We believe from handwritten notes in records that the following text is an unpublished manuscript written by Louis Radnor Cranfield (1927- 14 Oct 1992) F.R.HIST.S. (Fellow of the Royal Historical Society).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.
Shire of Doncaster & Templestowe - Past & Present - Part 1
Chapter 1: Earliest Days at Bulleen and Templestowe
Beginnings are more often than not difficult to ascertain and it is not surprising that the Upper Yarra, which was covered with dense forests and rough mountainous country, should be no exception to the rule and thus little is known of the hardy folk who battled with the elements to make the first exploration of the district.In December 1836, less than 18 months after the arrival of John Batman at Port Phillip, Joseph Tise Gellibrand, a former Tasmanian Attorney General and one of the promoters of the Port Phillip Association, led a party to Geelong on a kind of goodwill mission to the aborigines, and on his return he made a wide sweep of Melbourne via the Salt Water River and is believed to have reached the present site of Diamond Creek; they then returned to Melbourne via the Yarra, crossing the Plenty at only a short distance from its junction with that river.
In March 1837, the Chief Port Phillip Surveyor, Robert Hoddle, made a trip up the Yarra in executing his survey of the County of Bourke, and though little can be said of the actual route he followed, it is notable that both the Parishes of Bulleen and Warrandyte appear in his survey map. About the same month, Jack Gardiner, who had a station on the banks of Gardiner's Creek, followed some straying stock up the Yarra and came across the rich country around Lilydale; he decided to stay and founded the Mooroolbark Station. Gardiner, if not actually the first explorer, was certainly the first pioneer to open up the Upper Yarra; within a few weeks the Ryrie Bros. had established Ryries' Cattle Station (now St. Huberts) at Yering, and were soon followed by Briartys at Woori Yallock and Messrs. Rear and Dorie at Monbulk. Their supplies were taken up by a track which ran along the approximate site of the Doncaster and Old Warrandyte Roads; it then branched off through Stinton Paddock and South Warrandyte to Lilydale etc.
The first people to reside on the territory now occupied by the Shire of Doncaster and Templestowe were Messrs. J. & W. Wood, who were squatting on the Bulleen Flats near the mouth of the Koonung Creek in 1838, and an early map bearing that year refers to Koonung Creek as Woods’ Creek. The Wood Bros. arrived at Port Phillip in 1836. John Wood died at Sydney in 1849.
The Woods were followed closely by James Kennedy, who established a cattle run further up the creek the following year; his hut was close to where the Morning Star Hotel stood in later years, at the junction of the Koonung Creek and the Doncaster Road. The creek in turn was frequently called Kennedy’s Creek for nearly 50 years.
In 1839, James Anderson brought his cattle overland from Sydney and established his run on the creek that has since been called after him, near the present site of Warrandyte. His run was only about 320 acres and he left after about 4 years to take up a better property on the banks of the Salt Water River at Werribee. Whilst at Anderson’s Creek, Anderson gave employment to a young couple by the name of Samuel and Judith Furphy, who had immigrated from Northern Ireland; Judith, who was only 21 years of age, was the first white woman to venture to the Upper Yarra where she had to work among ticket‑of‑leave men and wild blacks were numerous.
Furphy later became overseer at Ryries’ at Yering, and it was here that their second son Joseph was born — he was destined to become the distinguished author Tom Collins, who wrote the famous novel Such is Life. Furphy senior later shifted to Kangaroo Grounds where he built the first school in 1851; still later he opened a hay and corn store at Kyneton. He afterwards purchased the Jubilee Pines Estate in the Corop district and was Government Commissioner on the Echuca and Waranga United Water Trust in the 1880s.
Another early resident of Warrandyte was James Dawson, a sturdy Scot, who founded the Warrandyte station on the Pig Tail Hill in 1841; he remained for 7 or 8 years before selling to J. Thompson, and the property became known as Thompson Pre‑emptive Right. Dawson later shifted to Port Fairy where he farmed until 1862, when the Duffy Land Act interfered with the squatting system and he retired from active business. Mr. Dawson collected a great deal of information about the aborigines which he embodied in his book Australian Aborigines, published by George Robertson in 1881; it still remains one of the foremost authoritative works on the aborigines. He also erected a very fine monument to the Western District aborigines at the Camperdown Cemetery at the cost of more than £200.
To another sturdy Scotchman — Robert Laidlaw — must go the honour of being the first permanent settler in the Shire. He arrived in Melbourne on the Midlothian, the first Scottish immigrant ship to come to Melbourne in 1839, and 2 years after purchased Messrs. J. & W. Wood’s station at Bulleen, in partnership with Hugh Kerr, for £15. The partnership lasted for 18 months, when the big financial depression of the early 1840s set in; sheep they had bought for £1.16.0 a head were sold for as little as 4/6. Kerr later took up the property at the corner of Bulleen and Doncaster Roads which was conducted by Charles Ragg for many years, and Mr. Alex. Duncan — who in 1889 had run Victoria’s first dairy farm on Gardiner’s Creek — went into partnership with Laidlaw.
A large section of Laidlaw’s land at this time was on lease from Unwin Special Survey, later known as the Carleton Estate. The system of special surveys was introduced by the British Government in 1841, whereby any person paying the sum of £5,120 in London could have any 5,120 acres of his choice in the Port Phillip district. Only 8 of these surveys were issued, and 2 were in the vicinity of Doncaster. The Unwin Special Survey, which was taken out by a Sydney solicitor, Robert Wright Unwin, extended from a line close to the Morning Star across to the Yarra on the north and back to Church Road on the east. The other survey was taken out by Randol Dacre acting on behalf of a West Indian merchant by the name of Henry Elgar. It faced the Unwin Survey on the opposite side of Koonung Creek and extended back to Canterbury Road, and was bounded by Elgar and Burke Roads on the east and west respectively. Both surveys are dated the 11th of August 1841.
From the beginning there was rivalry between Unwin and Elgar for a frontage on the Yarra, and in 1844 we find Robert Hoddle coming out to re‑survey both estates with the idea of giving Elgar a more equitable share of the river. At the same time Unwin was granted permission to shift his estate a mile closer to Melbourne, his property coming right up to Koonung Creek, and he dropped a section to the north of Templestowe between the township and the river. Considerable difficulties were experienced in making the re‑survey as both properties had been largely cut up; the problem, however, was overcome when Robert Campbell, a Sydney businessman, agreed to purchase the whole of the properties and convey them back to the Crown for the necessary alterations; he then resold the lots to their respective owners on the new title.
Unwin appears to have completely severed his connection with the property at this juncture, and the property was re‑issued in the name of James Atkinson. Campbell, however, retained his interest and after a few years the property reverted to him.
Atkinson was a well‑known speculator in the early days of Australia. In the 1830s he applied for a 100,000‑acre lease at Twofold Bay, N.S.W., and he evidently had ideas of establishing a town by bringing out 300 immigrants from Northern Ireland. The lease, however, was declined, the Governor pointing out that it was well beyond the line permitted for free settlement and the Government would have to erect churches and schools, etc., at a disadvantage. His hopes of establishing a town of his own were later realized when, in 1847, he purchased the Belfast Special Survey at Port Fairy, and for several years he owned practically the entire town.
Atkinson’s activities at Bulleen commenced about 1843 and, on taking over Unwin Special Survey, he renamed it the Carleton Estate after his eldest son Withsdale Carleton Atkinson; it would appear that the family was in some way related to the celebrated Irish novelist William Carleton. In 1855 a large section of the Carleton Estate was sub‑divided and a township was surveyed at the foot of Smedley’s Hill under the name of Carlton. It was not destined for a great deal of growth, though it was a postal village and a well‑known hotel, the Morning Star, was located there.
The Unwin Estate was taken up rapidly towards the middle of the forties, particularly along the Yarra flats. By the year 1844 the whole of these flats as far as the present township of Templestowe were under cultivation with wheat and potatoes, and it is said that at harvest time it was nothing uncommon to see as many as 50 hands working with the sickle. The grain was carted in bullock wagons to Dight’s Mill, opposite Studley Park, and as there was no bridge, the teams had to be driven through the river at a shallow part near the mill.
When the Bulleen flats were first occupied there were numerous lagoons, which abounded in eels and waterfowl, etc. Here the aboriginals found a happy hunting ground and upwards of 200 members of the Yarra Tribe would frequently camp along the creek; they soon developed a liking for the settlers’ dogs and before long had a numerous following of their own. The flats were covered by large red gum trees which soon fell to the settlers’ axes; these were used for building purposes and were cut up in saw pits along the river bank, traces of which could be seen until comparatively recent years. The lagoons were soon drained for cultivation purposes and dug‑out canoes, used by the natives, were frequently found sunk in the bottoms of the lagoons and were used by the settlers as feeding troughs for their stock.
