On the Street where you live
Have you ever wondered about the origin of the name of your street? Many streets in Manningham have been named after pioneer families in our district. Here are a few streets well known to us.
Clay Street
John and Agnys Clay came to Australia from Devonshire in 1851. First deciding on Adelaide to settle. John heard about the gold rush in Victoria and came on intending to try his luck in Ballarat, but Agnys developed typhoid fever when they arrived in Melbourne. Settling in Doncaster, south of Doncaster Road, John and Agnes (she had changed the spelling of her name) grew vegetables on the land he and his sons had cleared. The family of eight children grew up and married into local families. John and Agnes' son Richard and his wife Mary Ann lived on the family orchard in East Doncaster. The Clay orchard was a show place in the district and was selected for research by the Department of Agriculture. It also won the "Leader" prize for the best orchard in 1881. The Clays were very outgoing and social, playing a large part in the activities of the district. Richard's wife Mary Ann, often acted as midwife for women in childbirth. Also, being an hospitable housewife and keen cook, took enthusiastically to catering for her own children's wedding preparations and church celebrations.
Petty's Lane
The Petty family came to Doncaster in the 1850's. Thomas arrived first in Victoria from Yorkshire to look for land and prepare a home for his family. His wife Jane with her children arrived in 1858 to share the new home Thomas had built for them on his land near the Koonung Creek south of Doncaster Road. After Thomas' death, Jane ran the orchard, helped by her sons. One of these, Tom, who had come to Australia with his mother in the 1850's, married Eliza, a daughter of the Clay family.
Tom Petty became one of Doncaster's most prominent orchardists, owning and establishing 30 orchards. One of his most important projects was the 560 acres of land at Park Orchards which was planted with fruit trees by Tom Petty. He also set up the orchard at Templestowe, still known as "Petty’s Orchard" which is now preserved and runs as an experimental antique varieties apple orchard, by Parks Victoria.
Tom Petty was typical of the solid pioneering families of Doncaster, like many taking an active part in community activities for the benefit of the people of the district.
Dehnert Street
Reinhold Dehnert came from Saxony in Germany and settled in Doncaster, marrying Christina Aumann. Like many of his fellow German migrants, Reinhold was a very hard-working man determined to succeed in his chosen field - orcharding. He became famous for his table grapes grown on vines in Doncaster and also cultivated pears for which he was known according to the "Argus" as the Pear King."
Tully Drive
The Tully family originated in Ireland and Thomas Tully emigrated to Australia in 1852 and by 1857, Tom and his wife Jane were living in Doncaster. In 1860, Thomas purchased 20 acres of land at the comer of Doncaster and Williamson’s Roads. Wood cutting on his property brought the family an income and a few cherry trees assisted in keeping them. For a while the family lived at Yering and when Thomas, the father died, Jane came back to live in Doncaster with her young children to be near her parents. One of Jane’s sons John, born in 1864, spent all his life in Doncaster and in his youth worked for several orchardists in the district learning his trade. Later, John bought his own orchard and gradually overcame the difficulties of a fire and the loss of his horse in his first year.
John and his wife Rosina were prominent members of the Church of Christ and over the years took part in many activities for the betterment of the community. John Tully was a shire Councilor and three times Shire President and in 1914 went to Britain to look into the handling of Victorian fruit shipments.
Knees Road
In the 1860's, loneliness was the lot of the few settlers who lived in the sparsely settled area known as Deep Creek. In this spot William Knee and his wife lived in a bark hut. William cut timber to supply the piles for the new St. Kilda pier. He would cart these piles down to the bay in his wagon taking his children with him in the cart. George Knee, William’s son and his wife Alice also lived in the area, and in later years used to leave home at midnight to take the fruit to market. It is hard to imagine the trip from East Doncaster to the city in the pitch dark over rough roads with only the wagon lanterns to light the way. We can only admire the determination and resilience of these pioneers who kept going in the face of the many kinds of hardships they had to endure. The vagaries of weather, fire, flood and personal tragedies were the lot of these hardy people - The Doncaster pioneers.
Pickering Place
The Pickerings, Eliza and Joseph and their six children came to Doncaster from England in 1849. Joseph, son of a well to do farmer, was comfortably off and had introductory letters to Governor la Trobe. Settling in Doncaster, the family gradually came to enjoy the bush, grey green and silent - surroundings so different from their English homeland.
Shortly after their arrival, the terrible bushfires of 1851 swept through Victoria. The Pickerings lost everything they had, but their lives were spared. One of the little girls, Susan, had her face so badly burnt that she remained at her home for the rest of her life, so conscious was she of her scarred appearance.
The family moved to a large block in East Doncaster in 1853 and the Pickerings entertained their friends and Joseph, who was a lay preacher conducted services in their home. As an educated man, Joseph Pickering was asked to became Doncaster's Post Master, the first in the area. This work was suited to Joseph’s abilities more than that of a farmer and when later he was appointed Registrar of Births and Deaths, he had found his niche in life. The Pickerings later bought land with a small shop in Main Street and this expanded into a General Store and Post Office.
The Pickerings were involved in all community activities in Doncaster. One of their daughters Kate, married Max Schramm, so the family had connections with the Lutheran Church as well as the Holy Trinity Church of England, which Joseph Pickering played a major part in building in 1868.
Source: 1998 03 DTHS Newsletter
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