Doncaster is officially recognized as the oldest fruit growing centre in the state. It has grown fruit continuously since 1858 and, with the exception of Harcourt which is another early fruit growing area dating back to about 1858, Doncaster can give any other area in Victoria at least 30 years.
Doncaster, however, was not the scene of the first planting in the state. Fruit has been grown in one way or another since Batman landed at Port Phillip, the first district to go in for it seriously was the Yarra Flats above Richmond, around the Burnley Horticultural College, which supplied some of the earliest trees for Doncaster which, along with Brighton and Cheltenham, was also well known for its market gardens in the fifties.
It is, however, almost certain that Doncaster made slow progress in fruit growing for at least 20 years. Orchards in those days were very few and far between, they were usually hewn out among heavy timber and had a very unkept appearance, two acres was quite a large commercial concern.
Records of the Eastern Market, which was then Melbourne's principle produce market, offers a reliable guide to the amount of fruit consumed in Melbourne in the fifties and sixties of the last century. It reveals that, except for berry fruits and an occasional consignment of apples, the market was almost completely devoid of the now popular citrus and stone fruits. About 1873 or 74, peaches, pears and plums began to make their appearance and oranges and lemons a few years later. It would, however, be misleading to suggest that Melbourne had no fruit in these early years as quite large quantities of dried fruits were imported, but there was certainly very little fresh fruit to be had.
The industry made rapid progress from the early seventies on. The first attempt to export fruit from Victoria took place in the year 1878, when small consignments were despatched to the Vienna Exhibition and the Botanical Conference at Florence; these efforts were a success and proved that the exportation of fruit from Australia was a possibility, but the efforts that did more than anything else to further the industry were the annual fruit, vegetable and flower shows at the Melbourne Town Hall, the Exhibition Buildings and the Burnley Horticultural College etc. These created a demand for fresh fruit on the home market and played a vital role in the opening up of huge fruit growing areas at Mildura, Swan Hill and the Goulburn Valley.
The pioneers of Doncaster who played a far sighted role in the development of the Australian fruit industry comprised of two distinct communities of English and German residents. They both showed themselves to be a hard working people, and there is no doubt that the greatest of goodwill existed between the two nationalities.
The honour of being the first to settle at Doncaster undoubtedly goes to John Robert Wilson, who arrived in Melbourne in 1847 and took up land in Doncaster in 1852, two years later he built an Inn at the corner of Victoria Street which he named the Doncaster Arms after his home town in Yorkshire, England. Two years later quite a thriving little community had taken its name from Wilson's Hotel. Wilson was a colourful resident of Doncaster for more than 40 years; in 1857 he sold the hotel and took up a 185 acre selection near the corner of Blackburn and Doncaster Roads. In later years he purchased valuable properties at Yarra Glen, Cranbourne and Packingham.
A man who was often referred to as the founder of Doncaster was William Buss Burnley. In 1847 he purchased land on both sides of Doncaster Road from the Carlton Estate to beyond Blackburn Road, and thereby owned practically the whole of the present town area of Doncaster and Doncaster East. Burnley, however, was never a resident of Doncaster, he was merely a land owner. In the early 1840s he took up land at Richmond, hence the suburb that still commemorates his name. He died at Richmond in the year 1860. In 1858 Burnley was elected to the old Legislative Council as a colleague of Henry (Moneyed) Miller, but was unsuccessful when he stood for Evelyn in the first Victorian Parliament of 1856.
There is some doubt as to the settlers who actually followed Wilso Joseph Pickering was among the very first - he came out from England in 1840 and is said to have been residing over Blackburn Road when the area was ravaged by the terrible Black Thursday bushfires of February 6th 1851. About three years later he shifted to a site opposite the present Doncaster Post Office. In the early sixties he opened a butcher and grocery business. As an English Gentleman he cut a popular figure in Doncaster but he was not suited for vigorous outdoor life. In 1856 the first Church of England service was held in his home, he was also noted for his medical prowess though he was not a qualified doctor.
Another early settler was Richard Serpell who, with his wife and 4 sons Thomas, Alfred, Henry Richard and daughter Jane, settled at the head of Serpell's Road in May 1858. They purchased in all 40 acres from Mr. Collins (proprietor of the Highland Estate) at £8 an acre. The family sailed from Plymouth in September 1850 and purchased a valuable block of 6 acres at the corner of Burwood and Glenferrie Roads, Glenferrie.
