Mrs. Isabella Duncan in front of her wattle and daube cottage in Thompsons Road, Bulleen.
Geological Background
The bedrock of Doncaster and Templestowe is composed of mudstones, siltstones,and sandstones, of Silurian Age (about 420 million years old). This weathers to a grey loamy soil. Young Tertiary Sands once covered most of the area, but have largely eroded away leaving occasional toppings on a few hills in Doncaster.
The river flats at Bulleen are less than 50 feet above sea level, and Doncaster Hills are over 400 feet with the hills at Warrandyte 500 feet above sea level.
The rainfall averages 30-70 inches per year (which is 4 to 5 inches higher than Melbourne).
Traces of Aborigines
The Aborigines who occupied this area were called The Wurundjeri. The name is formed from the aboriginal words for the Manna Gum and the grub, like a witchitty grub, that lived in the tree. The tribe claimed as its tribal lands the basin of the Yarra and the streams flowing into it. The boundaries were the Dividing Ranges. The river was their source of life. The river itself provided water and fish, while there were also the animals and birds that came to the river and its valley. When land alongside the Yarra was leased for grazing the Aborigines were given the right to move through the land (to reach the water).
Although roaming over this land (their territory) the Aborigines had special places. On the slopes of Lower Temple-stowe corroborees were held. There is a street in this area called Corroboree Street. "Bulleen" was the native name for the river flats opposite the Plenty river, which the aborigines used as a resting place. In the area of Wonga Park, tribes used to meet for boomerang and spear throwing contests. They called the area "Warrandyte". The name comes from two words "Warren" to throw and "Dyte", the object thrown at.
Settlers who treated the aborigines well found them friendly. The Chivers had a hut on the river near Fitzsimons Lane. When Mrs. Chivers died the aborigines took care of the young children during the day, while Mr. Chivers was away at work cutting timber. With Major Newman it was different. The Major had been in the Army in India (51st Native Bengal Infantry), where he had learnt to be hard on the natives. He made "enemies" of the aborigines.
On one occasion, they became so incensed that a party approached Major Newman's home intent on murder. Catherine Newman, his wife, hid him up the chimney and so that they would not think of looking there, lit a fire of green branches and grass. When the aborigines left, Catherine quickly pulled the Major out of the chimney. He was half suffocated and has his whiskers badly singed.
It was from the Wurundjeri Tribe that the Native Police Force was recruited. Their headquarters were situated at the Police Paddocks at Dandenong. The Wurundjeri were chosen because they were a fine race, well made and above average height. As an inducement they were given a uniform of green jackets with possum skin facings, black trousers with red stripes at the side, and caps with red bands. These police were used to protect isolated settlers from attacks by aborigines. By 1850 many of the police had gone walkabout and the force was disbanded.
In 1853 the Wurundjeri were moved to a reserve at Pound Bend. After several years the remainder of the tribe were moved to the Coranderk Reserve near Healesville and to Lake Tyers.
Traces of Aborigines have been found in the district. Bones wrapped in bark were found in 1930 when Williamsons Road was being made, and when a well was being dug on Petty's land in Doncaster. Old trees, called "Canoe Trees", with marks showing where bark has been removed to make a canoe, cooking utensil or shield still remain near the Yarra.
Canoe Tree at Lower Templestowe
Survey
In 1837, Hoddle was sent to the Port Phillip District, as Victoria was called, to survey the land ready to be sold to settlers. He divided the land into areas called Parishes. Hoddle made a survey along the Yarra and Plenty Rivers; he found the Woods Brothers grazing sheep on the Yarra flats. The aborigines called this area Bulleen, meaning a resting place. The parish that was bounded by the Yarra, Koonung Creek and Deep Creek was given the name Bulleen.
Hoddle's assistants followed up making a detailed survey of each parish. In 1841 surveyor T.H. Nutt and his party reached Bulleen. They divided the land into sections one mile square. Each section was numbered ready for sale to settlers. As Nutt and his team cut their line through the thick brush, they would mark the corner of each section on the nearest tree. At the corner of Blackburn and Woodhouse Roads the corner was described as 16°, 70 links from gumtree marked No. VI & IX. This one mile grid affected our road system, for many roads are one mile apart, Victoria Street, Blackburn Road and Springvale Road.
At the west of the Parish a "Special Survey" was marked out. In 1841 the colonial office in England offered areas of land, 5120 acres for one pound ( 1) an acre to anyone who could pay cash. Eight of these Special Surveys were sold. Close to Melbourne, there was Dendy's surveys in Brighton, Elgar's survey in Camberwell and Unwin's survey in our area.