Messrs. Duncan and Laidlaw were the principal settlers and were successful farmers but, like many others, they had disappointments and setbacks to contend with. In 1847 they consigned the first wheat and barley to be exported from Victoria to England. They sent a parcel of each to ascertain what kind of reception colonial produce could expect on the home market; they received a number of favourable reports, particularly in regard to the barley. It is said that at Edinburgh the agents were at a loss to understand where such fine samples could have come from. Their hopes of developing the flats for wheat, however, were not realized — persistent flooding caused the abandonment of agriculture and the farmers switched to dairying after only a few years.
Very few efforts were made to penetrate the heavily wooded hills in the 1840s; an exception, however, was that of Major Charles Newman, who possessed a square mile of land on Newman’s Road and had quite a large amount under licence. Major Newman was an officer of more than 30 years’ standing with the 51st Native Bengal Infantry; he gave meritorious service to the East India Company and fought in several campaigns of the Indian Mutiny.
In 1834 he retired from active service with the view of obtaining a Government land grant in Australia. He went first to Van Diemen’s Land but, finding all the suitable properties occupied, he crossed to Port Phillip, but had bad luck when the ship carrying his prefabricated home and most of his stock sank in Bass Strait. He farmed for a short time at Dandenong before coming to Templestowe about 1840 and built his two well‑known homesteads “Pontville” and “Monkton” soon after; these residences were good examples of houses built in the forties with 14‑inch walls for protection against aboriginals and bushrangers.
Major Newman had a long struggle against the New South Wales Government over the refund of the purchase price of his property. Governor Gipps declined to grant the refund, stating that Newman was not entitled to a Government grant as he had failed to lodge his application within 12 months of his arrival at Port Phillip. In 1842 the Land and Immigration Commissioners in London agreed with Governor Gipps, and Major Newman made a direct appeal to Queen Victoria in the form of a petition which stated that he had given long and faithful service to the British Army and that he was one of the first to import valuable sheep and horses into Port Phillip.
However, the futility of trying to override the Colonial Governor was shown in the Colonial Secretary’s official reply which was sent through Governor Gipps; he said “that the case had been repeatedly brought before the Government by Major Newman, and you will acquaint that gentleman that I have laid his petition before the Queen, who was pleased to receive it very graciously, but I was not able to direct Her Majesty to comply with the prayer of it”.
Major Newman resided at Templestowe for a number of years before shifting to Lonsdale Street and later to Hawthorn where he died in 1866.
He was a man of very abrupt personality, rather typical of the military officer of his day. He was an outspoken critic of the Lt.‑Governor C. J. Latrobe and played a leading role in an instigation to have him removed from office. Latrobe was more of a writer and adventurer by occupation than anything else and did not exactly fit in with the conservative minds of his day, but there is little doubt that Melbourne owes a great debt to him — the wide thoroughfares and spacious gardens which we enjoy today were largely due to his far‑seeing efforts.
The settlement at Bulleen continued to make steady progress through the forties. The first Government officer was the pound keeper, John James, who was appointed in 1845, and the first church services, which were according to the rites of the Presbyterian Church, were held about the same year at Alex. Duncan’s farm. In the year 1847 a school was established near the Heidelberg Bridge with James Paynter as teacher; there were 27 children at the beginning, but it made rapid progress and in 1850 John Ferguson opened a school near the corner of Williamson and Serpells Roads with more than 80 children.
Inspectors’ reports state that Ferguson had previously taught at Heidelberg but had been dismissed for intemperance; he had, however, reformed, and the Inspector was hopeful that he would make a better fist of it at Templestowe. The schoolroom, however, was very dilapidated. By the year 1850 a punt had been established across the Yarra at Heidelberg — it proved a boon to the residents of the Carleton Estate. The lessee of the punt in the early years was James Mahon, a well‑known farmer of Bulleen. It also appears likely that a store was established on the estate at this time, but of that we have no proof.
The discovery of gold in August 1851 had a profound effect on the district; quite a number of the residents left for the diggings, but some remained, and several of the farmers along the flats earned fantastic money by growing potatoes and other produce. The shortage of labour had sent prices skyrocketing and some farmers made as much as £6,000 in the one season.
In spite of the rush to the diggings there was considerable development during 1852. That year witnessed the first serious attempt to open up the heavily timbered hills. In that year John Chivers took up a 100‑acre strip along Church Road, Templestowe, and by the end of the year all the country had been taken up as far as Newman’s Road.
On September 23rd Templestowe was proclaimed a village and surveyed by Henry B. Foote; Dandenong was proclaimed on the same day. The first sale of town allotments was held at Tennant & Company’s Auction Rooms, 50 Collins St. West, which was located at the south‑east corner of Collins and Queen Streets, on the 22nd March 1854. The Argus commented that the majority of people present at the sale were inhabitants of the neighbourhood; in all, 19 two‑rood allotments were sold at an average of £38 each, the upset price being only £2.10.0.
Several families who have since become respected residents of the district were included among those who purchased land that day, including John Holmes, Patrick and David Mahoney, Robert Smith, James Hewish, David Bell, John Semar, Ambrose Pullin, John Chivers, William Thompson and Elizabeth Williamson.
The name Templestowe is derived from Sir Walter Scott’s novel Ivanhoe and means “a place for a Temple,” but unfortunately there is nothing to show who suggested the name, as it is believed to be the only town in the world bearing that name.
The first written account of the village is given by William Westgarth in his book Victorian and Australian Goldfields 1857. Westgarth describes a journey he made to Anderson’s Creek on February 22nd, 1855, in company with members of the Gold Complaints Committee. He gives a good description of his journey out, stating the road as far as Heidelberg was cut at the sides with an occasional slight attempt at levelling, though the metalling ceased at Nicholson Street. From Heidelberg out there appears to have been only dray tracks, and probably not even that.
He was much dismayed at the wastage of good soil and the unfarmerlike practice of keeping growing trees in the middle of ploughed fields and cultivations. He observed that the Scottish farmer, who so zealously circumscribes the spreading wings of his thorn hedges and who narrows down his boundary footpath to the merest possibility of getting along, would probably have earned quite a good living by cultivating the waste corners and borders of the Heidelberg and Templestowe properties.
Templestowe he described as a small village containing a hotel, a blacksmith shop and a few houses and gardens.
The hotel which Westgarth refers to was first called the Bulleen Hotel, and was later known as the Templestowe and finally the Upper Yarra. It was run for several years in the fifties by David Bell and later in the sixties by Robert Mundy; in 1872 it was taken over by James Finn who conducted it for many years. The building is still standing. The blacksmith shop was run by Thomas Meddings. In 1856 James Howish opened a butcher shop on the site now occupied by the Templestowe Cool Stores; it was taken over a few weeks after the opening by the Smith family who ran the business for many years.
The township became the proud possessor of its own Roads Board in December 1856, the doings of which we will deal with separately. In 1857 the gold fever actually spread to Templestowe when a substantial find was made on the property of Robert Nalder Clarke Esq., at the junction of Thompson Road and Foote Street; the lead was lost in the early sixties and the mine stood dormant for a long time but was discovered again in the 1880s and worked again with success.
Clarke was a notable resident of Templestowe for some 5 or 6 years; he was a graduate in Arts at the Cambridge University and was also a member of the Templestowe Roads Board for some time. In 1856 he unsuccessfully stood for the Kyneton electorate in the first Victorian Parliament.
Templestowe had no fewer than 4 hotels and beer shops in the 1860s — the Upper Yarra, the present Templestowe Hotel which was conducted by F. H. Sparkes who sold it to J. Gorman in February 1870 and who, in turn, sold it to Patrick Sheehan in March 1871; it remained in the Sheehan family until 1930. It has changed hands several times since.
Two small hotels or beer shops stood opposite each other on the bend of the main road above Foote Street; one was owned by Louis De Compte and the other by Jackeriah Jenkins. There was considerable rivalry between the two, and they came to an unhappy end on the 19th June 1870 when De Compte’s haystack caught alight and burnt Jenkins’ hotel down, who claimed considerable damages for incendiarism.
About the year 1860 James Field opened a store on the corner now occupied by Mr. Ted Sheehan’s residence; however, James Hart is said to have conducted a store even prior to this a little closer to the township. He also ran a kind of unofficial mail service to Heidelberg before the days of the post office at Templestowe.