The family has still in their possession, a diary kept by Thomas Scarpell, which gives a valuable account of life at Doncaster in the 1850s. The first entry of May 1853 describes the land as being 8 miles from Melbourne, 4 miles from Heidelberg, and 2 miles from the Yarra. It states that the land was thickly wooded with stringy bark and other timber and that there was a number of Germans residing at that time to the west of them. On March 31st 1854 the diary states that they went to town and bought an American plough for £6. In May they commenced to clear a few acres in readiness for the plough and on June 28th the diary makes the first reference to fruit trees: "visited the highlands today, Mother, Dick and I, taking some fruit trees and other things with us." On August 29th the diary says: "digging ground, planting currants, gooseberries, vines and a few fruit trees."
From September on the Anderson Creek goldfields appear to have occupied the attention of the family for several months and there are references to them bringing home as much as 8 oz. at the time. In April 1855 the diary states: "All hands once more together again, though we have been through some rather hard times on our land with its two roomed bark huts, but we are used to hardships." On August 11th it states: "the boys and mother came up with the dray bringing a number of fruit trees"; August 18th: "planted 24 fruit trees"; August 27th: "Planting fruit trees, Arthur (Liddelow) trenching for vines."
On October 11th, 1855, an entry states: "George Bird married Emma Mays"; this was possibly the first marriage solemnised in Doncaster. By July, 1856, the orchard appears to have been quite well established as the diary reads: "Harry has certainly done a good job, considering his age, he has trenched and planted a very large piece of land for vines and planted out 103 trees of various kinds, also 112 vines, 59 currant bushes, and 60 gooseberries".
There is then no further reference to this property until January, 1882, when it reads "I rode as far as the Whitehorse and walked to the farm and found all well." The news in February, however, is not so good "People at home seem rather poorly coming to the fright and excitement of bushfires. Dick was leading wood and saw the fire advancing towards our place, he immediately raised the alarm. Mother, Annie, Henry, Dick and many of the neighbours fought it as it threatened our house, fencing and stacks. Mr. Daly's property adjoining ours was completely burnt and most of the fencing gone. Mums (Bloom) had a narrow escape from having their hut levelled to the ground, 20 acres of our paddock was burnt and the fence destroyed."
The final entry in the diary is in January, 1886, and reads "The garden looks very nice now that the peaches and fruits trees are in good bearing."
Other early pioneers of the fruit were E. A. Williams, Thomas Potty, John Clay and James Hand. Williams hailed from Pembrokeshire in South Wales and came to Melbourne in 1859; he worked for Toogood at Woodhouse Grove for some time and then purchased a property on Leeds Street.
He later acquired as much as 200 acres and in 1868 won the London Prize Cup for the best fruit garden in the Melbourne district. His sole capital when he landed in Melbourne at the age of 19 was 4/6. Ten Potty came out 2 years later. Ten Potty Snr. lived for several years at the top of Sandlays Hill and took a prominent part in the early fruit growing, he died in 1877. John Clay came from Devonshire in 1851 and settled in Doncaster on the present site of Mr. Cameron's garage about 1865. Clay died at Doncaster in 1871. James Hand is acknowledged as the first to plan fruit in Templestowe, he purchased 8 acres from John Chivers on Church Road in 1855 and planted an orchard, carrying his cuttings out by hand from Hawthorn. Reed came to Australia in 1847 and farmed at Gardiner's Creek before coming to Templestowe.
No history of Doncaster would be complete without a mention of the stirring pioneer work done by the German families. German immigration to Victoria commenced in 1845, but it was not until after the big revolution of 1848 that it reached any worthwhile proportions. About the year 1850 an agency existed in Melbourne to assist German immigration to Victoria. They settled at first in a small colony near Heidelberg, but found it unsuitable and shifted to the high lands of Doncaster and other parts. Among the earliest of the German families were the Thieles, Straubes and Fingers.
