itellya on Family Tree Circles

I happened to notice that a large proportion of the surname list for the ASCOT VALE HERITAGE WALK journal had disappeared. The missing surnames are listed here and in this surnames list so I can check that none disappear from this surname list too.

HIGGINS, WILLIAMS, MCFARLANE, STEWART, FAIRBAIRN, MORGAN, MACKINTOSH, MOORE, KAWKA, BARLOW, SMITH, STRONGMAN, JACKSON, GILLESPIE, COOK, MURDOCH, ABRAHAMS, MCKENZIE, ANDERSON, BURCHETT, RAWSTHORN, DAVEY, WILLMAN, DREW, DIXON, BREEZE, FLEMING, BLOOMFIELD, BULLEN, BRUNTON, LEITH, MCCULLY, CURRIE, TAYLOR, FENTON, COLE, MCDOUGALL, POMEROY, CLARK, CAMERON, BUCHANAN, TURNER, PUCKLE, RILEY, WREN, NATHAN, (46 SURNAMES)

The same thing happened here so I will break this into part 1 and part 2.
Part 1 will contain a surnames list for the first 24 surnames (Higgins to Drew) above.

Contacting the Essendon Historical Society

Location Address:
Cnr Kellaway Ave and Mount Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds.

Mail Address:
768-770 Mt. Alexander Rd, Moonee Ponds 3039

Email: esshissoc@mail.com Phone:03 9370 4607

(Please remember that our members are volunteers, and may not be able to take your call due to work or other commitments. Often e-mail is the best method of contacting the Society.)

President: Judy Maddigan judy.maddigan@hotmail.com

Vice President: Bob Chalmers

No matter how much they love their parents, adopted children often have a desire to meet their birth parents. Probably millions of people around the world are researching their family history for, I think, the same reason; to find out where they come from. When we can recount Aunt Polly's eccentric ways, somehow it adds to the sum of "being me".

Councils spend a lot of money in an effort to produce a sense of community. Australia Day festivities attract large crowds and a shared sense of being an Aussie is evident but the level of community spirit developed is nowhere that experienced by pioneers, and as soon as a community event is finished, many people go back to their homes, fortresses with high fences that act as barriers to community engagement.

By pioneers, I don't mean a century or more ago. Personally, I have fond memories of Tullamarine in the first half of the 1970's where people were working together to establish activities for children, develop the hall, get a kindergarten and so on. The person that did not know and enjoy the company of close to a hundred fellow residents was rare indeed.

Any attempts to develop community spirit without a knowledge and appreciation of where that community has "come from" is like expecting an orphan (from birth)to develop a sense of family. The prime aim of historical societies should be to help residents know where their community has come from (as well as helping family historian tell their potential readers whey they come from,of course!)

And that's just what Alex Bragiola and Bob Chalmers of the Essendon Historical Society are doing! I have known Bob for ages, through cricket and teaching,but more about him later. I have known Alex for over a decade. He gave me great assistance when I was researching EARLY LANDOWNERS: PARISH OF DOUTTA GALLA, finding items in the archives at the Court house museum and providing information about historic, but less well-known houses between Glass and Woodland Sts.

Bob, among his numerous services to the community was a long-time secretary of the Essendon (and district) Churches Cricket Competition, (which had several name changes)and the Essendon State School Sports Association.
I followed him in the latter role and had to wear three pairs of socks at once because his shoes were so big to fill; without the checklists and guides he gave me I just would not have coped. He had written several books including THE ANNALS OF ESSENDON and histories of Aberfeldie Primary School and the cricket comp.He was inspired by the titles information in my EARLY LANDOWNERS (which was mainly about farms) and set about finding title information about section 14, Doutta Galla, bounded by Lincoln Rd, Woodland St,Moonee PondsCk-Fitzgerald Rd and Buckley St.

The history walk took place last weekend and attracted 60 people. Those who missed out can conduct their own walk by obtaining a copy of the superb booklet produced by Alex and Bob. As well as having 55 illustrations (mainly photos of the houses whose history is discussed in detail), it even tells you when to cross the road!

Those pioneers discussed are listed below. As too much detail in the booklet would not have made the walk progress smoothly, I have added some information about one or two.

William Fletcher, Andrew Binns, Charles and Joseph Bradshaw, Charles Stuart Mossman, William Hoffman, Edward Byam Wight, John Watson, Harry Jennings, Alfred Nation, William Stanford, William Aitken, Alexandra Hiskens, Archibald Herbert Cox, W.S.Cox, Arthur Vaughan Hiskens, Samuel Bruce, Walter Sylvanus Melbourne Bruce, Mrs Allison, J.F.Gibbons, John McWhae, Elizabeth Henderson McWhae, George William Deighton, Augustus Jones, John Quinn, John Parry, Mrs Anne Evans, George Holmes, Thomas Hill, William Black, Daniel R.Dossetor, Muller Bros., Hillson Beasley and Little, Angel Bros., Thomas Coker, Patrick Higgins, Thomas Williams, Cunningham John McFarlane, Rev. Donald Macrae Stewart,Jessie Stewart, Robert John Fairbairn, Fiszel Kawka, Sarah Ann Barlow, John Thomas Smith, Rev. John Martin Strongman, William Jackson, William R.Morgan, Morgan&Mackintosh, Henry Byron Moore, Alexander Gillespie, Samuel Goth Cook, John Murdoch, Mary Ann Murdoch, Edward Nathaniel Abrahams, Murdoch McKenzie, Katherine Jane Anderson, Pastor James Burchett, John Little, James Rawsthorn, James Henry Davey, Elizabeth Hoffman, John Willman, Mr Drew, R.Dixon, Mary Anne Breeze, Robert Fleming and his sister Mary Ann, John and Hannah Bloomfield, Rogerson Bullen, Thomas Brunton, Stuart Dudley Brunton, G.B.Leith,John James McCully, James Currie, Taylor and Currie, Arthur Fenton, Henry Samuel Cole, Dugald Gordon McDougall, Redmond Ross Pomeroy and his wife Teresa, John and Annie Clark, John Cameron, James Buchanan,George Napier Turner, Charles Murray Puckle, Rev. Edward Puckle,John Riley, John Wren, Benjamin Nathan, William Cox.

That's 93 names and 55 photos etc in a 16 page booklet and it doesn't even look cluttered. I wrote in the title of one of my journal "names in a list ain't much good" and I can assure you that there is much detail about each name, for example, Augustus Jones was the Secretary of the Meat Preserving Company on the Saltwater River. Some of them were architect or builders of houses and bridges, others business partners of house owners.

A BIT EXTRA.
JOHN WREN. There are an extensive biography and wikipedia entry about this Collingwood fanatic whose gifts of a fiver for a good game would have seemed like a fortune to the footballers during the depression.The wikipedia entry wrongly states that Wren was involved with the establishment of the Moonee Valley Racecourse.
Wren 's course was on the site of the Wingate Ave housing commission estate.

W.S.COX. Samuel Cox and William Samuel Cox, both butchers, the latter from Errol St, North Melbourne, leased Kensington Park, using it as the Kensington Park Racecourse for some years until the lease expired in 1882 and the land was subdivided. Cox soon leased (Feehan's?)Farm at Moonee Ponds and I have never seen any mention of an eleven year old John Wren being involved! Full titles information is available free if you request it. Buy the booklet to find out about the Secretary of the club/son-in-law.

THOMAS BRUNTON. One of the main roads of Roxburgh Park is named after Brunton, who came from Roxburgh in Scotland according to Alex and Bob.(By the way, in case you are commentating on the Essendon District Football League,Roxburgh rhymes with Edinburgh, not iceberg, you dummies!) Another main road is named after the grantee, Cameron, who named the property "Stoney Fields." (Broadmeadows Rate book 1863.)The late Donald Cameron's son John, who died aged 43 in 1882, had used this unattractive name so it must have been Charles Cameron (dead by 1895) who changed the name to Ruthvenfield. A Cameron grant just east of the Broadmeadows Railway Station was called Ruthven. There was a huge legal wrangle to sort out before the land could be sold to Thomas Brunton. (See ACTION AGAINST LAND BOOM SYNDICATE on page 10 of The Argus on 22-2-1893.)

The Kernans (see thanks for documents below) were pioneers of Somerton and John Kernan in the Pascoe Vale/Strathmore area where he named Loeman Rd after his great mate, Michael Loeman of Glenloeman on Tullamarine Island.
This comes from the Craigieburn History Interest Group's website.

Roxburgh Park Homestead as it was in 2001, photo courtesy of the National Library of Australia http://www.nla.gov.au/

Thanks to Yvonne Kernan and her family for the documents relating to the sale of Roxburgh Park in 1949

In a "Heritage Study of the Former Shire of Bulla District, 1998' Roxburgh Park was described as 'of regional historical and architectural significance' first house constructed early c.1850's and second house constructed 1895.

The first owner was Donald Cameron a Scot and he named the property 'Ruthvenfield', again reflecting its Scottish origins as Ruthvenfield is a village, in the parish of Tibbermore, county of Perth, Scotland and the bluestone and granite house built sometime after 1848. In the 1949 sale for the property it is stated 'A Granite Quarry of Monumental & Building Stone of excellent quality, a valuable asset is situate on the Southern Boundary' this is possibly where the materials for the original bluestone and granite dwelling house were extracted from.

In 1882 the dwelling was then described as 4 rooms built with stone walls and partitions of brick with a slate roof and timber cottages used for bedrooms along with various outbuildings and various family members seem to have been running the property after Cameron died.

Thomas Brunton a flour miller purchased the property in 1895. It was not long before plans were made to build a red brick house on the property and said to be the present building on the site. Brunton is attributed to being the person who named Roxburgh Park after his birthplace in Roxburgh, Scotland. It was again described in the 1949 sale as 'of brick' and built on an elevated position'. Brunton bred cattle, horses and Shropshire sheep on the property 'originally established by the late Hon. Thom Brunton, MLC as a country home and Stropshire Stud Farm'.

Brunton sold the property to a Mr. E. A. Porter who carried on a 'Lincoln Sheep and Shorthorn Cattle Stud'. The Hon. Thomas Brunton, MLC died at his Ascot Vale home in 1908 which was interestingly named 'Roxburgh'.

In 1926 the property seems to have then passed into the hands of Thomas Ellis Silvester Esq. and was advertised when auctioned in 1949, as being situated as Somerton - Broadmeadows - Greenvale District. The property was described then as situated 13 miles from Melbourne, 8 miles from Essendon and 3 miles from Broadmeadows at the end of the Melbourne - Pascoe Vale Road and you can see this demonstrated clearly by the plan of the property when auctioned.

The Roxburgh Park of old was originally located in Somerton, with Roxburgh Park only becoming its own
suburb when developed by the Urban Land Authority/Urban Rural Land Commission.

EDWARD BYAM WIGHT.
The house on his grant at the corner of Kensington and Epsom Rd was called "The Ridge", its name recalled by a street named The Ridgeway. Holy Trinity Church of England (now an eastern orthodox church) was built on part of the grant, donated by the Wight family.

PATRICK HIGGINS.
Patrick was involved in the construction of the road to Mt Alexander near Keilor and bought several blocks on the north side of this road, being part of Keilor Township in section 19 Doutta Galla (west of Collinson St.)If I remember correctly, there is more detail in Angela Evans' KEILOR PIONEERS: DEAD MEN DO TELL TALES.

WILLIAM HOFFMAN.
His Butzbach homestead was accessed by an extremely long driveway from Buckley St. It was located near Croft St (named after a later owner) and the bend in Price St, east of Hoffmans Rd.Butzbach (later called Buckley Park, hence the name of the Douttas' home ground) extended about a half mile east of Hoffmans Rd.

BRUCE.
John Agnews Bruce (actually John Vans Agnew Bruce-see comment 1) owned the northern 1000 acres of Jamieson's Special Survey between Bruce Rd and the Martha Cove Waterway, extending east to Bulldog Ck Rd (Melway 151 K12.) He was a partner in Cornish and Bruce who built the Mt Alexander and Murray River Railway.The southern majority of the Survey was owned by Big Clarke who was supposed to have(a) given the 1000 acres to his son in law as a wedding present (A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA) or (b) sold it to him at a handsome profit (LIME LAND LEISURE.)Sam and Walter Bruce were possibly related to John, whose address was given as Essendon in a Flinders Shire ratebook (wrong-see comment 1)seen while I was researching Louis Edwin Tassell, his tenant until he died circa 1868, after whom the waterway (Tassells Creek) was named.

COKER. ?On the 30th ult., at his residence, 390 Latrobe-street, Thomas Coker, well known in sporting circles, aged 75 years.(P.1, Argus, 2-10-1889.) Thomas Coker may have been an early Ascot Vale resident buying 10 acres in June 1870 and subdividing the block into nine allotments. He financed the building of a number of houses in Ascot Vale Rd in the 1870's and 1880's.

JOHN THOMAS SMITH.
Seven times Mayor of Melbourne, Essendon/Flemington and Keilor councillor, Member of Parliament, short term teacher at George Langhorne's aboriginal mission on the site of Melbourne's before launching into business, builder of Ascot House in Fenton St, Ascot Vale, grantee of the north west corner of the parish of Moorooduc which became the Ranelagh estate at Mt Eliza (plaque at entrance); not really that much to say about him!!

ARTHUR FENTON. Later owner of Ascot House. If I remember correctly he was a daring young man in a flying machine.

It might just be that a family tree circles member has found that a relative bought land in this estate in the late 1920's and is wondering if there is any connection with Milleara Rd in East Keilor. There is!

I must firstly thank Peter Warren of Express Bin Hire in Colchester Rd, Rosebud West. Knowing of my interest in local history, he has seen the 84 year old framed green, black and white plan of the Milleara Railway Station Estate in one of his bins and instead of dumping it at the tip, he asked me to have a look at it.
This plan will be given tomorrow to Bob Chalmers of the Essendon Historical Society and will be available for inspection at the society's Old Court House Museum between Queens Park and Moonee Ponds Junction.

The Milleara Railway Station Estate can be found at Melway 15 D9. It was bounded by Keilor Rd and the Albion railway line (under construction), containing Slater and Webber Pde blocks to their junction. This was the north west (almost) half of 18D, Doutta Galla.Street names remain the same but Tunnecliffe Ave has been closed, replaced by freeway interchanges; thIS avenue was obviously extended west when the freeway was being built and the extension remains as Tunnecliffe Crt.The north end of Webber Pde is now the end of Ely Crt. In my historic Melway, Prendergast Ave is written as Pendergass; I hope they've fixed it by now.

If a railway station had been built, it is likely that this estate would be proudly residential rather than industrial. Luckily the Albion-Jacana line, with its two massive bridges over the Maribyrnong and the Moonee Ponds Creek, was finished before the Wall Street crash hastened the depression which was the first of many excuses for not catering for passengers.

