Rewriting History John Pascoe Fawkner Visited the Sullivan Bay Settlement Near Sorrento IN 1833

This is not a comeback either. I downloaded this Mornington Peninsula Shire heritage study because the summary mentioned "Mann" and I was hoping to find if there was any connection between Mr Mann (farmer near Balnarring in 1902) and Mr Mann who wrote the Mt Eliza history in 1926.

Councils rightly engage consultants in an effort to preserve the history and heritage of their areas but when the finished product contains such stupid errors as the one detailed in the title of this journal,one wonders how authoritative the rest of the findings are. As the studies are conducted by professional historians, one can just imagine a local historian claiming that reports of Fawkner not arriving (on his second visit to the Port Phillip District)before John Batman were false. Of course an authoritative source (THE STUDY DETAILED BELOW) would be quoted but that does not change fiction into fact!

Anyone can make a careless error. My usual howlers include confusing east and west and writing 1843 for 1943 etc. Billot's LIFE AND TIMES OF JOHN PASCOE FAWKNER gives a precise time-line for Fawkner's second coming, including the claimed seasickness which prevented him leaving Queenstown and forced him to appoint Lancey to lead his party in his stead while he carried out his legal obligations.

1833 is complete nonsense! Surely professional historians could have third parties with some knowledge of history proof read their final draft before pocketing our rate money. I pointed out errors in a City of Moreland heritage study but was informed that they could not be corrected because the study had been accepted by council! Luckily Mornington Peninsula Shire had Simon Lloyd as its heritage planning officer and when I pointed out that Edward Jones' Spring Farm at Moorooduc had been confused with another of his farms, Penbank at the south west corner of Jones Corner, the mistake was corrected.

PAGE 19, MORNINGTON
PENINSULA SHIRE
THEMATIC HISTORY
July 2013
Prepared for
Mornington Peninsula Shire
Graeme Butler & Associates
Edited by Context Pty Ltd

One of the families at the Collins settlement was that of John Pascoe Fawkner. Reminiscing
about his early Sorrento experiences, Fawkner noted the discovery of three commodities which
were to play major roles in the future development of the Peninsula: the abundant fish in the
bay, the native she-oak which grew profusely in many areas, and the lime deposits, stating
"˜Before we left Port Phillip lime was found and this enabled every hut to build a stone
chimney'.56 Fawkner visited the settlement site again in 1833:
I went on shore where the first Settlement had been attempted in 1803"”found the spots on
which ourselves and other settlers had built our Bush huts: The butts of the chimneys formed of
limestone were still standing and where each hut had been.57

Today, little physical evidence remains of the Collins settlement. The settlers' sod huts with
their limestone chimneys have long since gone, as has the jetty built of she-oak. There is even
doubt that the early graves which survive in the settlement area are those of the pioneer
settlers.The graves were discovered in the 1870s and placed in a Crown land reserve in 1879.58


52 Calder, (2002), 20-21; see also Context & Urban Initiatives (2002).
53 Heritage Victoria First Settlement site Sullivan Bay Sullivan's Bay HO1050 citation; Cotter, (2004), 14.
54 Ursula M. de Jong, Making tracks on the Mornington Peninsula -Quotes from Edgar French in Environment
Effects Act 1978, Blairgowrie Safe Boat Harbour, Assessment and Panel Report, December 1999, 5.
55 Moorhead, Op. Cit. 26.
56 Alexander, Op. Cit. 1 quotes Fawkner.
57 Alexander, Op. Cit. 1.
58 Nepean Historical Society Inc. 2008 comments.

P.S. A COPY OF THIS JOURNAL WILL BE EMAILED TO THE SHIRE. I WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED OF THE REACTION.

