I was at Tullamarine this weekend and was intending to visit the river below Rhonda St today on the way home to Rosebud, but rain set in at that time and it was almost dark, so I had to be content with a google map search after arriving home and watching my recording of the Swannies' win over the Saints.

As a website had predicted that Melway would be renaming Clancy's Ford (the "rock ford" at 27B8)as Solomon's Ford, I was not surprised that this had happened on the Google map too. Just how easy it is to turn myth into fact!

When I stated that the 1803 and 1836 ford, that I had dubbed Grimes' Rocks, was south of Rhonda St., this was only an approximation because Rhonda St was not on the 1850's Braybrook Township map; on this map Brown St headed south from Wood St and then veered south west before turning south towards the original ford, the ford that Alexander Thompson used in January 1837, (calling it Solomon's Ford) on his first trip to his run, "Kardinia" at Geelong.

My approximation was only a few house frontages out. Bullock tracks take a long time to disappear when the ground has been undisturbed by development. It seems that the track would have followed the driveway of 5 Brentwood Drive directly to the B in MARIBYRNONG RIVER TRAIL from where it is very distinct to the south east end of a stand of trees overhanging a narrow stretch of the river just before it widens due south west of 3 Brentwood Drive. The final approach to the ford seems to have turned east along the river bank for a few metres, perhaps to get to the end of this stand of trees, to where the water takes on an almost white colour, perhaps an accumulation of sand or gravel under the water, extending almost halfway across the river. On minimal zoom this white colour is still apparent.

On maximum zoom, the specks between this obviously shallow part of the river and the south bank a tad farther downstream become quite visibly large rocks which have been swept downstream by gigantic floods in (1874?), 1906 (after which Jose Borrell took over the Cahill farm on Gumm's Corner), 1916 (when the depression, created by Jose to flatten out a gully turned into a lake and the Borrells harvested their crop in a boat, as shown in a photo)and in about 1974.

On the early Braybrook Township map showing the pound yards and the ford, a meandering track is shown south of the river heading south into Cut Cut Paw. Due to dense foliage immediately south of the scattered rocks, it is hard to make out this meandering track until halfway between the Cut Cut Paw river trail and the ploughed ground north of the Marlin Lane factories but from there to the ploughed ground, the winding track is quite visible, even on low zoom, heading toward the north east corner of 7 Marlin Drive.

EMAIL TO GARY VINES.
By the mid 1850's there was a new Solomon's Ford as shown by a Braybrook Township map which also shows the pound relocated from Footscray in 1849, henceforth to be called the Braybrook pound, the original ford which I had estimated to be south of Rhonda St, Avondale Heights. Tracks shown on old maps show the actual route taken by the first pioneers before surveys had established locations of roads and they were never straight. Whether these tracks were made by lime quarriers/carters on the Mornington Peninsula or squatters heading to their runs, they were never straight because they simply followed the best ground, avoiding rocks, bogs, trees, extreme gradients and so on, being unconfined by fencing.

The meandering tracks south of the rocks that stopped Grimes' progress by boat up the saltwater river in 1803 and seemingly incorporated the native fish trap by which the Grimes party crossed the river, and the "Solomon's Ford" used by Alexander Thompson in January 1837, therefore would indicate that the ford, which I had assumed was south of Rhonda St, was the first crossing place over the Maribyrnong River.

This ORIGINAL crossing was about a mile upsteam from the the Solomon grant and William Allison Blair'S farm that became the Medway Golf Course but probably led south into the Solomons RUN in Cut Cut Paw, whose boundary description I have not researched.

Peter Somerville of the Blackbird Cruises, whom I only met once in 1989 when the Keilor Historical Society was reformed, insisted that Solomon's Ford was at the end of North Road. Having read Valentine Jones' book, I disputed his claim but Peter was right, only this was the SECOND Solomon's Ford. It is beyond dispute that it was officially named Solomon's Ford, as on Cut Cut Paw and Braybrook Township maps. According to heritage studies a Solomon had a run near North Road on the Doutta Galla side of the ford. I have no reason to disbelieve this.

Because the said early Braybrook Township map had not been consulted and Valentine Jones' opinions have been taken as gospel, the rock ford at Melway 27 B8 has been declared to be Solomon's Ford by the Maribyrnong, Brimbank and Moonee Valley Councils (if I recall correctly) and the heritage council. Google maps now have it labelled as Solomon's Ford and presumably Melway as well.