An organisation which did a great deal to publicise the district and make its possibilities known as fruit growing centre was the Victorian Vineyard and Fruit Garden Company which was founded by S Wekey and several prominent Melbourne citizens as directors and shareholders, including the mayor of Melbourne, Major Hodgson and Mr J0 Shannassy, later premier of Victoria etc. In stating the ideal of the company at a public meeting in Melbourne on September 23d 1854, Mr. Wakey stated that in spite of the remarkable yields of the Victorian Goldmines, circumstances showed that the general prosperity of the colony would be greater had more attention been directed to agriculture. He said that the principle object of the company was horticulture, fruits and grapes etc., but not flowers as they were catered for by the botanical gardens. Another object was the promotion of temperance, the depressing amount of drunkardness, so prevalent in the colony, was due, he said, to the amount of ardent spirits that was consumed and the introduction of pure wines would do much to make Victoria a more temperate colony.
Grapes were the principle concern of the company, as they were the only fruit that had been tried to any extent. It was estimated that if the ruling price of 3/6 a pound on the Melbourne Market held, the company would almost cover its outlay in the first season's production.
The company made an immediate application to the Government for a land grant and were granted 200 acres adjoining the village of Templestowe. In November the Argus announced that the company was well established. "Speed the plough and sink shafts for coal, and then we say the general prosperity of Victoria will be established on a foundation as firm and as permanent as that of any country in the world" added the Argus.
Unfortunately, though the company was established on very laudable ideals, it lacked organisation and good management; the following article in the press on August 29th 1856 tells its own story of the company's dismal failure. "The Victorian Vineyard Company has at last resolved upon winding up its affairs, nearly 2 years have elapsed since the undertaking was commenced, but not a single vine has been planted. An offer was made for the company's land at an advance upon the cost price, and the difference will about cover the expense incurred so that the shareholders will not be sufferers".
Though the company itself proved a dismal failure there is little doubt that it did a good deal to further the district, an interesting project that it was associated with was the erection of a bridge over the river behind the Upper Yarra Hotel at Templestowe. The directors, believing that such a structure would do much to advance the district, called a public meeting at the Bulleen Hotel on March 10th 1855 to consider the advisability of erecting the bridge. Mr. Wakey stated that the Heidelberg punt had earnt £600 in 1853 and £1,800 in 1854, and he thought that it was not unreasonable to estimate the revenue of the bridge at twice that of the punt and it would, therefore, cover the cost of the erection of the bridge which was estimated at £4,000. He moved that the meeting, "aware of the great advantages that would arise from communications being effected across the Yarra behind the township of Templestowe, as by such means the distance from Eltham to Melbourne would 4 miles less than by the present main road, and also occasion an increase of traffic between the townships of Templestowe and Heidelberg and Kew and the neighbourhood along the line of the respective roads, do pledge themselves to use all their energy and influence towards the erection of the said bridge at the place indicated with the least possible delay".
The motion was seconded by David Bell and carried unanimously, and the following were elected as a local committee to assist with the project:- James Hewish, John James, David Bell, John Clarke, John Scott, James Crooks and Edward Watson.
The proposal met with a cordial reception from the people of Eltham and 127 shares were purchased at a meeting held in the Fountain of Friendship Hotel at Eltham the following week, other meetings took place at Kangaroo Ground and adjoining centres and, in July, the company let the contract for the building to Messrs. Abbott and Green, when it was stipulated that the work must be completed within 4 months. A hitch occurred in October when it was found that the bed of the river was unsuitable for the foundations and certain modifications had to be made to the plans; the contractors contended that they were entitled to be allowed for the alterations, the dispute, however, appears to have been straightened out and the work completed a little behind schedule.
The bridge was washed away in the great flood of December 1868. At one stage the Victorian Vineyard Company announced that they intended to run an omnibus service from Eltham to Melbourne via Templestowe and Kew. This did not materialise but there is no doubt the bridge was a success and a fair bit of local traffic passed between Eltham and Templestowe although it was not used a great deal by through traffic owing to the rough state of the roads at Bulleen. There is some doubt as to whether Thompson Road, which is acknowledged as the oldest road in the shire, existed prior to the opening of this bridge, but it was certainly the road used by through traffic from Eltham to Melbourne by those who chose that route.
In 1869 the Government replaced the Heidelberg punt by a bridge at a cost of £8,000, but it appears that the punt was some distance downstream from the bridge and it took several months of negotiation before the Government would agree to build the approaches so the bridge could be used. In the year 1858 the present Banksia Street is referred to as Punt Road.
A feature of the early life of Bulleen which has been largely forgotten by the residents, was the annual ploughing matches conducted by the Victorian Agricultural Society on Mr. Mahon's farm. Farmers came for miles to attend these contests and Mr. Mahon, as lessee of the punt, transported the horse and bullock teams across the river free of charge for the occasions. Prizes for the best horse and bullock teams ranged from £5 to £8, with £2 for the man who ploughed the best furrow. Among the contestants who took part with success were J. O'Meil, J. O'Sullivan, Hugh Kerr, Robert Munday, Richard O'Swin and John Brown.
Among the residents who contributed to the commercial and social life of Templestowe in the fifties and sixties was Richard Davies Ireland, one of the best known Barristers and Criminal Lawyers ever to plead before the Victorian Bar. He came to Templestowe towards the end of the fifties, his house being situated at the extreme end of Mahoney St. next to the river. Ireland is said to have earned more than £140,000 in professional fees alone, though he died a comparatively poor man at Prahran in 1877. He was born in Galway, Ireland, and had a brilliant career with the Irish Bar where he was associated with John O'Connell in the cause of Ireland before coming to Victoria in 1852. He had a brilliant parliamentary as well as legal career and was twice Attorney-General of Victoria; at the bar his most celebrated cases were the trial of Eureka Stockade rioters in 1855, and his appearance for Messrs. Cornish and Bruce, when they sued the Victorian Government for £300,000, alleging that they had been underpaid to that extent in connection with the building of the Bendigo Railway. The case lasted 36 days and ended with an award of £237,000 damages for the plaintiff. Though he had a town house at the corner of High and Alma Streets, St. Kilda, Ireland spent a good deal of his time at Templestowe, it is said that his family was rather a wild one and were noted for the big parties they held at the Old England at Heidelberg.
Another prominent personality was Robert Charles Balburnie-Vans who conducted a farm on the Bulleen flats. His father, Robert Anthurson Balburnie Vans conducted the first punt across the Yarra behind Young and Jackson's Hotel in 1838 and was later lessee of the Poll; he was a direct descendent of Lord Balmarino who suffered death at the Tower of London for the cause of Scotland at the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Balmarino Street, Toorak, commemorates the name of his well known residence of that name.
Other notable residents include George McGahy, Sydney Ricardo, Ambrose Pullin who came to Bulleen as early as 1842, John Adams who came about the same year and settled near Thompson Road, the Smith Brothers, David, John, Joseph, James, who came from Scotland about 1853 and became quite successful farmers in the district; Robert Hunter, a carpenter who built several of Templestowe's earliest houses including the residence now occupied by Mr. John Mullins. He first settled near the Heidelberg Bridge and shifted to the corner of Anderson and James Streets in 1860. James Hewish who came to Australia first for the enterprising Ben Boyd in the early 1840s. Boyd established a colony at Two Fold Bay along similar lines to Atkinson, he was also proprietor of the Royal Bank of Australia, and Boyd and Company shipping lines which ran 6 steam and sailing ships. He is the great grandfather of Mr. Lennox Boyd, the former British Colonial Secretary. Hewish did not stay long with Boyd at Two Fold Bay and brought his stock overland to Templestowe in 1844 where he was one of the principle land owners for many years and was also prominent in the local Roads Board. Several of his descendants are still residing in the district.
Chapter 2. Beginnings at Doncaster
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.
Chapter 3. Beginnings of the Templestowe Roads Board
In February, 1853, the Victorian Parliament passed a "legislation entitled "An Act for Making and Improving Roads in the Colony of Victoria." The Act represented the first notable provision for the establishment of local government in the Colony; prior to this there were only two local governing bodies in the whole of Victoria. They were the Co-operation of Melbourne which was created a town in 1842 and became a city under Letters Patent from Queen Victoria in 1847, and Geelong which was created a town by the Government of New South Wales in 1849.
This Act provided for the establishment of a Central Roads Board in Melbourne for the upkeep of main roads in the Colony and the establishment of District Boards for the building and maintenance of Parish and Cross Roads. These Boards could be formed at any public meeting presided over by a Justice of the Peace, they had powers to levy tolls and to administer the funds generally, but had no power to fix rates on property; this had to be done at a special meeting of ratepayers called each year for the purpose.