Johann Gottlieb Thiele, who settled on Victoria Street in 1855, is believed to be the first person to plant fruit in Doncaster. He was a tailor by trade and on his arrival in Melbourne in 1849, established quite a fashionable business in Bourke Street which was under Vice Regal patronage for some years; he later went to the goldfields and then purchased his property from Mr. Collins at Doncaster. He knew nothing of orcharding, but showed great perseverance and had become a successful orchardist. His third son, Mr. A. F. Thiele, became a recognized authority in the fruit world of Australia and had the "Thiele's Cling" peach called after him.
The Straubes were another interesting early German family who played a prominent part in establishing the Lutheran Church. Ernst C. Straube landed at Adelaide in 1849 and farmed at Warrnambool and Hamilton before coming to Doncaster where they built a house and garden adjacent to the old Lutheran Church. They were prominent citizens in the 1850s but in to try their luck on the New Zealand Goldfields in the early 60s, meeting with little success they returned to Victoria in 1863 and conducted a farm and bakery business in Martoa for many years.
Doncaster in the 1850s was covered by a dense forest, the road to Melbourne was fenced as far as the Doncaster Arms Hotel, but no bridge existed over the Koornung Creek prior to 1859. The first published account of Doncaster appears in an article in the Argus on January 1st, 1855, signed by an occasional correspondent writing of his journey to the Anderson Creek Goldfields he states :-
"We started from town proceeding down the Richmond Road to Hawthorn where we diverged to the left, passing the Red Lion Inn and presently arriving at the pretty little suburban village of Kew, then past the Woodman Inn - distance about 4 miles from Melbourne, about 4 or 5 miles further we arrived at the Doncaster Arms, an Inn but recently built and kept by a Mr. Wilson, while refreshing ourselves here Mrs. Wilson showed us 3 small nuggets recently picked up on the adjoining section of W. B. Burnley Esq. M.L.C." The correspondent then went on to give a description of his journey to Anderson Creek, which from the accounts given appears to be by way of the Old Warrandyte Road.
By the year 1856, George Hislop had established a grocery store just beyond the hotel, near the corner of Mitchell Street, about 2 years later a German family by the name of Tuckerbund established a store in a small cabin adjacent to White's Corner, later about 1880 the business was taken over by Lourrs, who also ran a baker's shop in the town for many years. About 1859 the Smedley family established a Blacksmith Shop at the foot of Smedley's Hill just above the Morning Star and the same year the Misses Mary Ann and Robina Wilson established a school in a log cabin just off Wilson Lane, adjacent to where Mr. Ian Morrison's house now stands. Previous to this the Misses Pinch are believed to have taught a school in High Street.
During the year 1855, the land on the south side of the Doncaster Road from Koornung Creek to Church Road was sub-divided, and a year or two later the property to the north side was cut up and the present High and Ayr Streets were surveyed in order to provide communication between the village of Carlton and Templestowe though it was several years before the Roads Board could afford to buy the land and provide an official right-of-way. Manningham Road and Whittens Lane were surveyed about the same time.
The Carlton Estate at this time was owned by a Robert Campbell Esq described as a gentleman from Sydney who had recently returned to England. His managing agent in Melbourne was R. G. Bagot, a financier who is said to have been extremely hard in business and foreclosed on many farms in the Bulleen district in later years. He was secretary of the Victorian Racing Club for several years; the Bagot Handicap on New Year's Day still commemorates his name.
The land steward on the estate was Robert Williamson, who came from a Scottish sawmill family who migrated to Victoria in 1854 and settled on the flat next to the Morning Star Hotel; he later shifted to Manningham Road and about 1869 took up 250 acres on the banks of Ruffy's Creek, Templestowe. He was Crown Bailiff of the Carlton Estate for 15 years, a Justice of the Peace and a member of the Roads Board and Bulleen Council for 25 years. Three other brothers migrated to Victoria in the early fifties, including David who took up 60 acres at the corner of Ayr Street and Manningham Road in 1858, whose family had only recently sold the property. John and James rented a farm on the Bulleen flats for two years in the early 50s but, owing to the persistent floods, sold out and went to Yarra Glen where they were respected residents for many years.