A FURTHER MESSAGE.
The map (figure 4) on page 24 claims to show tenants in the 1850's and 1860's but as it was probably Smythe's map of 1841, it is unsurprising that no tenants are named. The same map is included in Marie Fels' I SUCCEEDED ONCE (available online) and shows Hobson's homestead near the northern boundary and his (Bullock?) paddock near the southern boundary. The symbol # has obviously been added to the original map by Winty Calder to indicate homesteads such as widow McLear's "The Willow". If I remember correctly the area marked ? was one of the three Boon Wurrung encampments, the other two being just north of the survey (chosen by William Thomas) and near Hobson's homestead whose name was corrupted to Kangerong. The map confirms Colin McClear's claim that Dunn's Creek originally discharged into Sheepwash Creek before Walter Gibson dug the channel of about a mile to the present mouth. Marie Fels wrote glowingly of the friendliness displayed to the aborigines by Hobson and his (sort of) relative, George Smith.

A map showing post 1851 tenants can be seen in Colin McLear's A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA. Henry Dunn had leased the survey from 1846 to 1851. He may have concurrently sub-leased the Mt Martha run. (Osborne State School History.)

The two sentences in bold type are significant in regard to two themes. The first is in regard to the settlers changing the environment, making Dunns Creek enter the bay separately; the original volume of water at the mouth of Sheepwash creek must have created a deep channel which enabled Peter Pidota to load timber there. In regard to the aborigines, the study mentions their decimation and that they had nowhere to flee but from the start (Hobson 1837) they had many friends among the settlers such as the McCraes. If Thomas had not been held up by Robinson in trying to get the Boon wurrung away from the temptations of Melbourne, their demise may have been prevented.

OTHER ERRORS.
P. ??? Charles Groves*. (*GRAVES.)
Extract from the 1902 farms section near the end of my journal about RED HILL POST 1940 AND PROPOSED BACK TO RED HILL.
GRAVES' (c/a 15, section A,Flinders,s/w corner Punty Lane and Tucks Rd. Only 190 acres. Melway 255 J5, H6, fronting the north west side of Punty Lane with the western boundary being from the creek in the exact centre of G6 to a point almost opposite 425 Tucks Rd.In 1900, Charles Graves Snr and Jnr were assessed on 374 acres, Flinders. I cannot establish where the other 184 acres were. )

A little farther along the road toward the coast we come to "Woodlands," a property of nearly 400 acres, belonging to Mr Graves, a very old resident of the district. Besides having a large orchard and garden, the
owner of "Woodlands" goes in largely for poultry farming. Mr Graves also conducts one of the oldest storekeeping businesses in the southern part of the Mornington Peninsula. The property is in good order and crops of any sort should grow well in the rich chocolate soil.
See A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA re Charles Graves and his business partnership with Mary McLear before moving to Shoreham. .
P.???. Steel lighthouse at McCrae. Caption under photo gives the impression that its presence there dates from 1874 although earlier text shows that it was manufactured in 1874 and installed about a decade later.

P.79.
Dyson's Peninsula Motors bus lines (1922-) had the school bus run from Sorrento and
Flinders to Frankston in 1930 and Phillips ran buses to Pearcedale in the 1950s.322 Dyson's and
Lance Whittaker's Portsea Passenger Service have become dominant in the area. Peninsula Bus
Lines was purchased by the Grenada* Group in 1976 and continues to operate from its Seaford
depot.323
(* GRENDA. Grenda's Bus Services was founded in October 1945 when George Grenda purchased four routes from Shaves Bus Service in Dandenong.[1]

Over the years a number of acquisitions were made:

Dandenong Boomerang Bus Lines in July 1951[2]
Peninsula Bus Lines, Seaford in August 1958[2]
O Bridges in the early 1960s[2]
H Glenny in June 1965[2]
Blue Line Tourist Coaches, Sydney was purchased in 1973, sold along with Grenda's Melbourne coach operation to AAT Kings in 1975
Portsea Passenger Service in February 1983[3] etc.WIKIPEDIA. )