All funds collected by the Boards had to be paid into the credit of the Colonial Treasury who acted as bankers. The chairman and a member of the Board would sign vouchers drawn on the Treasury for the amounts due to Boards' creditors.
Widespread dissatisfaction was felt at the existing state of the roads around Melbourne and many letters of protest were received by the Press. In August, 1856, the Editor of the Argus commented in a footnote to one of the letters: "If the roads of Bullen are so bad, why don't the residents form a District Roads Board?"
This was probably the first suggestion of the establishment of a Roads Board in the Templestowe district and it appears to have had the required effect, for a few weeks later on September 15th the Templestowe District Roads Board was officially proclaimed in the Victorian Government Gazette. The Proclamation read as follows:
Templestowe District Roads BoardBy His Excellency Major General McArthur, the senior military officer in command of Her Majesty's Land Forces in the Colony of Victoria &c.
Whereas by an Act of the Lieutenant Governor and Legislative Council in the Colony of Victoria, passed in the sixteenth year of Her Present Majesty's reign, entitled 'An act for the making and improving roads in the Colony of Victoria', It was, among other things, enacted that it should be lawful for the Lieutenant Governor from time to time by notice of the Government Gazette, to proclaim and declare any such portion of the said colony as to him, should seem meet, as to be a road district for the purposes in the said act contained, and also to define boundaries of every road district thereby proclaimed and declared, and to give a specific name and designation to every such road district. Now I therefore, I, Major General McArthur, the senior military officer administrating the Government of Victoria, in pursuance of the powers so vested in me by the said act, and of every other power and authority enabling me in this behalf, do hereby proclaim and declare that the under-mentioned portion of the Colony shall be a road district, and that such road district shall comprise the Parish of Bulleen, and that portion between the said parish and the Deep Creek, bounded as follows viz: A line bearing from the south-east corner of the parish of Bulleen to the Deep Creek, thence by the Deep Creek north-westerly to the western boundary of the above parish, and by the said boundary bearing south to the point of commencement and I do hereby further proclaim and declare that the specific name or designation of such Road District shall be the Templestowe Road District.
Given under my hand and seal of the Colony at Melbourne, this Eighteenth day of September in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty Six, and in the twentieth year of Her Majesty's Reign.
Edward MacArthur By His Excellency's Command, G. Fahey, Commissioner of Public Works
God Save the Queen
No. 116. Sept. 19th, 1856—4
(Powlett replied in the Government Gazette):
A curious feature of the proclamation is that the whole of the present Warrandyte Riding was not then in the Templestowe Roads Board. This area comprised part of the Upper Yarra District Roads Board, which later became the Shire of Lilydale. It was proclaimed the same day as the Templestowe Board and met for some years in a tiny office near Mooroolbark.
The next move in the establishment of the Templestowe Board was a petition from the residents of Bulleen to Capt. F. A. Rowlett, Commissioner of Crown Lands for the County of Bourke on November 15th. It read as follows :—
"We, the undersigned landholders and householders residing in the Road District of Templestowe, request that you will convene a meeting of the landholders and householders of our district in order to form a District Roads Board, for the purpose of superintending, providing for, and completing the construction and repair and maintenance of the roads in our road district, and for the carrying out therein the provisions of the act for making and improving roads in the Colony of Victoria.
Signed: Sydney Ricardo, Robert Laidlaw, Thomas Riek, John O'Neill, Bernard McMurray, Edward Bone, James Hewish, James Seemay, William Malcolm and Henry Waterfield. Balloon 15th November, 1886.
"In accordance with the above requisition, and under the authority of the act of Council, 16 Victoria, No. 40, Section 10, I hereby convene a meeting of the landowners and householders in the Templestowe District, for the purpose named in the requisition, to be held at Mrs. Bell's Hotel, Templestowe on Monday the 8th day of December 1886, at 6 o'clock p.m. F. A. Powlett Commissioner of Crown Lands Bourke"A public meeting to inaugurate the Board was accordingly held at the appointed place and time and the following gentleman were successful in the first election :- S. Ricardo, R. Laidlaw, J. Hewish, J. McKindley, J. Mahon, J. Webb and W. Malcolm. At the same meeting it was decided that the rate levied should be a 1/8 in the £1. A further meeting took place the following Monday when Mr. Sidney Ricardo was elected Chairman and it was decided that meetings would be held on the first Monday in every month at 4 p.m. The Chairman was directed to write to the Central Roads Board and enquire what funds could be placed at the Board's disposal immediately as the summer was advanced and it was necessary to proceed with works as far as possible before the wet season set in.
At the meeting of January 5th, 1857, Mr. John Turner was appointed Secretary, Surveyor, Assessor and Collector to the Board at a salary of £150, with the privilege of employing his spare time in any work for his own emolument.
By the February meeting, things were beginning to take shape. Robert Laidlaw was appointed Treasurer and Ricardo was instructed to prepare plans and estimates for improvements to the approaches of the Heidelberg Hunt. Mr. Turner wrote to the Central Board applying for a Government grant and stating that the estimated cost of the construction of the projected Lower Templestowe Road, which included the erection of 2 bridges on Duncan's Flat was £2,600. The cost of removing Mr. Halburnie's home was £20 and £125 was required for compensation to land owners on Unwin's Special Survey. The total assessments of the Board amounted to only £154 and it was doubtful if the total amount would be collected.
It is interesting to note that Mr. Turner, in making the application, made a special request for permission to spend £5 on the hire of a horse and dray as the crossing was in such a state that it would be impossible to keep the road passable without it. At this time the Board did not even possess a wheel-barrow. The estimates also showed an expenditure of £50 on the Doncaster Road and £60 on the Lower Bullace Road to Anderson Creek.
There are no records of any meetings of the Board from May 21st to October 5th, 1857, when the surveyor was instructed to call tenders to clear 36 chains of road near Chiver's Paddock and to employ labour to repair formed portions of the road as soon as weather conditions would permit.
In October Turner wrote to the Central Board :-
"I trust in recommending a grant for 1858 you will not altogether be guided by our present revenue, but that some regard will be paid to the following considerations. What sums have already been expended by the Government on the district; what sums have been received from the sale of Crown Lands. The relation of the district and its roads to give access to important districts such as Anderson Creek and the Upper Yarra."
He also pointed out the value it would be to the district if the roads could be placed such a state of repair so as to justify the erection of a turnpike and the amount which could be earned if a bridge were built across the Yarra at Heidelberg and a toll placed on it.
The financial report for December, 1857, showed the Board's revenue in its first year of operations was :
Assessments £138.16.11
Donations 10. 0. 0
Total £148.16.11
The total expenditure including works done under the Government Grant amounted to £2,127. 7. 9. Though Government assistance in the year 1857 amounted to nearly £2,000, in 1858 they received practically no assistance from that quarter at all, and the Board felt the pinch so severely that Mr. Turner's services had to be terminated the following July and the services of an honorary secretary sought.
There was very little activity during the year; in March it was resolved that £100 would be expended on the Doncaster Road, £50 immediately and £50 when the small Government grant was made available. In April Kent & Company's tender of £100 was accepted for repairs to Laidlaw's Hill and O'Neill's Culvert. The tender of Mr. James Mahon being rejected as not formal as he was a member of the Board. In June Mr. Pickering's motion that half the Board's revenue be expended on the Doncaster Road was defeated. It was also decided, for economy reasons, the meeting place of the Board would be changed from Mrs. Bell's Hotel to Mr. O'Neill's residence. The state of the roads had got so bad that, in July, we find the Board purchasing several loads of ti-tree at 10/- a load in order to fill up the holes in the roads.
The election of office bearers for the year 1859 resulted in S. Ricardo (Chairman, Lacey, Webb, Howish, Laidlaw, White and Mahon. The year was again far from a bright one and the value of the contracts seldom exceeded £20. The only important works during the year was the formation of the road through the township of Templestowe which was largely through the efforts of Mr. Howish.
There was a considerable revival of interest in the early 60s as is shown by an article in the South Bourke Standard which reported the Annual General Meeting of the Board on December 8th, 1861. "The ratepayers," it was "assembled in force at Greot's Upper Yarra Hotel for the purpose of electing a new Board. Sidney Ricardo was unanimously voted to the chair. The room was much too small and a motion was carried that they adjourn to the school room, but, on the chairman remarking that it would be illegal to hold the meeting at any other place than that advertised, the motion was withdrawn. Messrs. Sparkes was appointed returning officer and Murray and Evans Scrutineers. The ratepayers immediately divided into two parties, those interested in the Templestowe Road and those interested in the Doncaster Road; the latter rejoicing in the cognomen of the 'stringy-barkers', but though the polling was carried out in earnest the greatest good humour prevailed between the two parties. About 6 p.m. the chairman announced the results."
