Doncaster Templestowe Historical Society: Schramms Cottage and Orchard Museum Booklet (1978 and 1984)

SCHRAMMS COTTAGE PROJECT

SCHRAMM'S COTTAGE FINGERS BARN THE ORCHARD MUSEUM

THE WALDAU CEMETERY

Published by Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society

Schramm's Cottage (classified by the National Trust of Australia), originally stood on the hill In Doncaster Road In front -of the Municipal Offices. In 1971 the building was dismantled and moved to It's present site when Doncaster Road was

widened.

The work of moving the cottage was carried out by the Doncaster-Tempiestowe Historical Society and the City of art Templestowe under the direction of Schramm's Cc-tlage Project Committee.

zzzzzzzzz 1978

ri - jv ’.res rebuilt on land donated by Trinity Lutheran IT :r T , i V’-Mier. This was the site of their primitive Lutheran Thwcj red 1 .• Tib q yirtd.

National Library of Australia card number and ISBN. ■

0 9500920 1 0

SCHRAMMS

COTTAGE

Schramms Cottage consisted of four main rooms in front of a large school room-. At the end of the verandah at the rear, of the house was the kitchen and a small bedroom for the boys.

Before this cottage was built Max and Kate Schramm lived in a cramped garret room above their first school building. Much of their furnishings came as gifts from Kate's relatives in England. Boxes would arrive by ship and there was great excitement as these were opened and gifts of clothes, household items and ornaments were unpacked.

Kate loved, fine furniture and when the-cottage was built she had

the opportunity to decorate the house in elegant style. Kate chose olive green for the living-room drapes and carpet as a background to the warmth of the timber furniture. By the

fireplace, is an embroidery screen to protect the ladies' faces

from the heat of the fire and in the corner is a face loom. The table is a gift from Pastor Schramms grand-daughter. Two present

Schramm's Cottage in Doncaster Road 1890

day paintings have been hung in the drawing room. One of

'Schra ms C '"age" ; it \ in D ncaste Road in 1871,, the other "The Carrier Store" that stood on the corner of Doncaster and Williamsons Roads before Shoppingtown was built,

DINING RCjuM

adit had irnj ant it h enc >n tl e ves c lie G man

families. Meals were a serious ritual. The table was always correctly set and no one touched their meal until grace was said.

/ 3H, the Ire* oke , . of A . the .ret hissed from

the table and had to finish their meal in the corner.

The cutlery & d dim : * sets * are pit chased or the cottage and had been a wedding gift. In the centre of the table is the cruet set, for sal- pepp r and condiments. The organ- was donated by a descendant of an early family. It was used for the first primitive Methodist Church services in East Doncaster in 1880.

BEDROOM

i I at years m it, bed m wc occur.! d by I ate and the girls. Pastor Schramm had a bed in his study and the boys slept in the room at the end of the verandah. The four poster bed with paintec, flowe is tv .ally German of the period. At the time the cottage was built a washstand in the bedroom took the place of a bathroom. The Doulton water set is a gift from a local esidei „ The ound tin trunK was used-for hats and the cane baskets under the bed formed a travelling case. The two parts fitted together and were held with straps.

THE STUDY

A Pastor's study was his own private domain. Even Kate had > knc on ! loo «d as' arms: ‘ n to er. fv ‘ ranr sad to sit up late at night reading Greek and Roman texts by the light of an oil tamo On the table is an ink stand with ink wells for iacK a i led k. The telescope was used by Schramm when he was an officer in the Merchant Navy, before coming to Australia.

On the table is a communion vessel used in the original Lutheran

Church, and the small -chairs are from the Sunday school kindergarten.

KITCHEN

The original kitchen was at the end of the verandah. Food was cooked over an open fire and a bread oven was attached to the

outside of the kitchen chimney. Water was pumped from an outside well which was supplied with rain water from the roof. When the school was closed in 1884, meals were cooked in the fireplace in the school room, and the old kitchen became the boys' bedroom.

SCHOOL ROOM

The school room was built for Schramm's Lutheran School. Later when he retired Max Schramm, by that time Paster

Schramm, held classes on Saturday mornings for adults. Many

early pioneers had never learnt to read nor write and many German settlers had never learnt English.