P.89 and 90. ROSEBUD FISHING VILLAGE; 1886 OR 1872. (ALSO THE VILLAGE OF SORRENTO.) JAMES PURVES AND THE ROSEBUD.
P.89. Dromana and Rye were gazetted as official government township surveys in 1861, and
Rosebud in 1886. Watering places such as Sorrento waited until 1952*(354)and Portsea village was
carved out of private allotments, as a subdivision.355
P.90.Rosebud
The name "˜Rosebud', according to various historians, came from the schooner owned by
Edward William Hobson, which was wrecked on the beach in front of the infant settlement.
Hobson, owner of the Tootgarook pastoral run, purchased the Rosebud from a syndicate of
Melbourne shipping agents in May 1854.** Although the early Rosebud settlement was on a
much smaller scale than that at Rye, it ultimately outgrew all the other townships in the former
Flinders Shire and is now the centre of local government. The town was surveyed and gazetted
in 1872. Rosebud's origins were as a fishing village with a small shipbuilding*** industry.

*S.S.Crispo claimed that he was responsible for the declaration of the village of Sorrento. Charles Gavan Duffy was impressed with Sorrento in Italy as he sailed out from Ireland and is credited with naming the area. As noted in the study, he bought much land in the parish of Nepean. William Allison Blair, a lime merchant, bought much land at Rosebud West (later the Woyna Estate) and near Rye Township. As he sought land in the parish of Nepean, it was inevitable that Blair and Duffy would apply for the same parcel of land. Crispo stated that there was no clear evidence to prove which man was entitled to this particular parcel and being a member of the Coastal Survey (disbanded in 1867 and once led by James Grant)and a close acquaintance of Mr Grant, now in charge of the Lands Department, Crispo suggested that the disputed land be declared a village.

I have found no report of this particular disputed parcel of land; perhaps Crispo's suggestion prevented it becoming the subject of a court case. One well-publicised case (Duffy V Blair)involved each accusing the other of using Dummies. A SORRENTO VILLAGE search on trove produced results only for Sorrento in Italy and the novel AGNES OF SORRENTO until 1869. Two advertisements mentioning the village (Town and suburban lots) appeared in The Argus on 20-12-1869 (P.7) and 23-12-1869 (P.3.)
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Monday 20 December 1869 p 7 Advertising
... , parish of Nepean, on Port Phillip Bay, adjoining the village of Sorrento. Upset prices £2 10s to ... LOTS. Sorrento, county of Mornington, parish of Nepean, on Port Phillip Bay, at Sorrento Point. Upset ... 9618 words

One would think that the village would have been declared before the advertisement was placed!

The Crispo claim. MR COPPIN AND SORRENTO. TO THE EDITOR.
Mornington Standard (Vic. : 1889 - 1908) Thursday 1 June 1899 p 3 Article
The Duffy/Blair dispute. SP.ECIAL LAND COMMISSION.
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Saturday 9 January 1869 p 6 Article
... brought hy Mr. W. A. Blair against Mr. C. G. Duffy, - and of a similar charge brought by Mr. Duffy against ... insinuated yes-terday that he (Mr, Purves) was a dummy «of Mr. Blair's.

** Peter Wilson gave evidence of Hobson's ownership of The Rosebud in ON THE ROAD TO ROSEBUD. He stated that the vessel was not insured. It was insured! By James Purves who had bought the lease of Tootgarook Run from Hobson in 1850. A group of about 11 insurance brokers had provided the insurance and most paid up when the vessel was stranded in 1855 but some claimed that the policy was voided because some paperwork had not been produced and that the stranding occurred on the EAST coast of the bay (which the policy did not cover.)

COUNTY COURT OF BOURKE. £200 JURISDICTION. Monday, May 19th. (Before his Honor R. W.Pohlinan, Judge, and Messrs. Laing and Marres, assessors.) PURVES V. KENT.
The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) Wednesday 21 May 1856 p 2 Article

COUNTY COURT OF BOURKE. £200 JURISDICTION. Wednesday, 28th November, 1855. (Before R. W. Pohlman, Esq., Judge, and two Assessors.) PURVES v. SMYTH.
The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) Thursday 29 November 1855 p 6 Article