Unwin's Special Survey was bounded on the west and south by Koonung Creek, east by Church Road and north by Foote Street. Unwin's land was subdivided and sold under the name 'The Carlton Estate".
Pioneers and Settlement
The first pioneers to come to our district were the Woods Bros, who started a sheep station on the river flats at Bulleen in 1837. Here there was grass-land ready for grazing without the need for clearing. Major Newman, who had come from Tasmania to look for land, was attracted by the grass covered rolling hills where Deep Creek enters the Yarra. James Anderson, who had overlanded cattle from Sydney, had to move further along the river to find vacant land. He built his huts and stockyards alongside the creek that was given his name. When Dawson, Mitchell and Selby arrived the next year, they moved onto the next creek junction. Their homestead was east of Warrandyte in the place now called Selby. Their cattle station was called the Warrandyte Station and covered over ten square miles. Four years later, Lewis Robinson established a cattle station on the Deep Creek; his homestead was where Old Warrandyte Road now crosses Deep Creek.
These men did not buy the land. They were squatters who paid a £10 fee for a "license to depasture". Settlers and selectors came later. They built their huts along the rivers and inland along creeks, for water was an essential for both growing crops and stock.
The one mile square sections of land that were surveyed were sold by auction for an upset price of £1 per acre. Owing to the depressed state of the economy, land was not sold until the 50's. Most of those who bought sections, subdivided the land for re-sale.
In the 1860's new land settlement laws were passed. Land within ten miles of a gold field was opened up for selection under special conditions. The selector paid for the land over three years. During that time he had to prove that he was a bona-fide selector, by building a house, cultivating the land,and building a fence. The land at Donvale, east of Springvale Road, was sold for selection under these conditions.
Roads
The first road builders in Australia were kangaroos. When white man first came to the country they travelled along existing tracks that had often been made by kangaroos, for they travelled along ridges that were dry in wet weather. This was the case with Doncaster and Manningham Roads which mainly followed high land which slopes away to either side.
Roads such as Doncaster Road and Bui een Road were in use before the parish was surveyed and went in the direction people wanted to travel. Later roads were surveyed as access to the mile square sections of land These travelled along straight lines, north-south or east-west, such as Springvale and Blackburn Roads, and Foote and Porter Streets.
These roads ignored steep hills and muddy valleys unpassable in wet weather, so they were often found unsatisfactory. Originally Doncaster Road continued down a steep hill to a valley in Sp ngvale Road. Travellers to Warrandyte and Mitcham took a short cut to left or right to cross level ground. The owners of the land built a fence across these tracks to avoid them becoming right of ways, for if land is crossed by the public for a length of time (such as ten years) it becomes a public right of way and must be left ope The Council then bought land to make roads. These became Old Warrandyte Road and Mitcham Road. The unused section of Doncaster Road was sold.
In land that had been sold and was subdivided by private people roads were built as needed. The first subdivision was Unwin's Special Survey Here main roads do not follow the rectangular one mile gri . They follow the pattern of communication and access.
The Effect of Gold
In 1851, gold was discovered at Warrandyte by Louis Michele. The first gold field in Victoria was declared along Anderson's Creek. A canvas township grew up and was called by the miners', Anderson's Creek. When the village was officially proclaimed it was named Warrandyte but the inhabitants continued to use the name Anderson's Creek. For fifty years land documents had to carry both names for clear identification. In 1908 a vote by land-owners decided to use the name Warrandyte.
Travellers to the gold fields either passed through Templestowe or Doncaster. Both the Upper Yarra Hotel (later known as Finn's) and the Doncaster were built to cater for these travellers.
By 1853 the easily accessible gold at Ballarat and Bendigo had run out. Those who rushed to the gold fields were returning and many looked for a place to settle on the land. Some came to Doncaster and Templestowe. Those who had been successful in gold mining bought land and subdivided it, helping to open up the area. One of these was William Burnley, who bought two square miles along Doncaster Road from Wetherby Road to Springvale Road. He subdivided this land into shop sites, house lots, and farms, and called the estate The Township of Doncaster.
Industries
In 1840 Alex Duncan started dairy farming on the river flats at Bulleen. The rich grassy flats were ideal for dairying but a series of severe floods in 1843 forced him to move to higher land in the locality of Thompsons Road. Here he built a cheese factory. Dairying never became a big industry, and was only carried on in a few places along the flat$,from the vicinity of Hender Street to the east of Templestowe.
