In 1841, James Dawson established a second station to the east of the township, about 1 mile (1.6km) From the bridge. By the mid 1840’s, Anderson had sold his holding to a Major Newman, a former officer of the Indian army.
http://whsoc.org.au/gold-mining/
Warrandyte was originally called Anderson's Creek after James Anderson who in 1839 had a cattle and sheep station in the area where the creek, that still bears his name, meets the Yarra River.
The name Warrandyte was first employed in 1841 when surveyor T. H. Nutt named the district from Anderson's Creek to Croydon as "Parish of Warrandyte, County of Bourke".
In 1856 the township itself was laid out and named "Township of Warrandyte, County of Evelyn". However the name was not formalised until 1908.
Between 1841 and 1908 both names, Anderson's Creek and Warrandyte, were used to the confusion of many. This confusion was enhanced when the Lilydale railway line was opened in 1882 and the station at Croydon was called Warrandyte Railway Station until 1884 when it was renamed Croydon.
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~whsoc/faqs.html
Overland from Sydney - James Anderson
In 1839, James Anderson overlanded a herd of cattle from Sydney to Warrandyte. By that time the road to Port Phillip, although only a bush track, had become wide and well-trodden.When Major Mitchell had returned to Sydney with glowing_ reports of the grassy plains of "Australia Felix", overlanders began to move down the Major's line.
A typical overlander party was equipped with bullocks, drays, horses, and a tent. Little personal clothing was carried, two suits of rough material and half a dozen shirts. For food there was flour, tea, sugar, salts pork and sundries. Mutton was bought from stations along the way. A party could expect to travel 12 to 14 miles per day. At Gundagai, two hazards faced the drover, the river, with its deep crossing, and bush hotel. The ex-convict and ticket-of-leave drover saw this as their last chance for drinking and refused to go on demanding an advance of pay. Drovers rarely carried money, it was customary to give an order on a Sydney merchant. This gave the publican the possibility of running up a large account while the men were too drunk to watch the cattle.
Along the track, grass was plentiful during the winter. At night the bullocks were hobbled and saplings made a temporary stock yard. When it rained the overlanders made a shelter with sheets of bark, but often during rain their clothing and bedding were met for days on end. However, at every stop there was always plenty of hot tea. Bushmen were great tea drinkers.
On reaching Port Phillip, Anderson looked for land. He moved along the south bank of the Yarra. At Bulleen, the Woods brothers were grazing sheep, and Major Newman had squatted on the hills of Deep Creek.
At Warrandyte, he found vacant land. Here James Anderson settled on the flats at the mouth of the Creek, that was later given his name.
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| Andersons creek and the cairn marking the site of the first recognised discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andersons_Creek |
Discovery of Gold
In 1935, a group of Warrandyte residents erected a memorial to mark the first discovery of gold in Victoria. There appear to be several anomaliesabout the Gold Memorial. it ie generally stated that the first discovery of gold in Victoria was at Clunes. The wording on the monument states: "Gold found here June, 1851, by Louis J. Michel and Party” yet it is situated on the site of Michel and Habberlain's discovery in July, 1851. Several men had found gold in Victoria before 1851. Possibly the first discovery was near Warrandyte in 1842. The reward that was offered in 1851 was for the discovery of a payable goldfield. When gold was found at Clunes, it was kept quiet at first and was reported the day after Michel had reported and openly published his discovery. The Warrandyte goldfield that resulted was the first goldfield in Victoria. Michel had fulfilled all the requirements to be claimed officially as the first discoverer of gold in Victoria.
On 30th June, 1851, Louis Michel and his party found gold in a quartz reef where the road crosses Deep Creek at Warrandyte. The gold was tested and the authorities inspected the reefs, but, at that time, the technique for extracting gold from quartz was not known in Victoria. Michel, with one of his party, W. Habberlain, returned and found alluvial gold in Anderson's Creek on 13th July. Evidently, these details were not known to the committee who erected the Gold Memorial.
Plans to build Shoppingtown were being prepared before the Doncaster/Templestowe Historical Society was formed. The Box Hill Historical Society wrote to Westfield asking that the history of that corner be commemorated in some permanent form. Our Society after its formation followed up this request. Bricks were purchased from the red brick Corner Store when it was being demolished. These bricks were used as the basis for a commemorative walk placed in the car park outside the main entrance to Shoppingtown.
Excerpt from Irvine Green writing in 1978 02 DTHS Newsletter
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