The Story of Templestowe and Bulleen (Irvine Green 1982)

Cover: Finns Upper Yarra Hotel 1872 - 1968

Templestowe - A Short History/ Templestowe - The Story of Templestowe and Bulleen
Written and Illustrated by Irvine Green. 1982.
National Library of Australia Card Number and ISBN 0 9500920 3 7
Published By Doncaster Templestowe Historical Society, 81 McGowans Road, Donvale Vic 3111 

Contents

• The Land is Settled
• A Township is Formed
• The Community Develops
• The Industries of Templestowe
• Map: Bulleen and Templestowe
• Map: Templestowe Township
• End of The Century
• Templestowe in the New Century
• From Rural Village to Affulent Suburb

Aborigines

The Land is Settled

The river flats of Templestowe and Bulleen were a favourite place for aborigines. There were many billabongs teeming with fish and wild duck to provide food and on the hillsides corroborees were held. This area was part of the territory of the Wurundjeri or Yarra tribe which claimed the valley of the Yarra and its tributaries.

The first white man to settle in this area was John Wood. He had come from Van Diemans Land and, in 1837, drove his flocks of sheep onto the river flats where he settled with his younger brother William. At the same time, Arthur Ruffy took up a grazing run in Bulleen, north of Wood's sheep station.

It stretched from the Yarra on the West to Ruffeys Creek on the east. The next year he sold the run to the Woods and moved to Cranbourne. The Woods brothers did not remain long in the district. In 1840 their grazing run was sold and the Woods moved to New South Wales.

The first permanent settler was Major Charles Newman, a retired Army Officer from the East India Company. After trying Van Diemen's Land, Newman came over to Port Phillip in 1837 and picked out a site of rolling grassland at the junction of the Yarra and Deep Creek. Newman moved his sheep and ^racehorses across Bass Strait and built a wattle and daub house.

In 1843, he built a stone homestead called Pontvslie, which is still standing. John Chivers and his wife Mary Ann came to work for Major Newman. They built a hut on the Yarra east of the present Fitzsimons Lane. Shortly after, Thomas Cunningham came to join them.

The first permanent settler in the Bulleen area was Robert Laidlaw. He was joined by Alexander Duncan. During the following years many took up leases along the river and inland along the creeks. There was James Hewish, Thomas Hicks, and Patrick Mahoney A community began to form in Bulleen. When a community has become established the first thoughts are for religion and the education of the children. In 1842 a group of Scottish settlers held a church service in Duncans Barn. A butter churn was used as an alter and the congregation sat on planks laid across barley sacks and cheese vats.

Mary Ann Chivers was employed as governess to Major Newman's children, and Isabella Duncan held classes for her own and other children. Reverend Hales, from Heidelberg, held Anglican services in Pull in's barn. Then in .1847 he commissioned Thomas Paynter to open a school in Bulleen near the river crossing to Heidelberg. Bulleen is the name of the parish and later was the name of the shire. During the first years the whole area of Doncaster and Templestowe was called "Bulleen. After Templestowe and Doncaster Post Offices were opened, Bulleen mainly referred to the west of the shire. In 1952 this area became a suburb called Bulleen.

Pontville - Major Newman's Homestead, 1843

A Township is formed

When the parish of Bulleen was surveyed, a reserve was set aside for a future village. In 1852 surveyor Henry Foote was sent to lay out a township and survey access roads in the hills to the east.

Foote held a meeting with the Bulleen Roads Committee to discuss the position of roads and their names. The Committee suggested that the township be called "Templestone". Foote objected to this name, as he said there was no stone in the area. Instead he called the village Templestowe. The name Templestowe occurred in Sir Walter Scott's Waverley novels which were popular at the time. There was also a small settlement in Buckinghamshire known to its residents as Temple's Stowe.

Street names in the Templestowe Village read like an honour roll of the districts pioneers. Unwin, Atkinson and McLachlan were landlords of Unwin's Special Survey. Wood, Ruffy, Newman, Anderson and Duncan were the first pastoralists. James had been pound-keeper and Milne was an early land holder, Parker a settler and Clarke one of the surveyors.

Omar Street was originally called Church Street until Christ Church was moved. Newman Street was changed to Mahoney Street to avoid confusion with Newmans Road.