Newspaper articles below are about John Quinn after whom Quinn Grove on John Beale's "Shelton" is named. He probably came up with the name "Milleara", part of the name of his company which was formed at about the time this plan was drawn. Despite the depression, 1933 was a busy time for the Scotts; the Quinns were having trouble paying their rates. This plan had most likely hung in the Quinn Group boardroom or foyer for many decades until a facelift was considered necessary and this treasure was placed in storage.

When Milleara Rd was first mentioned in Keilor Shire rates, it only covered a small section of road while other residents were described as being in North Pole Rd.The original route to the Swing bridge at Canning St, (built so munitions could be carried from Maribyrnong to the munition depot, Melway 15D11, where streets now carry the names of cricketers in the Pavilion Estate), was Milleara Rd, North Rd and Military Rd. Milleara Primary School is still shown on North Rd, Avondale Hts on Google maps.

As I have stated elsewhere, Milleara Rd was originally, and still when this plan was drawn, called North Pole Rd. The council was referring to Milleara Rd by 1933 but everyone else seems to have still called it North Pole Road until at least 1937. I believe this name was bestowed in Melbourne's early days when settlers such as George Russell and Niel Black needed to travel up Flemington Hill and continue north west for about three miles before turning to the west along Braybrook Rd (Buckey St.) After reaching North Pole road, they would head cross country to the present west end of Canning St, no doubt straight toward a pole located on the north side of the river. Having crossed Solomon's Ford, they were in Braybrook, the reason Buckley St had such a strange name.

The crossing was so well-used that the authorities proclaimed a township there but Raleigh's Punt at Maribyrnong in 1850, Brees' Bridge at Keilor in 1854 and Lynch's punt, followed by his bridge, on the most direct route to the west, made this a ghost township. North Braybrook Township became the province of small farmers such as Clancy near the ford, who like many of his neighbours had his drystone walls dismantled and access to water reserves prevented by the owner of the (present) Tottenham Hotel, and oft-times President of the Braybrook Shire. (Harry Peck's MEMOIRS OF A STOCKMAN, transcript of Clancy and Munro's evidence at a government inquiry.)

KEILOR SHIRE COUNCIL There was one absentee from the monthly meeting of the Keilor Council on Saturday, namely, Cr. Davis from whom a written apology was received. Correspondence. From Messrs James Hall & Sons intimating that Messrs John Quinn & Co. have agreed to council's offer in regard to payment of rates and a settlement will be made at the end of the month.
and
Good, progress has been made with bitumen seal coating works and the following roads have been completed: Sharp's road, part of Milleara road, Prince, Greville and Birdwood streets and a small section in Bulla road.
(P.6, Sunshine Advocate, 7-4-1933.)

As an aside, the newspaper's name recalls three interesting pieces of history. Firstly, Sunshine was originally called Braybrook Junction, being so-called when one of Victoria's greatest railway disasters happened there. Secondly, it was renamed when A.V.McKay, inventor of the combine harvester, set up his Sunshine Harvester Co. factory there; McKay was associated with two properties in the Sire of Bulla (see I.W.Symonds' BULLA BULLA.) Thirdly, a dispute at this factory led to the Harvester Judgement being made by Judge Higgins, probably assessing the evidence in the solitude of Heronswood at Dromana. This judgement led to the basic wage. Judge Higgins enjoyed swims daily at Anthonys Nose and often walked up Arthurs Seat, the last time on the day he died. He was buried at Dromana, as was his son, a casualty of war.



From Scott's Estates Pty. Ltd.,offering to transfer to council the several park and playground reserves set apart in the Milleara Garden suburb subdivisions of the company-These reserves are of a total area of about 35 acres. (P.2, Sunshine Advocate, 7-7-1933.)

Milleara Land Development Co Pty Ltd, land and estate agents, &c. Capital, ?2000 in ?1 shares. Names subscribed to memorandum John Quinn, 1 share; Annie Quinn, 1 share.(P.12, Argus, 10-2-1928.)

Charge of Assault.-At the District Court yesterday, Richard Lacey, a bullock-driver, was charged with assaulting Mr. Laverty, the landlord of the North Pole Inn, Keilor. It appeared that the defendant was driving his master's dray over the land of the complainant, who turned the team of bullocks off the road, throwing a load of hay which was on the dray into a ditch. Lacey proceeded to set the hay on the dray as well as he could, and was again proceeding in the same road, when Laverty again came before his team and turned the bullocks off the road. Lacey then struck Laverty, and a scuffle ensured; the complainant then gave the defendant into the charge of trooper C R Wilson. Mr Miller appeared for the complainant, and Mr Read for the defendant. Captain Vignelles, JP, fined the defendant 10s. with costs. (P.5, Argus, 8-1-1855.)

TO Let Sixty Acres of Land, at Springfield. For further particulars apply to James Laverty, North Pole, near Keilor, 148 feb 13. (P.1, Argus, 9-2-1855.)

FARM to Let at Springfield, of 120 Acres more or less, with Three-Roomed Cottage erected on same, and garden laid out: forty acres have been under cultivation, and is all fenced in with substantial post-and-rail fence. This farm has one-half mile frontage to the Mount Alexander-road, and only eight miles from Melbourne. Apply to Mr. JAMES LAVERTY, Harvest Home Inn, Moonee Ponds._69 mar 14.(P.8, Argus, 13-3-1856.)

NEW REPORT OF TRUCK Seen On Back Road? MYSTERY STILL UNSOLVED.
Reports that a large motor transport was seen on a back road at Keilor on Tuesday of last week are regarded by detectives as a clue in the missing truck mystery.All yesterday a ground and air search was continued for the motor transport waggon which has been missing with its driver John Thomas Demsey of Essendon since Monday of last week.

Residents of the sparsely populated area along North Pole road Keilor, told the detectives yesterday that a motor transport resembling the missing vehicle had been seen travelling on Tuesday of last week along North Pole road toward Ballarat road the beginning of the Western Highway. They said they had never seen a motor transport on this road before.So much importance was attached to the report that Senior detective McKeogh and Detective North spent the day interviewing residents searching all tracks leading off North Pole road and examining the many deep gullies in the area. etc. (P.3, Argus, 21-10-1937.)
(To get from North Pole Rd to Ballarat Rd would require the crossing of the swing bridge at Canning St before heading south along Wests and Hamstead Rd.)


James Laverty owned land on the north side of Rosehill Rd, west of Steel St and in partnership with Alex Blair if I remember correctly; details are in my BLAIRS OF ESSENDON journal. Some Essendon/Keilor historians have claimed that the Harvest Home Hotel was in Keilor Rd. The Harvest Home was not far on the Melbourne side of today's Moonee Ponds Tavern (formerly Dean's Hotel, the original section of which was built by a Greenvale pioneer in 1852); it was in Melway 28 J7 immediately south of where Hinkins St would meet Mt Alexander Rd if extended.
SPRINGFIELD.
A spring arising at about Elray Crt (Melway 5 K 12), a "constant source of fresh water" according to an early survey,was the start of a creek which flowed through section 3 Tullamarine and directly south of it, section 21 Doutta Galla. William and John Foster called this land "Springs", while the land between Fosters Rd (now Keilor Park Drive)and the Saltwater River was called "Leslie Banks". It is likely that Leslie Park,the Fosters' "run" on which they were given a 10 year lease in 1840 (but was probably cancelled in 1843)went south of Spence St, to Keilor Rd. Thus O'Nyall of the Lady of the Lake (Melway 5 H11) and Laverty (15 E9) were both described as being at "Springs".

This obviously caused confusion and the Keilor Rd area was called Springfield instead. Like Greenvale an area got its name from a farm.Springfield was east of Roberts Rd, which with Hilbert St are the main roads within it, and A.J.Davis Reserve, named after the councillor who sent a written apology, is at its south east corner. Between Springfield and Niddrie, meeting the latter between Grange Rd and Bowes Ave, was Spring Park.
Two other farms named on the spring theme along Spring Gully or Steele's Chain of Ponds were Springbank (Wilson then James Anderson)and James Robertson's grant Spring Hill, where his son, James,built a mansion called Aberfeldie. And of course, James Laverty called his farm Springvale.

1929
Walter Burley Griffin designed Milleara Estate to include land west of Milleara Road through the suburbs of Avondale Heights and East Keilor. 19 internal reserves were a feature of this subdivision. Few remain, but Tuppal Reserve is one of them. (East Keilor Sustainability Street website.)

Perhaps the greatest favour a family historian has ever done this local history researcher is to tell me about trove. An informal group of family historians used to (and probably still do) get together in the local history room at the Rosebud library. While we chatted during my three solid weeks or more of transcribing rate records in August 2010, one of them put me onto trove.

This is a digitised treasure trove of newspapers and other material, courtesy of the National Library of Australia. I have found that the quickest way to access old newspapers is to enter trove NLA,click on trove-home, click on digitised newspapers, and then type in the name you're researching. If the article is specified, such as by me, enter the year, select the month and then the day number. Then select the newspaper name and when it comes up, select the page number.

I have written THE FEMALE DROVER: A HISTORY OF MOOROODUC and DROMANA, ROSEBUD AND MILES AROUND ON TROVE (up to about 150 pages, just a start, but not touched since I started writing journals here) based almost entirely on trove. Just recently, I entered BRINDLE-LEGGE to find out if Arthur Brindle had married a Legge girl (because Melbourne Brindle had stated on his map of Dromana that Harold Legge was his uncle.)

Some surnames make searches on trove very tedious, such as colour names such as White and others of adjectival tendency such as Bright. I never realised there were so many Rosebuds (including "rosebud of health" in advertisements) and if I'm researching the southern peninsula prior to 1914, I always type Kangerong rather than Flinders, for the Shire of Flinders and Kangerong so I won't get Flinders Island, the interstate Shire of Flinders etc. Frustration leads to the development of such time-saving tricks.The Argus is a good paper to select (to refine your search) if you want to eliminate most of the interstate stuff but if you confine your searches entirely to this paper,you could miss personal pars, obituaries etc which usually appear in local papers.

If you wish to copy articles, you must do it using the digitised text. Most of the time this looks like a foreign language and needs to be corrected.While on duty at the Dromana Museum recently, I met a Mr Adams who is working for the Mornington Shire Council under the Cemetery Trust, doing what Neil Mansfield did at the Bulla cemetery; digitising grave photos and information. He showed me a photo of the Stenniken grave at Rye and I mentioned that there was a grave nearby that seemed to be in the wrong cemetery but I couldn't remember the names. (An inspection two days later revealed the names were Sarah Kennedy and her parents, Rachel and Ralph Patterson.)

The Pattersons were mainly involved on the Survey prior to 1864(Safety Beach area east to Bulldog Creek Rd), at Fingal since about 1870 near Pattersons Rd, and, by 1910,again on the Survey north of Wallace's Rd (which Colin McLear said was known originally as Patterson's Lane. I believe the Patterson-Kennedy connection came about in Fingal (where James Kennedy was leasing about 159 acres in the 1870's, or near the junction of Point Leo and Frankston-Flinders Rd in the parish of Balnarring where the Kennedys had land straddling Stony Creek and R.Patterson (not Ralph if I remember my rate research)was also a grantee about a mile away between the latter road and the coast. Why would residents in the parishes of Balnarring/Flinders and Fingal/Kangerong be buried at Rye. Peter Wilson and Ray Cairns answered that question in THE CAIRNS FAMILY OF BONEO. Many marriages took place between the Russell family and the Patterson and Cairns families.

Edward Russell was a shipmate of John Watts and Tom Bennett (1). His mates jumped ship some time after Watts went ashore at Skelly's beach(now called Shelly beach) to obtain fresh water for his ship and met a six year old Skelton girl whom he said he'd marry one day, which he did, and they lived in the cottage which has been moved to the pioneers' garden next to the museum at Sorrento (2).Edward did not desert his ship but when it reached Melbourne, the vista that greeted the crew would have been amazing;a forest on the water! Countless ships were anchored together, their masts swaying like forest trees in a gale and the remaining sailors, except Edward, followed the rush to the diggings(3).

The 17 year old Edward Russell walked for two days to work for J.Purves Snr, probably at Tootgarook, and later worked for the Sullivans, most likely as a lime burner.He drove bullocks to the goldfields for the Skeltons in the 1850's and then built a kiln. This was just north of the corner of Dundas St and Glenvue Rd and Edward and his old shipmate, Tom Bennett,shared a house at the south corner of Napier and Bowen St. This is the Russell
connection with Rye, explaining the Patterson connection. When Blair obtained a grant for the land on which Edward's kiln was situated (1), he farmed further east and obtained a grant for the 103 acre block immediately west of the present Truemans Rd tip site. From here he was quite close to the Cairns and Patterson families to whom he was probably introduced by Edward Williams whose property was just east of Truemans Rd (4).
(1. LIME LAND LEISURE p.147 AND MAPS. 2.THOSE COURAGEOUS HARDY WOMEN. 3.My creation based on the stranded, crewless ships mentioned in so many Victoria and Melbourne histories. 4. Ratebooks and parish maps.

PARDON THE DIVERSION FROM TROVE, BUT THIS INFORMATION MAY NOT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ELSEWHERE.

In response to my comment about the need to make corrections to the digitised version in trove, Mr Adams explained that the problem was caused by the newspapers being photographed rather than scanned.

Despite the difficulties mentioned, Trove is still a wonderful source!

The WARNING can be found at the end of the journal.

This journal arose from the one about Melbourne Brindle whose father bought 30 acres of the Gracefield Estate and established "Sunnyside". It was apparent that James McKeown owned the Gracefield homestead while young Melbourne was living there from 1904 till November 1918 as he shows the homestead which is labelled McKewen (sic). The homestead was the same distance from Boundary Rd as the Sunnyside house, both being on the same latitude as the westernmost point of Hillview Quarry Drive (Melway159 J9.) The Sunnyside house would have been near Sayvon Court and the Gracefield Homestead was probably near the CharmaineSt/Dorothea Cres. corner with Gracefield Ave being its driveway; the corner of Gracefield Ave and Sunset Way was probably the northwest corner of the final, much reduced homestead block.Why do I say this?
MAP CLUES.
An unusual double right angle bend in a road such as in Price St (Melway 28 B2) and Henderson Rd (5 G10)is an indication of a remaining homestead or part of a property being sold off before the whole property is subdivided into normal house blocks. Price St bends around the reduced house block of William Hoffman's "Butzbach" by then the Croft family's "Buckley Park". The Hendersons had sold part of their farm to Mr Champion who built the brick post office that had to be demolished when Henderson Rd was made. Another clue is a mainly straight street with a slight dogleg in it. This usually indicates a boundary between two subdivisions, crown allotments or even parishes. One street that indicates a subdivision boundary is Levien St (28 F5.) The streets that cross the Moonee Ponds Creek(see map 29)have a bend to the south east as you approach the creek from the west because the crown allotment boundaries in Doutta Galla (west)and Jika Jika did not quite line up. Streets sometimes have a dog leg just before they meet a main road (that does not run E-W or N-S) but that is just so they meet the main road at 90 degrees. Enough of that; back to Gracefield!