The cutting up of the Carlton Estate had a considerable influence on Doncaster and was possibly one of the reasons why the Government chose that route when they established a mail service to the Anderson Creek Gold diggings at Warrandyte in 1857. The service was first let to a Warrandyte resident by the name of Fleming Hewitt in August of that year, when there was no mention of Doncaster in the contract, but the following year it was let to a John McFarlane for £100 a year for a twice-weekly service via Doncaster and a post office was established at the hotel about this same time. In 1859 the contract was let to Michael Murphy for £85 for a thrice-weekly service. In 1862 the service was extended to Lilydale from Kew. It seems probable that these services travelled via the Old Warrandyte and Findall's Roads, though this route was never popular owing to the steep gradients and was dropped later in the sixties in favour of the Blackburn Road via Deep Creek.
In 1858 the German community erected a small Lutheran Chapel on the site of the German Cemetery in Victoria Street and there is little doubt that life in early day Doncaster largely evolved around this church. Mr. Pickering would preach an Anglican service at the conclusion of the Lutheran service each Sunday. The caretaker who was paid the munificent salary of £4 per year, used to toll the church bell at dawn, noon and dusk and thereby give an indication of the time to the gardeners and woodcutters in the area.
In 1860 Mr. Max Von Schramm established a school for the German children at his home adjacent to the new shire hall, and for a time the Doncaster children were attending three separate schools. The children at the west end of the town and also those across the creek towards Woodhouse Grove attended the Misses Wilson school in Wilson Lane, but quite a number at the east end of the town used to walk across the fields to attend Mr. Ferguson's School on Serpell's Road, Templestowe.
A man who took a prominent part in local affairs in the early 60s was Mr. Thomas W. Grant. In 1861 he was appointed local registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, a position which held until he left the district in 1885; he was succeeded by Joseph Pickering who was the registrar until his death in 1871 when he was in turn succeeded by Marx Von Schramm, who held the position for more than 30 years. Grant took an active interest in church affairs and, in 1860, was instrumental in forming a local Baptist congregation at Doncaster. A small wooden chapel was erected next to the old shire hall, the congregation however did not last for long. In 1863 Mr. Crouch came to Doncaster to organize a branch of the Church of Christ and soon most of the Baptist following had changed to the new church. Their first service was held at Dr. Porter's residence in Whittons Lane in 1863, and in 1864 Mr. Robert Williamson donated the present site of the Church of Christ. The Baptist chapel was purchased and removed to the site to do service as a Church of Christ and a portion of it still remains today.
In the 1860s a branch of the Primitive Methodist Church was organized by Mays and James Kent who resided on the Old Warrandyte Road. In 1866 they purchased a butcher shop and removed it to the most central location for their flock which was the Blackburn Road corner, where it did service as a chapel for nearly thirty years. For many years this chapel was practically all that existed at East Doncaster, John Ireland had taken up the land near the Blackburn corner in 1856, the Mays and Robert Wilson lived close by, while further out on the Old Warrandyte Road were the Bucks, Ballocks and Konts, while George Hislop junior had gone out into the never-never of Park Road. Across the Deep Creek James Stinton took up a square mile in 1852, this property is still known as Stinton's Paddock. Between Park Orchards and South Warrandyte, John Ham cut up a large section in 1855, the purchasers are not known but the Tortoses, Milnes and Holmes are among the earliest settlers in this area and could well have gone back to this period.
The year 1868 marked the building of Holy Trinity Church of England the church had rather a chequered career in the early days, first the meetings were held in private homes and later in the Lutheran and Baptist Chapels, so no-one could have been sorry when they finally had a home of their own which was largely due to the efforts of Joseph Pickering and Max Von Schramm.
The upsurge of religious activities in Doncaster had rather a profound effect on the hard working and rather intemperate market gardeners and woodsplittors of the town, no fewer than 8 hotels existed then between Mitcham and Kew. With the idea of trying to combat this problem of drunkenness a branch of the Band of Hope was formed about 1866, their first meetings were held at the Methodist Chapel, but, owing to the amount of emphasis placed on religion, the Band decided to build a hall of their own, and from whence came the idea of the Atheneum.
The first minute book shows that a preliminary meeting was held at the Methodist Chapel on the 24th November, 1870, which was attended by several prominent residents including Alfred Hummal who occupied the chair, R. Serpell, R. Clay, Thos. Robinson, J. Thompson, Falkiner, Tyndall, E. Wilson, W. S. Williams, Holmes, J. and Tom Petty. It was resolved that the site of the building should be the reserve next to the Church of England, the decision was confirmed at a public meeting a fortnight later and Mr. Hummel generously purchased 3 acres from the Government and donated an acre to the trustees, he also lent £70 towards the cost of the building. Mr. E. Wilson's tender for the burning of 23,000 bricks at 8s/- a thousand was accepted, but none difficulty was experienced with too many cooks spoiling the broth and the building made little progress for some time; however in September 1871, Mr. William Finger's tender of £110 was accepted for the completion of the hall. The overall cost of the building was £258, which included the establishing of a library with 23 volumes, the Government donating £40 towards the cost of the latter.
