Serpell's Road

For ten years, there had been a demand for a road from East Doncaster to Templestowe. It was a long, round about route for those in East Doncaster and the Highland Estate to reach Templestowe from where a good road led through to Heidelberg and then on to Melbourne and the markets.

In 1884, the Council announced that Serpell's Road was ready. Some land owners like Richard Serpell, Henry Chivers and John Read had donated land for the road. Others paid money. Over the years, the original purpose of the road had been forgotten, and Serpell's Road had not been continued right through to East Doncaster.

John Read was furious. He had donated land for a road on the condition that it was to connect to East Doncaster. He refused to sign the transfer of his land unless the road was put right through. The Council refused to do this, so Read built a fence across the road.

A major controversy developed. Here was a road giving access to an area but a fence blocked the entrance. Doncaster's colourful baker Heinrich Lauer announced that when he came on his bread round next day he would chop down the fence and go through. Next morning a small crowd collected around the offending fence. At eleven o'clock the crowd saw the baker's cart coming up the road the horse galloping at full speed. To the delight of the spectators the little German baker was standing up in the cart waving an awe over his head and shouting in his thick German accent, "I'll chop it down, I'll chop it down." He galloped right up to the fence where the tall John Read was calmly leaning, one foot on the lower rail. In a quiet voice, Read said, "Go on Herman, chop it down." Lauer was a law abiding man. He had put on his act and was content to leave it at that.

The incident took the tension out of the controversy. The Council reviewed the whole affair from the first petition, and agreed to build a connecting road to East Doncaster, so Read signed the transfer and removed the fence. The road was named after Richard Serpell who had contributed generously to its construction.

Irvine Green. A.I.A.P. writing in 1970 04 DTHS Newsletter