In November 1852, grazing leases were cancelled and a land sale of village lots was held. Average prices for half acre lots were £40. During the 1840's and 50's, forefathers of many Templestowe families arrived in the district. There was James Read, Richard and Matthew Adams, Patrick Mahony, Joseph Thompson, after whom Thompsons Road is named, Jeremiah Herlihy, Robert and William Kent, James Hewish, Robert Hunter and the Atkins and the Smith family.

The name RUFFY was misspelt when the street was named

A township had been formed near Thompsons Road during the 1850s. There was an hotel, a blacksmith and a few houses. Later the present township developed near Anderson Street. The old township area down the hill was then called Lower TempSestowe; a name that was eventually to be used for the whole western area of Templestowe.

The hotel was called 'The Bulleen" or 'The Upper Yarra". It was built by David Bell in 1854 and stood on a rise in the river flats opposite to the end of Parker Street. In 1856 The Templestowe Roads Board, the forerunner of our present Council, was formed in Bell's Hotel.

The Yarra formed a barrier to travellers in the early years. The river could be crossed at Dsghts Falls at Studley Park and over a ford just upstream from the present Banksia Street Bridge. In 1850 a punt was installed there by John Mahon, a local farmer. Five years later, work started on a bridge. The foundations were built but work was held up indefinitely, so a temporary- footbridge was put across the foundation. The bridge was finishes in 1860 and lasted until it was replaced in 1962.

Another bridge was built by a private company in 1856. St was behind the Upper Yarra Hotel. Travellers had to pay a toll to cross it. During the great flood of December 1863 it was washed away.

Bell's Upper Yarra Hotel, 1854 - 1870

Ferguson's School, Templestowe

The Community Develops

Churches and schools form the background of a community. Children in the early days of Templestowe attended Fergusons School east of the village, or a Church of England School in Ruffey Street. Fergusons School was first held in a barn near the corner of the present Williamsons and SerpeSIs Roads. When a fire destroyed the barn a prefabricated school building was erected. It became Common School No. 627. The Church of England School was built in 1854 on land granted for a church at the Corner of Foote Street. It became Common School No. 624. In 1874 the two Common Schools were closed and a brick State School was opened in Anderson Street.

Christ Church was built alongside the.church school in 1867. Later the building was moved east of Anderson Street in Foote Street. At the turn of the century a new building was erected, in 1974 it was replaced by St. Marks in Lower Templestowe and the old building sold to the City of Doncaster and Templestowe to be used as a community arts centre.

Sn the first years, when a death occured, the residents were often faced with great inconvience during wet weather. The roads to Heidelberg or Melbourne could be impassible for days at a time.

In 1858, a cemetery was opened at the corner of Foote Street and Church Road. Mr. James Read became the first Trustee.

In 1880 a Post Office was opened in Fields Street at the corner of Parker and Omar Streets. During the 60's Templestowe had a population of 300. Among those who were in the district at this time were, James Hodgson, John McNamara, William Lee, George McGahy, Joseph Cassidy, John Dillon, Thomas O'Brien — who became Shire Secretary and Frederick Rhodes. Mrs. Rhodes was a mid-wife whose services were much sought after in the days when there were no doctors in the area.

Templestowe School 1874

Jimmy Finn and his wife

The Upper Yarra Hotel was rented by several licensees, among them Robert Mundy and John Newish, but in 1870 it was burnt down. With its bush timber and thatched roof the building was tinder dry, and Its occupants only just escaped with their lives. The same year the Templestowe Hotel which had been built two years earlier was purchased by Patrick Sheahan, who ran it for forty five years.

James Finn had come to Templestowe a few years earlier and opened a beer shop alongside the Upper Yarra Hotel. After the fire he bought the land and the remains of the hotel. Two years later Finn enlarged his building with a new bar and a brick front and opened his Upper Yarra Hotel.

James Finn was a happy, gregarious man who took an active part in the life of the new community. After his death in 1907, a timber two story section was added on the west side of the hotel. In the 1920's the Upper Yarra Hotel was de-licenced and in 1967 it was destroyed by fire. James Finn and his hotel had become a legend in the district. In its later years the derelict but picturesque building was a favourite subject for artists and photographers.