In the school room Is a model of the Doncaster Tower that was 286 feet high. It was built In 1878 and dismantled In 1914. The Ironbark log was; part of the foundations of the tower, and together with the top of the flag pole and part of a chain and cable are all that remains of the original tower. The kitchen table and chairs were made from the bunya bunya pine which grew outside Schramms Cottage in Doncaster Road, it was planted by Baron von Mueller In 1875. A new bunya pine has been planted In the west lawn by Paster Schramm's grandson.

Several household .items are displayed In the school room. The mangle was used for pressing linen. With It Is a scrubbing hoard and a copper stick used to stir clothes T. T To OLVfmm 'The sewing, ^ TTe o-n rmd t . /muff rmTTrps c-*.*- Owv'.uai/r sister-in-law. Kate was a sewing mistress In Schramm's School The needle work fonvlo *,rc T ^ il ' * wTg mgcd T oT:

1900.

THE GARDENS

An old world garden grows around the cottage. Many of trie plants here have been taken from plants that were brought out from England by the first settlers. The bricks in the garden path are handmade bricks with thumb prints in them. They were packed inside the internal walls of the cottage for sound proofing. Alongside the path Is a lavender border. The flag pole wm erected in 1888 in ESgar Road. It was outside the home of Laurie Smith, a drawing teacher held in high respect in the district.

THE BARN

The focal centre of the Orchard Museum is the Barn. Henry Finger built the barn in 1870 on his orchard at the other side of Rieschieck Reserve. In 1974 it mm dismantled by volunteers from Doncaster Apex Club, which is a corporate member of the Historical Society, and was later rebuilt by council staff. Henry Finger came to Victoria in 1851 and lived at Hawthorn before

coming to Doncaster. He died in 1884 and is buried in the cemetery.

incorporated in the bam is the forge from Mullens Blacksmith Shop at Templestowe. When the forge closed in 1972 the fireplace was given to the Orchard Museum. During its last years, the only horses to visit the smithy were ponies of teenage girls. After a girl had her horse shod she used to paint her name or the name of her horse on the walls or roof of the blacksmith shop. Some of these names have been preserved on the bricks of the chimney.

THE ORCHARD MUSEUM

Fruit growing of the past was an industry with its own range of implements .and vehicles. Among the. implements were different types and designs of ploughs, used to overcome the problem of cultivating under the branches of fruit trees. Some of these were designed by local orchardists.

As orchards spread, so pests' and diseases became a problem. At first, hand spray pumps and later horse drawn motor driven sprays were

Over the years as Sand was cleared and orchards grew in size, new outbuildings were added. The first sheds and barns weTe built with timber cut from the Sand by hand. The walls were split timber slabs or bark, and the roofs were covered with shingles. Soon other materials such as galvanised iron became available and these were used for later sheds. Shingle roofs were covered with galvanised Iron to prevent them leaking and to help collect clean rainwater. Eventually an orchard would have a collection of outbuildings built from a variety of materials.

WALDAU

in ISIS William Westgarth visited Germany presenting an offer from the Government. This was a £2,000 grant for a party of Germans to form a settlement in the Port Phillip District

Among lie group who came from Germany in the ship 'iflappaus" was Gottlieb Thiele. Instead of joining the settlement near Geelong, Thiele stayed in Melbourne and was appointed tailor t© Governor La Trobe.

In 1f?SJ Gottlieb Thiele bought land in what is now Victoria Street, Doncaster. Thiele urged his friends to settle in the district, -to Germany, and meeting German migrants arriving at the docfe, IViiMn Zi year l German settlement was formed in the vicinity of the present George and Victoria Streets.

TV- W ::n hard :V Tody timfaor \ u* ", no ice re j r

fronts of tlie industrious Germans was that the land should have 'timber and stones. The settlement continued to grow and four yawl later a wattle and daub church was built on the hill at

Mr. Straube donated a block of his land on Waldau Hill and a building was planned. It was to be 40 feet by 20 feet, built of wattle and daub on a timber frame with'a" shingle roof. Lenkeistorf, the German carpenter, with the help of enthusiastic volunteers carried out the construction.

On 26th December, 1858, Waldau Church was dedicated by Pastor Goethe. Among the many visitors at the ceremony was Mr. Max von Schramm, a boatman from Salt Water River.

