder?, as does their 1895-6 directory. This historic house is still standing although well hidden by a high fence and perimeter foliage and will soon be completely hidden from view by new housing. See details of Parkmore and subdivision of Crown Allotment 19 in ADAMS CORNER by Ray Gibb (available at Dromana Museum.)
LONSDALE ST 158 K12
William Lonsdale was appointed Police Magistrate for Port Phillip District as soon as Governor Bourke received permission to form the new settlement and was hurried off in Captain Hobson?s Rattlesnake, arriving on 29-9-1836. Bourke was anxious to impose control on the illegal settlers before things got out of hand. Lonsdale could have been dictatorial, given the additional powers invested in him but he was generally applauded for his even-handed attitude. When Latrobe arrived, he served under him until his boss retired in 1854.
WATTLE RD 158 J 11,12
The road to Portsea (as the highway was known) was called Esplanade where it skirted the foreshore through Dromana and Rosebud. The Avenue at McCrae was the boundary between the Arthurs Seat Pre-emptive Right and Captain Henry Adams? grant , allotment 20 of the parish of Wannaeue. I doubt that The Avenue was made to Cape Schanck (Bayview) Road in the early days. The only people that came from the east to ADAMS CORNER before the mid 1860?s would have been those calling at the Arthurs Seat homestead before going to the solitude of the Cape Schanck, Boniyong or Tootgarook runs. If they weren?t stopping at the homestead and did not want to wait for low tide so they could get around Anthonys Nose on the beach, they would enter Cape Schanck Rd at Foote St in Dromana.
However, if they did stop at the homestead, they would take a route that headed west with the least arduous ascent. This would explain the crazy angle at which Wattle Rd (now Wattle Pl.) leaves the beach road. Even before the McCraes settled on their run, Captain Adams had a house on Adams Corner, built from his schooner?s timber in 1839-40 and it is likely that anyone choosing the beach route around Arthurs Seat instead of the steep climb out of what would become Dromana would enjoy his company and hospitality before proceeding. There was no road along the foreshore and many creeks (Adams, Eeling and Peateys and others before Jetty Rd) as well as the Tootgarook Swamp near Chinamans Creek (with jungles of ti tree) that would deter travelers from taking that route.
When Henry Cadby Wells and his wife were walking to the heads to join young Robert Rowley in a limeburning venture in 1841, it is likely that they stopped at Henry Adams? place for the night. As they prepared to leave the next morning they would have seen some of Adams? workers heading off in a south westerly direction.
?Where are they going in the dark??
?Can you see those piles of bark?
They go out in any sort of weather
And strip the wattles for tanning leather.?
The demand for wattle bark in Melbourne would lead to this track, made by the earliest travelers, being used by bark gatherers who would have to go further up the mountain each day as they depleted the supply along the wattle road and then at the end of it.
BARODA ST 158 G12 MITCHELL ST, LYON ST 158 F12 MADURA ST 158 H 12
All of these streets seem to have a link with the Maddens of Travancore, which was part of the old Flemington Estate of Hugh Glass.Both Baroda and Madura are street names in the Travancore Estate ((29 A11). The main Madden business was supplying horses for the army in India. Their initial link with the Peninsula was probably through the Purves family at Tootgarook with James supplying heavy horses for hauling and James Jnr breeding thoroughbreds for the lighthorse brigades. If the Maddens did establish a holiday retreat east of Adams Ave., it was not far from Green Hills, near the south end of Purves Rd, where, at his uncle Peter Purves? farm, Alf Hansen and others imitated the man from Snowy River.
The Lyon family was prominent in the Essendon area from early days and possibly involved on the council with the Maddens.
The Mitchell name is common in early Peninsula history, and because of the proximity of two streets named after pioneering families, I believe Mitchell St was named after one of them. James Mitchell was one of the early settlers on Jamieson?s Special Survey, renting a hut from Big Clarke in 1863.As he did not have land, he was probably fishing at Safety beach or timber cutting. He was also there in 1864, but not in 1865 unless my transcription was faulty. It was probably his daughter who married John Bryan, a neighbour on the survey.. (See Brian St, map 158.) Mitchell might have moved to Rye in 1865 to work in the lime trade. George Mitchell was the postmaster at Rye by 1879. (See RYE PRIMARY SCHOOL 1667 P 60, 72 re the Mitchells.)
If the Madden land extended across Adams Ave, Mitchell St could have been named for Mitchell who ran huge flocks of sheep on Woodlands and Cumberland, which today constitute most of Woodlands Historic Park near Tullamarine Airport. He took over this land after the death of Alexander McCracken in 1915. (See Mt Martha streets such as Ailsa & Cumberland.)
Mitchell and Madden might have been connected through the Oaklands Hunt Club or perhaps marriage.
ADAMS AVE 158 G12
Captain Henry Everest Vivian Adams first landed at Dromana (which included McCrae until recent times) sometime between 1839 and 1840 on the schooner ?Roseanne?.He received the grant for allotment 20 Wannaeue, which was bounded by Point Nepean Rd, The Avenue, Bayview Rd and Parkmore Rd. By 1865, he had purchased allotment 19, which went west to Adams Ave.
His first house was built from the timbers of his schooner, but with the help of his son, Robert, he built another house on the Wattle Rd corner (Adams Corner), which was named Hopetoun House in honour of the Governor who would stay there on his way to Sorrento. Like many farmers (even today), he had to turn his hand to many things to make a living. It is probable that he carried lime, timber and bark up the bay to Melbourne. He picked up and provided accommodation to tourists when Dromana?s pier was built, had a vineyard, and produced bricks. In about 1890, when the construction of St Mark?s Anglican Church was being organized Henry?s son, Robert, donated 10 000 bricks.
Hopetoun House later became Merlyn Lodge guest house, which was being run by Mrs S.A.Adams in 1947. R.W. Adams was running a milk bar in 1950.
Two pioneer families linked to the Adams through marriage are the McGregor and Freeman families. Keith McGregor, who took over Jimmy Williams? fish run from Rosebud West to Mornington, married Mabel Adams and later sold his run to Mabel?s brother, Bill. Another Adams girl married a Freeman according to Ray Cairns.
PATERSON ST 158 F12
CAIRNS ST 158 F12
JETTY RD 158 F12 (3 PIERS).
BUCHER PL. 158 E12
DURHAM PL 158 E12
WANNAEUE PL. 158 E12
McDOWELL ST 158 D12
HEAD ST 158 D12
MAPS 170-171.
SHANDS RD 171 K12
WHITES RD 171 G3
WILSON RD 171 G6
BARKERS RD 171 H 12
PURVES RD 171 E1
BALDRYS RD 171 E12
GREENS RD 171 E12
CAIRN (sic) RD. 170 K1-2
McLAREN CT 170 K4
BRITISH CAR THEME 170 J2
HOVE RD 170 G 3
SHERWOOD AVE 170 G7, FENTON AVE 170 G7
WOONTON CRES& ST 170 F3,G2.
I remember seeing the name, Woonton, in a list of early Mornington residents. The 1919-20 rate records show that James W. Woonton was leasing 152 acres from Edward Wilson. This land, which had recently been vacated by Ned Edmonds, was on the south side of Browns Rd, starting 340m east of Truemans Rd and continuing 940 m towards Boneo. The Sands and McDougall directory of 1950 lists James H.Woonton as a farmer of Boneo. De Garis bought Potton?s farm but must have had trouble selling it quickly enough to pay his loans and committed suicide in 1927. Soon after, the depression of the 1930 and the Second World War would have made the chance of selling blocks even less likely. Perhaps the Woontons bought the land for a song shortly after 1950. As the east end of Woonton Cres extends into Crown allotment 19, owned by the Adams family of McCrae, it is likely that they had also unsuccessfully subdivided it or sold to De Garis.
POTTON AVE 170 F3.
Crown Allotment 18 of the parish of Wannaeue is bounded by: the highway, Jetty Rd, Bayview Rd and the line of Adams Ave. It was granted to G.Warren and consisted of 152 acres (and 56 perches that rate collectors never recorded.) It seems to have been leased to a Mr Parr in 1864 but Warren was assessed in 1865. Warren might have been a friend of the Rudducks from Dandenong and the father of Fred Warren who died early leaving his widow (nee Patterson of Fingal) running a store in Dromana for a living.
By 1900, ownership had passed to Mrs Thomas Bamford. The first page of the 1879 assessments is missing from the microfiche and as no property of that size is mentioned that cannot be located elsewhere, Mrs Bamford probably already owned it. Two acres at the FJ?s corner of Jetty Rd housed Jack Jones? store by 1900, leaving 150 acres.
The Pottons bought the land in 1906, according to Peter Wilson in his ?On the Road to Rosebud, and in 1910, Mrs Potton of Brunswick was assessed on the 150 acres. By 1919, the 2 acre store site had been subdivided into five lots and the buildings, on one acre were owned by ? Talbot and occupied by Chiltern. Mrs P.J.Potton was now living on the farm and paying rates on three of the subdivided blocks as well as the 150 acres.
S.Potton fought in WW1. In 1950, Warwick A. Potton, carpenter was listed as a Rosebud resident. See the chapter in Peter?s book entitled ?Henry Potton?s Farm?.
NAVIGATOR THEME 170 F 4-5
OLD CAPE SCHANCK RD 170 F6& C11
GIPPS ST 170 E1
BARRY ST 170 E1
GRASSLANDS RD 170 E 11
BROWNS RD 170 D 11
WOOD ST 170 D 1.
I will use this entry to illustrate why I do not often quote sources for my information; to do so would probably double the length of what I write.
On page 52 of ?On the Road to Rosebud?, Peter Wilson stated that in about 1946 Mr F.E.(Joe)Wood and Mr B.P.(Barney)Rogers, seeing that Rosebud needed a new hall, formed a local citizens? committee, which conducted a carnival over the 1946-7 summer on the foreshore. In ?Rosebud: Flower of the Peninsula?, Isobel Moresby informed us that Cr Wood was one of the owners of the historic McCrae Homestead after the Burrells.
LIME LAND LEISURE has a list of Flinders Shire councillors. Forest Edmond Wood was a councillor in 1942-3 and from 1945 to 1955. Without doubt Wood St was named after Joe.
BANKSIA PL. 170 C3, CLACTON DIVIDE 170 C2, THE LINK, LEA WAY 170 D2,
First to Ninth Ave were the north-south streets of the Clacton-on- Sea Estate. This estate, named after a coastal resort in Essex, 70 miles north east of London, was put on sale in 1908 and only a few blocks were sold despite later attempts to keep it in the public eye by offering blocks as prizes in radio competitions and raffles on the steamers. By the 1980?s the Eastbourne Rd end was still a largely uninhabited wasteland and the council decided to do something about it, as described in ?On the Road to Rosebud?. Closing of most of the avenues at Eastbourne Rd, and construction of internal link roads, was probably prompted by the imminent freeway.