The Industries of Templestowe

The- first settlers, who leased farms along tile river flats of Bulleen, grew crops such as wheat and barley. Later, water pumped from the Yarra, irrigated the rich soil producing abundant crops of vegetables. Two farmers who were named as the most successful potato growers in Victoria were Robert La id I aw and Sidney Ricardo. Laidlaw made a small fortune from his potatoes and in 1879 commissioned David Mitchell to build him a two storey mansion which he named 'Springbank', in Bulleen Road. This is now known as "Clarendon Eyre'.

Duncan's Cheese Factory in Thompsons Road.

James Smith's House in A tkinsons Street, 1890

On the higher Sand, before farms could be planted, the

stringybark and box gum had to be cleared. There was a demand for firewood in Melbourne. Sn every home the kitchen fire was lit first thing in the morning to cook breakfast, and each meal, and cup of tea used more firewood. Cutting and carting firewood provided an income for most settlers until their farms began to produce.

On the rolling hills of Templestowe, spreading red gums gave a more valuable timber. Red gum was in demand for parts of waggon wheels. Others made a living burning charcoal. Blacksmiths used charcoal to generate the hot fires needed to heat iron red hot.

Dairying was an important industry for Templestowe. Frequent floods on the river flats ruined the crops and made farmers change to dairying. The first dairy farmer was Alexander Duncan, near the corner of Thompson and Bulleen Roads. His son-in-law and neighbour, George Smith, belonged to Templestowes largest dairying family. George Smith built a two story mansion "Ben Nevis" which still stands on the hill behind the Sentimental Bloke Hotel. The same year, 1890, another brother James, built a fine house at the corner of Atkinson and Clarke Streets. This house is on the National Trusts list of historic buildings. The Smith family owned large areas of land. One of their farms, "Holyrood Park" was the land now known as "Westerfolds".

At the end of the century there were eighty people employed in the many dairy farms along the river flats from east of Templestowe into the Doncaster area.

Map: Bulleen and Templstowe: Sidney Ricardo Woods Sheep Station Laidlaws-Springbank (Clarendon Eyre) George Smiths Ben Nevis Bulleen Templestowe Reserve Templestowe High School Gold and Antimony Mine Finns Upper Yarra Hotel Bells Upper Yarra Hotel Smiths Holyrood Park James Smiths House Templestowe Reserve Templestowe Cemetery James Reads Orchard Fergusons School Templestowe Technical School Schramms Cottage Major Newmans-Monkton Major Newmans-Pontville

Mullen's Blacksmith Shop.

Fruit growing developed slowly. The first orchard in Temple-stowe was planted by James Read in 1355. He had come to Port Phillip in 1842 and was an experienced farmer. When it was seen that the district was suitable for fruit growing other orchards were planted. Read's advice and example helped many new orchardists. By 1919, when the Templestowe Cool Stores were built, fruit growing had become the main industry of Templestowe.

To look after the many horses working in the district, blacksmiths opened forges at various points. In 1856 there was a blacksmith in Bulleen at the corner of Bulleen and Bridge Road. The first Blacksmith in Templestowe was in Anderson Street, out in the open under a tree. In the 1870's William

Hunter built a 'smithy' at the comer of Anderson and James Street. Later it was taken over by Sylvester Mullens. Calders forge was at the corner of Foote Street and _ rtion Street, later it passed to Dan Harvey and finally a service station was built on the site.

In 1857 the Victorian Government offered a prize for a superior building stone. A sample submitted by Joseph Johnston of Templestowe was awarded a prize. Throughout the district a number of quarries existed. The largest-of these was in Bufleen Road opposite "'Clarendon Eyre" at Spears Templestowe Brickworks, which operated for over 90 years. Many smaller quarries supplied "spalls' for road construction. These were transported by horse and dray to roadwork sites. Knappers broke the larger stones by hand to a size suitable for road constructions.

Mining took place at Templestowe sn the area north of Feathertop Avenue, from 1858 shafts were sunk and rich ore was mined. The gold was associated with antimony which at that time was difficult to separate, so mining was spasmodic. In 1890 the Antimony Hill Gold and Antimony Mining Company began operation on a large scale. A disaster took place a few years later when two men were drowned in the mine. Fifteen years later the mine closed down.

The Gold and Antimony Mine.