Gracefield, crown allotment 5, section 3, of 249 acres 1 rood and 34 perches (249.4625 acres) was granted to William Grace.It was bounded by Boundary Rd, with 291 Boundary Rd indicating its south east corner, Arthurs Seat Rd and Caldwell Rd. There is no date on the Kangerong parish map to indicate when the grant was issued but it may have been in the late 1850's.He was on the property in the first Kangerong Road Board assessment of 1864. He planted a vineyard which was tended by the Counsels.

William also bought land fronting the Esplanade(beach road)and backing onto Palmerston Ave from Arthur St to about Marna St and another (nearly) 38 acres that became the Seacombe Estate adjoining Karadoc. A search of the Nepean Division would be necessary to confirm it, but I suspect that William moved to Rye by 1869. In 1868, he was assessed on 249 acres (Gracefield) and 130 acres (crown allotments 2, 3, 4 and 7, section 1, Kangerong, that is, the land fronting the beach road at Dromana.) By the assessment of 1869,he seems to have sold Gracefield to Henry Young and the beachfront land except the 38 acres near Seacombe St.

William was a grantee on the Beachfront in Rye Township as well.This block is easy to describe as it contains the original section of the Rye Hotel bearing the stone stating "Mrs Hunt, 1927 etc". His daughter,Ellen,married Patrick, son of Dennis Sullivan,who built the Gracefield Hotel on William's grant.In 1927, Mrs Hunt replaced the 80 year old Gracefield and renamed it the Rye Hotel.

It is possible that the Sullivans met the Grace family through Catherine Sullivan who was granted 15AB Wannaeue of 152 acres (Melway 171 B-C 10-11) on 31-10-1858 and probably used Bryan's Cutting (along the eastern boundary of Gracefield), via 171 H1, to have a drink at Watkin's hotel or do her shopping at Holden's nearby store in Dromana. It is due to Melbourne Brindle that I now know where Bryan's Cutting was.

Colin McLear referred to Bryan's Cutting in A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA. John Bryan was thought to actually be Bryan Watson, a deserter from the British army. He moved into Mary Ann McLear's "The Willow" on the Survey when she established Maryfield and later moved to the top of the town common where he was engaged in timber-getting. The cutting, very steep and mainly used by bullock teams, according to Sheila Skidmore in her THE RED HILL, was the closest to the summit of Arthurs Seat. As my Kangerong parish map has the wedge-shaped area adjoining Gracefield on the east (that is now part of Arthurs Seat Park along with the middle third of Gracefield)labelled Gravel Reserve, I was unaware that it was originally the town common.

On page 37 of THE RED HILL, Sheila (who thought it was Brien's Cutting) discussed the three cuttings, William Henry Blakely's Crestmobile and James Holmes' accident in 1913, when Melbourne Brindle would have been about nine years old. The chain came off Holmes' motor buggy, and the brakes failed to prevent the car rolling back over a steep bank and overturning.I thought it obvious that this accident had happened on Eaton's Cutting Rd (Melway 160 E9 to 190 E3, a delightful walk)where Thiele was killed, until I saw Melbourne's map.

On the map, Hillview Quarry Drive (Melway 159 J9) is labelled TO ARTHURSSEAT-BRYANS OLD PLACE. Heading straight uphill from the bend, alongside Grace field's eastern boundary are double dotted lines labelled PATH TO ARTHURS SEAT & TOWER PAST BRYANS. That the land adjoining Gracefield on the east was the town common is proved by Arthur Brindle's application in late 1904 to clear 25 chains on his eastern boundary.

FLINDERS&KANGERONG SHIRE COUNCIL.. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29. Present :-Crs Clark (President), Marsden, Nowlan, Cain, Oswin, Buckley, Shand, Davies, and Shaw. CORRESPONDENCE.(14TH LETTER)From Arthur L. Brindle, Melbourne, requesting permission to clear half a chain along the reserve side of his block, part of the Gracefield Estate, for a distance of 25 chains. - Permission granted.(P6, Mornington Standard, 5-11-1904.)

On Melbourne's map he has an arrow pointing to Hillview Quarry Drive, as it is now known, in other words, Bryan's Cutting,with the text HOLMES' MOTOR BUGGY USED TO CHUG UP HERE.

THE WARNING!(Rather, the warnings!)
A. Don't take anything in rate books as gospel, especially when it involves the Southern Peninsula. The first Flinders Road Board assessment of 1869 stated that almost every ratepayer owned his land and later assessments revealed that many of them were leasing it from the Crown.As in the case of Joseph Simpson of Red Hill, many new residents were overlooked and had to be added in an amendment after councillors had already signed the record. As you will see below, James McKeown was still paying rates on the whole of Gracefield despite the fact that the Brindles had been occupying 30 acres of it for some years.
B. This arises from my trip today (29-1-2013) to deliver the Milleara Railway Station Estate plan to Bob Chalmers. While in the big smoke, I decided to get a Kangerong parish map from the P.R.O.V. for the Dromana Historical Society. It seemed the same as mine but as I was about to write that the date of the issue of the grant for Gracefield was not on the parish map, just on spec, I looked at the map I obtained today. This one did have the date of issue. The second warning is this. There are many versions of parish maps and the one you see may not be the original one. There are maps of the Tullamarine, Doutta Galla and Bulla Bulla parish maps dating from the boom times of the late 1880's which record the names of speculators such as Herman in Tullamarine, and later occupiers of crown allotments such as Gillespie in Doutta Galla.If your ancestor's name appears on a parish map, do not take it for granted that he was a grantee!

OCCUPANCY OF GRACEFIELD.
There is no indication of when William Grace was granted crown allotment 5, section 3 Kangerong on my Kangerong parish map. However as intimated above, the date of issue appears on a reasonably similar map that I obtained today. The date of issue was 9-3-1857. William Grace was assessed on 249 acres and 130 acres of building land from 1864 (the first Kangerong Road Board assessment.) The building land (actually 131 acres 2 roods 6 perches ) was between Arthur St and Marnia St consisting of crown allotments 2-4 section 1 Kangerong,and crown allotment 7 near Seacombe St. These details were unchanged in 1868 but in 1869, William was assessed only on 38 acres. Thus began a search of the whole riding to determine the new occupant of Gracefield.

It was Henry Young who had 249 acres; William Heywood's 250 acres having also been occupied by him in 1868 and Abraham Griffith's 250 acres almost certainly being on the Survey, being a slight increase on the 210 acres of 1868. Whether Henry had bought, or was leasing, from William Grace, he was there also in 1870. In 1871, Gracefield was advertised for sale and seems not to have been assessed.
(My apologies for repeating some information. Submitting edits has been like Russian roulette with so many hours of text lost that I had to check if I had pasted the 1871 advertisement.)

FOR PRIVATE SALE,

VALUABLE FREEHOLD FARM,

GRACEFIELD, DROMANA.
To Capitalists, Vignerons, Agriculturists, and Others. GEMMELL, TUCKETT, and Co. havo received instruction from Mr. R. Kerr, as agent for the proprietor, to OFFER for PRIVATE SALE, at thelr rooms, 49 Collins street west,
All that valuable farm, Gracefield, Dromana,comprising 250 acres of superior land, on the north slope of Arthur's Seat Hill, well fenced, grassed, and abundantly watered, with six- roomod brick house, slate roof,outbuildings, &c, with two roomod cottage, large cellar, &c. Seven acres planted with 1000 trees of the best descriptions of fruit ; eight to nine acres of the choicest vines in full bearing.etc.
(P.2, Argus, 25-2-1871.) A similar advertisement appeared on page 1 of The Age on 4-4-1871, the only real difference being that the printer had forgotten a zero, shrinking Gracefield to 25 acres.

In 1872, Richard Counsel was assessed on 250 acres and a 5 roomed house. His assessment in the previous year had been on 121 acres, almost certainly crown allotment 21A, Kangerong of 121 acres 1 rood and 27 perches, granted to C.Counsel on 27-6-1876, and fronting the north side of McIlroys Rd (No. 146) and including Melway 161 D10. Colin McLear stated that several members of the Counsel family tended the grapevines that William Grace had planted and as the 1872 acreage is right, it can safely be assumed that the Counsels were on Gracefield. (The sixth room in the above advertisement was possibly a kitchen that was detached, so probable fires would not engulf the rest of the house, and not considered in the evaluation.)

In 1884 James McKeown was assessed on 215 acres,Balnarring (i.e. 73 A and B, later known as Glenbower,the name of McKeown's house, and Wildwood.) In 1885, he was assessed on 250 acres, Kangerong (Gracefield)having sold his Balnarring land to the Sheehan family. On 21-9-1903 and 1-9-1904 James McKeown was still assessed on the whole 250 acres of Gracefield and there would be no reason to expect anything else.

(PASTED FROM THE MELBOURNE BRINDLE JOURNAL.)
FLINDERS&KANGERONG SHIRE COUNCIL.. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29. Present :-Crs Clark (President), Marsden, Nowlan, Cain, Oswin, Buck ley, Shand, Davies, and Shaw. CORRESPONDENCE.(14TH LETTER)From Arthur L. Brindle, Melbourne, requesting permission to clear half a chain along the reserve side of his block, part of the Gracefield Estate, for a distance of 25 chains. - Permission granted.(P6, Mornington Standard, 5-11-1904.)

Dromana, with its unsurpassed beach and beautiful fern gullies, is becoming more popular every year as a healthful holiday resort for visitors, a number of city doctors have spent their holidays here this season, and they commend it as being one of the healthiest watering places along the bay. A good inquiry has set in for township allotments, and some prominent city gentlemen have secured blocks. Brindle Bros., decorators, have purchased some of the Gracefield estate, and have commenced to build a residence.
(P.5, Mornington Standard, 18-2-1905.)

One would expect the acreage on which James McKeown was assessed to drop by 30 acres (the Brindles' "Sunnyside") by the 1905 assessment, but no, it was not until 1910 that any adjustment was made.Part of the problem was that the Brindle land was called "allotment and building, Dromana". If it had been described properly (as Cr Terry demanded)a need to reduce the "Gracefield" acreage would have been more evident.

In 1910 James McKeown was to be again assessed on 250 acres but 250 has been crossed out and changed to 22 acres, part 5 section 3. In the 1915 assessment still had the 22 acres and buildings and another 10 acres in crown allotment 5 section 3.

McKEOWN.-On the 10th March, at Gracefield, Dromana, James McKeown, aged 89 years.(P.11, Argus, 13-3-1920.)
James must have been in a bad way at the time of the 1919 assessment because Mrs Catherine Townsend McKeown was assessed on the 32 acres on c/a 5 section 3. The rate collector must have assumed that James had already died or he would have written Catherine's name as Mrs James McKeown; a female ratepayer's name was not recorded with her own given names unless she was a spinster or a widow.

WHO HAD THE REST OF GRACEFIELD FROM 1910?
By 1910 it can be assumed that Arthur Brindle had the whole 30 acres of "Sunnyside" because the observant 6+ year old Melbourne would surely have mentioned it if his father had added another 10 acres or so afterwards. James McKeown had 22 acres (or perhaps 32 if he also had the 10 acre block assessed in 1915.) Therefore we are looking for a ratepayer assessed on an unspecified 200 or 190 acres in Kangerong. George Robert Dyson had 203 acres Kangerong and Henry George Chapman, Dromana's blacksmith had 204 acres and buildings, Kangerong.

In 1919, Henry George Chapman had almost 24 of the 35 acre c/a 4, section 1, Kangerong between Pier St and roughly Marna St. He was also assessed on 101 acres, part 27A, Kangerong. C/A 27A consisted only of 51 acres and 24 perches so what the rate collector should have written is: 101 acres 27A and 27B,the latter being exactly 50 acres. crown allotments 27A and 27B, at the north east corner of Harrisons and Dunns Creek Rds, had been granted to George Peatey, but he found it too wet for farming so he and wife, Susan, moved to a 2 acre block at the south corner of Jetty Rd and McDowell St in Rosebud in 1888. (PINE TREES AND BOX THORNS, Rosalind Peatey.) It is likely the blacksmith's land in 1910 included these 125 acres and that he did not occupy the bulk of Gracefield at that time.

This leaves George Robert Dyson as the only possible occupant of the bulk of Gracefield in 1910. The 1919 ratebook entry seemed to show that he had 303 acres in crown allotment 3 section 3 (at least that's what I wrote in my transcription.) The handwriting was so terrible that I sometimes took five minutes before I could hazard a guess about what a letter or numeral was, so the actual translation could be 203acres, c/a 5 section 3. Incidentally,the Brindles left in November 1918 and I could find no mention of Sunnyside (30 acres, crown allotment 5, section 3 or its new occupant.

Is there any evidence to indicate that George Robert Dyson could have been on Gracefield in 1919, and by extension 1910? "Charlie Dyson's son, George, planted two orchards flanking the upper reaches of Pier St. In the 1930's many of the apple trees were still there but the land has been subdivided and formed the Panoramic Estate...." (Colin McLear, P.84.) The Panoramic Estate, with street names indicating views of Macedon, the You Yangs etc is on the east side of Jetty Rd, being c/a 12, section 1 of 62 acres on which George Robert Dyson was also assessed in 1919.According to Melbourne Brindle's map and Colin, George Dyson's house was on the west corner of Jetty Rd(a road that probably did not exist or was a continuation of Pier St in name as well as actuality, hence Colin's "upper reaches of Pier St".)It appears that Jetty Rd was called Pier St.

DYSON.-On July 27, at Dromana Bush Nursing Hospital, George Robert Dyson, ofPier street, Dromana, dearly loved husband of the late Mary Dyson, loving father of Bob, dearly loved grandfather of Mary (Mrs Jenkins), aged 79 years.(P.2, Argus,28-7-1944.)

George Dyson was connected to James McKeown as a result of Bill Dyson marrying Edie McKeown. Bill, known as "Squeaker", was a son of George's brother, Jack,if I interpret page 84 of A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA correctly.

THE WARNING .
Armed with shire of Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows rates and Maribrynong, Doutta Galla, Jika Jika, Tullamarine, Bulla Bulla and Yuroke parish maps,(all of which I thought I had put into safe hands when I moved to Rosebud), I was able to specify exactly the boundaries of farms in a triangle bounded by North Braybrook Township (south part of Avondale Heights), Goonawarra near Sunbury and Roxburgh Park.

As in the case of the Flinders Road Board from 1869 to 1874, these shires listed ratepayers geographically so as I scrolled through their names, I could trace the rate collector's "mental" location on the parish map. Even if the location of farms was not specified (crown allotments), I knew exactly where they were. If someone sold or leased the farm, the new occupant would be listed between the same neighbours as the old one had. If a crown grant was leased in parts, it was not difficult for the rate collector to check acreages of parts to ensure that they added up to that given on the parish map.