FIRST-NINTH AVENUES.
This entry has been prompted by a history myth passed on to me at the football on 14-5-2011. As the teller knew a bit about Rosebud?s history, I was fascinated, but I thought it strange that the tale had not been in Isobel Moresby?s history of 1954 or Peter Wilson?s books. Jim Dryden has lived in Rosebud since 1932 and confirmed that the story was rubbish.
During WW2 there was a huge tent city to house American soldiers and in the American fashion, the major north-south tracks dividing the area were given numbers as names.
Trove decisively confirmed Jim?s claim that the street names existed before the war. An advertisement (at the top of the last two columns of page 2 in the Argus of 30-1-1926) refers to blocks being sold in the Clacton-on-Sea estate facing Second Avenue.
ROSE AVE 170 B1
This street and Rosebrook St were probably one street in the subdivision of the Hindhope Estate in about 1920. Traffic management measures obviously led to the one-way section being renamed by dropping the second syllable.
HOPE ST 170 B2
As this was one of the streets in the Hindhope Estate (see Rose Ave entry), I would expect that a Mr Hope was one of the partners in the firm that subdivided it, with Mr Hind being another. Raymond and Alma Guest used a similar naming stategy for the naming of the ALMARAY ESTATE at Tootgarook in the 1950?s.
ABORIGINAL THEME 170 B 2-3
MAPS 168-169
ROSEBUD WEST
MARKS AVE 169 K2
R.Marks was granted allotment 13 B of Wannaeue on the west corner of Boneo Rd and the road to Portsea. This consisted of 5 acres and from about 1920 was known as Martin?s Corner because of a shop built on it by a man of that name. The grant for the other 123 acres of allotment 13 was issued in the name of Benjamin and Co. Marks was obviously a partner in the company because he later had sole ownership of lot 13 whose boundaries are described in the Dalgleish St entry. Marks had a lime kiln that had been built by Edward Hobson before he sold the Tootgarook Run in 1850; it was located near the corner of Marks Ave and Whitehead Grove.
DALGLEISH ST 169 K2
Alexander Cairns was one of the three Cairns brothers who settled at Boneo.
Robert came first, in 1852, with Alex and David arriving two years later. Alex had married Janet Dalgleish in Scotland. David (born 1861) and William (b. 1864) leased and then bought allotment 13 Wannaeue, consisting of 128 acres and bounded by Pt Nepean Rd, Boneo Rd, Eastbourne Rd and a line just east of Miriam St. David built the limestone house, Elanora, that is now part of the hospital and was known as Elanora Davey. Dalgleish St was named after their mother?s maiden name, which was also used as a given name for a sister and a brother.
CAIN ST 169 K4
HENRY WILSON DR. K7, THAMER ST 169 K8
JENNINGS CRT 169 K7
Robert came first, in 1852, with Alex and David arriving two years later. Alex had married Janet Dalgleish in Scotland. David (born 1861) and William (b. 1864) leased and then bought allotment 13 Wannaeue, consisting of 128 acres and bounded by Pt Nepean Rd, Boneo Rd, Eastbourne Rd and a line just east of Miriam St. David built the limestone house, Elanora, that is now part of the hospital and was known as Elanora Davey. Dalgleish St was named after their mother?s maiden name, which was also used as a given name for a sister and a brother.
CAPEL AVE 169 H2.
This explanation of what I believe to be the origin of this street name will be complicated and long. On 29-8-1895, Alfred Julius Kaeppel of Murrumbeena.bought 10 acres in crown allotment 33A of section A in the parish of Wannaeue. This allotment was granted to Patrick Sullivan in 1874 and consisted of 148 acres. The Sullivans, like many others in the depression of the 1890?s had been unable to make mortgage payments and had lost their land to financers. Another 10 acres had been sold to Navioga Gaudevia and 6 acres to William Heron, with 78 acres being occupied by John Pigdon. The Pigdon family, at that time, owned the historic Dunhelen property between Greenvale Reservoir and Dunhelen Lane.
In 1909, the man after whom Browns Rd was named arrived and bought a huge area of rabbit and ti tree infested land at very little cost; he tranformed it into the lush pasture we see today as we drive along Browns Rd. The assessments presented for the Flinders Shire councillors? approval in September 1910 show that Patrick Sullivan?s son, James, had regained 100 acres of 31A and Brown had 35 acres. John L.Morae, a Rosebud farmer, had 10 ? acres. The rate collector had accounted for all but 2 ? acres of the land between land now occupied by The Dunes golf course and Peninsula Hot Springs. While James Sullivan was running the Gracefield Hotel (on the site of the present Rye hotel), Antonio Albress was running the Sullivan lime kiln on the remaining 100 acres.
Kaeppel had obviously sold his 10 acres, at a low price but for far more than his purchase price. It would be fair to assume that Kaeppel was a speculator and was keen to reinvest in the same area when the time was right. He had unusual Christian names. Alfred recalls the Saxon King killed by a Norman arrow in 1066 and Julius may have been intended to show the German link to the Heiliges Romisches Reich (Holy Roman Empire). Kaeppel seems to be a German name.
Thousands of Australians changed their surnames between 1910 and 1920, one of them being the popular publican at the Junction Hotel in Tullamarine. He anglicized his German surname because of a groundwell of hatred of all things German during World War 1, and local histories of almost any area could supply similar examples. I believe that Alfred Julius changed his surname to Capel, the C less German than K would have been.
Capel Avenue is on Crown Allotment 53 Wannaeue, between Mirriam Ave and Elizabeth Ave. In 1929 James Sloss bought land and built holiday bungalows to establish ?Leisureland?. By the end of World War 2, a demand for land had arisen, similar to that after WW1 when Ewart Paul bought 4 acres of lot 53, and Leisureland was subdivided in about 1958, creating Capel Ave. Leisureland might have been subdivided by the son of Alfred Julius Kaepell.
CHATFIELD AVE 169 J2
WOYNA AVE 169F3.
The Woyna Estate was one of many subdivision started by 1920. It was probably based only on allotment 51 Wannaeue, bounded by the beach road, Truemans Rd, a line from Broadway?s west end to Orchid St, and Elizabeth Ave. The street was named after the estate. Some of the earlier purchasers are discussed in my ?Rosebud West?. One of them, E.W.White was running the Mayville Guest House in 1950. The estate was probably a project of the Tootgarook Land Company, which owned 456 acres in allotment 51 and south to Hiscocks Rd, including the site of the Chinamans Creek Nature Reserve.
WATERBIRD THEME 169 K5, F5
TRUEMANS RD 169D5
This road was referred to as ?the government road between Rosebud and Rye? when the Stenniken grant was advertised in 1920. (See TRUEMAN entry.)
BURDETT ST 169 D4
This was obviously another subdivision of land owned by the butchering business started by Henry William Wilson. Burdett was the maiden name of his wife, Thamer, and the second given name of his son, Godfrey. Godfrey Burdett Wilson had married Ben Stenniken?s daughter and may have been the buyer or seller in 1920. (See Truemans Rd.)
DOIG AVE 169 D6, RONALD ST 169 C5
Poultry farmer, Henry Doig bought part of the Trueman grant in 1939, probably the 56 acres farmed by William Trueman and his son Fred. Ronald St is named after his son.
(See DOIG and TRUEMAN entries.)
GUEST ST, ALMA ST, RUSSELL ST, RAYMOND ST, JOHN ST, VINCENT ST 169 D5-6
Hairdresser, Raymond Guest bought part of the Trueman grant in 1948, most likely the 56 acres farmed by Thomas Trueman, He died in 1925 and I believe the property passed to his wife Matilda briefly and then to a daughter of one of Thomas?s sisters (Mrs Libbis). I think that it was part of her husband?s estate in 1945, and after she had finished her duties as executrix, she sold the land to Raymond.
Alma was Raymond?s wife and the other streets are named after their sons.
WOODTHORPE AVE, FIELDING RD 169 H3.
These streets were in the Woodthorpe Estate.It may have encompassed all the land between the subdivision of Sloss?s Leisureland (based on Capel Ave) and Elizabeth Drive. Edward Fielding purchased about 5 acres, probably in the 1920?s. After he sold the land, it was subdivided and Fielding St was made and named. Edward Fielding was an indent agent who lived in East Malvern and had an office in Flinders Lane. He imported fabric, which was used for Holland blinds and furniture. He had one son, Edward, and a daughter. His grandson, alsoTed, supplied this information.
HISCOCK RD 169 E7
MARSHALL RD 168 K4
FIELD ST 169 A 6
Samuel Field was granted crown allotment Wannaeue on 10-11-1880.Consisting of almost 106 acres, this land now houses Moonah Links and The Cups Vineyard down to the southern boundary of the latter. In 1875, Samuel was assessed on 124 acres in Wanneue. The only allotment that makes sense is 13A bounded by Pt Nepean Rd, Boneo Rd, Eastbourne Rd and the western end of Whyte St, and consisting of 123 acres and 13 perches. I would be amazed if Samuel was not engaged in producing lime, like his later neighbours, Page, White and Sullivan. When he obtained his grant, he probably quarried limestone on it to supply Patrick Sullivan?s kiln near the east boundary of The Dunes links, as LIME LAND LEISURE does not mention him having a kiln. Allotment 13A had a kiln near Marks Ave built by Edward Hobson and later Marks, James Ford and George Hill, so Samuel would have been able to burn his own lime. Also, the lime could be loaded, a stone?s throw away, onto limecraft, which were sailed in at high tide and propped up on the extensive sandbanks.
GOVERNMENT RD 168 J5
This road was the boundary between the parishes of Wannaeue and Nepean. It is shown on the parish map as running to Browns Rd. A 1954 map confirms that it was called Jennings Rd at that time. Surveyors never drew crooked lines in parish maps and many of their government roads were later deviated around sections of their course that were made impractical for wheeled transport by the terrain. Weeroona St is such a deviation.
WEEROONA ST, HYGIEA ST, OZONE ST 168 H5
These were named afterthe most famous of the Bay steamers that made the Peninsula a tourist destination before and after the 1880?s when Edward Williams opened a road around Anthonys Nose. It was only after the road around ?the rocks?was improved by Allnut in the 1920?s, and cars became more common, that the steamer trade declined. Most of the passengers stayed in guest houses, some of which continued past the days of the steamers, (See ACCOMMODATION entry.) The Clemengers had tented accommodation on Parkmore for steamer passengers who would have had trouble bringing a tent, unlike motoring tourists who popularized foreshore camping.