The Post Office and Bakery in James Street

The Templestowe Shire Hall and Roads Board Office

Wesley Church

End of the Century

In the decade of the 1880#s, Anderson Street became the centre of the township. There was the school, the new Mechanics institutes and a Wesleyan Church. The church was built on a small block of land opposite the school, in 1888. John Olivers, David Jenkins, Henry Crouch and Mrs. James Smith were among the founders. By 1932 the congregation had dwindled so the building was transferred to Preston.

In 1895 Presbyterian services were held in the Mechanics Institute and the next year a wooden church was built by the Smith Family in Atkinson Street on land donated by Mrs. Emma Smith. During the 1850's and 60's Presbyterians held their services in Hicks Barn once a month.

In 1875 the Shire of Bulleen was formed, taking the place of the old Templestowe Roads Board. The Shire Office was at the corner of High Street and Parker Street with the Shire Pound at the rear on Foote Street. This area is now the Services Park. The Shire split up in 1890 and the Shire of Doncaster was formed. The Shire of Templestowe covered the areas of Bulleen, Templestowe and Warrandyte. During the first years of the shire, Templestowe was represented by James Smith, William Hunter the blacksmith and his brother Tom. an orchardist. A, Andrew from Warrandyte Road, G. Hodgson from Templestowe Road, David Williamson and Francis McNamara.

TOWNSHIP OF TEMPLESTOWE

1 Finns Upper Yarra Hotel

2 Bells Upper Yarra Hotel

3 Calders Blacksmith Shop

4 Fields Lower Templestowe Store

5 The Templestowe Hotel

6 Church of England till 1900

7 Templestowe School

8 St Kevins Catholic Church

9 Templestowe School

10 The Mechanic Institute

11 Wesley Church

12 Christ Church Church of England 1900 - 1974

13 Post Office and Bakery

14 Mullens Blacksmith Shop

15 Presbytarian Church

16 James Smiths House

17 Smiths Butchers Shop

18 Templestowe Cool Store

19 Templestowe Recreation Reserve

By the end of the century, Templestowe had become an extensive village. Approaching from Melbourne, the first group of buildings were near the Thompsons Road corner. Finns

Hotel, Calders Blacksmiths shop and the Lower Templestowe Store. Past the Templestowe Hotel stood another group of buildings a barbers shop and the Shire Hall. In the Anderson Street area could be found the bakery and the Post Office, Mullens Blacksmith shop, the Mechanics Institute and school, Christ Church, the Wesleyan Church and the Presbyterian Church. Further East stood Smiths slaughterhouse and butcher shop, a sweet shop opposite the end of Fitzsimons Lane and at Church Road, Hicks Blacksmiths Shop.

Cricket had a long history in Templestowe. A club was formed in 1864. They played in the vicinity of both hotels and on Smiths Holyrood Farm land. Cricket was also played on Cannon's flat which in 1910 was gazetted a recreation reserve.

Church of England, Templestowe - Opening of New Church  - Thursday, November 8, 1900 - HIS LORDSHIP THE BISHOP OF MELBOURNE will preach at 3 p.m..  TEA MEETING AT 5.30 P.M. IN THE MECHANICS’ HALL. Musical festival at 8 p.m.. Presided over by E. H. Cameron Esq M.L.A.  Ticket, Admitting to Tea and Festival, 1/6-

Templestowe in the New Century

In the new century Templestowe slowly recovered from the depression of the 9G's. One of the signs of the change was the installation of a telephone exchange at the post office in 1912. It opened with four numbers. No. 1 was the Post Office, 2 the Upper Yarra Hotel, 3 was Lavanna House, Mr. J.F. Sheridan, and 4 The Templestowe Hotel. The exchange was open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, 9 to 12 on Saturdays.

Many of Templestowe's men enlisted in the 1914 - 18 war. After the war residents wanted to honour those who had fought and died. There were two ideas for a memorial. One, a monument, two a memorial hall. Mrs. Mary Hodgson suggested that both ideas be acted upon. Therefore a monument was erected opposite the end of James Street and a brick memorial hall was built facing Anderson Street. The old timber Mechanics Institute was moved to form a supper room for the hall.

Tennis Pavilion in the 1920's

There was a burst of activity during the 1920's. The Shire of Doncaster and the Shire of Templestowe had been re-united in 1917. The Templestowe Shire Hall, now no longer needed, was Templestowe Cool Store at the Comer of Porter Street and Fitzsimmons Lane moved to the recreation ground and altered to become a sports pavilion. The wife of the Shire President, Mrs. McNamara, brought electricity to the district when she turned on the main switch in 1922.