At this time Schramm had no idea that two years later Doncaster would be his home and that every day he would use this building to conduct school.

A tower attached to the building housed the church bell. At weddings the bell was pealed, and as a funeral entered the church grounds the bell was tolled, once for every year of the deceased's life.

The church became the centre of the Lutheran community. Christmas Day used to be a happy occasion. The German families with English friends gathered for picnic games srt the church grounds. After a tea under-the trees, the bell called the happ'

^ WALDAU CHURCH 1858

group Into the church where a ceiling high Christmas Tree held gifts for ait.

In February, 1859, Johann Zander's elevemmonth old baby, Maria, died. She was buried in the area that had been set aside as a burial ground. Survival was difficult for young children in the pioneering days. During the next 10 years, eight adults and 30 children were laid to rest at Waldau. By the eighties there was an improvement in the welfare of children. Although 21 adults were buried here during the eighties only 10 children had to be carried up the hill.

On October 1st, 1888, by order of the Governor-in-Council, the cemetery was closed. The last to be buried in the cemetery was Mrs. Elizabeth Zander, the grandmother of - Maria, who had been, the first.

The church, built in pioneering days, was deteriorating. When plaster fell off the wails, thev were covered with weather-boards, Put soon a new building became necessary. In 1892 the present brick church was built. The old wattle and daub building was dismantled and sold for use as a barn.

To reduce the hill in Bismarck Street (later Victoria Street) a cutting was made in front of the cemetery. Picturesque wooden steps led up the bank to the gate. The cypress trees and shrubs, that had been given by Baron von Mueller, botanist and former director of the Botanical Gardens, had thrived. Flowers that had been planted on the graves spread over the ground, and in the spring wild flowers bloomed. Till his death in 1942 John Finger cared for the cemetery, but, during the war, vandals smashed the tombstones leaving the cemetery a wreck.

Now pine trees cover Waldau Cemetery and some of Baron von Mueller's cypresses have survived and grown into magnificent trees.

Only the industrious had been attracted to this hard, heavily timbered land, so the .German community that formed here contributed greatly to the development of the district. Some took their place in the Council, becoming Shire Presidents, and many new varieties of fruit were developed by German orchardists.

As a young man in Silesia, life had been happy for Max Schramm. He had been a brilliant e^oNr \ dir Ax 11 m ‘.'i ! n AL-ordfi tirmed xr rer/tce h vA, 'A x ; '"An- rA ., fix in a short Army and scxxwcl in several wxAx £n-; a

In 1851 Schramm arrived in Aurx-pP hie A mu x>’

spent in difficult circumstances, finding employment in hard and often menial jobs..

In Doncaster, Schramm's School was held in the wattle and daub church on Waldau Hill, with an attendance of IS children. Four years later the school was moved ^tixxwx3^ Aau »n Axrt, of the present Municipal Offices. Here both AAT-Titin and English children attended his school, now "Common School 197".

After the 1872 Education Act, the Education Department bought Schramm's School. Sri 1874, Schramm tsubi >r- rl^ai cottage on Inis land next to th*- dJ slvol i>cum: Them was a, large room in the rear of Schramm's Cottage *Aere .o* -f years he conducted a Lutheran School.

Soon after coming to Deaca&«r, Schramm had married Kate Pickering, who had come to Doncaster with her parents in 1850. They had been the first to settle in the heavily timbered high land in Donca&tei. Pickering becam? the first Postmaster. The first Anglican services were held in his home and he was the moving force in the building of "Holy Trinity", the stone church

H 'iv«ified by the National Trust. Kate taught at the Sunday l.obool and Max Schramm became Secretary of the Church.

1876, Schramm was ordained as a Lutheran Pastor, becoming the first Pastor in the newly formed parish at Doncaster.

When Pastor Schramm's congregational school dosed, the State School hired his school room for classes until a larger State School could be built. For many years Schramm held adult education classes in the school room on Saturday mornings. During these years Pastor Schramm gained a reputation as a scholar, and the Melbourne University often sent students to him for tuition in the classics. In Doncaster he had always been in demand when a man of respect was needed.