WEIR ST 168 G5
GRACE ST 168 G4
HUNT AVE 168 G4
GOLF PDE, GOLF LANE 168 G6, McDONALD RD. 168 H7 PRENTICE AVE 168 F7
On 18-5-1869, F.McDonald received the grant for suburban allotment 2 of Rye Township consisting of just under 33 .5 acres. Its northern boundary was the beach road and it included Whitecliffs Rd and Minnimurra Rd, with its south west corner being the end of Weatherly Court (168 C5). Suburban lots 10,11 and 12 were east of Dundas St, south to about the Golf Pde corner and east to Valley Drive. W.A.Blair bought these allotments from the Crown, a total of 201 acres, as well as allotment 3 (containing the R.J.Rowley Reserve), 9 and 15 (another 105 acres) along Melbourne Rd. (Plus allotments 4,20 and 21 Nepean (376 acres) south to Browns Rd.)
Following Blair?s death, it took some time to unravel his financial affairs because of his vast land holdings near Rye, between Truemans and Boneo Rds and near Main Ridge. By 1920, the Tootgarook Land Company had bought his Rosebud West land
and subdivided the Woyna Estate (including Woyna Ave.) It was probably at about that time that the McDonald family bought lots 10,11 and 12.
Ray Cairns was born in 1910 and was probably playing cricket for Boneo by 1925. He remembers playing against Rye on the grassy area near the pier where Australia Day is celebrated. Later Rye?s home ground was for a while on McDonald?s farm south of the cemetery. Ray also recalls playing on the golf course that Jack and Max McDonald constructed. (TALKING HISTORY WITH RAY CAIRNS by Ray Gibb.)
This course was quite big and must have been in use until about 1960 as a fellow Rye Historical Society member in his 70?s remembered playing there.
Between Weir St and Government Rd were allotments 1,2 and 3 of the parish of Nepean, granted to James Purves of the Tootgarook station across Government Rd. By 1900 George Baker, who had bought the present post office site and other lots on section 7 west of Weir St, had bought 67 acres of lots 1 and 2 Nepean. George had died and his executors were assessed on the land. Allotment 3 was probably sold at the same time and later added to ?old McDonald?s farm?; McDonald Rd is on crown allotment 3, Nepean.
W.E.Prentice was the selling agent for the Rye-Lands Estate, the former Rye Golf Links, in 1954 and Max was probably running the sales office at the (then) end of Lyon St. Prentice Ave is on the former golf course. (See McDONALD entry.)
NELSON ST , NAPIER ST COLLINGWOOD ST BOWEN ST LYONS ST 168 F4
It is likely that these street names were designated when the township was surveyed. Everyone knows about Horatio Nelson, the Admiral famous for his victory in the Battle of Trafalgar. Napier was an army commander famous for the relief of Lucknow in India.
Now it?s your turn to supply some information. Who was Tony Shaw?s vice captain when Collingwood won the premiership in 1990? The reason that I asked was to make you realize that the second in command often misses out on the recognition he deserves.
Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood seemed to spend much of his career taking commands from which Nelson had just been promoted. He assumed command when Nelson was killed at Trafalgar and had a glorious career marked by his bravery. He died of cancer in 1810.
Bowen of course was involved very early in the exploration of Port Phillip Bay. It is likely that Lyons was Chief Secretary (premier) when the town was surveyed.
DUNDAS ST 168 F6
The Dundas name was associated with two areas in the 1800?s to my knowledge. One family had a factory on the Swamp Rd (Dynon Rd) between Footscray (Kensington) Rd and the river. (EARLY LANDOWNERS IN THE PARISH OF DOUTTA GALLA by Ray Gibb.) The other family was in South Melbourne and associated with the bakery trade. (Dundas St Sth Melb) Most Township street names honoured Chief Ministers (Premiers) and war heroes; my knowledge of the chief ministers is limited but I think that the South Melbourne baker might have been in parliament. The descendant of the Kensington Clan who was put onto me for information would have mentioned political involvement if there had been any.
Dundas St was apparently established by Rye pioneers going to the back beach and returning with plunder. On Page 32 of RYE PRIMARY SCHOOL 1667, Patricia Appleford states that Dundas St was originally called Browns Rd; this claim is confirmed by a plan in an advertisement for the Rye-Lands Estate in 1945. (See McDONALD entry.)
SINCLAIR AVE 168 E5
P.S.Sinclair was granted allotments 4, 6, 7, 8 and 12 of section 7 in Rye Township. As the name ?Sinclair? does not appear in the index that I made for Patricia Appleford?s ?Rye Primary School 1667?, I doubt that he was ever a resident of the township. Section 7 was sold in 1872, and was bounded by the beach road, Lyons St, the line of Ballabil St and Weir St. G.Baker bought lots 1, 2, 3 and 6 extending 180 metres east from Lyons St and the same distance south in Lyons St. Lots 9 and 10 were granted to G. Ellis. Lot 11, an original school site was across Lyons St from the cemetery. I have come across the names of Baker and Ellis in the history of the area. There is a Sinclair St in Somerville, probably from a subdivision in the 1920?s, but the name of Sinclair does not rate one mention in Leila Shaw?s excellent history of the area, ?The Way We Were?. This leads me to believe that the family was involved in land speculation from early times.
A subsequent search in rate records revealed that he had the five allotments until 1882, in which year he seems to have acquired another two lots, giving him 7 acres. His occupation was given as contractor but no address was recorded. Thereafter, his name is absent from assessments and he did not seem to have been leasing his land to anybody. He seems to have sold his land to Harry Horniman, the teacher at Rye.
A continuing connection with Rye is suggested by the burial at Rye Cemetery of
Arthur G.Sinclair in 1983 at the age of 70 and also Colin Sinclair.
MAORI ST 168 E4
WHITE CLIFFS RD 168 C4
CAIN RD 168 C4
NEVILLE DR 168 B4
Michael Cain?s wife was a Neville. She and Michael spent time in Gippsland and Adelaide after their marriage; the daughter born at the latter place married ?Hill Harry? Cairns. Each of Hill Harry?s three children, all boys, spent their first ten days at Grandma Neville?s place in South Melbourne before travelling by bay steamer to Dromana from where Henry drove them to Maroolaba in Fingal. Thus the Neville family of South Melbourne had links with two pioneering peninsula families and probably had quite a deal to do with ensuring that their offspring were born in near proximity to medical attention; the lack of this resulted in far too many deaths of both mother and child in those days. More details in TALKING HISTORY WITH RAY CAIRNS by Ray Gibb (available at Rye Museum.)
MICHAEL ST 168 A5
It could be said with fair certainty that this street was named after Michael Cain.
GOLF THEME 168 A5-6
FRANCIS ST 168 B9
MAPS 166-167
TYRONE AVE 167 K3
MURRAY ST 167 J4
Anne Murray, possibly the daughter of Margaret Murray, teacher at Dromana Common School from November 1869 to at least 1873, married Owen Cain?s first son, Joseph, who seemed to have been a resident of Dromana and, like Robert Rowley senior, made his wages there on the bay, which claimed his life in middle age. See FAMILY CONNECTIONS entry.
CANTERBURY JETTY RD 167 H7
FORD ST 167 J3
KILLARNEY ST 167 J2
PACIFIC/SHIP THEME 167 J 2-4
PEARSE RD 167 F6
REVELL ST 167 F3
(Source: Steve Watson, who is not related to the pioneering fishermen.)
This street is named after Harold Revell, who moved to the area in his retirement in 1948. When he was a young man, Harold lived in Poowong and was delivering mail on horseback for his parents who were running the post office there in 1903. Later the family moved to Port Fairy where his mother was the Mayor and Harold worked, until his retirement, as an accountant. The Watson family lived in the area and supplied Harold?s daughter, Ilo Beth, with a husband and Steve was their child. Upon his retirement, Harold moved to Northcote where he served for some years as President of the V.F.A. club, Northcote, at whose ground the champion aboriginal footballer, Doug Nicholls, was the secretary and administrator; he was later knighted and became Governor of South Australia.
Steve Watson recalls rabbiting along St Johns Wood Rd during his holidays on Harold?s property. Harold bought a 1948 M.G. saloon at about the time he settled in Blairgowrie. Its registration number was PF1948 and Harold used to say that PF stood for Port Fairy. He had a mongrel dog called Tiger that would move into the driver?s seat as soon as Harold got out of the car. He was a regular at the Rye and Koonya hotels and Dorothy Houghton, who ran the latter, claimed that the dog used to drive him home.
WILSON RD, GODFREY ST 167 F2, COUTTS CT 167 D2 BENJAMIN PDE 167 E2
The first butchers in Dromana were the McLear brothers. They soon decided to concentrate on other occupations; John took up fishing and George carted timber to Peter Pidota?s boat at Sheepwash Creek?s mouth (for the construction of piers around the bay) and horse breeding.
Henry William Wilson, a former bullocky, decided to fill the void and did his early slaughtering on the McLear farm ?Maryfield? until he bought a 45 acre block (the Dromana Aerial Landing Ground of 1927 pictured on page 172 of DREAMTIME OF DROMANA). Henry then opened a shop in Sorrento on the advice of George Coppin and probably put Edward Williams out of business, forcing his relocation from his Browns Rd farm just east of Truemans Rd to Eastbourne (Village Glen site). When his son Godfrey took over, the business boomed and much land was needed for grazing. Land was bought at Safety Beach (Coutts St etc) and all over to service their many shops and a more central slaughteryard was established near Dr Blair?s ?Blairgowrie?. Godfrey?s sons, Henry William Burdett Coutts Wilson and Benjamin Godfrey John Ralph Wilson must have hated forms that required them to write their names in full!
The abbatoir land was subdivided when a new one was established in Shergolds Lane at Dromana. The above names plus Thamer and Burdett (from Henry?s wife) are indications of subdivisions of former Wilson land.
FAWKNER AVE 167 D2
John Fawkner and his parents and William Buckley could justly claim to be the first permanent settlers of Victoria. It was not the Fawkners? fault that the lazy David Collins relocated them from Sullivans Bay to Hobart instead of finding the Freshwater (Yarra) River that Grimes had already explored. John?s father, a silversmith, had been transported for stealing and his mother Hannah (nee Pascoe) did a sterling job bringing up the 12 year old boy among the dregs of humanity to be a literate, hard-working man. On his mother?s death, John became John Pascoe Fawkner as a token of respect. I was delighted to have Hannah Pascoe Drive in Gowenbrae named in her honour. Another claim that J.P.Fawkner could make is that he was light years ahead of the government in establishing Closer Settlement. He did it circa 1850 and the government did not finally get it right until the Act of 1904. Fawkner?s father leased his son?s Belle Vue at Pascoeville for a while; this farm featured oak trees, one of which survives, prompting a later owner, flour miller Hutchinson, to rename it Oak Park. The strange thing is that Fawkner never lived in Fawkner, his square mile grant, west of the cemetery was called Box Forest and has been renamed after Cr Rupert Hadfield.