Templestowe Cool Store at the corner of Porter Street and Fitzsimmons Lane 

The orchards were flourishing and a cool store was built at the corner of Porter Street and Fitzsimons Lane. This large building, with a capacity for 20,000 cases of fruit, satisfied the requirements of the orchardists.

Towards the end of the decade, large sections of Bulleen were subdivided for housing. The estates did not attract buyers, for there was inadequate transport and then came the depression of 1930's

In 1930 John and Sunday Reid bought 11 acres of land on the river near Banksia Street Bridge.

During the Depression years Reid, who was a connoiseur of art and later founded the Contempory Arts Society, extended hospitality to young, struggling painters. Many of these event-ualiy become famous Australian artists. In 1980 the State Government bought this land as n park and Reid's award-winning house, Heide, as an art gallery.

Around this time Smith's "Holyrood Farm" was sold to the Turner family who built a two storey brick manor house and renamed the land Westerfolds. In the 1970fs the Victorian Government purchased Westerfolds. The land became part of the Yarra Valley Park.

Model A Ford Truck

From Rural Village To Affluent Suburb

The population of Melbourne increased rapidly after the second world war, causing an acute shortage of housing. When building materials became available there was a demand for building land. The great development of Templestowe and Bulleen started in the 1950's. Orchards were razed as housing developments spread across the land. House building became the largest industry the district had known in a hundred years.

The Glen Iris Brickworks opened up in Templestowe Road and in 1965 the Templestowe Brickworks closed down. Its quarry holes were levelled and the Yarraleen housing estate was laid out around Golden Way.

To cater for the new population, shopping centres were built. Mangan's store, in Templestowe Road opposite Bridge Road, had been the only shop outside the main Templestowe area, this was joined by a row of shops. Other shopping centres were developed in Thompsons Road, Maceclon Square and Manningham Road.

From the earliest time, Roman Catholics had travelled to Heidelberg for church services. In 1942 the Memorial Hall was used until after the war when a timber hut, once used as an Army chapel at Camp Pell, was purchased and transported to Atkinson Street. It was consecrated as St. Kevin's Church. In 1968 a new church and school was erected in Herlihys Road. The old building vwo moved to Park Orchards and renamed St. Annes.

A. bequest by Joseph Smith in 1956, enabled a new brick Presbyterian Church to be erected alongside the old timber building in Atkinson Street.

During the 1960's and 7G's services that had been overtaken by the boom in home building, began to catch up. Many new primary schools were built and there was the high school, Marcellin College, St. Clements and later the Templestowe Technical School, blew Sports grounds and recreation buildings such as the Bulleen-Templestowe Community Centre, were provided.

It had been possible in the 1930's, to stand at the side of a main road in the area for over an hour, without seeing a car pr vehicle pass. Roads built for such a small volume of traffic had become inadequate for the ever increasing traffic of the 1960's. It was not until late in the decade that money became available for extensive road construction, in the housing estates the residents had to overcome muddy or dusty unmade roads till in the 1960's loan money was obtained for private street construction. !n 10dd a new bridge replaced the old, narrow bridge at Banksia Street. Fifteen years later this had to V duplicated as traffic increased. A bridge was built across the Yarra at Fitzsimons Lane, making a new artery when Williamsons Road was extended to link up with dm bridge.

The beauty of Templestowe on the Yarra had always been appreciated. In the IVtV, Buvelot, the famous artist, had been attracted to the area and the Heidelberg School found it a favourite subject for painting. Over iV ywjis a lew wealthy people had built their homes along the river but since the war Templestowe lias‘gained a reputation for large and expensive homes.

When we travel through this district now it is interesting to speculate whether John Woods, Arthur Ruffy or.Charles Newman, who were attracted to the grassy river flats and rolling hills, could ever have visualized the forest of affluent houses and busy highways of Templestowe today.

One thing remains the same, for with all the activity and growth of the district, the atmosphere of peace and serenity of the old village on tlv Vis., VII remains in the new Templestowe.

Source: The Story of Templestowe and Bulleen (Irvine Green 1982) Original Scan