Peter Nowlan was the first secretary of The Shire of Flinders and Kangerong in 1875. Living in the Flinders Road District he may have had a hand in deciding that its ratepayers would be listed geographically in 1869. The Kangerong Road Board was the senior partner in the merger to form the shire in 1874. The first undated (possibly 1963) page of (parish of) Kangerong Division which survived to be recorded on microfiche starts with: Mathews. McLear, McCrea Doctor, Marshall, Moat, McLear, Mitchell etc. This was obviously an attemptto use alphabetical order (and spell correctly!)

Matthews should be after Mc and the two McLear entries should follow each other, so you can see that the idea of alphabetical listings was causing problems, even with a very small number of ratepayers. Not one property was specified so that its location could be determined, the closest approach being the use of Dromana, Red Hill or Survey.If you were recording all the people at a meeting, how would you like to do it alphabetically?
Alphabetical listing is great if you are researching a particular family from year to year or if a rate collector had to check a ratepayer's claim that he had already paid his rates. But it imposed an enormous extra workload! Once subdivisions such as Warrawee started, the number of ratepayers exploded and to have assessments ready on time, the previous year's record was laboriously copied (including errors which often persisted for years)with any changes shown by crossing out the old name and replacing it with that of the new
ratepayer.

I believe a strong-willed councillor from the Kangerong Road Board area (Kangerong, Fingal, Wannaeue and Nepean parishes), someone like John Cain, persuaded the first shire council to adopt alphabetical listing. The workload that resulted is probably the reason that rate collectors did not have time to worry about the exact location of the properties or to record changes in property size.

The case of the assessments of Arthur Brindle and James McKeown illustrate the lack of information about property location and size. Surely if Brindle's property had been described as house and 30 acres, "Sunnyside", part crown allotment 5, section 3, Kangerongin 1905, and McKeown's had previously been 2 houses and 250 acres, "Gracefield", crown allotment 5, section 3, Kangerong , the penny would have dropped prompting the rate collector to ask James McKeown what was going on. It would also be nice to have documentary proof that George Dyson had the other 188 acres of Gracefield!

The warning is "Don't believe everything you see in ratebooks." Was the early 1905 par about the Brindle Brothers buying part of the Gracefield Estate wrong? Was Melbourne Brindle's map showing "Sunnyside" east of the McKeown house on crown allotment 5, section 3, Kangerong wrong? You'd think so if you believed the rate collector!

MELBOURNE BRINDLE.
Information about this Dromana-bred artist can be found readily on the internet but for those without computers, the first paragraph of his biography is included here.

Ewart Melbourne Brindle was born in 1904 in the city in Australia from which he took his name. His father was a well-known painter and his son soon showed the family talent. When he was a boy, his family emigrated to the West Coast of the United States where young Brindle continued his education. He began his career as an illustrator for a local department store and later with an advertising agency. His work on the Hawaiian tourism account brought him attention and two New York Art Directors Gold Medals.ETC.

In his memoirs below, Ewart mentions his natural total visual recall. As well as commercial art, Melbourne produced a map of sunken treasure on the American coast. Another map that perfectly illustrates his total visual recall was done in his studio in Connecticut, U.S.A. in 1947, 29 years after leaving Dromana. This shows such details as the house of Miss Noble,a good golfer,the house of Bob Dyson who married Elizabeth Talent (Rankine's assistant),the house on the Dromana Hub site of Mrs Jute, whose husband was a prisoner in Germany (W.W.1) and who extracted a promise from Ewart, that he would continue his art career,just before the family left for America.The Brindle house was near the present Sayvon Court. Unlaminated, this fascinating map is available from the Dromana Historical Society for a trifle. Ewart's dad made some signs painted on
skins to be placed at The Rocks (Anthony's Nose) where the danger of fast-moving oncoming traffic on the narrow road was often brought to council's attention.(Trove.) The signs said:DANGER GO DEAD SLOW.

The 1910 rates describe Arthur Brindle as a decorator and he was assessed on "land and buildings,part allotment 5,section 3, 30 acres." This land was on Gracefield of 249 acres, established by William Grace, whose grant was bounded on the west by Caldwell Rd and extended east to the gravel reserve, now part of Arthurs Seat Park. Gracefield Ave recalls the name of the original 249 acre farm. Scott St is on the eastern part of Gracefield and the southern third became a sanctuary for native "game" and, strangely,later, the Seahaze estate of Sir Thomas Travers,a renowned Melbourne surgeon who bought the Chapman family's Seawinds and installed the Ricketts carvings. Rankine and pupils would have done their birdwatching in the short-lived sanctuary.

Vera mentions Grammar School. I believe this refers to grades 7 and 8 at Dromana State School. Most children aimed to obtain their merit certificate at the end of grade 8 and only a handful went to Frankston High. Eventually, not all schools had grades 7 and 8, but Central Schools were set up at places like Princes Hill, Moonee Ponds and Kensington and grades 7 and 8 were renamed forms 1 and 2.

I believe jacks involved a jack placed on the back of the hand being propelled into the air, twisting the wrist so that the palm faced up, and catching it, with the aim being to do it with multiple jacks.

These memories were written on five sheets of unlined paper and it seems that Ewart and Vera were frightened of running out of paper. The liberty has been taken of leaving spaces between paragraphs to make the following easier to read. The building described, of which two pictures appear in A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA, served from 1-5-1877 until it burnt down on 25-2-1950. A.L.Brindle was the correspondent of the first school committee which obtained a cloakroom in 1912.The schoolday ended at 3:30,not 4:30. Brindle might have been confused because of his own children's hours in America. Other indications that most of his life had been spent in America are the use of "through" in paragraph 3 and the spelling of centre in paragraph 5.He also calls the
Mechanics' Institute the Town Hall. But he still had a lot of Aussie in him!

NOVEMBER 1981, DROMANA STATE SCHOOL No.184-AS WE KNEW IT, 1910-1919
EWART MELBOURNE BRINDLE -VERA GRACE VICTORIA BRINDLE.
Ewart Brindle was born in Melbourne in 1904.Vera Brindle was born in Melbourne in 1909. Our father, Arthur Llewellyn and our mother, Grace Ellen, came to Australia in the 1870's, father from Wales, mother from England. The Brindle family came to Dromana in 1904,the year I was born. Seven children were born between 1899 and 1914.

Our home "Sunnyside" was in the centre of a large parcel of land fronting on Boundary Road. The present Scott Street is on our driveway. We children all went barefoot all year round.We walked to school about a mile away across several paddocks. Wewalked home again for lunch as no provision for lunches was possible at the school at that time.I think that school hours were from 9 to 4:30. 184 was a one room schoolhouse made of large blocks of granite.It was covered with ivy. It had diamond mullioned windows leaded in a diamond pattern.

The grades were kindergarten through the 8th grade. W.M.Rankine was our headmaster who had a girl assistant, Elizabeth Talent, who taught the two lower grades. Strict discipline had to be observed in those days. Rankine insisted on complete silence whilst studying. Of course other grades may be discussing something, in which case we had to mentally screen out the noise. That was the way it was in those days.Any whispering or talking, however quietly, was rewarded with two knuckled fingers applied generously, with vigour to the victim's temple. Any further offences were punished with the cane whizzed down with lightning speed on the pupil's outstretched hand.

The fourth paragraph of Melbourne's memoirs will replace the first shortly.

Melbourne's map, copies of the handwritten memoirs and my typed copy of Ewart and and Vera's memoirs(with background and explanatory notes) can be purchased at a trifling price from the Dromana Historical Society.

Note: Handwritten copies are also available for purchase. Spelling errors have not been corrected.

MELBOURNE BRINDLE'S MAP.
The aim here is not to show you the map but to let you know what is on it, itemise the pioneers mentioned,the location of whose properties is indicated precisely on the map in most cases, to give you background information about some of the items mentioned and for those who need specs, to reproduce Brindle's exact text to help you in case you can't make out some of the words.

The map is drawn as if Brindle is standing on the end of the pier so the top of the map is south east, not north. Palmerston Avenue, Pier St and Jetty Rd meet almost in the middle of the map. (The Freeway follows the course of Palmerston Ave, just as it follows Cape Schanck Road through Rosebud.) Brindle shows a bend in Palmerston Ave west from the Jetty Rd corner to Boundary Rd and as these three roads were probably un-named tracks and there was a large waterhole in the Palmerston Ave/Boundary Rd/McCulloch St angle, the dogleg shown may be evidence of Brindle's incredible total visual recall, rather than the mistake I first thought it was.

Because Brindle has only shown Boundary Rd to about Mary St (which did not exist when Brindle left), this left most of the top left quarter of the map blank, and he has used this to write the following in a box.

THIS MAP PRESENTED TO "ERNIE" RUDDOCK.. MY ONE TIME "EMPLOYER"...(FILLING BOTTLES WITH WATER GLASS...HELPING MR GILL IN BAKERY...AND SWIPING SULTANAS ON THE SLY!) TO BE SHARED WITH THE PEOPLE OF DROMANA...PARTICULARLY THOSE WITH WHOM I WENT TO SCHOOL WHEREVER THEY MAY BE.

TO NAME A FEW...HARRY "CROOK" PARRELL, SAM McLEAR, TED WHITE, TOM "SINGLEY" SINGLETON (SQUEAKER), BOB "SPOOP" DYSON, BUNNEY DYSON, "CRAP" HAZIE, ALEC CLYDIE, STAN EVANS, ALLAN CHAPMAN,ERNIE SHAW, MAURIE SHAW, (BARNIE O'CONNOR, LEO O'CONNOR- SUMMER ONLY, OLD TOWN HALL), ROGER JONES, HECTOR KENT, ROYAL RICKETTS, CLARENON RICKETTS, ROODY RICKETTS, WALLACE RANKINE, ALEC PATTERSON (AT MS WARRENS), BILL DYSON, ARCHIE SHAW, BILL CLYDESDALE ETC. (See notes on these later.)

I FEEL THIS MAP IS PRETTY WELL PROPORTIONED AS FAR WEST AS HEALE (HEEL) STREET. FROM THERE ON WEST I HAD TO COMPRESS IT (IN ORDER TO GET MY UNCLE INTO THE PICTURE!) IF I WERE DOING IT OVER I'D MAKE THE THREE BLOCKS
FROM SCHEEANS TO KIDGELLS ALL THE SAME WIDTH WHICH I'M SURE THEY ARE. MEMORY GETS A BIT "FUZZY"ON CERTAIN POINTS AFTER 40 YEARS.
BUT THIS I DO REMEMBER...H6 WAS A GOOD DRIVE PROBABLY 225 YARDS. AS SHOWN HERE IT LOOKS THE SHORTEST OF ALL HOLES...ACTUALLY H's 3 & 7 WERE THE SHORTEST.

MELBOURNE'S SCHOOLMATES AND THEIR FAMILIES.
(Many details come from Colin McLear's A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA.

Ewart had total visual recall but that only works when you see something. He had probably never seen the name Rudduck in writing. Rudduck, Ruddock and Karadoc (the 103 acre farm now containing Karadoc St and extending to Ponderosa Pl.) all come from the same stem meaning "red breast". The same (re spelling) applies to the surname, Sheehan.

Ernie was the son of 1871 pioneer, Nelson Rudduck, and became a shopkeeper like his father, also building a shop at Rosebud which was run by others. Father and son were very prominent Methodists and Rechabites.

PARRELL should be Farrell. Harry was probably the son of A.W.Farrell, Shire Secretary of the Shire of Flinders, and brother of Eddie Farrell, a member of Dromana premiership footy team of 1931.

The McLears were Survey residents from about 1851 and Mary Ann, a widow bought Maryfield in about 1860. Her 49 year old son,George, married 25 year old Emmaline Newstead in 1890 and Sam, their seventh child,was born on 25-10-1904; he died on 22-12-1980.


Tom Singleton was probably the grandson of John Singleton, a Dromana resident by 1864 and the sixth child of James and June Singleton who lived in Verdon St, as did Tom who worked in Wilson's Rosebud butcher shop (which is why he played in early Rosebud footy teams.)

Charlie Dyson was also a Dromana resident by 1864. His son George(the founder of Dyson's Buslines) seems to have been the father of Bob, (who drove for him), and Jack,another of Charlie's sons who worked for Wilsons, was the father of "Bunny" (John), and "Squeaker" (Bill.) It seems that Ewart has called the wrong person Squeaker; it did seem strange that Tom had two nicknames.Bob Dyson and "Crap" Hazeldine probably had accidents early in their scholastic careers because they were too scared to ask permission to go to the toilet; Bob's nickname was probably the answer to: "What's in ya pants, Bob?"

Crap Hazey was probably the son of the man whose obituary follows.
OBITUARY MR. J. W. HAZELDINE. The death occurred on Friday of Mr. Joseph William Hazeldine, aged 82 years, at his residence, Dromana. Mr. Hazeldine settled in the Dromana district 48 years ago and was a State school teacher at Rosebud for nine years. He was a teacher in the service of the Education Department for 28 years. Until his death he was registrar of births and deaths at Dromana. The funeral took place on Saturday. Requiem mass was celebrated by the Rev. Father O'Sullivan, who also read the burial service. Burial took place in the Dromana cemetery. The casket was carried by his six sons. The pall-bearers were Cr Wilson, Messrs. A. W. Farrell, L. Carrigg, J. Matthews, A. Cooper, B. Wilson, J. Moraes, and G. Brown. The funeral was conducted by Mr Hector Gamble, of Frankston. Mr. Hazeldine leaves six sons and four daughters.
(P.1, Frankston and Somerville Standard, 30-8-1935.) Hazeldine probably knew John Lima Moraes from Rosebud as Moraes occupied William Hobley's land there.

Alec Clydie and Bill Clydesdale were grandsons of James Clydesdale, a Survey tenant by 1860. Bill, son of James Jnr and Charlie Dyson's daughter,was killed at Gallipoli. As Colin McLear did not list Alec among the children of James Jnr and Alec (b.1874)who married a Cleine girl had no children, Alec (born about 1904 I assume)must have been a son of Harry Clydesdale.
MORE ABOUT HIS MATES.
STAN EVANS. On page 46 of A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA Colin tells of an occasion when Henry McLear and Stan Evans were making sausages at Wilson's butcher shop in McCulloch St ( on the west side 3/4 of the way between the Esplanade and Hodgkinson St where Melbourne shows a house labelled Ben Wilson, which is Beauvoir,with the shop adjoining it on the inland side.)On page45, Colin said that Godfrey Wilson built the house and shopin the late 1800's and on page 46, where there is a photo of the shop,that Ben and Sam Wilson relocated the shop to the Esplanade in 1934. Young Ralph Wilson and Bill Evans Jnr tired of supervising the horse that was driving the mincer and an amusing incident occurred. This incident happened prior to 1934 so the following shows that Stan worked for the Wilsons for some time.