Pastor Schramm died in 1908. His wife Kate Schramm lived until 1928, when she died in Schramm's Cottage.

Frlt.WT GROWING

mar moo: ;han : earrcarvr an a: : api ■ van ho maha • honaaa

haa a v . \

in fact, the area led the State of Victoria in fruit production.

V a aaiVa Tioalhp at: paavoars, sarha ,::laraaara hm ah a That -rata av-.a r ■ hr, hy awanhaon la: ah store oahaasno and : a, ssiaawl at a aaphl rate -a a:

V - aha h ' ' .'•■vi' h. ^ a:. , . : a ■. . , ■

i,\'j yi Ijrhmj.

,h i - ~ h a. , ) ; o- ’’Ji a-- v I *j ah -a .. " aa a, :a ' -: . ■ aa

; aa n car : mtuvzi Infr 3 pa- : : to aaoro h

' I , . . . . ’ ■ : . hat h - ' . , ■ a:

gullies,, The venture anas so successful that a map showing ah darns a a! ' * > 1 :) * a a * t 11 h 1 »

vhoo haa omw on he aoh :o anannaa was r lane an a(Uhaca:, r . a . . a a. , ; a, . : a na , '

£0 . . a, a L, at; : a::r ' ' ■ * , ■ ' . .

stable manure.

Much of the equipment and implements used in the orchards eras

- a:; . o ■ . ■ ■ : a. .

, ; ’ ^a-' . a a: o a ' '■ . ■

■ W , . ■ ' a : ■ : . . - ' :o

' :

I, • 5 of

hhtho ara a, a a ahnel ::r aaohae'W aa f ;masn. anhhha:-ah ::oao m :l I

■ a.,-- v; ,- I e hah: 11 naaanen in t 1 : Va hr he a Top Cnar Scar i . : n ; ■ ano \ -nw m: srgesa r, the T -,a:h:a: n

rim aaphaaa, aa Caofa ar hi on •" eaeaan,

as a rat W

: acmes

a: on,,

The peak of fruit production was reached in the 1930's, when some 20,000 acres was under production. In 1931, the Southern Victorian Packing Company (now the Blue Moon Co-operative Trading Company) was formed _ in order to organise and standardise the export of fruit to the United Kingdom.

Many well-known varieties of peach had their origins in the district. These include such varieties as — Zerbe, Smith, Thiele's Cling, Whitten's Palmerston Pumps, Noonan, Webb, Wiggins, Beale, Anzac, and Doncaster Crawford.

But the more the orchards prospered, the closer they moved to extinction. The more attractive the district became for others to live in, the less it could remain rural. In the 1940's and 50'$ began the trickle of suburban houses that grew to the present flood. New ratings helped erosion and decline. Orchardists sold out and sub-divided. Thus fruit trees and pine rows gradually made way for a new order — suburbia.

Mr. A. O. Hummell was a wealthy Englishman who settled in Doncaster in the 1860's and became a gentleman farmer. He was also a competent engineer, and the wonderful panoramic views from Clay's Hill gave him the inspiration to build an observation tower. In 1878 he successfully erected the famous 285 feet high steel and Oregon "Doncaster Tower" which was a landmark for 35 years. Mr. Hummell charged 1/- for the experience of climbing the tower. The wooded tower paddock served as an ideal picnic spot. Near the tower Hummell built a hall and a hotel, and many parties were held there.

Sn October, 1888, the Box HiSI and Doncaster Tramway Co* Ltd. was formed to buy one of two electric trams being exhibited in Melbourne. The Company planned to take advantage of the railway to Box Hill (1882) and the look-out at Doncaster. A route wm Dad out from Box Hill to Doncaster, a distance of 2% miles.

At this time there was much talk of the proposed railway to' Doncaster, and It was considered

by many that the tram would provide the Government with the excuse for shelving the Bill. After a great d«S of bitterness the tramway was formally opened on 14th October, 1889. In 1892, however, due to bitter disagreement with a landowner, whose property the tramway traversed, the service was disrupted and after some months the Company found it was .unable to meet its liabilities. Subsequently, a new company was formed and the route altered so as to avoid the disputed ground.