***ROSEBUD'S SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY.
The name, Lacco, is synonymous with the building of wooden boats,as a google search for the words in bold type will clearly demonstrate. However these vessels could hardly be called ships and the industry had little to do with the origins of Rosebud. It was Mitchell "Mitch" Lacco (whose wooden statue is just across Murray Anderson Rd from his Rosebud workshop)who established the boat-building dynasty. In about 1916, his mother moved with Mitch to Queenscliff at about the same time as William John Ferrier (hero of the La Bella wreck at Warnambool in 1905) moved his family to their new house "Rosebud" (20 Beach St,Queenscliff.) Here Mitch honed his skills before returning to Rosebud while his mother helped to baby-sit the hero's children.
(Lew Ferrier, the hero's son.)

P.99. At Red Hill, a small store, post office and adjoining bakery were built by W.H. Blakeley in the
mid-1870s. The post office replaced an earlier one and still functions* as the Red Hill Post
Office and General Store.401

*The post office apparently still functioned as such when Sheila Skidmore wrote THE RED HILL. The building (710 White Hill Rd) is still standing with the post office boxes still intact but is now a private residence, having previously been a gallery. P.S. Is it all right for me to claim that the Empire State Building is STILL the world's tallest building? (I'm sure I could find a source even if it's 70 years old!)

P.101. The mistake is not in this study but a previous one. I'm not sure whether it was produced for Mornington Shire or Mornington Peninsula Shire but it gave the name and location of Watson's house and extensive grounds. However, displaying the same carelessness as J.P.Fawkner's supposed visit to the 1803 settlement in 1833, the name of the house was given as Melville House and as Melrose House. I had concluded that Melrose House was the correct version, probably based on an advertisement on trove.

In 1933 Melrose, Watson's grand house of the 1880s at Mornington was purchased by builder
Eric Dowdle to add to his "˜Mary' chain of guesthouses.

P. 106. 7.7 Providing health and welfare services
Nelson Ruddock (re the Dromana Bush Nursing Hospital) was Nelson Rudduck.
OBITUARY MR. N. RUDDUCK.
Frankston and Somerville Standard (Vic. : 1921 - 1939) Friday 18 January 1935 p 4 Article

Two items that should have been included are:
the many private hospitals mentioned in birth and death notices such as at Mornington, Dromana and Somerville, amateur medico's such as Watson Eaton and some of the women (like Susan Peatey of the Survey)who served their communities as midwives;
the role of Cr Jack and the Edward Wilson Trust in providing the peninsula's first motorised ambulance service.

P.121. This is not an error but an effort on my part to confirm that the IRISH Robert White was involved in the construction of the first proper hospital buildings at the Quarantine Station. In January 1857 there were many advertisements calling for tenders for this work but nowhere could I find any mention of contracts awarded. There were contracts awarded for a cookhouse and fittings for the hospital buildings and tenders called for a jetty. However despite SANITORY STATION and SANITARY STATION being used as alternatives for QUARANTINE STATION, I could not confirm Robert White's involvement.

Robert White was one of several IRISH brothers mentioned in Lime Land Leisure who signed the petition in 1859 against a fence being built from White Cliff to the back beach (as detailed in Peter Wilson's ON THE ROAD TO ROSEBUD.) Pam Colvin is a descendant of this IRISH family. There was a SCOTTISH Robert White from Clackmannan whose family's story is the subject of PENINSULA PIONEERS, written by Stephen Lynch of N.S.W.(Family Tree Circle's toolaroo.) His son, Robert, married (in succession) two daughters of Hill Hillis, was a pioneer of Rosebud 1875-1890 and Red Hill where he was known as Blooming Bob White as he used this word as an alternative to swearing. His nephew was named Robert White on his birth certificate (because his parents had not married due to the unavailability of ministers) but brought up as Robert James (under which name he was granted c/a 27A,section B,Wannaeue); he later adopted the name on his birth certificate and became known as Bullocky Bob White.

Let it then be clearly understood that the builder of the hospital buildings was Irish and, with George, a pioneer of the Sorrento/Rye area.