DROMANA Mr. Stan Evans, an employee of B. and S Wilson, had a nasty accident during the past week. In course of his duties as a butcher his skinning knife slipped, and he received a nasty laceration in his forearm. Twenty-three stitches were inserted in the wound.(P.4,Standard,21-8-1947.)Stan would not have been able to continue his fine record of service with the Dromana (fire) brigade (recognised at the Brigade's smoke night) for a while.(P.4, Standard, 17-7-1947.)

HERE'S A SCOOP! This happened shortly after Melbourne Brindle's family settled in Dromana. Stan Evans must have been one or two years older than Melbourne, who was born in 1904.H.W.Wilson would have been Henry William Burdett Coutts Wilson, grandson of the original bullocky-turned-butcher Henry William Wilson and Thamer (nee Burdett), and son of Godfrey and Maria (nee Stenniken.) The slaughteryard referred to would have to be the one Melbourne drew on his map. Henry Wilson swapped occupation with George McLear prior to 1867; Henry became a butcher, slaughtering on the McLears' Maryfield and George became a bullocky, supplying timber to Peter Pidot(a/o)near Sheepwash Creek.Henry later established a slaughteryard and holding paddock on the 45 acres
bounded by Pier St, the freeway (Palmerston Ave), Arthur St and Gibson St. The Wilsons later had slaughter yards on the area including the Blairgowrie shops, where several streets bear names written earlier in this paragraph, and on the north west of the highway at Melway 160 H5. Thus the new slaghteryard was the third of 5 and under construction at the time of Melbourne's arrival and would be the one shown on Melbourne's map.

As the 1910 and 1919 rates are completely unhelpful.I must trust Melbourne's power of observation as to where the near-drowning occurred. He shows an old brick kiln almost due north of "Shaws" and about 3/4 of the way to Palmerston Ave.Wilson's slaughter yard is halfway between the Esplanade and Palmerston Ave in a sou-sou-easterly direction from Shaw's Kangerong. In 1910, Archibald Vine Shaw was assessed on 37 acres but in 1919, he only paid rates on 18 acres of crown allotment 6, section 1 Kangerong,the eastern 19 acres seemingly not having been assessed unless listed elsewhere as a subdivision. Crown allotment 7 was granted to William Grace of Gracefield and became the Seacombe Estate. I believe the third slaughteryard, drawn by Melbourne and the site of the near drowning, was on this Seacombe Estate. In 1900, H.W.Wilson was assessed on 1 lot and building, Dromana and 5 acres leased from Thompson. By 1910,W.E.Thompson of Brighton was assessed on 6 acres,probably the same land,and Henry Wilson of Sorrentohad 100 acres, Kangerong. The third slaughteryard was no longer of any use to Henry if he was at Sorrento. This was probably why the Blairgowrie slaughteryard was established.

Holding Melbourne's map with east at the top it looks like an arched window, which didn't make any sense to me until I realised that Palmerston Avenue did not extend east to Pt. Nepean Rd (as the freeway does) but, instead, fed into Ponderosa Place, the boundary between Karadoc and Glenholme. The Slaughteryard in the following tale involving little Stanley Evans would be near the corner of Seacombe and Charles St.John Townsend, a carpenter according to the rate book, was most likely building the slaughter house or associated fencing.He was certainly a pioneer of MOUTH TO MOUTH.

Harold Wilson, eldest son of Mr and Mrs H. W. Wilson. of M'Culloch street, Dromana, had a very narrow escape from drowning last Saturday week. It appears the little fellow, in company with a small lad named Stanley Evans, was playing on the banks of a waterhole close to where Mr. Wilson is erecting his new slaughter house, and in some way he slipped into the hole, which had at least 5 feet of water in it. The other boy being un- able to render his unfortunate play mate any assistance, had the presence of mind to run down to where Mr Townsend and the Messrs Wilsons were at work, and informed them what had happened. They immediately hurried to the hole. Seeing no trace of the child, the father plunged in, and succeeded in bringing to the surface what he considered was the lifeless body of his son. However, Mr Townsend,who acted with judgment,was quickly at work, vigorously blowing his warm breath into the little fellow's lungs, until he slowly began to regain consciousness. Mr.G.M'Lear, who lives close to where the accident happened, was sent for, and rendered valuable assistance, but had it not been for the artificial respiration resorted to by Mr Townsend, it is doubtful whether the boy would have recovered.(P.5, Mornington Standard,10-12-1904.)






MORE ABOUT THE MAP.



BRINDLE ON TROVE.
As Ewart said that he'd compressed his map west of Heales St to fit in his uncle, and Harold Legge was that uncle, I expected to find this.
BRINDLE?LEGGE. ?On the 20th April, at the Congregational Church, Kew, by the Rev. R. A.Betts, Arthur Llewellyn, youngest son of William Brindle, Glenferrie, to Grace Ellen ("Gracie"), youngest daughter of Nathan Legge, of Kew.(P.5, Argus, 13-5-1899.)

Melbourne says the Brindles moved to Dromana in 1904, but they were spending time there by 1902, possibly staying at the house of Harold Legge, a Hawthorn dentist,who was most likely Grace's brother.
DROMANA. A most successful concert took place in the Mechanics' Institute on Saturday night last, in aid of the prize fund of the local State School. The hall was packed and several were unable to gain admission. The first item on the programme was the " Soldiers in the Park," from the " Runaway Girl," by the Federated Entertaining Company. Mrs Brindle, of Kew, sang "Never more," which was well received.
(P.3, Mornington Standard, 22-3-1902.)
Grace's sister seems to have performed in 1903.
DROMANA, - Dromana was crowded with visitors during Christmas week. All the cottages, hotel, and boarding houses were full, and a large number were unable to obtain accommodation. A very successful entertainment in aid of the Mallee Relief Fund was given in the Mechanics'Institute on Boxing night, by the " White Hat Clique." The first portion of the programme was devoted to songs, which were contributed by Mrs Brindle, Miss L. T. Legge , Messrs Morris, Lilley, Walker and Brindle. The last portion was taken up by a minstrel entertainment, in which Messrs Morris, Slack, S. Reid, L. Reid, Muimmse, Legge, Walker and Lilley took part. (P.4, Mornington Standard, 10-1-1903.)


According to the ratebook and Melbourne's map, the Brindle land was located on Gracefield, but they may have resided in Harold Legge's holiday house for a while.
FLINDERS&KANGERONG SHIRE COUNCIL.. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29. Present :-Crs Clark (President), Marsden, Nowlan, Cain, Oswin, Buck ley, Shand, Davies, and Shaw. CORRESPONDENCE.(14TH LETTER)From Arthur L. Brindle, Melbourne, requesting permission to clear half a chain along the reserve side of his block, part of the Gracefield Estate, for a distance of 25 chains. - Permission granted.(P6, Mornington Standard, 5-11-1904.)

Dromana, with its unsurpassed beach and beautiful fern gullies, is becoming more popular every year as a healthful holiday resort for visitors, a number of city doctors have spent their holidays here this season, and they commend it as being one of the healthiest watering places along the bay. A good inquiry has set in for township allotments, and some prominent city gentlemen have secured blocks. Brindle Bros., decorators, have purchased some of the Gracefield estate, and have commenced to build a residence.
(P.5, Mornington Standard, 18-2-1905.)

BRINDLE. ?On the 14th May, at Mrs. Graham's private hospital, 492 Lygon-street, Carlton, to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur L. Brindle, "Sunnyside," Dromana ?a daughter.(P.13, Argus, 6-6-1908.)

James McKeown bought Gracefield when he sold his grants in Red Hill to Sheehan and moved to Dromana circa 1890.He died at Gracefield soon afer the Brindles left for America.
McKEOWN.-On the 10th March, at Gracefield, Dromana, James McKeown, aged 89 years.(P.11, Argus, 13-3-1920.)

The Brindles were heavily involved in community activities, Arthur being secretary of the school committee, making DANGER GO SLOW signs for The Rocks, and helping to build the road to Arthurs Seat and the tower (that the proceeds of the Grand Ball of 1928 and Spencer Jackson's efforts may have only improved in 1929.)
While mentioning Dromana's great promoter, it is interesting that Spencer Jackson was not Dromana's first visionary, Arthur Llwellyn Brindle was. On page 4 of the Mornington Standard of 26-8-1911, is a report of a speech given by Arthur at a meeting at the Mechanics' Hall with ideas to advance Dromana. Practically every word in the digitised version needs correction so I'll leave you to read the article. Two ideas to make Dromana more attractive to tourists arriving on steamers were conveyances on tracks along the jetty to
carry them the quarter mile to shore and an open tram to carry them along the Esplanade. Uncluttering the pier, providing playground equipment,and improving neatness, the lending library and the road to the tower were other ways to advance Dromana.

HILL HILLIS AND HIS RELATIVES, INCLUDING THE TWO BOB WHITES.
According to Colin McLear in A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA, Hill Hillis settled at Red Hill in 1855. His wife, Sarah, was a sister of James McKeown, a pioneer of Red Hill and Dromana. His son, William James Hillis,was a grantee
in the parish of Wannaeue and his sisters, Margaret and Hadassah, both married Blooming Bob White. Blooming Bob's sister Janet had a child by a James lad and because he was born before they could get a minister to marry them, the boy's birth certificate gave his name as Robert White.He grew up as Robert James and was granted land under that name. When he was to marry Hannah Roberts, he discovered his birth name and, probably
angry about being kept in the dark, became Robert White. To prevent confusion with his uncle, he became known as Bullocky Bob White.It seems that William James Hillis moved to Trafalgar in late 1898, three years after his father died.

HILL HILLIS

Hillis, Hill b. 1817 d. 1895 Dromana Victoria Gender: Male
(Parents: Father: Hillis, Frank Mother: Collins, Margaret)

Spouse: McKeown, Sarah b. 1822 d. 1900 Dromana Victoria Gender: Female
(Parents:Father: McKeown, William Mother: Collings, Mary Ann )

Children: Hillis, William James; Hillis, Mary Ann; Hillis, Sarah Jane; Hillis, Odessa (b. 1864 Victoria
Gender: Female); Hillis, Hadassah


Hillis, Frank Spouse: Collins, Margaret Children:Hillis, Hill

McIlroy, Joseph Marriage: 1877
Spouse: Hillis, Sarah Jane b. 1857 Belfast d. 1898 Dromana Victoria
Parents:Father: Hillis, Hill Mother: McKeown, Sarah


Davey,
Spouse: Hillis, Mary Ann b. 1846 d. 1920 Malvern Melbourne
Parents: Father: Hillis, Hill Mother: McKeown, Sarah


White, Robert
Marriage: 1899
Spouse: Hillis, Hadassah b. 1864 d. 1927 Prahran Melbourne
Parents:Father: Hillis, Hill Mother: McKeown, Sarah

SOURCE:LUGTON FAMILY AND CONNECTIONS.) Thank you Tony Lugton!

The geographic reason for the marital relationship between the three Hillis girls and the McIlroy, Davey and White
families will be explained under the heading THE HILLIS LAND.

Colin McLear throws more light on the Hillis-McKeown connection but the name of Hill Hillis's wife will need to be checked.
( A spiral-bound book containing information about Dromana families in the Dromana Historical Society museum states that
James McKeown married Catherine Townsend Hill who was born in 1843. Her parents details are given and, if I remember
correctly,she was born at Tower Hill. This meant that she was about 20 when she married.)

On page 86 of A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA,Colin stated:
James McKeown migrated to New Zealand in 1853 and then to Warrnambool in 1856. His sister, Mary,had married
Hill Hillis in Ireland in 1846 and migrated to Red Hill in 1855 and taken up farming.


The following were found in a search for the death notice of Hill Hillis's wife/widow (to ascertain whether her given name
was Sarah or Mary.)
HILLIS- WISEMAN.---On the 1st November, at tho Presbyterian Church, Dandenong, by the Rev. H. A. Buntine,
George P. third son of W. J. Hillis, Trafalgar, to Ethel D., only daughter of the late James Wiseman, Ascot Vale,
and sister of T.B . Wiseman, Bass.(P.59, Leader, Melbourne, 8-12-1917.)

HILLIS?WISEMAN. ?Mr. and Mrs. G. P. Hillis announce with pleasure the 25th anniversary of their marriage,
celebrated on November 1, 1917. (Present address, 3 Hastings street, Burwood.)
(
Although there seems to be no connection to the Red Hill area, I am extremely confident that there is!James Wiseman might
have been one of the Wiseman brothers who built the mirror-image mansions in Glenroy circa 1890 to give prestige to the
"Toorak of the North" but it is more likely that he was the Red Hill blacksmith who had lived across the road from Hill
Hillis over half a century before this marriage.Unless my transcription is faulty, William James Hillis (Hill's oldest
child) was no longer occupying his grants (23AB, Wannaeue) in 1900 and the first mention in trove of Hillis in Trafalgar
was in 1899.

THE HILLIS LAND.
The Kangerong Road Board had jurisdiction over the parishes of Kangerong ( basically the area between Port Phillip Bay
and Arthurs Seat/Red Hill Rds) and Wannaeue, Fingal and Nepean to the west of Mornington-Flinders Rd/south part of Main
Creek.To the east and south of Kangerong was the parish of Balnarring which was part of the Flinders Road District, formed
about five years later, with residents first assessed on 8-6-1869.

William J.Hillis was assessed on 60 acres, Dromana in 1872. This was a very poor description of the land by the Kangerong
Road Board rate collector because the land was near the corner of McIlroys and White Hill Rd,(Melway 190K1) crown allotments
18B and 18D Kangerong, of 59 acres 3 roods and 14 perches, granted to poor noseless Briant Ringrose.The battle axe block was
south of Henry Dunn's "Four Winds"of 60 acres at the south corner of McIlroys and White Hill Rds. Although it had a small
frontage to White Hill Rd, it had a northern boundary of 564 acres and adjoined Arkwell's land to the south.

This was the land on which William Hillis operated as Red Hill's first butcher as mentioned in THE BUTCHER, THE BAKER, THE.
At this time, William's sister,Sarah Jane, was about 15 and was no doubt taking interest in the opposite sex, especially
Joseph McIlroy, a neighbour whom she married five years later.
(Incidentally, Tony Lugton's genealogy shows that Sarah Jane was born in Belfast in 1857 so Colin McLear's claim
that Hill came to Red Hill in 1855 is wrong; he may have immigrated soon after Sarah's birth in 1857.Colin's information
probably came from an elderly pioneer rather than documents so Hill's wife was probably Sarah McKeown rather than Mary.
N.B. cOLIN COULD HAVE BEEN RIGHT AFTER ALL,AS EXPLAINED BELOW.)