This was 1892, after the collapse of the land

boom, end traffic was dwindling. In an effort to keep the trsn^fay jpiiig. the Company teased its plant to its driver &r&i mwjifioer, Mr. H. J. Hilton, for 1/—d. per week. But weo this was not enough to save Australia's first electric tramway. The tram made its last journey ors 8th January, 1888.

Source: See original scan.

SCHRAMMS COTTAGE and ORCHARD MUSEUM SCHRAMMS COTTAGE

8CH RAMirS COTTAGE POMGERS EACH TOE CSCHARC [Ry&ElAi THE AALDAU CEMETERY. 1984

Schramm's Cottage (classified by tSie National Trust of Australia), originally stood on the hill in Doncaster Road in front of the Municipal Offices. Sn 1971 the building was dismantled and moved to it's present site when Doncaster Road was widened.

The work of moving the cottage was carried out by the Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society and the City of

Doncaster and Templestowe under the direction of Schramm's Cottage Project Committee.

The Cottage was rebuilt on land donated by Trinity Lutheran Church, Doncaster. This was the site of their primitive Lutheran Church and burial ground.

Revised 1984 National Library of Australia

card number and ISBN

0 9500920 8 8

SCHRAMMS

OQTTMjE

Schramms Cottage consisted of four main rooms hi front of a large school room. At the end of the verandah at the rear of the house was the kitchen and a small bedroom for the boys.

Kate loved fine furniture and when the cottage was built she had the opportunity to decorate the house in elegant style. Kate chose olive green for the living-room drapes and carpet as a background to the warmth of the timber furniture. By the fireplace, is an embroidery screen to protect the ladies' faces from the heat of the fire and in the corner is a lace loom. The table is a gift from Pastor Schramms grand-daughter. Two present

Schramm's Cottage in Doncaster Road 1890

day paintings have been hung in the drawing room. One of "Schramms Cottage" as it was in Doncaster Road in 1871, the other "The Corner Store" that stood on the corner of Doncaster and Williamsons Roads before Shoppingtown was built.

denikg mom

Tradition had an important influence on the lives of the German families. Meals were a sen Sous ritual. The table was always correctly set and no one touched their meal until grace was said. If any of the children spoke out of turn they were dismissed from the table and had to finish their meal in the corner.

The cutlery and dinner sets were purchased for the cottage and h?d beau* ? wedding gift, in the centre of the table is the cruet set, tor salt, peppei and condiments. The organ was donated by a descendant of an early family. It was used for the first primitive Methodist Church services in East Doncaster in 1860.

BEDROOM

There were three bedrooms. Kate's bedroom is in the front. The study had been the girls bedroom until the 1890's when they all married. The boys slept in a room at the end of the verandah. The four-poster bed, with painted flowers, is typically German of the period. At the time the cottage was built, a washstand in the bedroom took the place of a bathroom. The Doulton water set is a gift from a local resident. The round tin trunk was used for hats.

THE STUDY

A Pastor's study was his own private domain. Even Kate had to knock oh the door and ask permission to enter. Schramm used to sit up late at night reading Greek and Roman texts by the light of an oil lamp. On the table is an ink stand with ink wells for black and red ink. The telescope was used by Schramm when he was an officer in the Merchant Navy, before coming to Australia.

On the table is a communion vessel used in the original Lutheran Church, and the small chairs are from the stmday school kindergarten.

KITCHEN

The original kitchen was at the end of the verandah. Food was cooked over an open fire and a bread oven was attached to the outside of the kitchen chimney. Water was pumped from an outside well which was supplied wllh rdn water from the roof. When the school was closed in 1884, meals were cooked in the fireplace in the school room, and the old kitchen became the boys' bedroom.

SCHOOL ROOM

The school room was built for Schramm's Lutheran School. Later when he retired Max Schramm, by that time Paster Schramm, held classes on Saturday mornings for adults. Many

early pioneers had never learnt to read nor write and many 'German settlers had never learnt English.

In the school room is a model of the Doncaster Tower that was 286 feet high. It was built in 1878 and dismantled in 1914. The iron bar! i log was part of the foundations of the tower, and together with the top of the flag pole and part of a chain and cable are all that remains of the original tower. The kitchen table and chairs were made from the bunya bunya pine which grew outside Schramms Cottage in Doncaster Road. It was planted by Baron von Mueller in 1875. A new bunya pine has been planted in the west lawn by Paster Schramm's grandson.