The ever popular Sidney Ricardo had again topped the poll for the 8th consecutive year with 81 votes. Robert Waldor Clarke ran second with 76 votes and the other successful candidates were Messrs. Cumming, White, Crooks, Webb and Toy. Three cheers rang out when Mr. Ricardo was elected Chairman and the returning officer reminded the meeting that they had still to strike a rate for the coming year. Three propositions were submitted:- 2/0, 1/0 and 6d., the meeting settling on 1/0, with a 1/0 ap- por on cultivated land, a 1d. on pasture land, ½d. on land leased from the Crown. The Secretary, in reading the annual report, showed that the rate levied by the Levy Board amounted to £190,19. 6 and the sum of £51, 5,11 had not been collected. On the motion of Mr. White the minutes were not confirmed and it was decided that the Board would assemble at the same place the following Wednesday to meet the old Board.
A notable feature of this election was the polling of Mr. David Mitchell, father of the famous mezzo-soprano Dana Nellie Melba, who was placed second last in the 18 candidates with only 13 votes. Things had altered considerably in the next 20 years when he was elected President of the Lilydale Shire.
On July 30th, 1861, Mr. J. H. Sparke was appointed paid Secretary on a part time basis. His stipend being £15 per annum as Secretary, 6d. for each dog registered, 10% on rates collected and 4½% on expenditure of public works. Previously Mr. William Malcolm had acted as Hon. Secretary during the year 1860 and Mr. Ricardo in 1859.
A continued revival of interest was shown in the Board's activities and precautions were taken to hold the next Annual Meeting at the School House and not at the Upper Yarra Hotel. Ricardo, in his address, said that the Board had worked harmoniously together and had done all they could to promote the welfare of the district. The Board, at the commencement of the year, had found that liabilities had exceeded the assets and a portion of last year's salary had had to be paid with this year's revenue. The resignation of Mr. Robert Calder Clarke was accepted with regret.
On January 8th, 1863, the Board held a special meeting to consider the agenda sent to them in relation to the proposed Local Government Bill. The Board, in their reply, stated that they were of the opinion that:
The financial report for December, 1857, showed the Board's revenue in its first year of operations was :
Assessments £138.16.11
Donations 10. 0. 0
Total £148.16.11
The total expenditure including works done under the Government Grant amounted to £2,127. 7. 9. Though Government assistance in the year 1857 amounted to nearly £2,000, in 1858 they received practically no assistance from that quarter at all, and the Board felt the pinch so severely that Mr. Turner's services had to be terminated the following July and the services of an honorary secretary sought.
There was very little activity during the year; in March it was resolved that £100 would be expended on the Doncaster Road, £50 immediately and £50 when the small Government grant was made available. In April Kent & Company's tender of £100 was accepted for repairs to Laidlaw's Hill and O'Neill's Culvert. The tender of Mr. James Mahon being rejected as not formal as he was a member of the Board. In June Mr. Pickering's motion that half the Board's revenue be expended on the Doncaster Road was defeated. It was also decided, for economy reasons, the meeting place of the Board would be changed from Mrs. Bell's Hotel to Mr. O'Neill's residence. The state of the roads had got so bad that, in July, we find the Board purchasing several loads of ti-tree at 10/- a load in order to fill up the holes in the roads.
The election of office bearers for the year 1859 resulted in S. Ricardo (Chairman, Lacey, Webb, Howish, Laidlaw, White and Mahon. The year was again far from a bright one and the value of the contracts seldom exceeded £20. The only important works during the year was the formation of the road through the township of Templestowe which was largely through the efforts of Mr. Howish.
There was a considerable revival of interest in the early 60s as is shown by an article in the South Bourke Standard which reported the Annual General Meeting of the Board on December 8th, 1861. "The ratepayers," it was "assembled in force at Greot's Upper Yarra Hotel for the purpose of electing a new Board. Sidney Ricardo was unanimously voted to the chair. The room was much too small and a motion was carried that they adjourn to the school room, but, on the chairman remarking that it would be illegal to hold the meeting at any other place than that advertised, the motion was withdrawn. Messrs. Sparkes was appointed returning officer and Murray and Evans Scrutineers. The ratepayers immediately divided into two parties, those interested in the Templestowe Road and those interested in the Doncaster Road; the latter rejoicing in the cognomen of the 'stringy-barkers', but though the polling was carried out in earnest the greatest good humour prevailed between the two parties. About 6 p.m. the chairman announced the results."
The ever popular Sidney Ricardo had again topped the poll for the 8th consecutive year with 81 votes. Robert Waldor Clarke ran second with 76 votes and the other successful candidates were Messrs. Cumming, White, Crooks, Webb and Toy. Three cheers rang out when Mr. Ricardo was elected Chairman and the returning officer reminded the meeting that they had still to strike a rate for the coming year. Three propositions were submitted:- 2/0, 1/0 and 6d., the meeting settling on 1/0, with a 1/0 ap- por on cultivated land, a 1d. on pasture land, ½d. on land leased from the Crown. The Secretary, in reading the annual report, showed that the rate levied by the Levy Board amounted to £190,19. 6 and the sum of £51, 5,11 had not been collected. On the motion of Mr. White the minutes were not confirmed and it was decided that the Board would assemble at the same place the following Wednesday to meet the old Board.
A notable feature of this election was the polling of Mr. David Mitchell, father of the famous mezzo-soprano Dana Nellie Melba, who was placed second last in the 18 candidates with only 13 votes. Things had altered considerably in the next 20 years when he was elected President of the Lilydale Shire.
On July 30th, 1861, Mr. J. H. Sparke was appointed paid Secretary on a part time basis. His stipend being £15 per annum as Secretary, 6d. for each dog registered, 10% on rates collected and 4½% on expenditure of public works. Previously Mr. William Malcolm had acted as Hon. Secretary during the year 1860 and Mr. Ricardo in 1859.
A continued revival of interest was shown in the Board's activities and precautions were taken to hold the next Annual Meeting at the School House and not at the Upper Yarra Hotel. Ricardo, in his address, said that the Board had worked harmoniously together and had done all they could to promote the welfare of the district. The Board, at the commencement of the year, had found that liabilities had exceeded the assets and a portion of last year's salary had had to be paid with this year's revenue. The resignation of Mr. Robert Calder Clarke was accepted with regret.
On January 8th, 1863, the Board held a special meeting to consider the agenda sent to them in relation to the proposed Local Government Bill. The Board, in their reply, stated that they were of the opinion that:
1. there should be both district Boards and Shires but, whether the district was large or small, it should receive the same privileges as a shire, as they could not see that the size of the area made any difference.
2. The districts should be able to use their own discretion in regard to the raising of loan funds.
3. The maximum and minimum rate of assessments should be fixed by the act, but the ratepayers should be allowed to continue fixing the rate of the assessments, which should not exceed 2%.
In July, the South Bourke Roads Board Conference wrote requesting the Board to consider the desirability of uniting with the Nunawading, Heidelberg and Boorondarra Roads Boards to form the Shire of South Bourke. On the motion of Mr. Ricardo it was decided to inform the conference that the Templestowe Board had considered the question of amalgamation and were of the opinion that they would be better off as an original Board.
A further letter was received from a Mr. Gilsby, the man who proposed the name of Box Hill; he requested the Board's opinion on amalgamating the northern portion of Nunawading with Bulleen and Kew and extending eastward to make up the required area for a new shire. The meeting decided to inform Mr. Clisby that they would rather stay as an original Board, but if in the future they felt disposed to amalgamate, his suggestion would receive favourable consideration.
On September 23rd a letter was read from the Hawthorn Council requesting the Board's representatives to attend a combined meeting to discuss the Local Government Bill in relation to the proposed new Shire, after some discussion the Chairman and Mr. Tatham agreed to attend the meeting but also informed the Hawthorn Council that it was only out of courtesy as the Board did not agree with attending meetings for indefinite purposes. The delegates later reported that nothing definite had taken place at the meeting, though a working committee had been appointed for the purpose of introducing the proposals, but the whole idea died a natural death within a few months.