Robert Laidlaw and Hugh Kerr had grown cereal crops on the Yarra flats at Bulleen in the early 1840's. Wheat and barley grown there was part of the first shipments of crops to be exported to England. A sheaf of wheat is included in the crest of the City of Doncaster and Templesowe.
The rich deep soil close to the river was found ideal for growing potatoes. By the 1850's nearly 500 acres were planted with potatoes. This was the largest area in any district of Victoria. These crops continued to be grown till 1860 when four years of drought and flood ruined the crops. Fathers turned to other things and the only crops to be grown in any quantity were oats for hay.
Timber cutters moved through the district as early as 1840. Red gums were plentiful along the banks of the river and creeks. Saw pits were dug by timber cutters mainly to cut parts for wagons and wagon wheels. Many charcoal burners worked in the area and they lived in huts along the banks of the creeks.
At this time charcoal was in great demand by blacksmiths, for coke was not available until gas works opened. As land was being cleared for farms and orchards, firewood cutting became a major industry. As well as settlers who, as they cleared the land, made a living selling firewood until their farms produced, many itinerant wood cutters and carters were at work. Firewood was in constant demand as fuel for the kitchen stoves of Melbourne. In every house the kitchen fire was lit in the early morning and was kept alight till the evening meal was cooked. During winter fires in living rooms increased the use of firewood. By 1880 almost all the land was settled and cleared, so the timber cutters moved on to districts further out.
When the high land of Doncaster was first settled the farmers experiments with different crops. Berries, grapes and vegetables were grown. In 1880 market gardens covered 274 acres. Berries were a success until the trees were cleared allowing hot north winds to scorch the crops. Grape vines were grown for both fresh grapes and to make wine. In the German community of Waldau everyone had a vineyard to make wine for their own use. Disease ended the grape production until,the depression year of the 1890's,when an attempt was made to market grapes, but these could not compete in quality with grapes from the new irrigation districts.
When fruit growing was proved successful, orchards took the place of other crops. The first commercial orchards were planted in 1856, by Serpells and Thieles in Doncaster,and Read in Templestowe. In 1857 orchards covered 8 acres, by 1865 the area had grown to 87 acres and by 1880 had become the main fruit growing district with 302 acres of orchard. Many orchards were show places and won awards in competitions such as those run by the Leaden Orchards require their own special agricultural implements. To reach under the branches of trees, special offset ploughs are needed. The best known of these is the Petty Plough, designed by an orchardist and built by a local blacksmith. Carts called "Low Jingles" with a dropped axle saved much lifting of fruit cases. Spray pumps were a necessity to produce clean fruit when orchard pests became profilic.
Wind breaks of pine trees planted during the 1880's and 1890's and dams which became popular during the drought years around 1900 improved the quality of fruit growing. Cool Stores built from 1906 to 1920's increased the quantity that could be sold. Fruit growing reached a peak during the 1920's till the depression in 1930.
The sandstone bedrock of the area is in many cases suitable for building and road making purposes. In 1857 a prize was officered for a superior building stone within reach of Melbourne where a building boom was taking place. Two quarries near Templestowe submitted samples and won prizes. Quarries were dug in many places in Doncaster, Templestowe and at Warrandyte to produce stone for building purposes. Several stone houses were erected and until concrete was required for foundations, large stone slabs were used under brick houses.
The clay in many p aces proved suitable for brickmaking. At first clay was dug at the site of a building and bricks were baked in portable kilns. Later two large brickworks were opened in Bulleen Road.
Low Jingle
Houses
When the pioneers settled on the land they built houses from the available materials, trees, bark, mud and stone. Huts were built near the river and along the banks of creeks, to be close to water.
For a simple hut wide strips of bark were tied on to a framework of saplings. A more solid hut was made by cutting wide slabs of timber about two inches thick. These were fitted into grooves cut in logs. A Wattle and Daub hut was made from mud coated on to thin branches (Wattles) turned around posts set vertically in the ground. In Victoria Street, Doncaster one Wattle and Daub building "Friedensruh" is still standing as solid as ever. In this house branches were nailed to the upright posts, the whole being packed with mud.
In these early huts the floor was earth. Mud mixed with cow manure was smoothed out on the floor and when dry gave a hard durable surface.
Chimneys were often made of wooden slabs with a coat of mud on the inside. These chimneys were made large to avoid getting too hot and burning. In others, stones picked up when the land was being cleared were used for the chimney and fireplace. Many of these were large enough to hold fireside seats, and an open fireplace where food was cooked, and a bread oven.