McFARLAN AVE 167 D2
Take a drive to the Sorrento Footy Ground and read the history board about David McFarlan. While you?re there have a look at the Sorrento tramway station on the hill above the pier and its terrific history boards and the museum at the Melbourne Rd roundabout. The Op Shop at the roundabout is worth a look too.
LIME LAND LEISURE has much detail about this pioneer as does Jennifer Nixon?s FAMILY, CONNECTIONS ETC on page 92.
DANA AVE 167 D5
Captain Dana headed the native police. There were many paddocks for grazing their horses, such as Churchill National Park at the end of Police Rd near Dandenong. There was a plan to build a fence From White Cliff to the back beach to protect grazing for police horses and it was opposed by James Ford and James Purves who wanted to continue fattening their bullocks west of that line. It was found that many who signed their petition actually wanted the fence. (See ON THE ROAD TO ROSEBUD.)
BLAIRGOWRIE AVE 167 D1
STRINGER RD 167 C1.
MAPS 156 AND 157.
FAMILY, CONNECTIONS, SORRENTO and PORTSEA is a history of this area.
Written by Jennifer Nixon and published in 2003, this book details the Skelton family and other families connected by marriage as well as general history. It lacks an index but I have produced one, which indicates people mentioned but only listing page numbers of first and major coverage.
Not all streets listed below are in Sorrento and Portsea and not all streets (possibly) named after those in my index are listed below but there seem to be many streets this side of Frankston whose names may be linked to those mentioned in Jennifer?s book. My index can be found at the start of the FAMILY CONNECTIONS entry.
As Jennifer?s book is available for borrowing, each street name is followed only by its Melway reference, and the page(s) on which that family is mentioned in Jennifer?s history. (P=PORTSEA, S=SORRENTO, BG= BLAIRGOWRIE, R=RYE.) There could be more details later (or earlier) regarding some of the street names.
SKELTON PL S 157 B8 - THROUGHOUT
TAYTON PL S 157A7 - P iii
CLARK CR S 157 C9 - 8, 11, 12-25
NEWTON AV S 157 B8 -8, 11,42-8, 92 (Formerly Cain St-page 49.)
WHITES WAY S 156 K7 -8
WATTS RD S 157 B7 -11, 29-36,56
MORCE AV S 157 A7 -11, 37-8,83, 122
DARK PDE S 157 B9 -11,69-70,76-9,92
KEATING AV S 157 D12 -12, 16-17
LEONARD CRES S 157 A6 -12
MORGAN ST S 157 B7 -12, 19-23
HUGHES RD S 157 F 12 -25,109
EVANS ST R 168 A8 -29
SULLIVAN ST S 156 K9 -90
FARNSWORTH AV P 156 B 4 &5 -42,79-80
KNIGHT BG 167 F4 -42
COKER CR P 156 D2 -49,52-3
FIELD ST R 168 J5 -50
HILL ST S 157 C9 -56
ERLANDSEN S 157 D9 -56
SPUNNER CT S 156 K7 -75
LENTELL AV S 157 A5 -81-2
STRINGER RD BG 157 G 12 -86-9
GRACE ST R 168 G4 -90 This could be named after William Grace or Grace Sullivan.
RUSSELL CR S 157 B 10 -92
McFARLAN ST BG 157 G12 -92
CROAD ST S 156 J6 -76
WILLIAMSON ST TOOTGAROOK 169 A5 -112
KEMP RD P 156 K4 -125
WATSON RD S 157 A9 92
WILSON RD BG 167 F2 -94-5
HUGHES RD 157 F12
COLLINS PDE 157 E10
CALCUTTA ST 157 E10
KINNEIL ST 157 D9
ERLANDSEN AV 157 D9
HILL ST, CLARK CRES, CORSAIR GROVE , WEBSTER ST, RUSSELL CRES 157 C10
WILLIAM BUCKLEY WAY 157 C12
KING ST 157 B11
BOWEN RD 157 B9
DARK PDE 157 B9
HISKENS 157 B8
COPPIN RD 157 A9
CONSTITUTION HILL RD157 B8
HAYES AVE 157 B8
KERFERD RD, DARLING RD 157 A8
SKELTON PL. 157 B8, WATTS RD 157 B7.
WHITES WAY 156 K7, SPUNNER CT. 156 K7.
SULLIVAN ST 156 K9.
CROAD ST 156 J6
DURHAM PL. 156 H8.
STONECUTTERS RD 156 H6
LIMEBURNERS WAY 156 H4.
DUFFY ST 156 H5
CAMPBELL RD 156 H5
WATTLE GR. 156 G 3,5.
FRANKLIN RD 156 F5
WEIR CT 156 F3
BLAIR CT & RD. 156 E3.
FARNSWORTH AV. 156 E4
LATROBE AVE 156 E5
LATHAM DR. 156 D5.
BASS RD 156 C5.
WEEROONA AVE 156 D2
MAPS 251 AND 252.
Somebody wanted to seize a (Caesar) chance to display knowledge of Roman history. Okay, I hear you; one more pun and I?m history! 251 J5.
BOAG?S ROCKS 252 A11.
It looks as if the interests of the Boag family extended beyond the guest house at Dromana.
LIMESTONE RD 252 A 3.
Limestone Rd was the southern boundary of the parish of Wannaeue, which continued West to the eastern boundary of The Dunes Golf Course (which indicates the boundary between Wannaeue and the parish of Nepean.)
Patrick Sullivan had a lime kiln between The Dunes and Foam Rd. On his death, its operation was taken over by his son, James, but it was managed by Antonio Albress (who had land across Browns Rd from the Moonah Links frontage.) Albress obviously pronounced his name with an accent because oldtimers thought it was Albas. (Hollinshead thought he was Tony Salvas!) It was at Sullivan?s kiln that William Webster was nearly burnt to death. He either was having a snooze inside when it was lit or fell in while loading it from the top.
North of Sullivan, across Browns Rd, was W. A.Blair (the daddy of them all), and Nathan Page, and to the east were Page, George White, Sam Field, Jenner and Spunner, all having received grants in Wannaeue. Earlier they operated under special licences. It is likely that limestone was easy to obtain here, but it would have been difficult to transport it to the bay from where it was taken by limecraft to Melbourne. If you want an idea what roads were like, try riding a bike on Old Cape Schanck Road south of Browns Rd!
MAP 253
MAXWELLS RD 253 A6.
PATTERSON RD 253 D10
TYABB and SOMERVILLE.
On page 278 of THE WAY WE WERE, Leila Shaw listed 33 streets whose names recall the area?s heritage.
To that list, I add the following:
BLACKS CAMP RD 148 D2 This probably led to the lagoon where the bank teller and George Gomm carried out the required quarterly testing of the bank?s pistols as related on page 202. The Bunerung obviously camped at this lagoon as they traveled between the two bays.
CRAIG AVE 148 G11 William Craig received the Crown Grant of allotment 27 in the parish of Tyabb. This was between Bungower Rd and Watsons Creek as shown in Leila?s map on page 6 (about 149 G2-3 in Melway). The family is mentioned several times in the book.
APPLEWOOD RISE 148 H3 Apples were probably the main crop of the famed orchards in the district.
FRUITGROWERS RESERVE 148 E1 Purchased from Henry Gomm, this 6 acre site was the venue of what was described as the biggest show of its type in the Southern Hemisphere. The Somerville Fruitgrowers and Horticulturists Association conducted this show in about March every year from 1895 to 1939, when the war caused its demise. It attracted such crowds that a special train traveled from Melbourne. From 1940, Ghymkhanas were held to raise funds for the Red Cross (averaging 250 pounds, a huge sum in those days) until a bushfire destroyed the pavilion in 1944.
FIRTH RD 147 J1 Although officially residents of Moorooduc, this family was much involved in the affairs of Somerville.
UNTHANKS BUSHLAND RESERVE 107 B12. See page 100 and throughout the book.
ORCHARD CT 107 H12 Although farmers engaged in subsistence farming in regard to dairy, poultry, vegetables and so on, the prevailing land use of the area was orchards and tree nurseries.
BARBER RESERVE 107 G12 See page 281 for one mention of these early pioneers.
TWO BAYS RD 106 B7 See page 99 about the Two Bays Nursery and Orchard Company?s 400 acre property at the corner of Jones and Bungower Rds.
NAMES IN A LIST AIN'T MUCH GOOD.( ISLIP, FITZGERALD, CAMPBELL, HILLARY.) BULLA, VICTORIA.
What do you mean by "That's not good Grammar,"; I bet you wouldn't say that to Granpa! Sorry, my attempts at humour take control at times.
I strive to provide some sort of detail for family historians but when I wrote FOOTBALL NEAR TULLAMARINE, I knew nothing about some of those who attended the 1915 meeting, namely Islip, Fitzgerald, Hillary and Campbell. I had seen the first and last names and Bob Blackwell told me something about Felix Fitzgerald 22 years ago but my mind was blank.
ISLIP. Christopher Islip attended the Broadmeadows Court in 1908 to apply for an old age pension on behalf of James Waylett of Oaklands, who was 95 and couldn't leave his room. Constable Walsh (who would have been stationed at Broadmeadows Township but covered Bulla) stated that Waylett was an old and respected resident who had been a gardener at Oaklands since 1852.(Sunbury News 12-6-1908, page 3.)
C.W.Islip did contract work, probably road making or supplying road metal, for the shire and the final payment on one contract was nearly 26 pounds, which was a lot of money.(Sunbury News 24-10-1903 page 4.)
Mr Islip was one of a large group at the Bulla Shire meeting who were opposing the appointment of a ranger in the east riding. They wanted their cows to continue grazing on the roadside. (This was a common practice and Symonds wrote about certain roads being called Pender's Run for this reason.) Islip must have lived near the Oaklands Rd corner because Cr Brannigan would have turned off Bulla Rd there to go to St Johns Hill. Brannigan said that Islip's cows camping at the corner posed danger on dark nights. (Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter, 22-1-1914, page 5.)
Ethel, the second daughter of Mr C.W. and Mrs Islip married Leonard P.Schiffman of Port Melbourne at St Mary's Bulla on 4-12-1911. (The Argus, 27-11-2911, page 1.) Ethel's older sister was Ivy, who attended the Bachelors' Ball in 1909 and was accompanied the next year by Ethel.Ivy won the under 14 girls' race at the 1907 school picnic, with 1908 seemingly her last year at the school. Oaklands Hunt reports indicate that the Islips, Fitzgeralds and Campbells lived near each other.