Several household items are displayed in the school room. The mangle was used for pressing linen. With it is a scrubbing board and a copper stick used to stir clothes boiling in the copper. The sewing machine was used by Annie Pickering, Kate Schramm's sister-in-law. Kate was a sewing mistress in Schramm's School. The needle work samples are the work of a sewing pupil about 1900.

THE GARDEN

An old world garden grows around the cottage. Many of the plants here have been taken from plants that were brought out from England by the first settlers. The bricks in the garden path are handmade bricks with thumb prints in them. They were packed inside the internal walls of the cottage for sound proofing. Alongside the path is a lavender border. The flag pole was erected in 1888 in Elgar Road. It was outside the home of Laurie Smith, a drawing teacher held in high respect in the district. »

THE BARM

The focal centre of the Orchard Museum is the Barn. Henry finger built the barn in 1870 on his orchard at the other side of Rieschieek Reserve. In 1974 it was dismantled by volunteers from Doncaster Apex Club, which is a corporate member of the

Historical Society, and was later rebuilt by council staff. Henry Pinner came to Victoria in 1851 and lived at Hawthorn belore

coming to Doncaster. He died in 1884 and is buried in the cemetery.

fo tpcd:

The Gazebo was built at the Templestowe Cemetery in Trod as a waiting room and shelter. Originally the hexagon building was i with weatherboards on three slow Tip- mciaining three lad open lattice. Inside, seats iw silacried mauricl the The building was later altered when the iatt ^boards were replaced math fibre cemem; cheer roc a door was added,

in 1975 the Templestowe Cemetery Trust donated the Gazebo to Schramms Cottage wfn-ro it tvas erected by members of the Doncaster Rotary Club. It now provides a charming accentamong the trees on the north-east corner of the front lawn.

In 1930, George Bills, who was associated with the R.S.P.C.A., left 70,000 of his and his late wife's estate to build drinking troughs for horses and other animals. Over 400 of these horse

ilia and other parts of the world. Several of Bill's troughs were used by orchard horses in Doncaster :; . "rate vohn mm f '7Troi;t•.o Cottage came from Warrandyte Road near Deep Creek.

WALDAU

in 1848 William Westgarth visited Germany presenting an'offer from the Government. This was a £2,000 grant for a party of Germans to form a settlement in the Port Phillip District.

Among the group who came from Germany in the ship #U¥appaus" was Gottlieb Thiele. Instead of Joining the settlement near Geelong, Thiele stayed m Melbourne and was appointed

tailor to Governor La Trofee.

In 1853 Gottlieb Thiele bought land in what is now Victoria

Street, Doncaster. ThieSe urged his friends to settle in the district, writing, to Germany, and meeting German migrants arriving at the docks. Within a year a German settlement was formed in the vicinity of the present George and Victoria Streets.

The land was hard and heavily timbered, but among the require-

ments of the industrious Germans was that the land should have ) timber and stones. The settlement continued to grow and four years later a wattle and daub church was built on the hill at Wafdau.

Mr. Straubs donated a block of his land on Waldau Hill and a building was planned. It was to be 4b feet by 20 feet, built of wattle and daub on a timber frame with' a shingle roof. Lenherstorf, the German carpenter, with the help of enthusiastic volunteers carried out the construction.

On 26th December, IS58, Waldau Church was dedicated by Pastor Goethe. Among the many visitors at the ceremony was Mr. Max von Schramm, a boatman from Salt Water ROeu

At this time Schramm had no idea that two years later Doncaster would be his home and that every day he would use this building to conduct school.

A tcwer attached to the building housed the church bell. At weddings the bell was pealed, and as a funeral entered the church grounds the bell was tolled, once for every year of the deceased's life.

The church became the centre of the Lutheran community.

Christmas Day need v? be a happy occasion. The German families with English friends gathered for picnic games in the church grounds. After a tea under the trees, the bell called the happ’

yywp :iiio ww wwow; wkww a ceiling high Christmas Tnw wTJ gifts for all.