Wattle and Daub Cottage
Stone made a solid hut. In our district there are many places where stone, suitable for building, can be found. Stone cut from a quarry was laid with a simple lime mortar. The walls were straight and square, large stones covered door and window openings. The stones were all random sizes but carefully arranged. The houses would have stood up without mortar.
Roofs of the first huts were made of bark held down by branches. Shingles, that is, strips of timber two feet long and six inches wide were commonly used till galvanized corrugated iron became available. Shingle roofs were then covered by iron. The shingles were an insulation against heat and the iron gave clean water for domestic use.
When the settlers became established houses were built of weatherboard and some with hand made bricks. Clay was dug close to the site and the bricks baked in portable iron kilns.
Food was cooked over an open fire Pots were hung by chains over the fire and meat was roasted on a spit. Later, colonial ovens were used until these were replaced by the fire stove. Many homes still have a fire stove in them, although an electric or gas stove will have been installed. An improvement on the fire stove is the slow combustion cooker considered by many to be better than either electricity or gas for cooking.
Living Standards
The kitchen was always the centre of the home. In the earliest huts the kitchen was virtually a fireplace. The stone or wooden or brick fireplace was made large enought for cooking over an open fire. Often the fire would remain alight for months with long logs being slowly pushed into the fire as they burnt until the fireplace had to be cleaned out and the ashes removed.
From hooks in the chimney chains held pots and skillets. Meat was roasted on a spit. Bread was baked in a bake oven built into the side of the fireplace. With the arrival of the colonial oven, the settlers wife had the opportunity to'improve her range of cooking.
If the hut was not near the river or a creek, a water hole was dug. When galvanized iron/eplaced the bark roofs or covered shingle roofs, the rain water could be collected and stored in underground brick tanks. The housewife no longer had to carry water up a hill from the creek, instead she went outside and pumped up beautifully cool water from the tank or 'well' as it was often called.
The settlers always had a cow. Milk was left to set m shallow pans and cream skimmed off. Butter was made in churns and then shaped into rounds with wooden butter pats. Often a wooden stamp was used to leave a design such as a thistle on the butter. The orchardists wife would make extra money by selling butter and eggs. Many women walked all the way to Kew,and even Melbourne carrying baskets of farm produce to sell.
Nothing was wasted in the orchard house. Stale bread was used to make a pudding. Kitchen scraps went to feed the fowls. The thrifty orchadists wife never used good fruit that was marketable. There was always plenty of reject fruit. During the season, fruit was preserved in bottles and eggs were preserved in ovo. There was always plenty of fruit, eggs and milk. The orchardist would buy meat while at the market selling his fruit.
During the 1890's labour was plentiful and it became the custom for orchard hands to live on the homestead. The housewife then had to cook for often a dozen men. By this time the familiar fire stove, that still remains in many older homes throughout the country and suburbs, came into use.
Large Chimney at Hislops House in Doncaster Road
Social Life
For over twenty years the only place for social gatherings and recreation were hotels and churches. Hotels filled an important place in the community life for, until schools were built, they were the only public buildings in the district. Hotels were used for official occasions such as public meetings and inquests. The Templestowe Roads Board (the origin of our City Council) was formed and held its first meetings in the Upper Yarra Hotel.
The Sunday church service was the highlight of the week for the settler's wife. (She dressed herself and her children in their best clothes and she set off to meet other women and their families.) The whole occasion kept up their morale and was a rest from the hardships of pioneering life. At Christmas, the settlers who were away from their families and the traditional family gathering found happiness together in their church.
In 1870 a group of public-spirited men in Doncaster planned to build the Athenaeum Hall so that people could meet for concerts, lectures and entertainments. A library was established in the hall, its reading room was free and subscribers could borrow books. In Templestowe and Warrandyte, Mechanics Institutes were built for the same purpose. The progress of these halls followed the changes in social conditions and fortunes. During the exciting yeart ©f the land boom of the 1880's, when orchards were changing hands and being subdivided, cultural functions and the library were neglected. During the depression that followed there was a revival of community activities. The free library, lectures and concerts were well supported. The Doncaster Athenaeum was extended with a new larger hall. This was opened with a crowded concert followed by a gala all-night ball. As prosperity returned, cultural functions lost their appeal and entertainments became popular.
Until 1873 education was not compulsory so many could not read or write. When letters came from England, groups would meet at one home while letters were read. A strong community spirit developed. If a project, such as a new road was to be built, there was enthusiasm to help; some would give land and others stone.