The Ringrose grant was occupied from 1873 by Francis Hirst, William possibly selecting land in Wannaeue at that time.
The Kangerong and Flinders Road Boards merged to form the Shire of Flinders and Kangerong, Shire Secretary, Peter Nowlan's
first assessment in late 1875 being a model of calligraphy and detail, which few others emulated.Hill Hillis was assessed on
54 acres and two-roomed house, Balnarring,and William Hillis on 153 acres in Wannaeue,leased from the Crown. Although Hill's
farm was the first farm held by the family, I will deal with it last because of its probable influence on James McKeown's
move from Warrnambool to Red Hill.

William Hillis was granted his 153 acres and 36 perches, Wannaeue on 10-12-1885.Fronting Whites and Main Creek Rds, and
indicated by Melway 171 J-K 5-6, this was crown allotment 23B.His neighbour across Main Creek Rd (Melway 190 part A, B 5-6)
was James Davey Jnr, who was probably the husband of William's sister, Mary Ann. On 12-11-1888, William Hillis received the
grant for the adjoining crown allotment 23A of 59 acres 3 roodsand 34 perches(Melway 171 H6) between 23B and Wilsons Rd,this
road giving access at the south west corner.

The name of Whites Rd possibly indicates that Robert White, who married William's sisters,(Margaret and) Hadassah, may have
occupied William Hillis's farm in about 1920 but it could have received the name because the Whites(Ernest V., Robert, Robert
G, Albert C.) used the road as a short cut from Purves Rd to their farms on JAMES DAVEY JNR'S grant(28A Wannaeue) across
Main Creek Rd.

Robert White Jnr (who married two Hillis girls) had owned crown allotment 18,Wannaeue at Rosebud, bounded by Pt Nepean Rd,
Adams Ave, Eastbourne Rd and Jetty Rd, from 1875 until 1892. Robert's sons,Robert and William, (possibly named after his
mother's brother) were among the original pupils enrolled at Rosebud State School on its opening day in September, 1884,
according to P.15 of Peter Wilson's ON THE ROAD TO ROSEBUD.Robert's father, Robert had owned a Rosebud Fishing Village
allotment across Pt Nepean Rd from crown allotment 18. It was crown allotment 11, the second block east of the access road
to the Rosebud jetty.

Toolaroo is the great grandson of Robert and Hadassah White's daughter, Vera Florence. Here are some of his findings.

On 26-7-1877, Robert White Jnr (who owned crown allotment 18, Wannaeue at Rosebud) married Margaret Hillis, daughter
of Hill Hillis and Sarah McKeowan (sic), aged 25, at Mornington. Margaret had been born in Antrim, Ireland.

Margaret died in 1888 and on 15-3-1899 Robert Jnr married Margaret's sister, Hadassah at Red Hill. Notice that Margaret
Hillis is not included in Tony Lugton's list of the children of Hill Hillis and Sarah (McKeown.)

Robert White senior, a shoemaker, was born in Clackmannon,Scotland on 31-8-1804 and married Elizabeth Russell in 1829. With
his children, including Robert Jnr, he arrived in Australia aboard the John Linn on 20-6-1859. Robert Snr died on 25-4-1881
at Menstrie Hill, Rosebud.It is possible that Robert Snr had spent a few years at Robert, David and Alexander Cairns'
"Little Scotland"(Melway 170 B11) at Boneo, renting a hut from them and helping them to quarry and burn lime; the Cairns
family was also from Clackmannon and a Robert White was assessed on a hut owned by the Cairns brothers on 3-9-1864.
(I had initially thought that this Robert White was a member of the pioneering Irish Sorrento/Rye limeburning family but
it is just as likely that Robert White Snr had known the Cairns brothers in Clackmannon and they provided him with a dwelling
and job.Toolaroo has mentioned a connection between the White and Cairns families in Scotland.)


One of the reasons my journal about the Whites of Sorrento, Rosebud and Red Hill came to a screaming halt was the discovery
that the early Sorrento pioneer limeburners were Irish and Toolaroo's Whites were Scottish. To further confuse the issue,
Red Hill had two Bob Whites,Bloomin' Bob and Bullocky Bob.The jigsaw pieces are slowly starting to fit together and it
appears that Bloomin' and Bullocky were both descendants of the Scottish Robert White Snr (31-8-1804.)
Toolaroo says that in about 1860, Janet,(elder sister of Robert White Jnr who married two Hillis girls), gave birth to Robert
White of Main Ridgewho married Mary Hannah Roberts.

(The father of the child was (Charles?) James and because of the difficulty in getting a minister to marry them, the birth
took place before the wedding so the child's name was registered as Robert White. However he was brought up as Robert James
and it was only when he obtained a birth certificate to get married that he discovered his real name. He then changed his
name to Robert White. This caused confusion with his mother's brother (Robert White Jnr) so Robert James/White was called
"Bullocky Bob" and the bloke that married two Hillis girls was called "Bloomin' Bob". (Source: Jean Rotherham.) Toolaroo
told me some time ago that Janet's brother, Robert White Jnr,(who never swore) had been known as "Bloomin' Bob" because he
frequently used this word as a substitute.
On 23-3-1927, Hadassah White (nee Hillis) died at Crib Point. Her husband Robert White Jnr died in 1930.Bob White of Main
Ridge, husband of Mary Hannah (nee Roberts), died in May 1941.

WHY DID JAMES McKEOWN MOVE FROM WARRNAMBOOL TO RED HILL?
As I prepared to answer this question, I recalled Joseph Hillis down Warrnambool way and how that area had been a magnet
for Irish immigrants. Then a thought struck me about Belfast, the birthplace of Sarah Jane Hillis in 1857. Perhaps Colin
McLear was not wrong in stating that Hill Hillas had come to Australia in 1855 and only erred in inferring that he had gone
straight to Red Hill.

The following comes from the wikipedia entry for Port Fairy.
John Griffiths[3] established a whaling station in 1835 and a store was opened in 1839. In 1843, James Atkinson, a Sydney
solicitor, purchased land in the town by special survey. He drained the swamps, subdivided and leased the land, and built
a harbour on the Moyne River. He renamed the town 'Belfast' after his hometown in Northern Ireland. The Post Office opened
on 1 July 1843[4] as "Port Fairy" but was renamed "Belfast" on 1 January 1854 before reverting to the original name
20 July 1887.

Was Sarah Jane born in Belfast, Victoria, in other words, Port Fairy?

Family Notices
Warrnambool Standard (Vic. : 1914 - 1918) Wednesday 4 November 1914 Edition: DAILY. p 2 Family Notices
... DEATH. HILLIS.- At Koroit, on 3rd November, Jane, relict of the late Joseph Hillis, aged 71 years.
(The funeral will leave her late residence. Koroit, at Two o'clock This Day (Wednesday) for the Tower Hill Cemetery).
RUNDELL &SON, Undertakers..

Was Joseph Hillis a relative of Hill Hillis? The interesting thing is that James McKeown went to Red Hill in 1862 but
returned to Koroit to marry his wife, Catherine,and returned to Red Hill with her in 1863 by bullock cart
(P.86, A REAMTIME OF DROMANA.) Colin McLear did not give Catherine's maiden name but I wouldn't mind betting that she was
a Hillis.
(POSTSCRIPT.I've changed my mind. Now I'd prefer to bet that she was christened Catherine Townsend Hill. Ah well,you can't
win 'em all!)
James McKeown had gone to New Zealand in 1853 and moved to Warrnambool in 1856, perhaps because his sister, Sarah,
(Mrs Hill Hillis), had relatives there.

James McKeown's move to Red Hill was likely influenced by the presence there of his sister, Sarah,.Hill could have selected
land at Red Hill in 1855 and taken Sarah to relatives near "Belfast" when she was expecting Mary Janein 1857.It is likely
that the land Hill selected at Red Hill was part of land eventually granted to James McKeown. He probably fattened cattle
or sheep,more likely the former because of the heavily timbered land, but most of his income, in common with other residents
on Arthurs Seat,would have come from providing timber for the construction of piers, sleepers for the railways to
Williamstown, Castlemaine and so on.

The first Flinders Road Board assessment of 8-6-1869 listed ratepayers geographically rather than alphabetically
as the Kangerong road board had done since 1864.Because of this,with the parish map in hand,I can follow the rate collector
as he proceeds through the parish. We start east of the north end of Tucks Rd at about Melway 190 G10 where Marquis had 70B
of 89 acres, later granted to William Hopcraft, and heading north, Hopcraft 70A of 89 acres, Alf Head 130 acres of his 200
acre grant straddling Stony Creek Rd (71B and 71A1), Joseph Pitcher 72B of 140 acres north to Mock Orchards, and Robert
Holding, the 140 acre corner block,72A, which extended east to a point opposite the Sheehans Rd corner,and was later William
Henry Blakeley's.

Next listed were Hill Hillis 50 acres and a house and James McEwan (sic) 165 acres.Together they add up to the 215 acres
of James McKeown's grants, 73A and B, which extend east to include The Stables conference centre (190 J 5.) The next
ratepayers, the Wightons, were way down Pt Leo Rd near Frankston-Flinders Rd.

In 1870, Hill's land was amended to 54 acres and it remained the same in the first shire assessment of 1875, by which time
Hill was about 68 years old.It may have been soon afterwards that James McKeown took over the wole 215 acres.

In THE RED HILL, Sheila Skidmore states that Joseph McIlroy and Sarah (nee Hillis) had nine children. Joseph's diary,
excerpts of which are included in the book, show that Joseph and Sarah were married in Dromana at the Mechanics' Institute
at 12:30 by the Rev. James Caldwell of Mornington. Guests at the reception at Joseph's father's place were the McIlroy,
Simpson, Cleine,White,Ault and Hillis families, as well as Misses Kemp and Hopcraft who were probably friends of the bride
and groom.

Joseph's McIlroy's older brother, William John, married Elizabeth Hillis when he was 32 and they lived at Littlebridge,
which was named after the place in Ireland from which the family came.
There is a list of their children in the book.
(P. 14, THE RED HILL.)

William Hillis Jnr applied to the Shire of Flinders and Kangerong for the position of rate collector in 1897.
(P.3, Mornington Standard,30-9-1897.) There are several other mentions of "Hillis, Red Hill" on trove in 1897, in regard
to the BAND OF HOPE mainly, but none thereafter. The first mention of "Hillis, Trafalgar" was in 1898, which increases the
likelihood that W.J.Hillis moved from Main Creek to Trafalgar soon after W. Hillis Jnr applied for the job of rate collector.

A close examination of the rate books is called for to determine (a)if W.Hillis Jnr got the joband (b) the year of William
Snr's last assessment.

BACK TO THE RATEBOOKS!
I didn't hold much hope that the rate records would name the rate collectorso the fingers were crossed. The 1898 estimates
bore the signatures of councillors, mentioned the President's allowance,cost of planned works, office expenses, and so on but
there was no detail to reveal whether W.Hillis Jnr got the job.

The 1880 rates revealed that James McKeown had the whole 215 acres of his grant between Blakeley's land (Holding's grant) and
the future Red Hill Village Settlement straddling Prossor's Lane. Hill Hillis, the brother in law, had earlier occupied 54
acres of it.(See the Wiseman-Hillis wedding notice and commentary.) William Hillis was again assessed on only the 153 acres
of 23B, Wannaeue.

In 1881, George White, The Irish lime burner was assessed on 103 acres, Wannaeue (Melway 168 K12). The occupant was
not recorded for the next assessment detailed as 1 allotment Wannaeue, but the owner was R.White. This was crown allotment
11, Rosebud (Fishing Village.) I had earlier assumed that George White had been assessed on this block and the rate collector
had forgotten to write .. (ditto.)This had led me to believe that the Irish Whites had invaded Rosebud. William Hillis had
again been assessed on 23B.

Forgetting that I had wanted to find out when William Hillis had settled (occupied) 23A (accessed via Wilson Rd), I next
inspected the 1889 rates.William Hillas (as his name was invariably written) was assessed on 60+213 acres, 273 acres,
Wannaeue and Kangerong. Oh dear me, I just knew what was going to happen.And sure enough it did! By this stage I had
decided to sort out the two Robert Whites once and for all.
209. Robert White, farmer, 27 acres Kangerong.
210. Robert White, farmer, 290 acres, Wannaeue.

In 1890, William Hillis was assessed on 60+213acres, 273 acres Wannaeue and Kangerong, but the 60 and the 273 were crossed
out. William had probably lost 23AB Wannaeue (213 acres and 30 perches) to creditors.Therefore the record stated that the
60 acres were in Wannaeue AND Kangerong. Therefore in 1891, the 60 acre block was recorded as being in both parishes.The
details for the two Robert Whites were exactly as in 1889.

In 1893, occupations were given.
294. William Hillis, CARTER, Red Hill, owner/occupier of 60 acres, Kangerong and 2 allotments, Kangerong.
416. Robert White, LABOURER, 27 acres, Kangerong.
417. Robert White, CARTER, 290 acres, Wannaeue.

The 27 acres had to be part of the original Red Hill Township, which was at the corner of White Hill and McIlroys Rds.Someone,
probably Sheila Skidmore in THE RED HILL, stated that only one township allotment was sold (meaning at the original sale),
the Post Office block. Jean Rotherham has been told by older members of her family that the 27 acre block was near the post
office (710 White Hill Rd, Melway 160 K12) so it could have been on the west side of White Hill Rd between Harrisons Rd and
Tumbywood Rd or on the north side of McIlroys Rd west of Bowring Rd.

The 60 acre block owned (if we can trust the rate collector) by William Hillis was most likely the grant of Brian Ringrose,
18B of 59 acres 3 roods and 14 perches,previously occupied by William until 1872. William seems to have been a good friend to
the poor disfigured ex-goldminer,paying his rates for him on one occasion, which I think I mentioned in thE RINGROSE entry in
my family tree circles journal DICTIONARY HISTORY OF RED HILL. (See paragraph 2 of THE HILLIS LAND.) It could have been Henry
Dunn's grant "Four Winds" (see next paragraph.) In 1900, 18B belonged to ArthurE.Hill of St Kilda, who still had not moved
onto the property by 30-8-1902 when AROUND RED HILL was on page 2 of the Mornington Standard. Hill's property was described
as being up the hill from Wheelers (the post office.) Mr White, mentioned between James Davis(5 acresunder fruit) and the
Wheelers (who had run the post office for over 30 years) had a good view of the bay, some fruit trees and a small crop.This
would be on the 27 acre block.

In 1900, Mrs Maude Strong was assessed on 60 acres, Kangerong. She was obviously a widow, otherwise her husband's given name
would have been used, and she wasleasing from Trustees. In 1902, Jon Davis (40 acres facing Port Phillip Bay with 6 acres
of young trees), who was mentioned before James Davis,was dairying on 60 acres leased from Mrs Strong. Whichever 60 acre
block William Hillis had in 1893, he was not there in 1900, supporting the belief that he had moved to Trafalgar circa 1898.