This not only distorts Victoria's early history but does a great dis-service to one of the area's pioneers, Michael Clancy a true battler, who put up with bullying from Thomas Derham and built the third ford in the Avondale Heights area. Evidence is provided that he built the ford after his arrival in about 1856. This seemed to have been built in the early 1870's and been referred to at first as the Braybrook ford, and Clancy's Ford later on.

"Mr. Clancy wrote that he would keep the Braybrook ford in repair for £1 per annum. -It was resolved to inform Mr. Clancy that, as the Keilor Shire Council had only voted 17s. 2 1/2d. per annum for the purpose stated, and this, if supplemented by a similar sum from this Council, would scarcely
warrant the entertainment of this offer."
(P.3, The Bacchus Marsh Express, 10-8-1878.)

Gary, I realise that you need to make your living from your history research but I am sure you care as much about our history being accurate as I do and I ask you to assist me in setting the record straight about the three fords at Avondale Heights. I think you will find my comment under my journal regarding the google map search for the 1803 and 1836 ford very interesting.

Links will have to be copied into the search bar.
http://www.familytreecircles.com/fords-at-today-s-avondale-heights-victoria-australia-circa-1850-67401.html

REPLY TO THE ABOVE EMAIL.
I had a long exchange with Valentine Jones many years ago about this – Also her feud with Olwen Ford and Peter Somerville left me reluctant to engage with this issue. Also being aware of how places and their names can shift around the landscape, I have avoided having a fixed view about which fords were called what and when.

I suspect also that the changing nature of the gravel beds in the bottom of the river caused some fording places to be more useful than others at different times.

I too was confused about the ‘great fall’, and ‘salt above’ at Grimes’ ‘rocks’ Perhaps you are right and the rocks that stopped Grimes were downstream of the present ‘Solomon’s ford’. Peter Somerville has noted a couple of gravel bars that prevent him taking his boat up any further than near Evans St.

There are gravel beds that might have been fordable at the bottom of Omar St, and just upstream of Evans St. there appears to be a more substantial rock bar at the foot of Rhonda St and another just below the Bhuddist Temple, and then of course the ‘Rocks Across’ where the current stepping stones have been built.

On balance, I think your conclusions are probably right.

MICHAEL CLANCY was often referred to in relation to the Braybrook ford from about 1880 so I assumed that this was the ford at Melway 27B8, the Canning St Ford. The Dodds and Delaheys later referred to this ford as Clancy's ford during disputes between the Braybrook and Keilor Shires about the maintenance of Clancy's ford. Cr Dodd stated that raising the level of Clancy's ford had made Solomon's ford (the second one, at North Rd) less useful.

The Braybrook ford name continued to be used after Clancy's ford was commonly so-named so I wondered if the ford south of Rhonda St, which I assume was Grimes' Rocks and the original Solomon's ford, was still being used when it was proposed that a dam should be built there to prevent flooding downstream and later in regard to angling club and motorcycle club events, as late as the 1940's.

To confirm or dismiss this suspicion I consulted a very clever map which shows areas near Melbourne as they were in 1945 and as they are today, namely: http://1945.melbourne/; copy this into your search bar.

There is no sign in 1945 of a ford at Rhonda St and there is little evidence of the so-called streets of North Braybrook Township (Avondale Heights south of Clarendon St.) Clancy's ford is very conspicuous, apparently covered with concrete as it looks very white. The North Road ford (called Solomon's ford on Reid's 1855 map of Braybrook) confirms Cr Dodd's claim that Solomon's ford would become useless; if it was still there in 1945, it was so inundated that no rocks can be seen. The approaches to it can be clearly seen.

Therefore it seems certain that Braybrook ford of 1949 was Clancy's ford, the Canning Street ford.

POISONED FISH
WARNING
A warning against anglers and others eating fish from the Maribyrnong River, near Braybrook ford, was issued by Mr A. D. Butcher, chief inspector of the Fisheries and Game Department, yesterday. Large quantities of dead and dying
trout, bream, eels, and minnows had been found in the river near Braybrook, he said. The fish no doubt had been poisoned by an effluent. The cause of the poisoning was being investigated. (P.5, Argus, 25-1-1949.)

This ford seems to have been called Clancy's ford by about 1905 and the M.M.B.W. may have taken responsibility for it in about 1933. It would have provided a good susso project for the unemployed during the depression.

Cr. Pennall said that the river was in a deplorable state, and he moved that the council offer to cooperate with the M. and M. Board to construct a weir at Clancy's ford and to blow away about ten feet of obstruction in the river at Butler street*. (P.3, Sunshine Advocate, 19-5-1933.)