Sport to Englishmen means cricket. It was not long before settlers organised a cricket match. One of the first cricket clubs in Victoria was formed in Warrandyte. At Templestowe cricket was played on land near the river in James Street. A club called the Doncaster Heights had a cricket ground on land that is now part of Doncaster Shopping Town car park; and at East Doncaster a group, who called themselves 'The Miserables", played at the corner of Doncaster and Blackburn Roads.
During the 1840's Major Newman had a private racecourse in the vicinity of Homestead Road at Templestowe. Visitors from other districts would bring their horses to race against Major Newman's thoroughbreds. Horse races of a mors local interest were held along Doncaster Road during the 1360's. The start was at Blackburn Road and the finishing post was conveniently placed at the Doncaster Hotel. Later in the century a race course was constructed in the paddock behind the Doncaster Hotel.
In the evenings the "Band of Hope" night was looked forward to. The "Band of Hope" was a temperance organisation which aimed to attract people away from hotels by offering entertainment. Musical items, community singing, and the opportunity to go out and meet friends, made the evenings popular, even among those who were not interested in temperance.
Picnics and sports days were highlights of the year. Boxing Day, New Year's Day, and Easter Monday were sports days. Footraces, wood-chopping contests, climbing a greasy pole to reach a Top Hat and catching a pig with a greasy tail, were part of the contests on these days, when people got together for fun and relaxation.
The Place of Churches in the Community
As soon as the first settlers, had cleared their land and built a house, they began to think of spiritual matters. Congregations formed and church services were held in the private homes, until funds were collected to build churches.
Within the limits of finances available, the churches were based on the idea of a small cathedral in both shape and decoration. The custom among English and European people of building an imposing cathedral comes from Medieval times. The peasants and common folk, who lived in poor and often miserable circumstances, were able to enjoy the uplift of attending a beautiful building.
Whether the settlers built an elegant stone structure or a simple wooden box, the congregation looked on their church with pride. It became the centre of social life and the backbone of their community. Sunday was the day when the women made the effort to have themselves and their children dressed in their best clothes for the church service. It was this weekly effort to uphold a certain standard that kept up their morale during the trying times and difficult conditions which the settlers had to face.
Churches were the most permanent institutions in the district. With only a few exceptions churches have endured from the days of their formation. The only changes to the building themselves have been improvements.
The first church service in the district was held by Presbyterians in Duncan's Cheese factory in 1843. The Altar was a cream churn and the pews were cheese vats and oat sacks. Most of the congregation had come from Heidelberg. It was not till 1896 thot a Presbyterian Church was built in Templestowe.
Many of those who formed the German community at Waldau had left their homeland because of religious persecution. Religion had a strong meaning for them. It was part of their daily life. The Lutherans built the first church in the district. It was a wattle and daub building, with a high pitched roof, gothic windows and a bell tower. The church bell played an important part in life as it was rung to give the time to the community.
In 1860 a Baptist church was built in Doncaster. It was called Grants Chapel after the minister Rev. Grant. After four years the church lapsed. The Church of Christ was formed in the 1860's and built a good frame meeting house in 1864 at Doncaster.
The next church to be built was at East Doncaster in 1866 by a group of keen Methodists. They bought a small building that had been a butchers shop in Warrandyte and moved it by bullock wagon to the corner of Doncaster Road and Blackburn Road.
In Templestowe an Anglican Church was built in 1867 on the corner of High and Foote Streets. The church was later moved to the corner of Foote Street and Glendale Avenue where a new building was built in 1900. In Doncaster Anglican services started in the home of Joseph Pickering in 1854. Fifteen years later an ambitious stone church was built. In Warrandyte the Anglicans also built a church in 1870 although it was not much larger than a hut.
Early Days - A Geographical History of Doncaster - Templestowe (Irvine Green 1980)
Published by The Doncaster - Templestowe Historical Society 1980
Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society (previously at 81 McGowans Road, Donvale, 3111)
The Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society was formed in 1967. The Society which has its headquarters at Schramm's Cottage, runs and maintains the cottage in Victoria Street Doncaster. Meetings are held in this cottage on the first Wednesday of the month at 8 p.m. Talks are given on subjects of historical interest, and tours are also held to places of interest in the district. Booklets and material for school projects are prepared and printed by members of the society. An illustrated quarterly newsletter is included in members subscriptions.
Source: Irvine Green. Published by DTHS 1980. Original Scan
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