Thanks to Neil Mansfield, I can now access the information in my DHOTAMA (DICTIONARY HISTORY OF TULLAMARINE AND MILES AROUND.) This reveals that in 1882-3, Joseph and Chistopher had land at Oaklands Junction with nett annual values of 6 pounds and 10 pounds respectively. In 1914-5, L.J.Islip was leasing 46 acres from W.J.White. (Bulla Rates.)
FITZGERALD. The land on which the Islips, Fitgeralds and Campbells etc had their small farms was formerly the town common as shown in the map on Kathleen Fanning's website. I obtained a different version of the parish map from P.R.O.V.It shows three Fitzgerald's blocks and indicates that the common was subdivided by 1870. I do remember the late Bob Blackwell pointing out a brick well dome that William Bedford had built for Felix Fitzgerald but I can't remember whether it was in Oaklands or Somerton Rd.A block in Oaklands Rd started 84 metres north of the Cemetery Lane corner and adjoined a Campbell block which fronted the westernmost point of the curve. Two adjoining blocks were in Somerton Rd between points 458 metres westof Oaklands Rd and and 108 metres east of Blackwell's Lane.The first block was bought in 1874 and the other two in 1876 and 1880. The Ralstons ran a creamery near the Fitzgerald blocks and Bob Blackwell said that Mrs Ralston was a hard taskmaster. Apparently some of them had deserted from ships. When one of them pointed out that the Gilligans' workers, on the north side of Somerton Rd (Greenvale Lane), had knocked off, she replied, "Don't worry, they might have finished earlier, but you will start earlier than they do in the morning!"
So far I have seen about six Oaklands Hunt reports of pursuits across Fitzgerald farms, in one case two Fitzgerald farms.
R.Fitzgerald later bought 40 acres on Oaklands Rd at 12 pounds per acre.(Argus, 30-9-1920, page 10.)
Mrs Fitzgerald, wife of a farmer of Oaklands Rd Bulla, was talking to her husband, who was loading a dray with hay when a truss of hay fell on top of her, fracturing her thigh.(Argus, 23-5-1895, page 7.)
R.Fitzgerald was in Bulla's best when they played a combined Greenvale-Broadmeadows football team. (Sunbury News, 27-5-1905, page 2.) J.Hillary, mentioned later, was also among the best players.
James Gerald Fitzgerald, the second son of the late Mr and Mrs R.Fitzgerald formerly of Oaklands Junction, married Elizabeth Theresa, the only daughter of the late Mr W.P. Fanning and Mrs J Fanning of Sunny Side, at St Patrick's Cathedral yesterday. (Argus, 28-3-1952, page 6.) Google "bulla parish map" and you will find Kathleen Fanning's FANNING FAMILY HISTORY first up.
CAMPBELL. Wise's directory of 1884-5 lists Duncan Campbell, farmer, as a resident of Oaklands Junction. Archibald Campbell was assessed on 10 acres in the Oaklands and Green Gully subdivision of Bulla Shire in 1914-1915.Archie used to work at James Musgrove's implement factory (177 K5) but his boss would never call him Archie, as James regarded shortened versions of names as being disrespectful, according to Bob Blackwell.Buried in the Presbyterian section of the Bulla Cemetery are: Duncan Campbell (died 24-10-1908 at 76; Mary Campbell (died 10-9-1875 at 36); Marion Campbell (d. 24-1-1959 at 84)- all in row 1; Mary Elizabeth Campbell (d. 6-10-1937 at 69-row 6); Archibald Campbell (d. 18-4-1940 at 69 - row 7.) (DHOTAMA page C.19.) The above cemetery information was transcribed from (often- broken)headstones circa 1889 and fatigue may have caused an error. Neil Mansfield and John Shorten have produced a wonderful register of burials at the cemetery. Entry 279 is Mary Isabella Campbell; I wrote Mary Elizabeth. The register indicates that Duncan married Mary, the daughter (born in Scotland) of Duncan Cameron and Marion (nee McConichie.) Duncan's parents were Alexander and Mary (Gilchrist.) Marion (1867),Mary Isabella (1868) and Archibald ( 1870) were Duncan and Mary Campbell's children.
HILLARY. John Thomas Hillary died at his residence, Bulla, aged 64 on October 15. He was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Hillary and brother of Hannah. (The Argus 16-10-1946, page 19.) What about Bridget?
John was was one of Bulla's best in the footy game against Greenvale- Broadmeadows, as mentioned earlier.
(Sunbury News, 22 and 23-10-1910 etc.)
Martin Lawlor, J.M.Hillary, and Patrick Honan were neighbours near a closed north-south road that led to a creek. Lawlor saw Honan opening Hillary's fence.Hillary had a lease on the closed road and had installed a swing gates but as this had been taken off the hinges, he had replaced the gate with fencing. This had caused trouble for Honan in regard to his children getting to school and watering his cows at the creek.
The closed road may have been Quartz St which still exists or Felspar St which was shown on a Bulla Parish map (including township streets and blocks)that I gave to the Hume Library System. The closed road, which ran from Mica St to the common, had a gate at the south end and the north end ran into the creek.It could have been a portion of Trap St north of the Deep Creek crossing.(My kingdom for that map!)
Incidentally, Quartz, Mica and Felspar Streets were so- named because of the rare white Kaolin Clay which was mined for some time. Trap St may have been named because of the gold-escort troopers stationed nearby before they were relocated to Keilor, Trap being the diggers' term for a trooper.
I CAN KEEP MY KINGDOM. Maps and text in DHOTAMA (H 56 for Hillary and H 86 for Honan) show the following. Felspar st is the present main road that went downhill to the creek with William Bethell's bluestone store on the left. I always wondered why there was a coffee palace in Trap St. This would have to be because it was intended to be the main street, crossing the creek. Quartz St ran north to where the public section ends (177 A5)and then ran westward along the middle of the horseshoe bend.T.Hillary was granted lots 5 and 6 of section 2 of this western extension and in 1914-5, J. Hillary was assessed on this land. T.Hillary was also granted lot 1 of section 3 bounded on the south by Mica St (almost the course of Sunbury Rd as it climbs towards the west just over the bridge) and on the west by that northern extension of Trap St. The Honans were south of Mica St on lots 1 and 2 of section 6 leased from Slattery. Lawlor had a good vantage point to see Honan interfering with Hillary's fence because his land fronted the north east side of Sunbury Rd (176 J5, part K 5 and 6.) Hillary had probably fenced the northern part of Trap St off right at the Mica St corner and the present start of Sunbury Rd at Troopers Bend may not have been made (with the resultant discovery of gold rush skeletons). Why this would require Honan, and his children, to go around the north (uphill) side of Hillary's land is hard to understand. Perhaps he had also bought a block south of Mica St (which is slightly south of the present road)and blocked that street too. I can't be sure but I believe that the Bulla State School was still on the north side of the east end of Mica St (177 A6.)
Too many things don't make sense but next time you cross the bridge and start to climb, visualise Honan on your left, and on your right, Hillary, with Lawlor (the witness) up near the Loemans Rd roundabout.
OUCH! Mrs Hillary of Bulla suffered a compound fracture when one of her fingers was caught in the cog-wheel of a wool press. (Sunbury News, 13-10-1900, page 2.)
TRAGEDY . Mrs Thomas Hillary and her daughter were both drowned while bathing in Deep Creek.
(South Australia Register, 5-2-1895, page 8.)
(Sunbury News and Bulla and Melton Advertiser, 9-2-1895, page 3.)
At 3p.m. Mrs Hillary and 11 year old Mary Lawlor went to Deep Creek to bathe just below Mrs Scannell's house . After half an hour they were joined by Mrs Hilary's two daughters, Hannah and 9 year old Bridget Annie. The latter got out of her depth and Hannah also got into trouble trying to help her, and when their mother went to her aid, she and Bridget both disappeared in the water.Mary Lawlor ran to Scannell's but Mr Scannell was not home so Miss Scannell ran 300 yards to the Lawlor house. Mr Lawlor and his son, Daniel, got Mrs Hillary's body to the bank and rescued Hannah from neck-deep water. Daniel then dived and found Bridget Annie's body which James Cahill of Sunbury helped him remove from the water. Several neighbours and state school teacher, Mr Meeking, attempted resuscitation but in vain. John ,12, and Hannah,10, are now motherless. Mr Hillary is in the employ of the Shire as a roadsman.
JAMES MELDRUM IS A FASCINATING MAN! VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA.
My wife is always complaining that I spend so much time dealing with dead people so here's a live, and lively one for a change. I was waiting for Chris Fatouris to finish a song so I could buy the CD of songs he has written. A few months ago, I had bought this world -class singer/guitarist's other CD and Mornington is fortunate to have him at its famed Main St market.
I noticed a man in a captain's cap listening intently, so I commented, "Good, isn't he?" The reply echoed my opinion and as we chatted, I must have mentioned Graeme Bell of Melbourne jazz fame. His assessment that Chris was an excellent singer and an excellent guitarist carried so much more weight when I found out that he had played clarinet with Graeme Bell and most of the other greats of the Melbourne jazz scene, including Frank Trainor. He was obviously overseas in about 1960 when Judith Mavis Cock started singing with Frank's All Stars before becoming the lead singer for The Seekers.
"What's so facinating about playing in jazz bands?" you might be asking. But wait, there's more; no, not steak knives, silly! This same man was a well-known artist who associated with Arthur Boyd (subject of one of my journals), Sidney Nolan and even Picasso, about whom he told me an erectile disfunction story. As well as showing me some of his paintings, he demonstrated his skills as a ventriloquist and a magician. His stories about the Mexican bandito types in Mexico, the madamoiselle in Paris and the Mafia in Carlton were sprinked with faultless quotations in Spanish, French and Italian (with translations for silly me.)
These bursts into foreign languages completely dispelled any suspicions that this elderly man was romancing. But I really didn't entertain any doubts because of the raid- fire succession of stories. Anyone who has tried creative writing knows the agonies of determining plot, sequencing and so on and anyone who has been forced to make a speech without notes knows how difficult it is to remember what they had rehearsed. Some people might think that my journals are just made up but I can assure you that if I were making them up, the task would be 1000 times more difficult than reporting facts absorbed into my memory or noted previously.
He was a gymnast and was most impressed when I told him of the Gault girls at Gladstone Park Primary School who were the only ones able to reproduce the fully-extended horizontal hang from a pole. He gained free passage on his travels by joining the crew of a steamer, served as a diplomat which nearly saw his end in front of a firing squad in Egypt during the Suez crisis.