Quarantine the Second Phase 1856 to 1875 | Nepean ...
nepeanhistoricalsociety.asn.au/.../quarantine-the-second-phase-1856-to-1...
A Planned Response "“ the Second Phase: 1856 to 1875

Our accommodations on the Sanitary Station, either for the purposes of ablutions, or for treating disease, or for providing for healthy immigrants, have been very meagre. There is a prospect that before 1859 they will be ample. During my experience of above three years on the Station, we have succeeded in every instance in stopping and extinguishing the disease for which each vessel has been detained. With the improvements at present in progress, I look forward with considerable confidence to the continued efficiency of the establishment.26

Thus wrote Dr J Reed, Surgeon Superintendent of the Sanitary Station in his report to Parliament dated 1 January 1858 which detailed "˜the principal circumstances connected with the working of the Sanitary Station during the year 1857'. This was possibly the most significant year in the history of the station as it marked the commencement of work on the first "˜permanent' structures: the five two-storey stone hospital buildings.

The five hospital buildings were sited by Dr. Reed and Alfred Scurry, the afore-mentioned Clerk of Works; two were sited on the rise (Hospital Nos 1 and 2), initially for the use of the ill and convalescing emigrants, and three Hospitals were sited on the flat to provide accommodation for those detained as a precautionary measure. Albert Scurry subsequently prepared the plan for the hospital buildings which are dated November 1856.

Plans for One of First Five Hospitals 1856
Plans for One of First Five Hospitals 1856

In April 1857 Dr. McCrea, the Chief Medical Officer of the Colony approved Scurry's plans and local contractor Robert White commenced construction. To facilitate the works, White was permitted to keep sixteen bullocks "“ to haul stone and other building materials "“ and five horses on the station for the duration of his contract. Permission was also granted to undertake lime burning for the building works and to this end, White was permitted to utilised dead wood found within the station grounds. A quarry was also established at the station to supply the stone. Welch has written that initially the buildings were not rendered, but deterioration of the sandstone within a few years necessitated the rendering of the exterior stonework.27

Concurrent with the construction of the hospitals was the erection of a three-roomed cookhouse "“ including accommodation "“ behind the two hospitals on the rise "“ and three two-roomed stone cottages for labourers more permanently employed on the station. In addition a four-roomed stone cottage for the storekeeper was constructed; it occupied the site of the present-day Administration building.28 Drawings for these structures were prepared by Alfred Scurry and are dated December 1856. A proper jetty was also constructed "“ initially it was determined that it would be useful if the contractor Robert White constructed a jetty which the Government could then take over, no public funds being available for the purpose at this time.29

White must have balked at this assumption, for in 1858 a contract was awarded to Mussen & Company for the sum of £958 to construct a timber jetty, 249 feet in length, to plans prepared by Alfred Scurry.30

PATRICK TOMUT WEE WEE,a Rosebud fisherman buried at Rye Cemetery, lost his life while conveying four quarrymen to the Quarantine Station in 1869. The quarrymen, who also perished, are named in newspaper reports.

RYE ANGLICAN.
P.146. The sentence about the Rye Anglican Church (in bold type) is not only placed in the second paragraph (about the Dromana Anglican Church) instead of the first (about the Rye Anglican Church), but also gives the impression that it was the first place of worship for the Rye Anglicans. The second (present) place of worship was built on the site of the original school/church built with lime donated by James Trueman. As correctly stated (bold type in paragraph 1), the original stone was used (in addition to stone donated by Ben Stenniken) to construct the second building on the site. It is possible, because of crumbling masonry, that the old building could not be used for services during the period when the present school was being built, and that private homes were used for a while, but the Church of England school/church had been the place of worship for many years.
(Church website, Patricia Appleford's RYE PRIMARY SCHOOL 1667.)