On the 28th January, 1884, the Board decided to purchase their first wheel-barrow for the use of the day labourers. It was stated that it would be a great boon to them as they were having to carry all their earth by shovels, a few weeks later the Central Roads Board wrote advising them of new steam stone cracking machine which had just been marketed which would mean a big saving of time. It was, however, much beyond the Board's financial capacity and they could do no more than write and thank the Central Authority for their information. Day labourers at this time received 6/- per day, but it was reduced later in the sixties to 5/- a day. The hire of a horse and dray with driver was 12/- per day.
In April, the Board purchased an appropriate seal from Mr. Twentyman for the sum of £4. On October 13th, the Chairman announced with regret the death of Mr. John Webb, a foundation member of the Templestowe Roads Board and manager of the Bulleen Farmers' Common for several years. A bye-election to fill the vacancy resulted in the election of Mr. Matthew Henry Hoare who was destined to take a prominent part in the Board's activities for many years.
2. The districts should be able to use their own discretion in regard to the raising of loan funds.
3. The maximum and minimum rate of assessments should be fixed by the act, but the ratepayers should be allowed to continue fixing the rate of the assessments, which should not exceed 2%.
In July, the South Bourke Roads Board Conference wrote requesting the Board to consider the desirability of uniting with the Nunawading, Heidelberg and Boorondarra Roads Boards to form the Shire of South Bourke. On the motion of Mr. Ricardo it was decided to inform the conference that the Templestowe Board had considered the question of amalgamation and were of the opinion that they would be better off as an original Board.
A further letter was received from a Mr. Gilsby, the man who proposed the name of Box Hill; he requested the Board's opinion on amalgamating the northern portion of Nunawading with Bulleen and Kew and extending eastward to make up the required area for a new shire. The meeting decided to inform Mr. Clisby that they would rather stay as an original Board, but if in the future they felt disposed to amalgamate, his suggestion would receive favourable consideration.
On September 23rd a letter was read from the Hawthorn Council requesting the Board's representatives to attend a combined meeting to discuss the Local Government Bill in relation to the proposed new Shire, after some discussion the Chairman and Mr. Tatham agreed to attend the meeting but also informed the Hawthorn Council that it was only out of courtesy as the Board did not agree with attending meetings for indefinite purposes. The delegates later reported that nothing definite had taken place at the meeting, though a working committee had been appointed for the purpose of introducing the proposals, but the whole idea died a natural death within a few months.
On the 28th January, 1884, the Board decided to purchase their first wheel-barrow for the use of the day labourers. It was stated that it would be a great boon to them as they were having to carry all their earth by shovels, a few weeks later the Central Roads Board wrote advising them of new steam stone cracking machine which had just been marketed which would mean a big saving of time. It was, however, much beyond the Board's financial capacity and they could do no more than write and thank the Central Authority for their information. Day labourers at this time received 6/- per day, but it was reduced later in the sixties to 5/- a day. The hire of a horse and dray with driver was 12/- per day.
In April, the Board purchased an appropriate seal from Mr. Twentyman for the sum of £4. On October 13th, the Chairman announced with regret the death of Mr. John Webb, a foundation member of the Templestowe Roads Board and manager of the Bulleen Farmers' Common for several years. A bye-election to fill the vacancy resulted in the election of Mr. Matthew Henry Hoare who was destined to take a prominent part in the Board's activities for many years.
A petition signed by 28 residents from the Waldau settlement in Victoria Street re the terrible state of the road leading to the settlement was read; as the meeting decided to call for tenders for clearing portion of the road its condition must have been pretty bad.
At the adjourned Annual Meeting on November 16th, a letter was read from Mr. Fitzgibbon, Town Clerk of Melbourne and Secretary of the Anti-Transportation League of Victoria, requesting the Board to call a public meeting to protest against the continuance of transportation to any part of Australia. The letter was ordered to lay on the table until the following meeting when Mr. Cummings moved that the clerk be instructed to employ two horsemen to collect signatures in Doncaster and Templestowe. The motion was seconded by Mr. Thompson and carried unanimously. It was also resolved to write a suitable letter to the Anti-Transportation League advising that, owing to the distressed state of the neighbourhood, it was unlikely that many residents would be willing to become members of the league. The presence of large numbers of convicts at Port Arthur and Western Australia was causing considerable concern to the people of Victoria at that time.
On May 4th, 1885, a letter was read from the Clerk of the Edora-darra Roads Board stating that his Board had resolved to erect a toll gate on the Doncaster Road close to Kennedy's Creek and requesting the Templestowe Board's opinion on the subject. After some discussion it was resolved that the clerk would write to the Boorondarra Board stating that they had no objection but would rather that it be placed near the Doncaster School so as to prevent evasion by the Carlton Estate Roads and also what would the Boorondarra Board consider their share of the proceeds to be.
A rather drawn-out discussion took place; the Boorondarra Board agreed on the Templestowe Board receiving half the proceeds but insisted that the Toll Gate be built at Kennedy's Creek and a check gate be placed on the Doncaster Road leading to Templestowe. Messrs. Nathan, Williamson and Thompson were appointed as deputation to meet the Boorondarra Board and inspect all roads in the locality, but still no site could be agreed upon and it was arranged that the full Templestowe Board would meet representatives of the Boorondarra Board at Whitehorse Lane on the 28rd of June and on the 29th it was announced that both Boards had unanimously agreed to the gates being erected at Tully's Corner (now White's Corner) near the Doncaster Common School.
A special meeting of the Templestowe Board took place on July 6th for the purpose of ratifying the agreement to build the gates, when it was moved by Mr. Nathan and seconded by Mr. Cummings "that in the opinion of the Board it was necessary to erect a toll gate on the Doncaster Road and that the clerk be instructed to take the necessary steps to put the same into effect."
Mr. M. E. Hoare moved an amendment that it was inexpedient and premature and that no toll gates be erected by the Board in the next 12 months. Mr. Hoare's amendment was put, but lapsed for the want of a seconder. The motion was then put and carried.
The Boorondarra Board agreed to the expenses of the erection of the Toll Gate being made first charge on the Tool Fund and the necessary advertisements required by Law were placed in the South Bourke Standard. The tender of £84 from Mr. Sutton was accepted for the erection of the Toll Gate.
Toll charges were gazetted as follows: - Sheep, lambs, pigs, goats, 8 a 1d., ox or head of beef cattle - 1d., horse, mare, ass or mule - 1½d., gig, chaise, coach, chariot or other carriage constructed on springs if drawn by one horse or other animal - 5d., if drawn by 2 horses etc. - 6d. and 3d. each additional horse or animal, cart, dray or wagon 6d. and 3d. for each additional horse with tyres not exceeding 6" etc.
Four applications were received for the position of Toll Collector, the successful one being that of Colin Phillips at a salary of 8s/ per week. The Toll Gate was opened for traffic on January 1st, 1866.
Toll Gates were usually picturesque affairs and played an important roll in the early community life of Victoria, but their keepers seldom kept their positions for long. They had to be ready to open the gates day or night for wayside travellers and many regarded the evasion of the toll as good fun. Three or four carts would sometimes rush the gates at once and the keepers would seldom be able to catch more than one. It is interesting to note that certain persons were exempt from paying the toll, viz: those in Government service, Ministers of Religion and residents going to or from a place of worship but, peculiar as it may seem, if you were going to hospital the toll was always insisted on.
Chapter 4. Doncaster & Templestowe in the years of the Sixties
Under modern conditions it is indeed difficult to understand the hardships and struggles of a district Roads Board in the sixties of the last century. The Templestowe Board was one of the poorest of the Boards around Melbourne; they had a large area to cover and the Government subsidy, being based on the rateable value of the property in the Board's area, was almost non-existent in comparison to what other Boards and Shires received; it is not be wondered at that practically the whole of the Templestowe Board's revenue was spent on the Templestowe Road and it was well into the sixties before any noticeable funds were spent on the Doncaster Road.
In April of the year 1868 the Commissioner for Roads and Bridges requested the Templestowe Board to supply information on the amount of road construction that had taken place within their area since the inception of the Board. The clerk was directed to reply stating that they had no objection to supplying the necessary information for the past financial year, but they had no funds available for the clerical labour involved in furnishing returns since the Board's inception but, on the Central Authority replying that they also had no funds available for such a purpose - but were anxious to complete their records - the task was undertaken as a labour of love, and their returns showed that, between December, 1866, and April, 1868, a total of 2 miles 38 chains of road had been completely formed, drained and metalled comprising of : the Templestowe Road - 1 mile, 57 chains, the Doncaster Road - 57 chains and Thompson Road - 3 chains, besides which the Templestowe Road had 3 miles, 21 chains formed and drained only, the Doncaster Road had 2 miles, 21 chains formed and drained and the Thompson Road 35 chains, a total of 54 culverts had been erected.