I believe him but it would be difficult to verify the above. However, he told me a bit about his family. His son, Paul Meldrum, played for Carlton. His father was an architect and employed a nanny for his children. His brother was Lord Mayor of Melbourne and snaffled his architect father's estate while the fascinating man was overseas. Oops, I think I might have given you a clue with the footballer's name. I thought I'd tease you a bit by not putting the fascinating man's name in the title. Okay, the surname is Meldrum but it's not Max, even though he was a famous artist, and it's not Mollie.
He's writing a book called "From One Damn Thing to Another" which sums up the above fairly well. I think it should come with an audio version so that the "flavour" I experienced can be shared. What a wonderful TV series could be made from this book if a multi-talented actor could be found for the role of James Meldrum .
The following can be checked on trove and art/architecture websites. James was an artist, winning an important prize at the age of 17, and featuring in exhibitions with many notable artists. James told me his other son was overseas; he might be the famed jazz clarinetist in Britain. James Meldrum's brother was Richard who followed the father's occupation as architect; the firm is still prominent. Richard's term as Mayor was marked by a return to tradition and the banning of cars in some parts of the city. James and Richard were the sons of Percival Meldrum, who designed many well-known buildings.
THIS TEXT ACCOMPANIES THE ATTACHED JAMES MELDRUM PAINTING ON THE WEBSITE "FEATURED ARTIST: JAMES MELDRUM".
NAME: James Meldrum
OVERVIEW: James Meldrums paintings were first shown in London, then at Kozminsky galleries in Melbourne 1953. His large, colourful, surrealistic canvases depicting non functional furniture have appeared in many exhibitions and won him the 1971 Sulman Prize. He held about 30 solo exhibitions 1951 ? 2006 including in London, Sydney and Melbourne. Widely traveled, his commissions included a number of mural commissions for architectural firms in Melbourne and Brisbane.
N.B. Durham Place (Rosebud Fishing Village ) was named after Emily Durham, the grandmother of Judith Mavis Cock whose daughter married Bill Cock, a D.F.C. winner. Judith spent her summer holidays there until 1949 before Bill moved to Tasmania. Unfortunately the timber house in the middle of the block on the west side of Durham Place has been demolished. When she started singing with Frank Trainor's band Judith used her mother's maiden name.
FOOTY NEAR TULLAMARINE, VIC., AUST. AND BULLA, OAKLANDS AND BROADMEADOWS RESIDENTS 1915.
Most pioneers worked from dawn to dusk but Saturday was THE BIG DAY. They would work on Saturday morning (as even the V.F.L. players did and Jock McHale, famed Collingwood coach and a foreman at Carlton and United Breweries, once kept an opposition player late at work before a Grand Final involving his team and the Maggies.)
Saturday was the day for footy and feasting. The second activity occurred at the local dances. Not one man would dare admit that the only reason most of them attended the dances was to scoff down the entries in the COMPETITION! Every family had to bring a plate and while no wife or mother would admit it, there was a fair dinkum competition to surpass the culinary skills of all the other women.
Most footballers did pre-career training. Because of their workload and the lack of lighting, most bush footballers would have relied on their experience at State School up to Grade 8 (Merit Certificate.) The old cliche of four laps of the cricket pitch probably summed up any training that was done.
NEAR TULLAMARINE.
TULLAMARINE had a team in the late 1920's, according to Harry Heaps, who was a nuggety rover in the words of one of his team mates. In 1929 the Tullamarine school played the Keilor school at Keilor as a curtain raiser to the men's match.(Sunshine Advocate, 16-8-1929, page 7.) In the school match, all of Keilor's best players could equally well have been claimed as descendants of Tullamarine pioneers, the Fox, Wallace and Brown families living on the Tulla side of the Arundel bridge and David Milburn having leased "Fairfield" (400 acres north of Sharps Rd and west of Broadmeadows Rd) in 1868. The best of the Tullamarine boys were Dalley (Springbank or Mansfield's Triangle), Crotty (Broomfield), Reddan (Hillside), Parr (The Elms or Annandale).
In the men's game, one of Keilor's best was Graco, whose family had previously lived at Broadmeadows Township before the accident and was probably the grandfather of Essendon and Doutta Stars' Alan Graco. Tulla's best were Furphy (water cart family and relative of Bill Parr), Kelly, Reddan and Free. This was a competition match.
Tullamarine was playing against Coburg Amateurs, Campbellfield, Braybrook, Richmond United, Prestige, Keilor and Sth Brunswick. (Sunshine Advocate 19-7-1929, page 7.) The next year, these teams comprised the North Division of the Junior League with Sth Brunswick replaced by Moreland Amateurs and Richmond City in the South Division. Tullamarine's uniform was black and gold; were these colours later adopted by Broadmeadows and passed on to Westmeadows (the tigers)? Tullamarine probably did not have a team earlier because it lacked a ground. Then at the suggestion of Alec Rasmussen (foundation secretary of the Tullamarine Progress Association for 30 years until 1954 and much - loved teacher)the T.P.A. bought 6 acres that had belonged to drover, Noah Holland. (The reserve grew by another acre in recent decades when Handlon's block on the north west was added.)The Association donated this to council in late 1929. In 1931, most of the players must have gone to Broadmeadows.
The Keilor Football Club wikipedia states that the first match in Keilor was against a junior Essendon club in 1894. It goes on to say that Keilor was a founding member of the Keilor and Broadmeadows Association and won three premierships before joining the Essendon District Football League in 1930. Unless Keilor had two teams, it seems that the Keilor and Broadmeadows Football Association only lasted a few years, with 1928 probably its last season.
Broadmeadows and Bulla had a very old rivalry, playing annual games for many years from before 1893. The game in 1895 was typically rough according to the Bulla correspondent and a Bulla fellow, who had gone to West Australia for the gold rush, wrote home asking how many had been killed and how many injured. (Grace was listed as one of Broadmeadows' best players in this game but the name should be Graco; the accident had not yet happened.) Incidentally this chap was working with a Mr Burnside who was probably James Burnside of Deer Park. Bulla also played matches against Sunbury Seniors and Sunbury Juniors in 1894 and played the Sunbury F.C. in 1903 and 1905 (on the Asylum ground. In 1904 they played a game against the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works Employees Football Club. Apparently player numbers were not great but in 1906 interest seemed to have revived and the black and reds planned to join the Gisborne District Association.
The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter described the opening annual meeting of a new club at the Inverness Hotel on page 2 of its 22-5-1915 issue. I stated earlier that footy seemed to galvanise communities in times of depression as a way to brighten life a bit and W.W.1 was every bit as depressing as the financial hardships of the 1890's and 1930's. This was the Oaklands, Broadmeadows and Bulla Football Club which played at the Oaklands ground opposite the Inverness Hotel. This hotel was at the north end of the north-south runway in Melbourne Airport and the ground would have been across Bulla Rd on the hotel's 58 acres (Melway 177 G 11 approximately.)
I will use this journal to tell you a bit about some of those who attended the meeting.All locations are from Melway. Unfortunately I know nothing of the President, Dr Brown. The vice-presidents were Alex McCracken Jnr (North Park, 28 J1, and Cumberland, 178 C12)and H.H.Daniel (Narbonne, 177 K4).The patrons were Alex McCracken (V.F.L. President from its formation, almost until his death shortly after this meeting); Alister Clark (Glenara, bounded by Deep Creek, Bulla Rd, the Inverness and roughly Perimeter Road just north of the east-west runway; famous rose breeder and soon to become chairman of the Moonee Valley Racing Club), W.D.Peter (not Peters as in the paper, who at various times owned properties such as Chandos , bounded by the south east end of Freight Rd, Derby St, Wright St, Moonee Ponds Creek and Mickleham Rd, and Overpostle, 3 G-K east to Deep Ck and south to Jacksons Ck); D.Brannigan (probably still "St John's Hill" accessed via St John's Rd, 384 G-J5 and 800 metres approximately to the north;member of a famed equestrian family); Maurice Quinlan (see the Quinlan journal); and A.F.Ozanne M.H.R. (I've only seen this name once in the area, as grantee, with James McConnell, of the land bisected by Puckle St, Moonee Ponds); Alec. Forbes (descendant of a pioneer 6 miles from Melbourne near Broadmeadows in 1850?); H.C.Gibb (Husband? of Eleanor Gibb who ran the Inverness Hotel and later the Essendon Hotel, now the Grand, south of Woodland Park as seen in "The Stopover That Stayed"); Islip; Fitzgerald, Robert Ralston; Archie Campbell; Keith McNeill (all Oaklands); Thomas Kingshott (Broadmeadows 6 A6), M.Hoctor (Broad St? Broadmeadows where Jack Hoctor was born but possibly on a farm such as Rocklaw ); John Lane (Gowrie Park, west of the terminal building to McNabs Rd and used as a landing field in early days; about 4 Lane boys fought in W.W.1); John and James Gilligan (whose deaths are related in the Horse journal and properties in the Reddan journal);Lawlor, Hartney (both Bulla); Phillip Hill (Danby Farm 5B3); Semmell (Essendon), Walsh (Broadmeadows), Jock West (descendant of one of two pioneering blacksmithing brothers just south of the Bulla/ Keilor Rd junction at North Essendon whose biographies appear in "Victoria and its Metropolis"); Frank Wright (Strathconnan, as for Chandos but not quite as far north as the Western Ave ,or Lockhart's, corner.)
FOOTY ON THE MORNINGTON PENINSULA, VIC., AUST. (SEAFORD'S SAND PIT!)
Most pioneers worked from dawn to dusk but Saturday was THE BIG DAY. They would work on Saturday morning (as even the V.F.L. players did and Jock McHale, famed Collingwood coach and a foreman at Carlton and United Breweries, once kept an opposition player late at work before a Grand Final involving his team and the Maggies.)
Saturday was the day for footy and feasting. The second activity occurred at the local dances. Not one man would dare admit that the only reason most of them attended the dances was to scoff down the entries in the COMPETITION! Every family had to bring a plate and while no wife or mother would admit it, there was a fair dinkum competition to surpass the culinary skills of all the other women.
Most footballers did pre-career training. Because of their workload and the lack of lighting, most bush footballers would have relied on their experience at State School up to Grade 8 (Merit Certificate.) The old cliche of four laps of the cricket pitch probably summed up any training that was done.
In the days that shops traded every day but Sunday until late, when Rosebud was playing at home (on the Village Green opposite the later hotel, where Doug Bachli practised his golf), all the shops would shut and the whole community would flock to watch the Buds. No doubt, most teams had similar support from their communities.
There was desperation for a game of footy. The Mornington Peninsula Football League would probably be surprised to find out that Moorooduc, Balnarring and Tuerong once had teams, mainly between 1890 and 1910 and in the 1930's, both eras of depression where footy could relieve misery. The team at Somerville was called "Railways" for a while. The smaller places competed in a second tier competition called the Peninsula District Association. Flinders once had a team and won this competition's premiership in 1906, the year it was formed by Paddy Gomm of the Somerville family (Murray Gomm.)The senior body was called the Mornington Peninsula Football Association .