St Andrew's, Rye, built in 1882, became the second-oldest stone church in the Shire, after St
John's at Sorrento, and represents the development of a substantial congregation at a
comparatively early stage in the population growth of the region. The church was built, to the
design of Henderson and Smart, with stone recycled from an earlier structure which had served
as a school hall and church until 1875. For some time the building was used by both
Presbyterian and Anglican congregations. The church was extended in 1980.589

Construction of St Mark's of Dromana was commenced in 1892 as the third-oldest stone
Anglican church on the Peninsula after St Andrew's, Rye (1882), and St John's, Sorrento
(1874). *Prior to this, regular services at Rye had been held in private homes. Between 1885 and
1892, the Union church on the corner of Heales Street and Point Nepean Road was used by
the Anglican congregation. From 1893 until 1960 St Mark's was included in the parish of
Mornington and Sorrento. The parish hall was added in 1958 followed by the parish office and
opportunity shop in 1989.590

P. 147-8. METHODIST CHURCHES.
No mention is made of the Dromana and Rosebud Methodist churches, the Rudduck involvement, the Band of Hope, Rosebud's only Sunday School for many years, the Rudduck organ dispute with the Rosebud Mechanics' Institute etc.

NO MENTION OF DROMANA PRES. AND BUILT IN A DAY ROSEBUD PRES.

Newspaper articles that prove the following paragraph from page 150 of the study have been found. A Dame Nellie Melba google search reveals that her son, George ARMSTRONG,inherited her property near the Melba Highway. I had assumed that the concert described by Grace E.Caldwell in 1921 had taken place in 1875 soon after the Continental Hotel opened (in October, according to Coppin's advertisement.) However "mine host" in December 1875 was not Hughes, as stated by Grace, but M.A.Cleary, who became insolvent because patronage had been affected by scarlet fever, stormy weather and THE HOTEL NOT BEING COMPLETED! As Cleary received his certificate of Discharge of Insolvency in October 1876, he must not have been the proprietor of the hotel for long and it is possible that William Hughes (who re-opened the hotel in 1879) became the proprietor soon after the 1875/6 peak season finished. My speculation that "mine host" might have been Sir Daniel Abraham Hughes would now seem to be wrong, although he might have sold the Continental site to Coppin's company, but the reference will not be deleted. If William Hughes was not "mine host" in about 1876,when Helen Mitchell would have been about 15, and Grace E.Calder was instead describing the 1885 concert (which was to raise funds for the cemetery), why would she have described Melba (by then a 24 year old married woman as a GIRL?

P.150. SORRENTO MECHANICS' INSTITUTE. The hall was the venue of a concert by Madam
Melba, then called Mrs Armstrong on January 24th 1885, when Melba sang two solos and a
duet. This was reputedly her first concert since she first sang publicly, as a child, in her home
town Richmond.614 In the next year, she travelled Europe to begin a serious musical career.(614)
(614. 614 Sorrento and Portsea Yesterday, 58-9. N.B. THIS IS NOT MENTIONED IN THE BIBLIOGRAPHY.)

Is it possible that Dame Nellie gave two concerts in Sorrento? Grace Caldwell linked the first concert with the Continental Hotel (built 1875) which had just been constructed. Helen Mitchell would then have been about 14 years old. Could the author(s) of "Sorrento and Portsea Yesterday" have been a decade off the correct year or were there two concerts, or was Grace Caldwell wrong about Nellie being a girl when she organised the concert and when the Sorrento Cemetery was fenced as a result?

Extract from my journal, written as itellya, DAME NELLIE MELBA'S FIRST CONCERT, SORRENTO ...
Another thing, Dame Nellie Melba Queen of Song, gave her first concert in this the queen of watering places. The Continental Hotel had just been erected* (Hughes being mine host ) and Melba was here with her father. Walking one day they came across the grave of a member of the crew of a recent wreck and being told it was a cemetery which they were going through, the girl exclaimed, "And without a fence!" It was explained that it was probably owing to lack of funds that the cemetery was not closed in. She decided to give a concert, and wrote the placards herself being wise enough not to mention her own name for "singing in public makes a young girl bold" was the father's opinion who was then in ignorance of his daughter possessing "a singing voice." The concert was held, and a sum made that erected the fence that is still there, whilst today if Dame Melba repeated the performance, two people would have to occupy one chair, so great would be the enthusiasm to rehear her-
Yours, &c, GRACE E. CALDWELL.
Sorrento, Sept. 26.
(P.10, bottom of column 6,Argus, 28-9-1921.)