The formed road at this period in Doncaster did not extend beyond the present Church Road, and in wet weather horses would sink to their knees in parts of the road beyond the East Doncaster Coal Stores. In September, 1866, Mr. E. Tatham presented a petition from ratepayers and residents using the Old Warrandyte and Doncaster Roads near the juncture of Springvale Road. The petition stated that a paddock, through which a bush track had once led, had been fenced off by its owner, Mrs W. J. Rutledge and, as the Government Road was almost impassable, they had no means of access to or from their properties. The petitioners prayed that the Board would either survey a new road through Mr. Rutledge's paddock or else make the Government Road passable. After due consideration, the Board decided that it would be cheaper to survey a new road and Rutledge was paid the sum of £25 for his property.
The same year the Nunawading Board signified that they would have no objection to the Templestowe Board surveying a road from Deep Creek, through their territory to the White Horse Road, providing it would entail no financial expenditure to them. 2 years previously, Mr. Sparkes had informed the Board that he had been unable to trace the original Government Survey road of 1840. The sum of £12,12.0 was passed for surveying expenses. Though the Board knew they would not have the means to construct the road for many years to come, it was part of their far-sighted policy to ensure that the district would be well served with connecting roads in the future.
A further move by Mr. Matthew Henry Hoare to establish a toll gate at the junction of Thompson and Templestowe Roads was defeated. The motion was seconded by Mr. Joseph Thompson, a Templestowe member, but Ricardo took exception to it, stating that it would be undue hardship on the residents and it was placed before a public meeting at Templestowe on the 23rd of September which doubtlessly decided against it by a large majority. Mr. William Kent also forwarded a petition signed by 37 residents requesting the Board not to establish the toll gate.
In November, 1866, Mr. Sidney Ricardo resigned from the Board after nearly 10 years continuous service. His loss was felt very deeply and, on the motion of Robert Williamson - seconded by Evans, a vote of thanks was unanimously passed to him for the able and efficient way he had carried out the business of the Board during his long term of office as chairman, the clerk being instructed to communicate the same to Mr. Ricardo
Early in 1867, Mr. Edmund Cotter, Lessee of the Doncaster Toll Bar, stated that his finances were in far from a healthy position, herds of cattle were being driven across unfenced land in the Carlton Estate and the evasion of the toll had reached serious proportions. The only satisfactory solution, he said, would be to fence the cross roads leading to Nunawading or remove the toll to Rags Corner. It was resolved to write to Mr. R. C. Bagot, proprietor of the Carlton Estate, requesting that he be good enough to erect a fence on the south side of his property; the latter gentleman, however, does not appear to have seen eye to eye, for he replied that he had no funds available for the purpose but would have no objection to the lessee erecting the fence at his own expense if he chose to do so. The following August, Mr. Sparkes wrote to the Boorondarra Board stating that his Board had decided to call a special meeting to consider abolishing the toll, as they were dissatisfied, not only with their share of the takings, but also with the upkeep of the Doncaster Road in the Boorondarra territory.
Mr. Sparkes resigned his position as clerk to the Board on December 18th, 1867, and it was resolved that the clerk be employed on a full time basis at £2. 2. 0 per week. Mr. John Hutchinson of Anderson Creek was selected from 16 applicants for the position, but he resigned after only a couple of weeks. His appointment, which was on a salary of £124 a year, was strongly criticised by Mr. James Lacey who contended that there were competent applicants for £84 a year less. Fresh applicants were then called for the position when Mr. Rutledge's application for £100 per year was passed over in favour of the former chairman Sidney Ricardo, who was engaged as clerk to the Board and Toll Manager on a salary of £80 per annum.
In February, 1868, the first permanent hands other than the clerk was employed by the Board, when F. Hardridge was appointed working overseer on the Doncaster Road on a salary of 30s. a week, and Michael Calnen overseer on the Templestowe Road on a similar salary. Colin Phillips, who gave 25 years of loyal service, was appointed rate collector the same year and succeeded in meriting the thanks of the Board when he collected the sum of £221 in rates. Phillips became a well-known figure in the district - was known as "Doggie Phillips" as he also collected the dog tax and various residents were in the habit of hiding their dogs when he was seen approaching, but always a whistle from him would bring the dog running from its hiding.
In March, 1868, a resolution moved by Edward Tatham reminds us that the era was one of deep social unrest, and Finian Riots were the common occurrences of the day. He moved: "That it be resolved that the members of the Templestowe District Board, having heard of the cowardly and like attack made on His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh at Sydney, N.S.W., takes this present opportunity of expressing their abhorrence of so foul a crime and requesting Your Excellency to convey to His Royal Highness the deep sympathy felt by members of the Board and beg you will express their heartfelt good wishes for his speedy recovery and restoration to our precious Queen free from any ill effects from the dastardly attempt made on his life."
The letter was signed by the chairman and clerk and sent to the Governor of Victoria, Sir John Manners-Sutton. The Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, 2nd son of Queen Victoria, was shot in the back by a fanatical Finian, whilst attending a picnic on Sydney North-Shore. He recovered and returned to England very soon after.
On the 21st June, 1869, the clerk announced with regret the death of the Chairman of the Board in the person of Mr. James Lacey who had been a Board member since its earliest days and was the only leader of the Templestowe Board or the subsequent shires to die whilst holding office. The Clerk was instructed to draft a suitable letter to his widow in recognition of his very fine service to the authority.
In October of the same year, Mr. Rutledge moved a motion which entailed the rearranging of the Board's officers, whereby the Clerk was to be also a qualified Engineer and Surveyor. The motion was carried and the Board was regretfully compelled to give Mr. Ricardo 3 months' notice of the termination of his services; he was later given the position of paid treasurer at a salary of £10 a year. Ricardo's place was taken on January 6th, 1870, by Mr. Thomas O'Brien, who gave long and valuable service to the Templestowe Board and later to the Bulleen and Templestowe Shires.
Towards the close of 1869 the Board decided to survey two new roads through its territory, one being High Street from Koonung Creek to Manningham Road, and the other was Williamson Road which was put through largely by the efforts of Mr. Robert Williamson. The Board had considerable difficulty as it did not possess the necessary funds to purchase the land. In September of that year we find the Clerk writing to Mr. R. C. Bagot as follows :-
In April of the year 1868 the Commissioner for Roads and Bridges requested the Templestowe Board to supply information on the amount of road construction that had taken place within their area since the inception of the Board. The clerk was directed to reply stating that they had no objection to supplying the necessary information for the past financial year, but they had no funds available for the clerical labour involved in furnishing returns since the Board's inception but, on the Central Authority replying that they also had no funds available for such a purpose - but were anxious to complete their records - the task was undertaken as a labour of love, and their returns showed that, between December, 1866, and April, 1868, a total of 2 miles 38 chains of road had been completely formed, drained and metalled comprising of : the Templestowe Road - 1 mile, 57 chains, the Doncaster Road - 57 chains and Thompson Road - 3 chains, besides which the Templestowe Road had 3 miles, 21 chains formed and drained only, the Doncaster Road had 2 miles, 21 chains formed and drained and the Thompson Road 35 chains, a total of 54 culverts had been erected.
The formed road at this period in Doncaster did not extend beyond the present Church Road, and in wet weather horses would sink to their knees in parts of the road beyond the East Doncaster Coal Stores. In September, 1866, Mr. E. Tatham presented a petition from ratepayers and residents using the Old Warrandyte and Doncaster Roads near the juncture of Springvale Road. The petition stated that a paddock, through which a bush track had once led, had been fenced off by its owner, Mrs W. J. Rutledge and, as the Government Road was almost impassable, they had no means of access to or from their properties. The petitioners prayed that the Board would either survey a new road through Mr. Rutledge's paddock or else make the Government Road passable. After due consideration, the Board decided that it would be cheaper to survey a new road and Rutledge was paid the sum of £25 for his property.
The same year the Nunawading Board signified that they would have no objection to the Templestowe Board surveying a road from Deep Creek, through their territory to the White Horse Road, providing it would entail no financial expenditure to them. 2 years previously, Mr. Sparkes had informed the Board that he had been unable to trace the original Government Survey road of 1840. The sum of £12,12.0 was passed for surveying expenses. Though the Board knew they would not have the means to construct the road for many years to come, it was part of their far-sighted policy to ensure that the district would be well served with connecting roads in the future.