The Wongs of the market garden by Chinamans Creek on David Cairn's Elenora at Rosebud West were stars for Rosebud. One of the boys was very impressive when he trained at Sandringham in the 1930's, probably on his way home from the Vic. Market. Colin McLear has much history, including photos, of the Dromana team in his "A Dreamtime of Dromana".
The Mornington Football Club drowning tragedy is well documented but what has never been mentioned is that one of Laurie Wilson's ancestors was spared because he had to work on that day to clear up a backlog of deliveries from his boss's cutting cart. (See Laurie's website BONNIE WILLIAM OF DUNDEE re the Wilsons of Tuerong etc.)
Because of low populations (such as in some country leagues today), it was necessary for neighbouring areas to band together or for clubs to find recruits from outside their area. In complaints about games found in newspapers, the cause was more often about these imports (such as Somerville's Gomms) rather than unfair play. Sorrento was lucky to have a source of players to supplement the locals because of its popularity as a resort, but some of the locals weren't bad, such as Stringer, whose namesake was best on ground in Sorrento's premiership last year. Incidentally, the cricket and footy results on the peninsula read like a local history, but this does not apply near Tullamarine.
SNAPSHOTS.
THE PENINSULA.
Balnarring F.C. appears in the papers between 1904 and 1938. The club obviously became Red Hill but not in 1937 when a Red Hill-Balnarring District F.C. was proposed. (Mornington and Somerville Standard 9-4-1937 page 8.)Balnarring had earlier combined with Flinders to form a team for the 1890 season (Mornington Standard, 25-4-1891, page 3.)
Baxter was fielding a team on a mud heap by 1938 and in 1944 a junior team from Baxter and Somerville played a game against the Frankston scouts. They merged as Pearcedale-Baxter before the 1948 season but had already played under that name in 1947.
Flinders (from which the Crib Point club was formed if I remember previous research correctly)had a combined team in 1891 with Balnarring,as stated earlier. The naval base would have provided a supply of players but probably denied many locals a game. The annual meeting of the Peninsula District Football Association was reported on page 7 of the Frankston and Somerville Standard on 12-4-1930. It was attended by delegates from Langwarrin, Frankston, Mornington, Red Hill, Seaford, Tyabb, Naval Depot, Flinders, Dromana and Rosebud. Flinders applied to enter a team and Moorooduc was not entering a team for the season. It was resolved that the body not amalgamate with the M.P.F.A.
A check on Red Hill confirmed that the club had already existed before 1937 and that the idea of the combined club was to form A and B teams but it was given permission to withdraw both teams in May 1937 with the area being added to the Dromana-Rosebud recruiting area.
THE FOLLOWING IMAGE OF A JUNIOR TEAM FROM FRANKSTON WAS TAKEN AFTER THE SCOUT JAMBOUREE FOR WHICH THE GRANDSTAND WAS BUILT. IT WAS SUPPLIED BY STEVE JOHNSON, A DESCENDANT OF HENRY CADBY WELLS.
HORSE TALK (ABOUT MELBOURNE'S NORTH WEST AND THE MORNINGTON PENINSULA, VIC., AUST.)
Jackson's Hill (from Dalkeith,near the turn off to Mornington) to The Briars, is named after Phyllis Jackson (nee Vale)and her husband, Herbert A.Jackson. She was a noted equestrian and brought out an international expert to improve the training of horses and riders. (See the lengthy article, with pictures, in The Argus of 23-9-1954.) Her trainer Bill Bull, no slouch himself, was amazed at the improvement. One of her employees, Sue Knight, was placed in the Garryowen in 1950. Phyllis also owned racehorses and Helion came 2nd in the 1954 Melbourne Cup behind the great Rising Fast.
An early race meeting on the Peninsula was the Schnapper Point Handicap of 3-2-1868, conducted on Rennison's land at Moorooduc 152 D-E 7. Rennison ran the hotel on the Esplanade now called the Royal . He apparently had a hotel at Mordialloc when the Mornington Football Club drowning tragedy occurred.
Alfred Jones was born in London and went to Canada with his family at the age of 10 in 1832. Coming to Australia he had fair success at the diggings and then supplied Melbourne with firewood, loaded onto the LIVERPOOL which was anchored a mile offshore at Canadian Bay. After renting at Baxter's Flat for five years, he established the Almond Bush Stud east of Jones Rd at Somerville. Two of his horses were Lord Somerville and Lady Somerville, the latter travelling all the way to Kensington Park to race. Hodgins Rd is named after one of his two fellow Canadian partners in the firewood business. Canadian Bay Rd was formerly called Boundary Rd.
(The above three items are from my THE FEMALE DROVER: A HISTORY OF MOOROODUC.)
The retirement village for famous racehorses is at historic Woodlands, near the north east corner of Melbourne Airport. This is fitting because it was the venue for frantic riding from its earliest days, as described by Rolf Boldrewood,author of "Robbery Under Arms". The property was owned briefly by C.B.Fisher who has been dubbed the "father of the Australian Turf". Woodlands was also associated with the Oaklands Hunt with the kennels being situated there for some time.
Fisher owned the famous Maribyrnong Stud but lost that and Woodlands, which passed to Tommy Bent's ownership. Much of the stud was later occupied by the cordite factory; Bent had Chifley Drive built at Government expense for his subdivision! Fisher Pde (behind Flemington Racecourse), Charles St and Hurtle St (named after Charles Fisher's older brother who established the stud) are streets in Ascot Vale West.
Peter McCracken left Stewarton (the northern part of Gladstone Park)in 1855 and moved to a dairy farm on part of J.R.Murphy's Kensington Park until his Ardmillan mansion was built. His presence is recalled by McCracken St. The following comes from my EARLY LANDOWNERS: PARISH OF DOUTTA GALLA.
ALLOTMENTS 17, 18, 19. (McCRACKEN?S DAIRY, THE RACECOURSE.)
This land, bounded by Macaulay Rd, Dynon Rd, and the lines of Lloyd St and Hampden Rd, was granted to John Robert Murphy at about the time he was granted a 2 acre block at the south east corner of Stubbs and Parsons St in 1949.
Allotment 17 was leased by Anah Lewis for 14 years. Allotments 18 and 19 were leased to A.E.Brodribb for 14 years but it is known that by 1855 the 132 acres comprised all or part of McCracken?s dairy. (McCracken may have been leasing the crown land west of Rankins Rd too.)
In 1855, Peter McCracken quit his lease on ?Stewarton? (Gladstone Park) and lived on the dairy while his mansion was built on ?Ardmillan? in Moonee Ponds. In 1861 a fire burnt all the haystacks and by the end of 1862, Peter was thinking of giving up the dairy because the grass was poor and it was costing more for hay than the milk was worth. Soon after, James Hyslop, who had worked for Peter since 1858, was out of a job (P.233 Victoria and Its Metropolis).
When Anah?s lease finished, and McCracken quit his dairy, the whole 198 acres was leased by cattle salesman Samuel Cox. He probably fattened cattle and sheep on it. Pigs might have been kept there too by pork butcher, William Samuel Cox. Three years later, in 1867, W.S.Cox took over the lease, and in 1872, he extended it for five years with an option of another five years. In 1871, he?d moved from Abbotsford St to ?Kensington Park?. The KENSINGTON PARK RACECOURSE commenced operation in 1874. When it closed at the end of 1882, Cox took out a lease on, and then bought, Feehan?s farm (now called Moonee Valley Racecourse).
Unlike most football clubs, whose players were firstly cricketers, the Essendon club was formed by the horse-riding fraternity. One of its players actually rode a horse to victory at Moonee Valley before donning the black and red.
Brothers John and Jim Gilligan were killed in the 1930's, within a few years of each other, in accidents involving horses. John, a married dare-devil, had become part of Bulla and Tullamarine folklore by riding his horse up the stairs of the Inverness Hotel. He was riding home in the dark and did not notice that the top rail of a fence had been replaced. Jim was a sensible bachelor and politely refused the offer of a joy flight from a daring young man, who had landed nearby, but died at St Vincents Hospital on 15-8-1938 as a result of an accident during the trip home in his jinker, when his house stumbled . John's second given name was Lawrence which might indicate that his mother was a daughter of John Lawrence, an early resident on Machell's subdivision between Mickleham Rd and Section Rd at Greenvale.John died suddenly on Dec. 2nd at the age of 47.His wife and their children are detailed in the death notice. (The Argus, 4-12-1936, page 1.)See more about the Gilligans in the REDDAN journal.
Alister Clark was the President of the Moonee Valley Racing Club from its formation until his death. Owner of Glenara, venue for many Oakland Hunt Club functions, he was a famed rose breeder (with the assistance of William Peers who left when he won a lottery) and great jockey, Darby Munro, said that he appreciated Alister's roses more than the loot when he'd won the Alister Clark Stakes. The club had been formed at J.B.McArthur's Hosie's Hotel; McArthur remained Alister's Vice President until his death and hosted the Oakland Hunt at "Arundel". Needless to say there was a strong association between the M.V.R.C. and the Oaklands Hunt.
John Wren, star of the original "Underbelly" (and even worse, financial backer of the Collingwood Football Club!) ran the Ascot Racecourse on the area east of the Showgrounds that became a Housing Commission estate with streets named after war heroes such as Weary Dunlop. As with most country race meetings (such as at Tullamarine) the horses that raced were referred to as ponies.
James Purves and his son James Liddle Purves bred horses at Tootgarook Station and James had also done so at Chinton Station near Mt Macedon. It is more likely that the day to day running of their stud was undertaken by James Purves' brother, Peter (the mason)until his death in 1860 and later his sons at Tootgarook and Green Hills on Purves Rd (south of Chapman's Sea Winds.)
The Maddens became the owners of the former Flemington estate of Hugh Glass and supplied horses to the Army in India. Travancore (the property's new, and present, name) and most of the street names recall the involvement with the sub-continent. The Maddens were probably also involved at Mornington and at Bangalore St in Kensington.
Farmers were often involved in horse breeding, especially of draught horses, which were the tractors of the day. Rajah, famed on the Indian Turf, stood at both Randall's "Hindhope" (the Rosebud Plaza site) and Brady's "Mt Evergreen" on Purves Rd.
Edward Gomm of Somerville was another to offer the services of his stallions. Billy Gomm used the telephones of the Lands Department, in which he held a very senior position, to become the biggest S.P. bookie in Melbourne. When he was sprung taking bets in their Somerville Hotel, he was banned from entering the building so his brother (and fellow legend of the Somerville Football Club) had to save the day. Billy was usually well dressed, but when he returned to "Glenhoya", he dressed like a hick and once drank at a Mornington race meeting with Sir Reg Ansett while wearing a shoe and a gumboot because he couldn't find the other shoe.