Mr. Thomas Serpell gave his services as architect and on the day of the opening a tea was held which was attended by several distinguished personages from Melbourne including Messrs. Crowe, Bent, Ferguson, Pentland and Henry M.Ps. and some noted artists gave their services; a feature of the evening was a special bachelors' table at a dearer rate of 8/-, but their was some dissatisfaction among them as they claimed that the fare was no better and they were cut off from the rest of the meeting.
The Athenæum Library grew steadily from its modest beginning and in the 1890s had more than 1100 volumes and was regarded as one of the finest outside Melbourne.
The 1860s were an important decade for Doncaster, several very fine orchards were laid out during this period, and though there was no water for irrigation and the community was for the most part struggling, it is surprising the amount of social life which took place in the town. By the close of the decade picnic race meetings were being held up and down the main road from the Doncaster Hotel to the Blackburn corner. A cricket club was formed in 1866 and played in the paddock adjacent to Serpell's store at White's Corner. There were few inter club matches, but they doubtlessly had a great deal of fun between themselves.
A man who took a great deal of interest in the social life of the town about this time was Alfred Hummel, a young Englishman who had inherited a large sum of money. He was particularly noted for the very fine picnic which he organized to Ferntree Gully and the Dandenong Ranges. He took a great interest in the Band of Hope and Temperance cause for some years but appears to have abandoned this in the 1870s, for in 1878 he erected the Beaconfield - later the Tower - Hotel, and also erected 3 very fine lookout towers which did much to popularize Doncaster as a tourist resort. The first stood next to the Church of Christ and was about 100 ft high, it was built about the same time as the hotel but was soon blown over the second was a little higher but it shared a similar fate. The third was built about 1884 and stood for nearly 30 years, it was 278 ft. high.
Another distinguished resident of Doncaster in the 60s was Mr. David Mitchell, the well known contractor of Lilydale and father of famous soprano Dame Nellie Melba. Mitchell came to Australia on the ship "Anna" in 1852 and came to Doncaster about 1858, he resided for some years in a house just above Tullamore (Eastern Golflinks). In 1862 he unsuccessfully stood for the Templestowe Roads Board. It is also said that Dame Melba was run after and steal rides on the woodcarts and that the local residents would marvel at her beautiful voice, even in that early day; later as a young girl at the Presbyterian Ladies' College she was a frequent visitor to the home of Robert Williamson on her vacations.
Communications at Doncaster and Templestowe at this period were most trying. There were a few surveyed roads which were for the most part just dry tracks, the most popular means of communications was by walking tracks through the bush, there was then no road from Doncaster to Box Hill and it was necessary for horse drawn vehicles to travel via Kew but there was little interchange of commerce between the two towns. There was likewise no road from East Doncaster to Blackburn and the only means of communication from Doncaster to Templestowe was a dry track which led via the Middle (Manningham) Road to Thompsons Road.
During the 1870s quite a number of new roads were surveyed, but it is surprising how few of the names given to them have survived. These include Blackburn Road which was then Hays Road, Leeds Street which was Tatham Street, Ayr Street was known as Strip Road and later became the Green Lane and Bogles Lane, High Street was Swaneeys Road and Manningham Road was the Middle Road. Templestowe, on the other hand, has retained the names of nearly all its streets, which include Foote Street named after Henry B. Foote the original town surveyor, Parker Street named after an early pioneer family, James Street named after the first pound keeper of 1845, Anderson, Mahoney, Milne and Newman's Road etc., all of which are named after pioneer families in the district.
Source: We believe from handwritten notes in records that the following text is an unpublished manuscript in 2 volumes (Ch1-11 and Ch12-21) written by Louis Radnor Cranfield (1927- 14 Oct 1992) F.R.HIST.S. (Fellow of the Royal Historical Society). Find a Grave Record. National Library of Australia Record.