In wVw* wspyW Lobcerstorffs one year old son died. He was '.:aran:: in bwwwws isos! alongside Bismarck Strew. 'Tmnwy ••

when Caroline, the wife of Gottfried Uebergang died, she was buried beside the first lonely grave. Vi dr Vw.lal ground became the Waldau Cemetery and the church was built on the same site.

During the first ten years four adults and twenty-five children were laid to rest at Waldau. Survival was hazardous for young children in pioneering days. By the 188CTs there was an improvement in the welfare of children. Although twenty-one adults were burned here during the 80's, only ten children he, w to wmwd up the hill to the cemetery.

The church, built in pioneering days, was deteriorating. When plaster fell off the walls, they were covered with weather-boards, but soon a new building became necessary. In 1832 the present brick church was built. The us: wattle and daub building was •jwsyyWy] wV \Th w- me w a barn.

To re lew m j 707 w ypmarek Street {later Victoria Street 1 a cutting was made in front of the cemetery. Picturesque wooden steps led up the bank to the gate. The cypress trees and shrubs, that had been given by Baron von Mueller, botanist and former director of the Botanical Gardens, had thrived. Flowers that had been planted on the graves spread over the ground, and in the wwo; yy’ d w : w ’boomed. Till his cwyW; • ; ;iyW. y hn Finger -rr ■ www---' ::w 7 but, during the war, vandals smashed the

www ;; ■ •; ’yW . 7y wnetery a wreck.

falclau Cemetery and some of Baron von e survived wcl grown into magnificent

trees.

leen attracted to this hard, heavily ’•.wwwww V / - aw Twwan community that formed here ;,. .:y;;. :•; y w;, y v. Wy hr.wJopment of the district. Some tools W - T ws w; ,V . :yyT. becoming Shire Presidents, and many r s " ww; . r ww ■ 7’ d/wloped by German orchardists.

Pastor MAX von SCHRAMM

As a young men cm Silesia, life had been happy for Max Schramm. He had been a brilliant scholar at the Gymnasium Niesse. Schramm trained for service in the fhsvy, passing his exams in a short time, and served in several sailing ships.

In 1851 Schramm arrived in Australia where his first years were spent in difficult circumstances, finding employment in hard and often menial jobs.

In Doncaster, Schramm's School was held in the wattle and daub church on Waldau Hill, with m attendance of 18 children. Four years later the school was moved to Doncaster Road in front of the present Municipal Offices. Hem both German and English children attended his school, now "Common School 197".

After the 1872 Education Act, the Education Department bought Schramm's School. In 1874, Schramm built his stone cottage on his land next to the old school house. There was a large room in the rear of Schramm's Cottage where for a few years he conducted a Lutheran School.

Soon after coming to Doncaster Schramm had married Kate Pickering, who had come to Doncaster with her parents in 1850. They had been the first to settle in the heavily timbered high land in Doncaster. Pickering became the first Postmaster. The Tmt Anglican services were held in his home and he was the moving force T the by siding of "Holy Trinity", the stone church

C?:; yyy..rO'.: y. yO/Vy-

rr,V

classified by the National Trust. Kate taught at the Sunday School and Max Schramm became Secretary of the Church.

In 1876, Schramm was ordained as a Lutheran Pastor, becoming the first Pastor in the newly formed parish at Doncaster.

When Pastor Schramm's congregational school closed, the State School hired his school room for classes until a larger State School could be built. For many years Schramm held adult education classes in the school room on Saturday mornings. During these years Pastor Schramm gained a reputation as a scholar, and the Melbourne University often sent students to him for tuition in the classics. In Doncaster he had always been in demand when a man of respect was needed.

Pastor Schramm died in 1908. His wife Kate Schramm lived until 1928, when she died in Schramm's Cottage.

THE ORCHARD MUSEUM

Fruit growing of the past was an industry with its own range of implements and vehicles. Among the implements were different types and designs of ploughs, used to overcome the problem of cultivating under the branches of fruit trees. Some of these were designed by local orchardists.

As orchards spread, so pests and cAssses became a problem. At first, hand spray pumps and later horse drawn motor driven sprays were used.

Over the ^ears as Eacid woe cleared and orchards grew in size, new outbuildings were added. The first sheds and barns were built with timber cut from the land by hand. The walls were split timber slabs or bark, and the roofs were covered with shingles. Soon other materials such as galvanised iron became available and these were used for later sheds. Shingle roofs were covered with galvanised iron to prevent them leaking and to help collect eiieai iHnwater. Eventually an orchard would have a collection of outbuildings built from a variety of materials.