IAN KENDALL'S SCOTTISH PLACE NAMES IN MELBOURNE.
EMAIL TO IAN KENDALL.
I found your website when I was looking for something else. You've put a lot of work into it; well done!
I mainly looked at Melbourne's north west, whose history I have been researching since 1988 and the Mornington Peninsula (since August 2010) and have only commented on these. I have not worried about street names, although I might mention some in the following.
I agree completely with your origins for Arthurs Seat, Baxter, Calder Park, Campbellfield, Craigieburn (the Robbie Burns was another hotel near the Craigie Burns,shown on a survey map), Dallas, Deer Park, Flemington, Keilor (which I've seen as Keillor in some sources), Kealba, Kingston (see Graham Whitehead's City of Kingston website) McCrae, Meadow Heights, Moreland (which was leased by Michael Loeman for about 14 years before he moved onto Glenloeman on Loemans Rd near Bulla, with the result that the Moreland Rd bridge was known as Loeman's bridge), Newmarket, Rosanna, Red Hill (one of the roads leading to it is White Hill Rd) and Westgarth.
I have listed other suburbs where I doubt some of the sources or additional information might be useful.
WATSONIA. I have seen sources that attribute the name to James Watson, which seems reasonable, given the proximity to Rosanna. While on that area, Janefield owes its name to John Brock who was an early squatter near Bulla until Big Clarke got his special survey and, I think, was a Scot.
WESTMEADOWS.It was originally known as Broadmeadows Township before the railway went through Campbellfield circa 1872, giving that locality the name of East Broadmeadows; when the "East" was dropped the Township was called West Meadows. Westmeadows now includes former farmland near the township such as Kia Ora, Willowbank (many of whose street names were my suggestions) and Wattle Glen.
ABERFELDIE. James Robertson 2 of Upper Keilor is the correct origin. The source proposing a link with a Napier Estate might be correct; Thomas Napier (of Rosebank in Strathmore) might have called a squatting run by this name and his son Theodore (of Magdala in Strathmore) might have been involved in the subdivision of the West Essendon grants (originally known as Spring Hill) and suggested the name of the house for the estate. Strathmore and streets named after Rosebank and Magdala owe their origins to the Napiers. I believe a Napier was involved in the relief of Lucknow and Magdala was also involved with his exploits in India.
As far as I know, Aberfeldie has everything to do with James Robertson and nothing to do with the Napiers. If another Scottish family was involved with naming the estate, it would be far more likely to be the McCrackens, related by marriage.The reference to a Napier estate might have also resulted from confusion between Aberfeldie and Glenbervie; Grant Aldous probably described the origin of the latter name in "The Stopover That Stayed".
(By the way, there were three James Robertson families in the area: 1.Upper Keilor/Mar Lodge/ Aberfeldie; 2.La Rose/ Trinifour and 3.Gowrie Park at Campbellfield. See itellya's journal about the Robertsons on FAMILY TREE CIRCLES.)
BLAIRGOWRIE. Dr John Blair's Blairgowrie House was built by an Irish pioneer and politician named O'Grady who named it Villa Maria. When he bought the house, Blair renamed it Blairgowrie. When the estate was subdivided, it was called the Blairgowrie Estate but was described as being at Sorrento. (See page 1, Frankston and Somerville Standard, 28-3-1923.) It was not until about 1940 when the Cain family's "Tyrone" east of Canterbury Rd was subdivided that Blairgowrie appeared in the newspapers to describe a locality. Incidentally a gowrie website states that Blairgowrie means "field of goats".
BROADMEADOWS. The earliest reference to the Broadmeadows Hotel on trove was in 1855. Just about the only reference to Broadmeadows in 1850, (apart from the proclamation of a township at Broadmeadows, poor attendances at St Pauls and the calling of tenders for its manse) was a much repeated advertisement about a stallion standing at stud at Samuel Thorpe's farm. In November, 1851, Mrs Brodie, formerly of Moonee Ponds (the vast Brodie squatting run, not the suburb, but possibly Harpsdale or Dunhelen) opened a store in the township. A meeting was called by about 5 Scots about the need for a crossing at the foot of Cameron's estate at THE BROADMEADOWS. In 1852, Machell's estate AT BROADMEADOWS (actually the land bounded by Section Rd, Somerton Rd, Mickleham Rd and Swain St at Melway 178 H7-11) was advertised for sale.
The above demonstrates that BROADMEADOWS described a district which consisted of the parish of Will Will Rook, and even den Machell's grant in the parish of Yuroke, and that the hotel was named because of the district, not the other way around.
An article about Kilmore by "The Vagabond" described the 6000 acres of hay at Broadmeadows and said it was an English name. The first large area of wheat in the colony was grown at Campbellfield by John GRANT who was leasing land from the CAMPBELLS. Nearby were the CAMERONS and KENNEDYS on Glenroy,Ruthvenfield, Stoney Fields and Dundonald, the GIBBS and ROBERTSONS on Meadowbank and Gowrie Park, the McKERCHARS on Greenan and Greenvale, and they were the pioneers, SCOTS, who would have coined the apt name for the district. The place was so full of Scots that the trustees of Will Will Rook Cemetery apparently did not feel a need to have sections for denominations other than Presbyterian and John Kingshott was appointed to the school committee so it would not consist entirely of Presbyterians.Do you think that Broadmeadows was coined by Englishmen? I don't!
BURNSIDE. This suburb was named after James Burnside, a pioneer near Deer Park and a grantee in in the parish of Maribyrnong. His son's obituary was on page 1 of the 15-1-1943 issue of the Sunshine advocate; the son may have married a descendant of James Robertson of Upper Keilor.
GLADSTONE PARK. The name derives from the northern 777 acres of Gladstone Park (and the Gladstone Gardens Estate north of Lackenheath Drive on the west side of the freeway.) This was section 5 of the parish of Tullamarine, consisting of 785 acres, 8 acres probably having been lost in the making of today's Mickleham Rd. The parish map records George Russell as the grantee but he bought it for fellow Western District squatter, Niel Black. Black was agent for the firm of Stewart, Black, Gladstone etc back home. Section 5 was called "Stewarton", the same name as another of the firm's farms in the Western District. Black probably wanted section 5 as a holding paddock but it was leased 1846-1855 by Peter McCracken, who moved to his dairy farm on J.R.Murphy's Kensington Park and then to Ardmillan at Moonee Ponds.
Gladstone, a cousin of Disraeli's foe, came into ownership of Section 5 and the farm's name became Gladstone a year after John Cock succeeded John Kerr as the tenant in about 1892. The Gladstones had sold it to G.W.Taylor for 74 575 pounds in mid 1888 but regained it when Taylor could not complete payments in the bust that followed the boom, as Cannon would put it. The Gladstone family owned the property until the 1920's.
GOWANBRAE. This farm was originally named Camp Hill, a name that applied during the tenure of Eyre Evans Kenny, Brown, Lonie, Gilligan, Williamson etc. When Scott, presumably a Scot, bought the farm in the 1930's, he renamed it Gowanbrae. Malvern Ave owes its name to Sir Bruce Small who owned the property and wanted to produce his famous Malvern Star bicycles there but could not get a railway siding on the Albion-Jacana line.
GOWRIE.
Alexander Gibb leased section 5 Will Will Rook for some time and then it was purchased in two halves, each of 320 acres, in 1848. Gibb called the northern half "Meadow Bank" and James Robertson called his half Gowrie Park. Both, of course, were Scots.
Incidentally, most of Melbourne Airport's operational area (except for the Terminal building on Payne's pig farm,"Scone") are on another Gowrie Park, which is today recalled by Gowrie Park Drive at Melway 5 C5.
GREENVALE.
Even if this name was a simple description of the landscape, it was coined by a Scot, John McKerchar, for his farm name (which was renamed "The Elms" by a later owner.) Swain St, off Mickleham Rd, indicated the boundary between Dundanald and Machell's early subdivision but also indicates the boundary between the parishes of Will Will Rook and Yuroke to the north. The name of McKerchar's farm came to describe the part of Yuroke near Somerton Rd and the present school on Hughie Williamson's old "Dunvegan" carries the same number as the one started by John McKerchar on the Section Rd corner!
NIDDRIE. This was the name of Henry Brown Stevenson's farm. See his death notice on page 1 of The Argus of 5-7-1893. The Morgans kept the name when they bought it in (1906?) and owned it for many years. The farm was bounded by the Orange Gr/Bowes Ave midline, the King/Fraser St midline, Nomad-Treadwell Rd and Keilor Rd.
Hadfield should be called Fawkner, but the grantee's named travelled to a nearby area and in the same way, the name of the Stevenson/ Morgan farm travelled south of Keilor Rd. It is possible that Niddrie was named by the grantee, Thomas Napier of Rosebank.
ROXBURGH PARK.
The association with Brunton is correct; he probably did not find the Cameron name of Stoney Field (as in the rate records) very appealing. It was not known as Ruthvenfield; this Cameron property is today bisected by Blair St, east of the railway line.
ST KILDA. I have read that the suburb was named after a yacht owned by the family of Big Clarke; this was one of the theories.I had a pleasure craft in mind but a working yacht makes sense because W.J.T. had little time for pleasure and other pursuits that didn't make money (except the girlies!)
STRATHMORE. See Bruce Barber's Strathmore website. There could be a connection with the Queen Mother but I have seen no mention of this. I quote from page 165 of "Broadmeadows: A Forgotten History". "It was not until 1943 that the (North Essendon and South Broadmeadows) Progress Association submitted "Strathmore" (a Scottish name associated with the Napier family) to the Broadmeadows Shire Council." No source is given but I suspect that Andrew Lemon had seen the correspondence. I don't think the progress association would have been aware of any connection between the name and the Queen Mother.
BELL.
It must be 20 years since I read Richard Broome's "Between Two Creeks" the history of Coburg. But I distinctly remember Bell Manor!
FINGAL.
Fingal is a parish south of Limestone Rd and south of the parishes of Wannaeue and Nepean, which are separated by Government-Weeroona Rd. Most parish names have aboriginal origins so Fingal and Nepean are unusual. Parish names would have been decided by surveyors or the Lands Department, whose boss was James Grant, presumably a Scot, at the time Fingal was surveyed.Fingal is Irish for foreign tribe according to wikipedia, and if my recollection is correct the Scots were from Ireland, making them a foreign tribe.
MERLYNSTON. I'm sure Richard Broome discussed the name's origin.
OLIVERS HILL. This was originally known as Old Man Davey's Hill.