Details re Hillis and White remain unchanged in 1894.

In 1896,William Hillis was assessed on the 60 acres and 2 allotments; Robert White, labourer, still had the 27 acres.
Robert White,carter, now had 160 acres, Wannaeue.The missing 130 acres adjoined this 160 acres to the south being crown
allotment 27A, Wannaeue, granted to John Cain on 6-4-1897. (Melway 190 A-B, part8,9.)

In 1897, the rate collector actually gave some detail of land assessed. (I'd forgotten this when I debated which 60 acre
block William Hillis had in 1893 but it hasn't been too painful finding out about Mrs Strong and Jon Davis, has it?)
Robert White, labourer, still had the 27 acres near the Red Hill post office.
Robert White, carter, Dromana??, was assessed on 160 acres,27A1, Wannaeue.
Charles James Snr had 105 acres , 19A Wannaeue.
William Hillis, carter of Red Hill, still had the 60 acres and two allotments.

The reason for the inclusion of Charles James here will soon become apparent.19A of 105 acres 2 roodsand 13 perches was
granted to D.James on 21-1-1878. Located at Melway 254J2, it is bounded by Old Main Creek Rd, the tributary of Main
Creek and Barkers Rd, which originally met Old Main Creek Rd not far east of Splitters Creek.Not far east (Melway 255 B1),
bounded by Main Creek, ShandsRd and Roberts Rd (on east and south) is crown allotment 1C, parish of Flinders, consisting of
46 acres 3 roods and 8 perches, and granted to C.Robertson 21-7-1890.It is easy to see how Janet White's son Robert, brought
up as Robert James, bullocky Bob White, met his future bride, Hannah Roberts.

The assessment of 30-9-1899 shows that Robert White of Red Hill still had 27 acres and Robert White of MAIN CREEK, DROMANA,
still had 160 acres, 27A1, Wannaeue. So do you know which was Bloomin'Bob and which was Bullocky Bob? Neither did I until I
looked at27A1 on the Wannaeue parish map.

Crown allotment 27A1 Wannaeue, of 160 acres 1 rood and 39 perches, indicated by Melway 190 A-B 7, part8, extended east almost to
Main Creek.It was granted on 6-4-1897 to ROBERT JAMES. I have actually seen a rate record where Robert James was assessed
but the surname was crossed out and replaced with WHITE.(I'm sorry I teased you by leaving the grantee's name until last but
I always wanted to do the "and the winner is" routine!)

Therefore, the 27 acres near the Red Hill post office was occupied by Robert White Jnr,Bloomin' Bob White,(son of Robert
White Snr born in Clackmannon in 1804),who owned 18B Wannaeue between Adams Avenue and Jetty Rd as well as Crown Allotment
11,Rosebud Fishing Village from 1875 until about 1892. Like William Hillis, he probably lost his land because of the
1890's depression.

Bloomin' Bob struggled on as a laborer,perhaps doing roadworks for the shire,until at least 1910. It is unclear which Robert
White had James Davey Jnr's grant, 28A, Wannaeue in 1910. Bullocky Bob White, son of Janet, (the sister of Bloomin' Bob)
still had 27A1 of 160 acres.

In the Dromana Historical Society museum is a spiral-bound book with record of enrolments at Main Ridge State School,which
closed when the Red Hill Consolidated School was built.Many pupils had the WHITE surname and I presume they were the
offspring of Bullocky and Hannah (nee Roberts.)

In 1919 (the last raterecord available on microfiche), the following were assessed. Iwill leave it to family historians to
work out whether they were Bloomin' or Bullocky's mob as the aborigines would say.
Ernest V.White, Main Creek, 53 acres(part 28A), 30 acres (part 22B).
Robert, Robert G, Albert C. White 53 acres (part 28A), 53acres (part 28A), 160 acres and buildings(27A1.) The second entry
would seem to be connected with Bullocky because of 27A1.
22B, of almost 142 acres fronted the west side of Main Creek Rd and is indicated by Melway 171 J-K 7-8.

R.G.White of Main Creek also had 13 acres and buildings, being lot 9 of the Billingham Estate.
Eden White of Main Creek had 36 acres and buildings, part 20B, section B, Wannaeue.
Florence A.Bellingham was assessed on 147 acres, part 9A, 24B Wannaeue; this is presumably unsold land in the Billingham
Estate.Crown allotment 9A, a battle-axe block, fronted the east side of Greens Rd and includes the Main Ridge Pony Club and
Melway 254 D 5-6 roughly. ,Crown allotment 24B consisted of 145 acres and was a queer shape wth frontages to Heath Lane/Main
Creek Rd and the north side of Whites Rd. The estate obviously included Peter Watson's 25A of 83 acres, as Bellingham Rd
extends about another 300 metres to Arthurs Seat Rd.

Ignore the details about 9A; I just realised I've been caught by the rate collector's joke again.c/A. Imagine the slash
being so close to the C that it touches and going lower and c/a become 9a.

HEC HANSON AND THE WHITES.
Hec Hanson was a descendant of Peter Purves, the real* Purves pioneer of the Tootgarook run. Peter, a mason, had left for
Van Dieman's Land with his architect brother, James,when his wife Barbara died only a month after giving birth to their son,
James, on 29-9-1835.Heart-broken, Peter left little James with an aunt and spent some years building bridges in Tassie with
his brother. At 18, the boy travelled to Australia to be with his father, arriving in 1852 aboard the Thomas Lowry. The
brothers had been managing Tootgarook for some time for Edward Hobson who had been busy managing a station near Traralgon
(to which the later owner of the"Rosebud" gave its name.) The Purves bought Tootgarook in 1850. Peter died in 1860. His son,
James, married the daughter of Robert Dublin Quinan,the Dromana teacher who committed suicide over an error in the shire's
book, as detailed in A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA. James established Greenhills in Purves Rd, apparently between 1883 and 1885.
(*James spent as much or more time at his Chinton Station, east of Mt Macedon ,and living the high-life in Melbourne.)

Hans Christan Hanson, Hec's other grandfather, had been building bridges but settled at the north end of Tucks Rd in 1887.
His son, Alf, married Frances Purves in 1906 and Hec was born on 14-2-1913. Jim Wilson,of "Fernlea" after whom Wilson Rd
(entry to Hill Hillis's 23B) was named had married Barbara, another daughter of James Purves in 1915.

In MEMOIRS OF A LARRIKIN, co-written with Petronella Wilson, Hec discusses George White, who seems to have been a descendant
of Bullocky Bob rather than Blooming Bob. On 15, Hec who won many prizes for show riding, states that George White had a
dapple grey pony which won 1st prize for a pony in harness in Hec's last Show entry,presumably before 1931 when he headed
for Quuensland looking for work.

P.38. 'The Whites lived just up the road from uncle Jim Wilson's (Fernlea) and always had horses. Things were improving a bit
and George White bought an International truck that had pride of place in the shed. Cocko (Harold Wilson) and I got a couple of
shovel fulls of horse manure and placed it behind the back wheels of the truck. When George came out in the morning and saw
what had been done , he roared like a bull and said:"Christ Almighty, I thought I was finished with horses!" We never let on
who did it. What a temper he had!'

I have scribbled a note in my copy of Hec's book: "See Mornington Standard 19-4-1902 P3, Thanks (Laurrison/White
relationship.)"
THANKS, TO THE EDITOR SIR,-Will you kindly allow me space in your valuable columns to thank Mr Hoskins, who so kindly lent
his horse and trap and drove my brother-in-law, Robert Wilson, to Mornington in a very short space of time on the occasion
of his recent serious accident. Also great credit is due to Dr Somers, who performed such a successful operation and pulled
such a dangerous case through. I must likewise thank Mrs Edwards for her kind attendance to him.-Yours truly,
C. H. LAURRISEN. Shoreham, April 14, 1902.

My note was wrong and has been amended to Laurrisen/Wilson but I'll leave this entry here as it involves quite a bit of the
area's history. The Laurrisen family arrived in Balnarring parish about early 1870 and Bev Laurissen has been a hard-working
member of the Dromana Historical Society for Years.

The Hansons lived in Alpine Chalet (Melway 190 F9) and across Stony Creek's gully were the houses belonging to Bob and Esther
Wilson and the Laurissens. (P.9.) They were probably on W.Baynes's grant (i.e. Webb Rd.) Alf Hanson,Jim and Bob Wilson were
cutting a branch from a tree to get a hive on 9-3-1902 when Bob fell into the path of the axe-swing and his head was split
open. Constable Edwards of Dromana asked Hoskins to help convey them to Mornington. (After Edwards was promoted up north, he
was forced to retire due to injuries received while arresting two fiends and developed a farm near Flinders.) A report of the
incident can be found in the Mornington Standard of 15-3-1902.


POSTSCRIPT ON WILLIAM HILLIS.
William had occupied his second grant in Wannaeue, 23A of almost 60 acres (accessed via Wilson Rd) by 1883. By 1889, he also
had the 60 acres Ringrose grant in Kangerong.By the 1890 assessment he had lost his Wannaeue land and was occupying only the
Ringrose grant (18B Kangerong.) In the assessment of September 1898, his name was crossed out and replaced with that of
Arthur E.Hill of 353 High St, St Kilda as occupier of 18B and 2 lots,Dromana.(He still owned the lots in Dromana!) William
Hillis was still assessed on 2 lots, 13 1 Kangerong until 1902, his assessment being between those of Hill and Hillyard. His
name did not appear in 1903 or thereafter.

Tommy Bent was an enthusiastic minister for Railways in the boom of the late 1880's. The line to Mornington opened and
shortly after, Tommy's mate, Henry Gomm, saw the Somerville station commence just over the road from "Glenhoya" at
Somerville. A railway to the fort at Portsea seemed a necessity, the only argument being whether it should go through Red
Hill or Moorooduc. A route had probably been surveyed through Dromana, most likely along the flat Palmerston Avenue, and
the 36 acre crown allotment 13, section 1, bounded by Jetty Avenue, Boundary Rd, and Palmerston Ave was subdivided (possibly
by Peter Pidoto's widow) as the Railway Estate.The 1890 depression halted the railway plans and the estate housed part of
Dromana's first golf course, as shown on Melbourne Brindle's fantastic map (available for purchase from the Dromana
Historical Society.) William had probably paid a good price for his two lots but had cut his losses by mid 1903.

From W. J. Hillis, Trafalgar South, offering to remove logs and repair culvert on road below Miller's for ?2.
-Cr. Crisp explained that the work was on Kitchener's block, and Mr. Hillis was anxious TO GET HIS FURNITURE INTO HIS HOME.
He was a very straightforward man, and had made the Council a very reasonable offer which he (Cr. Crisp) thought should be
accepted.-Agreed to. (P.7, West Gippsland Gazette, 15-11-1898.)

I think I can now be fairly certain that W.J.Hillis of Trafalgar, first mentioned in 1898, and waiting to get his furniture
into his house in November was William James Hillis, son of Hill Hillis, who had left Red Hill by September 1898.

DIED OF WOUNDS
Pte J.E. HILLIS, Trafalgar, Vic. Pte A. KELLEY, England.(P.5, Bendigo Advertiser, 19-7-1915.)



HILLIS-YOUNG On the 23rd October, at Methodist Church, Trafalgar, by the Rev W E Lancaster, Henry Collins (late AIF) third
son of Mr W Hillis, "Ingleside" Trafalgar South, to Olive, only daughter of Mr and Mrs J.C. Young, Malvernia," Trafalgar,
Carlisle, Traralgon.(P.13, Argus, 13-12-1919.)


POSTSCRIPT ON ROBERT WHITE.
When transcribing all ratepayers in my area of interest, I usually only do about every ten years or so, as it is a very
time-consuming task. One of the Robert Whites seemed to have disappeared between 1910 and 1920 (as well as occupancy of the
27 acre block near the Red Hill post office, so I hit the rate books again. I decided to re-examine the 1910 assessments in
detail first.

718. White, Robert, Main Creek, Dromana,farmer, 159 acres and buildings, 28Ac W.(sic, 28A) NAV 16 pounds, paid 19-6-11.
719. .. .. .. .. .. .. , 160 acres and buildings,27A1 Wannaeue, NAV 25 pounds, also paid 19-6-11.
720. .. .. .. .. .. .. , 27 acres and buildings, Kangerong,NAV 25 pounds, not paid and the arrears of
2 pounds 16 shillings and 3 pence (obviously accumulated over several years) were more than half of the arrears for the
whole of the Centre Riding. Robert was in danger of the shire selling the land to get the owed rates!

As the rates for 28A Wannaeue and 27A1 Wannaeue were paid on the same date and 27A1 was granted to Robert James (Bullocky
Bob White), it can be assumed that Bullocky also had James Davey's grant as well.

In 1911, Bullocky paid the rates for 28A and 27A1 on 5-6-1912 (aSSESSMENT NUMBERS 771 and 772) while Blooming Bob (AN 773)
paid 12 shillings and 6 pence on his 27 acres, Kangerong, near the Red Hill post office, on 11-6-1912 and a further 18
shillings and 10 pence on 27-6-1912.

In 1912, Eden White's name appears before those of the two Robert Whites at assessment 849. He had 36 acres, part crown
allotment 20B, Wannaeue.No wonder Cr Terry demanded better descriptions of properties! One would assume from "part 20B"
that this crown allotment had been subdivided but it hadn't. At this stage, I will predict that Eden White was the son of
Robert James/White and Hannah (nee Roberts.) You will recall that C.Roberts was granted crown allotment 1C, Flinders,
bounded by Main Creek, the south side of Shands Rd and Roberts Rd, the turn to the west being its southern boundary, on
21-7-1890. A member of the Roberts family, John, was Rosebud's first postmasterby 1900, who used to check his watch at noon
on the Rosebud foreshore every day at noon (ROSEBUD:FLOWER OF THE PENINSULA, Isobel Morseby.) His daughter, Rose, married
William Brady, and they ran the post office until William died, after which Rose moved to the Brady farm, Mt Evergreen,
(21C Wannaeue of 121 acres, Melway 171 south half of K9 and Morning Sun Vineyard halfway to Mornington-Flinders Rd.)
John Roberts had two blocks in Woolcott's subdivision of Crown allotment 17 Wannaeue (between Jetty Rdand Norm Clark Walk,
extending south to Eastbourne Rd. He also received the grant in February 1908 for 18A2 Wannaeue of 58 acres, Melway 170 F10.)
John Roberts, perhaps not the postmaster, was in 1919 occupying 19 C Wannaeue (Melway 254 Parts JK3) between Barkers Rd and
Main Creek for which he later received the grant (Tiyle from the Crown.) consisting of almost 30 acres, this land is possibly
all part of 291 Barkers Rd today.