THE WHEELWRIGHT SHOP

In 1882 Thomas Phillips went into business as a wheelwright. He lived in Doncaster Road west of the present Eastern Golf Links. Ten years later he moved to Kilmore and on retiring moved to Balwyn taking his equipment with him. Charles Barbour, the grandson c»f Thomas, bequeathed the wheelwright shop to Schramms Cottage to foe set up as a working display.

The chimney, covered with names, came from Mullens Blacksmith Shop at Templestowe. When the smithy closed in 19*72, the chimney was given to the historical society for the Orchard Museum. During its last years, the only horses to visit Mullens were ponies belonging to teenagers. After they had had their horse shod they used to paint the name of the horse on the walls of the blacksmiths shop and the forge.

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THE TRASV5 SHED

The tram in the curved corrugated shed is a replica of Australia's first electric tram. In 1889 the tram ran between Box Hill and Doncaster on a line straight through orchards and paddocks.

A power house halfway along the track supplied power for the tram. It carried 40 passengers on 6 reversible bench seats and weighed 6 tons loaded The 12 horsepower motor carried the tram at a speed of 25 kilometers per hour down hill but slowed to 8 kilometers per hour up hill.

The tram ran till 1896 when lack of patronage during the depression caused the service to close. The rails were removed and Tram Road was built along the route.

This replica was built by council staff and is housed in a shed designed on the lines of corrugated iron buildings of the 1880's.

FRUIT GROWING

For more than a century, fruit growing was the major industry of the Doncaster and Templestowe district. For a number of years, in fact, the area led the State of Victoria in fsurt production.

In the early 1850's, the pioneers, after clearing their land, planted the first fruit trees. By the early seventies, plantings had become more extensive and continued at a rapid rate in subsequent years. In 1893 the Victorian Government offered a bonus of £3 for each new planting.

The pioneers battled hard against the problems of drought, crop failure and disease. Summer water supply was scanty, and in an effort to conserve natural rainfall growers began to construct dams on hillsides, and later, with the advent of steam pumps, in gullies. The venture was so successful that a map showing all dams and depressions was prepared for the Government.

When the value to the soil of manure was realised its collection became almost an obsession. No one who took wood or produce to market came home with an empty cart; it was loaded with stable manure.

Much of the equipment and implements used in the orchards was designed and manufactured locally. The enterprise of a few Doncaster orchardists in storing fruit at the Melbourne Glaciarium, ushered in the refrigeration cool store era. The first cool stoio A Doncaster was built in 1905 by the Government. It was powered by a 16 hp oil engine and had a total capacity of 16 A CO As p reduction continued to increase, additional

storage space became necessary and in ACA a A>oyet alive Cool Store was erected in West Doncaster. In 1AA "he C refhardists' Cool Store, for man years '-he Largest in the Aeiriiern Hemisphere, was built in East Doncaster.

The peak of fruit production was reached in the 1930's, when some 20,000 acres was under production. In 1931, the Southern Victorian Packing Company (now the Blue Moon Co-operative Trading; Gempany) was formed in order to organise and standardise the export of fruit to the United Kingdom.

Many well-known varieties of peach had their origins in the

district These include such varieties as — Zerbe, Smith, Thiele's Cling, Whitten's Palmerston Pumps, Noonan, Webb, Wiggins, Beale, Anzac, and Doncaster Crawford.

But the more the orchards prospered, the closer they moved to extinction. The more attractive the district became for others to live in, the less it could remain rural. In the 1940's and SOT bepo the trickle of suburban houses that grew to the present flood. Hm€ ratings helped erosion and decline. Orchardists sold out and sub-divided. Thus fruit trees and pine rows gradually made way for a new order — suburbia.

Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society. 1984, Schramms cottage : Schramm's cottage, Fingers barn, the Orchard Museum, the Waldau cemetery Doncaster - Templestowe Historical Society Donvale, [Vic.]. https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2677420 - Original Scan

Pages

Schramms Cottage and Orchard Museum Booklet (1978 and 1984)

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