*The Continental Hotel was built in 1875 by Ocean Amphitheatre Co Ltd of which George Coppin was the Managing Director.( Continental Hotel - About www.continentalhotel.com.au/"Ž).

trove search re armstrong, concert (JAN,FEB 1885)/CONCERT, CEMETERY FENCE 1875/ HUGHES, CONTINENTAL 1875
THE COMPANY'S CONTINENTAL HOTEL,
Sorrento.
The above hotel is now being tastefully and comfortably furnished, and will be opened to the public at once.etc. (P.8, Argus, 23-12-1875). N.B. M.A.Cleary was the proprietor, not Hughes.

It is possible that "mine host" was not the lime-burning pioneer after whom Hughes Rd was named but an insolvent in 1875, Sir Daniel Abraham Hughes who had sold land to Coppin's Ocean Amphitheatre Company. Perhaps,he had owned the Continental Hotel site and Grace assumed that he ran the hotel. See:MELBOURNE, column 5, P.3,Geelong Advertiser, 13-7-1875. It would seem from the first advertisement that Cleary had not been the first lessee; perhaps it had been Sir Daniel. Coppin advertised,P.8, Argus, 2-9-1875:" SORRENTO Continental HOTEL to LET, now building. Possession in October. Full particulars of G. Coppin." Cleary wrote in December:" Tho proprietor begs to intimate that the hotel is in no way connected with anyone but himself." Michael Austin Cleary became insolvent because the Continental was unfinished when it started operating and scarlet fever (probably the Webster children)and stormy weather had reduced patronage.(P.7, Argus, 9-10-1876,LAW REPORT.)

It seems that Grace's facts were slightly incorrect. William Hughes was the proprietor of the Continental when it re-opened in 1879.
CONTINENTAL HOTEL, SORRENTO CONTINENTAL HOTEL, SORRENTO
RE-OPENING Of the CONTINENTAL HOTEL, SORRENTO
New Furniture and Stock Great Reduction in Prices to meet the times Terms-Board and Residence, 30s per week ; all meals, 1s. 6d Passengers and luggage taken from the steamer to the hotel free of charge
WILLIAM HUGHES, Proprietor (P.3, Argus,27-12-1879.)

The reference to a concert in the Mechanics'Institute in January 1885 is correct and it was in aid of improvements to the Sorrento and Rye cemeteries.
[i]On Saturday evening an amateur concert will be given in the Sorrento Mechanics'Institute, in aid of the improvement fund of the Sorrento and Rye cemeteries. (P.5, Argus,22-1-1885, bottom of second last column.)

A concert which was attended with great success took place at Sorrento on Saturday in aid of the funds of the local cemetery. The hall, which was crowded, was very tastefully decorated. The performers, who were well known amateurs, viz., Mrs Armstrong, the Misses Service, Barry, Dawson, Donaldson, Anderson and Messrs Cadden, Hood and Hesselmann all rendered their solos remarkably well. The funds of the local cemetery will be increased by more than £20. (P.5,halfway down in column 3, Argus, 27-1-1885.)

P. 151 ROSEBUD MECH. INST.-NO MENTION OF SHIRE LIBRARY
DROMANA MECH. INST.-NOT MENTIONED; ROLE AS VENUE FOR SHIRE MEETINGS.

P.153-4. NO MENTION OF ROSEBUD OR DROMANA SCHOOLS.

P. 181. Well, this didn't tell me anything about John G.Mann that's not already in my journal: MR MANN WROTE A HISTORY OF MT. ELIZA.
From the bibliography.
Mann, J.; 1926. `The Early History of Mount Eliza on the Morning ton Peninsula', re printed
in Mount Eliza Community Association, Mount Eliza, Mornington, 1985. In the possession
of Jess White.