Immediately south of Mt Evergreen was 20A of 175 acres granted on 16-6-1903 to John Shand, and occupied by 1919 by William
G.C.Roberts, bounded by Main Creek and Shands Rd (Melway 171 K11 to the left half of 190B 11-12.) This was across Shands Rd
from the Roberts grant at the north east corner of the parish of Flinders.Between 20A and Roberts Rd (Melway 190 right half
B11-12) was crown allotment 20B Wannaeue,of 36 acres and 14 perches, granted on 6-7-1903 to William Shand. This was the land
occupied by Eden White in 1912, the WHOLE OF CROWN ALLOTMENT 20b, NOT PART OF IT. As the land to the west, north,and south
was occupied by William G.C.Roberts,the Bradys including Rose (nee Roberts) and C.Roberts or descendants on 1C, Flinders and
20B Wannaeue was only 600 metres upstream along Main Creek from David James' grant, 19A, Eden White would likely be the son
of Robert White (JAMES) who married Hannah ROBERTS.

In 1912 (assessment numbers 850, 851), Robert White (Bullocky), described as a CONTRACTOR,was assessed on 28A and 27A1
Wannaeue.Robert White, labourer was assessed on 27 acresand buildings, PART CROWN ALLOTMENT 19, KANGERONG, but his name was
crossed out and E.Bowring substituted. This leads me to believe that the 27 acre farm was at 161 A11, east of Bowrings Rd.
The Bald Hill Reserve is part of Appleyard's 20C which was north and west of crown allotment 19.

Who was this fellow that followed Robert White on the 27 acres?
EXTRACT FROM DICTIONARY HISTORY OF RED HILL ON FAMILY TREE CIRCLES BY itellya.
Edward Bowring, the father of Red Hill's Eddie Bowring lived in Mt Alexander Rd, Essendon and it is possible that an uncle
had run the Coburg Electrical Service with a Mr Stubbs. Eddie must have arrived in Red Hill in about August 1901 as "Around
Red Hill" on page 2 of the Mornington Standard of 30-8-1902 stated that he had been on his Village Settlement block for
twelve months. Why was Thomas Harvey building a house on his block? The details of his crops are in the Village Settlement
journal.

Eddie Bowring was no slouch as a cyclist. He had ridden his bike to Melbourne, probably to visit his parents in Essendon,
and decided to "open her up" on the way back to Red Hill. He made it in just over three hours!
(Mornington Standard 26-4-1902 page 2.)

March 1903 was a busy month for Eddie. Firstly he was best man in the wedding of Fred Wheeler and Miss Goodman at Brunswick
on Friday 6th and then he married Emily, the eldest daughter of Mr T.Harvey "Fernside" Red Hill on the 11th. Eddie was the
eldest son of Edward of Essendon. His best man was Will Bowring, late of Red Hill and his groomsman was Mr E.Harvey. The
bridesmaids were Sophie Harvey and Gertie Bowring. (Both items, M.S. 21-3-1903.)

Back to Bullocky Bob White. In 1913, he was assessed on 27A1 of 160 acres, granted to him in 1897 in the name of Robert
James.The James Davey Jnr grant, 28A of 159 acres had been broken into three parts of 53 acres with the portions of
Robert George and Ernest V containing buildings (probably meaning houses) but not that of Albert C.White.From this
information, I conclude that Ernest V., Robert G. and Albert C. were sons of Bullocky Bob White and grandsons of the Roberts
and James families, as was Eden White. I believe that Robert George White would have called George White to avoid confusion
with his father and great uncle Blooming Bob White. It is likely that he was the George White whose temper produced the
desired result about 14 years later for the 14 year old Hec Hanson (born 1913) and his cousins, the Wilson lads.

Today Iwas on Museum duty, with Jean Rotherham again. Jean, who is a descendant of Bullocky Bob White, found a White family tree for me. You will remember that toolaroo had mentioned a Cairns connection in Clackmannon, Scotland. Henry Whyte* married Margaret Cairns on 10-12-1803.(*SPELLING OFTEN VARIED ACCORDING TO THE OFFICIAL OR CLERGYMAN FILLING DOCUMENTS FOR ILLITERATE PEOPLE. THE DAVIES FAMILY OF BALNARRING WAS WRITTEN AS DAVIS AND DAVIS OF RED HILL AS DAVIES IN RATEBOOKS!)

Their only child mentioned in the family tree is the ancestor of both Toolaroo and Jean. (Robert White Snr, as I have called him here, was born in Clackmannon on 31-8-1804 according to Toolaroo's information.) The tree states that he married Elizabeth Russell; Toolaroo adds that the marriage took place in 1829.

Their children were:
Jean (9-3-1830), Margaret (b.25-7-1832), Henry (b.11-11-1836), Janet (married Charles James), Ann (married Henry Bucher), Robert (married Margaret Hillis), Elizabeth.Robert Jnr was Blooming Bob; Margaret Hillis died in 1888 and he married her sister Hadassah in 1899. Henry Bucher was a pioneer of Rosebud Fishing Village; more about him later.

The children of Janet (nee White) and Charles James were:
Robert (JAMES/WHITE), Elizabeth (MrsHobley*), Donald (D.James,who received the grant bounded by Barkers Rd and Main Creek), Janet (Mrs Vivash), Charles, George, Harry.
*See Hobley wedding notice below.

The next line of the tree concerns only the children of Robert James (who started and ended his life as Robert White, Bullocky Bob White)and Mary or Hannah (nee Roberts.) They were:
Robert George, Albert Christopher, Eden edward, Ernest Victor, Frederick, Lillian Janet, John Gilbert and Sidney William.

HOBLEY.SEE COMMENT 1.

BUCHER.
BUCHER.
FROM PETER WILSON'S "ON THE ROAD TO ROSEBUD".

Henry Bucher was granted crown allotment 17 of the Rosebud Fishing Village,which was on the west side of Bucher Place
(Melway 158 E11.) (The Wannaeue parish map has no date for the issue of the grant but I'm sure he would have been one of
the first grantees in 1873.) Henry busher and his wife , Ann (nee White), settled on the foreshore in 1863 where Henry built
"Modesty Cottage" (pictured in the book) on the west side of today's Bucher Place. Henry came from Boston, Massachusetts and
Ann came from Scotland with her parents.Ann came from Clackmannon in Scotland,as did the Cairns. Their eldest daughter, Rose,
was the first child born in Rosebud.

FROM ROSALIND PEATEY'S "PINE TREES AND BOX THORNS".(A copy of this book is archived at the Rosebud Library and another copy
is available for perusal at the Dromana Historical Society museum in the Old Shire Office.)

George Peatey's wife, Sarah was one of the midwives on Jamieson's Special Survey (Safety Beach area east to Bulldog Creek Rd)
and oversaw the birth of children in the pioneering Clydesdale, Morgan, Thompson, Watson and Gibson families. (Morgan was a
stonemason, who in March 1864, had probably come by ship to the Dromana pier with his heavily pregnant wife to work at
constructing more substantial buildings at the eight year old quarantine station at The Heads.I hope he didn't ask Rosebud's
Maori fisherman to sail him, his wife and baby to Portsea as four other unfortunate masons did!The others were Survey
residents.)
(Susan's reputation must have spread to the other side of Arthurs Seat where there were only a handful of farms, some
probably vacant, between the Burrells on Arthurs Seat and Boneo Rd. Captain Henry Everest Adams had part of Wannaeue Village
based on today's Wattle Place, with his house on the car wash site, plus Isaac White's grant between Parkmore Rd and AdamsAve
by 5-9-1865. Warren was paying rates on his 152 acres between Adams Ave and Jetty Rd but may not have been living there.
The first certain occupant of this land was Blooming Bob White from 1875 to about 1892. By 1865,Woolcott,a speculator, had
bought the land between Jetty Rd and Norm Clark Walk. Hugh Glass of "Flemington" owned his grant between First Ave and Boneo
Rd and the land between Norm Clark Walk and about Fifth Avenue;the 101 acres between Fifth and First Avenues had probably
been lost through insolvency.

South of Eastbourne Rd were pioneers such as the Fords on Wannaeue Station,the Cairns on Little Scotland and Robert White
who was renting a hut from them, the Purves near Boneo and on Greenhills on Purves Rd, Tweedale, Catherine Sullivan, George
Barnaby and CHARLES JAMESwho was assessed on 272 acres on 3-9-1864 but only 2.5 acres and a house on 5-9-1865.As you
can see, the hinterland was far more lively than "The Rosebud". But there were some residents living on the foreshore,or,
should I say, squatting.There were fishermen doing the same thing all round the bay. If a rate collector tried to extract
money from them,they'd just move to a different place and build another hut. The Kangerong Road Board may have influenced
the Government to declare the fishing village in 1873 to expand its inadequate rates base.

You will see why Rosebud's birth rate was not breaking any records and why Rose Bucher was the first white (not White!!)
child born there.) With the assistance of Susan Peatey, Rose Ann Bucher was born on 8-9-1867.

By 1879, Rosebud fishermen such as Henry Bucher, Antonio Bosina,William Gomm*, William Jamieson (former whaler), Antonio
Latross, John Jones (store keeperin an upturned boat who later built a store on the FJ's site) and Fred Vine were paying
rates.

*William Gomm later moved to Hastings where he died in 1915 (probably because of the effort keeping up with his 20 year old
second wife and was followed on the Jetty's Cafe site by his brother Henry, one or both in charge of the safety light on the
jetty and being described as harbour master in rate records. Their brother died in about 1896 at Dromana not long after
giving evidence at the hearing concerning Alf Downward's disputed election victory.They were sons of a convict, Henry Gomm,
and unrelated to Henry Gomm of "Glenhoya" in Somerville.See my Gomm journal.

By 1900, Henry Bucher must have died and Ann Bucher was assessed on lots 17 and 19 Rosebud (a term correctly used only for
the fishing village), as she was in 1910, when Arthur Ernest, Henry and D.R.Bucher were also paying rates. Arthur was
assessed on 30B Wannaeue of 50 acres,(Bayview Ave area, Melway 170 G 6-7), Henry,an inspector living in Brighton, on four
other fishing village lots and four lots in Woolcott's subdivision, and D.R.Bucher on 187 acres, 1A Wannaeue (Melway 170 G12
to 253 G3.) I've also read in the Mornington Shire heritage Study that a member of the Bucher family ran the sea baths at
Mornington.

PENTRIDGE.--His Honor (Mr. La Trobe.) on Tuesday last, gave the name of "Pentridge" to the village on the Sydney road, about four and a half miles from Melbourne. It is truly a delightful spot, and the ground is excellent. We may, therefore, anticipate in a short time, a flourishing village, and gardens sufficient to sup-
ply our market with every description of vegetables, of which there is such a scarcity at present, although in great demand. In the immediate neighbourhood we reckoned as many as twenty-one farms, all in the occupation of gentlemen,who are busily engaged in the erection of dwelling houses and other buildings requisite for carrying on agricultural operations upon an extensive scale. There are also six families of thelabouring class, and Mr. La Trobe has promised to recommend to His Excellency that the site of a church should be reserved for the inhabitants,who are already more than sufficient in number,to entitle them, by the provisions of the church
act, to the required grant.-Port Phillip Gazette.
(P.3, in "PORT PHILLIP NEWS", Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser, 20-8-1840.)

The above was found as a result of Delia asking me how Pentridge got its name. It is unknown whether Latrobe thought up the name himself or simply applied a name already used by the early residents. Charles Latrobe seems to have spent more time in Switzerland and North America/Mexico than Britain but his lively mind may have been excited by the Bokerley Dyke and Pentridge Hill (Hill of the Wild Boars) during a childhood visit to Dorset.

It was not for another decade that the stockade was built at Pentridge. About nineteen years after that,the residents (worried that the lovely name of their lovely locality had been besmirched by the prison) asked that the Royal name be used instead. This was during a royal visit. The royal name was Saxe-Coburg and Pentridge was renamed as Coburg.

Be careful what you wish for! If Pentridge residents had been given such advice in 1869, they would have claimed they were honoured by the royal name and glad to get rid of the stained name now associated with the prison. Wartime caused another clamour for a name change. Saxe-Coburg was a German name and was changed by the royal family to Windsor. Coburg residents wanted their municipality renamed as Moreland (the name of Dr Farquhar McCrae's grants stradding Moreland Rd, in turn named after his uncle's plantation in the West Indies.)
Essendon residents, thinking the name of their locality came from Essen in Germany, also wanted a new name. Neither city changed its name but Jeff Kennett eventually did it for them.

For much more information about Pentridge and the City of Coburg see Richard Broome's excellent BETWEEN TWO CREEKS.

The details of M.G.H.W.Ross's grants in present-day Dromana,their advertisement for sale in 1881, and John Saunders Ross (who is presumed to have been related) are given in my journal JAMES ROBERTSON BOAG. I assume that there was a marital connection between the Boag and Ross families who were neighbours on crown allotments 11 and 12 respectively of section 1 Kangerong(whose exact locations are described in the BOAG journal.)

The commander's 60 acre grant in Kangerong and his grants in Dromana Township are labelled with his initial and surname, not his title but the rate collector helpfully referred to him as Captain Ross in 1865. I had tried unsuccessfully to search ROSS, DROMANA and ROSS, KANGERONG on trove, the reason for my failure being that the digitised rendition of his surname was Roas. I found the advertisement of his grants for sale quite by chance while searching LORD, KANGERONG and discovered that the captain (army, navy, limecraft?)was actually a commander in the royal navy!

Deserting Trove, I searched on google and found his initials, which had been indecipherable on the Kangerong map but clearly M.G.H.W. on the Dromana Township map, to be exactly as on the township map.This led to the discovery of a chart showing the location of the submarine cable in Bass Strait, 1859,soundings by Commander M.G.H.W. ROSS, marine surveyor. Unfortunately the page would not open.However I soon found another chart by the commander that I could view. It is entitled SOUTH COAST ENTRANCE TO PORT PHILLIP. (I have since successfully opened the cable chart page. There is a fair deal of information about the commander in his days as a lieutenant.)

It is likely that Commander Ross came on the marine survey ship on which Edward Williams, an early pioneer on the peninsula arrived. It is also possible that Sidney Smith Crispo, who was a member of the coastal survey until about 1875, and was a great friend of Edward Williams,dying at Eastbourne in the care of Edward and his wife Mary (nee Campbell), came on the same survey ship.

Edward Williams had a legendary status as a harvester with the scythe, performing almost super-human feats for such residents near Dromana as the McLears, as told by Colin McLear in A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA. Sidney Smith Crispo obtained grants at Manners-Sutton/Canterbury/Blairgowrie and Rosebud West, calling the latter Eastbourne, a name carried on by Edward Williams. I wonder if Edward or Sidney influenced the commander's investment in Dromana?

Is it possible that the commander's family has the same naval tradition as Sidney Smith Crispo? If so,one of his family might have been a famous explorer (James Clark Ross) or commander of the Pacific fleet (Charles Ross.)

It is likely that the Ross family was mainly associated with Williamstown.