*Butler St (Melway 27 C10) was planned to run right to the river, the only road in the south section of Braybrook Township near the 1855 ford south of Rhonda St to do so. I have speculated that the rocks from this ford had been scattered downstream by big floods (such as in 1906 and 1916) but it now seems possible that the dispersal of rocks was achieved by blasting. The google satellite view seems to indicate that smaller rocks from the obstruction may have been removed and carried onto the Cut Cut Paw bank.

On page B.197 of my DICTIONARY HISTORY OF TULLAMARINE AND MILES AROUND (Braybrook North Township entry), is a photocopy of a map on page 32 of V.J.Jones' book about Solomon's ford. It is captioned "Plan of Braybrook Parishes of Cut Cut Paw and Doutta Galla, B439A by Capn Webster, Contract Surveyor December 1869. Note the position of land held by Clancy in relation to the ford. (Reproduced by courtesy of Surveyor-General, Victoria.)"

I have been unable to find an online copy of the map.

The streets are not named but comparison with Melway shows that the outlined Clancy land was bounded on the north by Canning St., on the west by a road running south east from the extreme west end of Canning St along the river escarpment to Clancy's ford and continuing in a straight line, veering slightly farther from the river to link to a short road running south west from the south end of Browns Rd (now Woodbury Court) indicated on Melway by what seems to be a right of way to the riverside park from Brentwood Drive. The southern boundary of the Clancy grants, roughly 22 acres in crown allotment 52 and four others between it and the river road, was Duke St and the eastern boundary was at about Langham St. Burke Street in the parish of Cut Cut Paw is shown in the 1869 map providing access to the ford as correctly stated in heritage studies and indicated by a dotted extension in Melway.

Interestingly Queen St, as shown on Reid's 1855 map (Google BRAYBROOK TOWNSHIP, REID,1855), is still shown on the 1869 map, connecting to a south easterly extension from, roughly, the south end of Woodbury Court, turning due south through the driveway of today's 5 Brentwood Drive to Melway 27 C9.

Queen St was obviously intended to be the last link between the corner of Mt Alexander Rd and Buckley St. at Essendon and the original Solomon's ford.
Once Braybrook Township blocks had been sold and fenced it would no longer be possible for travellers to take the shortest line between the corner of Braybrook Road (Buckley St) and North Pole Road (Milleara Rd) and the original ford at 27C9.

The eastern boundary between the township and John Aitken's grant, section 8 Doutta Galla, was called Cardigan St and equates to today's Glenside St., but north of Clarendon St there were probably no roads or fences so travellers in 1836 may have just headed due south on a gentle gradient weaving between obstructions. Therefore Raglan St might have been intended as the next link in the route to the ford. Veering left into Lacy St, this route then went south to the bend in the walking trail near the bottom left corner of Melway 27 E9 where Queen St led to the dotted red line south of today's Rhonda St., following the exact route of the riverside trail. Raglan-Lace St. obviously followed the route of an EXISTING TRACK.

Surveyors stuck to their tidy grids no matter what (as the the cases of Burrell Rd, the west boundary of Dromana Township and Hiscock Road between Jetty Rd and Truemans Rd, the former supposedly up a cliff and the latter through the Tootgarook Swamp) so if a road was planned with kinks, there had to be a very good reason.

If the early travellers reached Clarendon St. west of Raglan St, they could use the TRACK which became Brown St.to access the original ford (which Alexander Thompson called SOLOMON'S FORD.

I thought the 1869 map would be in the CLANCY entry in my DHOTAMA. It wasn't, but I did discover that Michael Clancy's wife, Margaret, nee Scanlan (d. 1872), and their 9 year old son, John, who drowned, were both buried at Keilor Cemetery. (See the CLANCY journal.)

Michael Clancy died in 1909 and his land, now consisting of 53 acres, was offered for sale and specified in great detail.

MICHAEL- MARGARET'S HUSBAND.
EventDeath Event registration number1517 Registration year1909
Personal information
Family nameCLANCY Given namesMichl SexUnknown Father's nameClancy Peter Mother's nameBridt (Donoghue) Place of birth Place of deathFcray Age80

After his death, his land consisting of about 53 acres, described in detail, was offered for sale. See P.2, Argus, 4-8-1909, last advertisement in column 2. Most of the lots can be found on the 1869 map on page 32 of SOLOMON'S FORD, WHICH FORD, WHICH SOLOMON by Valentine Jones.