A further move by Mr. Matthew Henry Hoare to establish a toll gate at the junction of Thompson and Templestowe Roads was defeated. The motion was seconded by Mr. Joseph Thompson, a Templestowe member, but Ricardo took exception to it, stating that it would be undue hardship on the residents and it was placed before a public meeting at Templestowe on the 23rd of September which doubtlessly decided against it by a large majority. Mr. William Kent also forwarded a petition signed by 37 residents requesting the Board not to establish the toll gate.
In November, 1866, Mr. Sidney Ricardo resigned from the Board after nearly 10 years continuous service. His loss was felt very deeply and, on the motion of Robert Williamson - seconded by Evans, a vote of thanks was unanimously passed to him for the able and efficient way he had carried out the business of the Board during his long term of office as chairman, the clerk being instructed to communicate the same to Mr. Ricardo
Early in 1867, Mr. Edmund Cotter, Lessee of the Doncaster Toll Bar, stated that his finances were in far from a healthy position, herds of cattle were being driven across unfenced land in the Carlton Estate and the evasion of the toll had reached serious proportions. The only satisfactory solution, he said, would be to fence the cross roads leading to Nunawading or remove the toll to Rags Corner. It was resolved to write to Mr. R. C. Bagot, proprietor of the Carlton Estate, requesting that he be good enough to erect a fence on the south side of his property; the latter gentleman, however, does not appear to have seen eye to eye, for he replied that he had no funds available for the purpose but would have no objection to the lessee erecting the fence at his own expense if he chose to do so. The following August, Mr. Sparkes wrote to the Boorondarra Board stating that his Board had decided to call a special meeting to consider abolishing the toll, as they were dissatisfied, not only with their share of the takings, but also with the upkeep of the Doncaster Road in the Boorondarra territory.
Mr. Sparkes resigned his position as clerk to the Board on December 18th, 1867, and it was resolved that the clerk be employed on a full time basis at £2. 2. 0 per week. Mr. John Hutchinson of Anderson Creek was selected from 16 applicants for the position, but he resigned after only a couple of weeks. His appointment, which was on a salary of £124 a year, was strongly criticised by Mr. James Lacey who contended that there were competent applicants for £84 a year less. Fresh applicants were then called for the position when Mr. Rutledge's application for £100 per year was passed over in favour of the former chairman Sidney Ricardo, who was engaged as clerk to the Board and Toll Manager on a salary of £80 per annum.
In February, 1868, the first permanent hands other than the clerk was employed by the Board, when F. Hardridge was appointed working overseer on the Doncaster Road on a salary of 30s. a week, and Michael Calnen overseer on the Templestowe Road on a similar salary. Colin Phillips, who gave 25 years of loyal service, was appointed rate collector the same year and succeeded in meriting the thanks of the Board when he collected the sum of £221 in rates. Phillips became a well-known figure in the district - was known as "Doggie Phillips" as he also collected the dog tax and various residents were in the habit of hiding their dogs when he was seen approaching, but always a whistle from him would bring the dog running from its hiding.
In March, 1868, a resolution moved by Edward Tatham reminds us that the era was one of deep social unrest, and Finian Riots were the common occurrences of the day. He moved: "That it be resolved that the members of the Templestowe District Board, having heard of the cowardly and like attack made on His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh at Sydney, N.S.W., takes this present opportunity of expressing their abhorrence of so foul a crime and requesting Your Excellency to convey to His Royal Highness the deep sympathy felt by members of the Board and beg you will express their heartfelt good wishes for his speedy recovery and restoration to our precious Queen free from any ill effects from the dastardly attempt made on his life."
The letter was signed by the chairman and clerk and sent to the Governor of Victoria, Sir John Manners-Sutton. The Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, 2nd son of Queen Victoria, was shot in the back by a fanatical Finian, whilst attending a picnic on Sydney North-Shore. He recovered and returned to England very soon after.
On the 21st June, 1869, the clerk announced with regret the death of the Chairman of the Board in the person of Mr. James Lacey who had been a Board member since its earliest days and was the only leader of the Templestowe Board or the subsequent shires to die whilst holding office. The Clerk was instructed to draft a suitable letter to his widow in recognition of his very fine service to the authority.
In October of the same year, Mr. Rutledge moved a motion which entailed the rearranging of the Board's officers, whereby the Clerk was to be also a qualified Engineer and Surveyor. The motion was carried and the Board was regretfully compelled to give Mr. Ricardo 3 months' notice of the termination of his services; he was later given the position of paid treasurer at a salary of £10 a year. Ricardo's place was taken on January 6th, 1870, by Mr. Thomas O'Brien, who gave long and valuable service to the Templestowe Board and later to the Bulleen and Templestowe Shires.
Towards the close of 1869 the Board decided to survey two new roads through its territory, one being High Street from Koonung Creek to Manningham Road, and the other was Williamson Road which was put through largely by the efforts of Mr. Robert Williamson. The Board had considerable difficulty as it did not possess the necessary funds to purchase the land. In September of that year we find the Clerk writing to Mr. R. C. Bagot as follows :-
"Sir,(September, 1869)
I am instructed by the Board to inform you that if you make over to them for public roads certain lands in the Carlton Estate from the junction of the Lower Templestowe Road to Doncaster Toll Bar, and also from Campbells Slip Panel to Kennedy's Creek they will make no claim on you for purchasing the said roads.
Your Obedient Servant,
S. Ricardo, Clerk to the Board."
Campbells Slip Panels were situated at the corner of High Street and Manningham Road, it would appear, however, that the road had been in use for some years prior to this. The road on the Templestowe side was then known as Mannings Road, but it was a dead-end lane and did not go right through to the main Templestowe.
The same month the long drawn-out argument between the Toll Lessee and the Board came to a head. No satisfactory working arrangement for the toll had been devised; Mr. Cotter had, on several occasions, asked to be relieved of his contract owing to the continued evasion, and Mr. Hoare moved that the gate be removed to Koonung Creek Bridge. The motion was carried on the casting vote of the president and, as Boorondarra Board had no objection, the change was put into effect the same month. The toll had been a continual source of worry to the Doncaster residents since it had been established, but as they had never possessed a majority at the Board table, there was little they could do about it.
The continuous efforts made by the adjoining authorities in the early sixties to get the Templestowe Board to unite with them broke out afresh in the early seventies. At one stage the clerk had letters both from the Nunawading and Boorondarra Authorities on the table at the one time, but, though the latter councils pointed out in glowing terms how great the advantage would be for the local residents, but the Board was just as adamant to retain their original status. On the 25th March, 1871, a letter was read from Mr. John Stevenson, Secretary of the Central Roads Board, stating that he had received a petition from 26 people residing in the Board's area stating that they were in favour of a union with Warrandyte and the Upper Yarra Shire, Lilydale. The Board replied that the 26 signatures represented only a small proportion of the number of ratepayers on their books and when the true position had been explained to them they had repudiated the suggestion altogether. It is, they said, the united opinion of a large majority of the ratepayers in the district of Templestowe, that it is undesirable to make any junction with Warrandyte or the Upper Yarra Districts.
A more hopeful attitude, however, was struck the following October, when Mr. Wilson, proprietor of the Evelyn Hotel at Anderson Creek, wrote that the Warrandyte District had been completely neglected by the Upper Yarra Shire and asked if the Templestowe Board would be willing to have Warrandyte as part of their District, and if they were agreeable would they state what steps would be necessary to put the same into effect. The Chairman was requested to send Mr. Wilson the necessary data for the transfer. His letter was later laid on the Board's table.
A petition which throws some interesting light on the extreme isolation of the tiny village of Deep Creek was presented to the Board in 1871 by Mr. Kent; it was signed by 23 residents and requested that a road be opened through Mr. Rutledge's property to give the residents of Deep Creek an outlet to Doncaster Road. Messrs. R. Clay and E. Fatham were authorised to investigate the proposal but reported that their road was only track running through private property which had been in use for years, but over which the Board had no control. The Blackburn Road had been surveyed but was not passable.
In February, 1872, Mr. Rutledge resigned his seat on the Board and his place was taken by Mr. Richard Sorpell who was one of the most public spirited citizens in the districts he served only the one term with the authority. His many munificent gifts of land and other works for public purposes did much for the development of the district.
On September 12th, 1872, Mr. Max Von Schramm headed a deputation from the committee of the newly erected Doncaster Athenæum praying that the Board would make use of their magnificent new hall for their office and meetings. The Doncaster members favoured acceptance of the committee's proposals but not the Templestowe members, who stated they would rather see the Board build its own office on land recently granted by the Government for the purpose on the corner of High Street and Templestowe Road. They won the day and Mr. O'Brien was directed to draw up plans for a Board office and to have the same ready for the meeting the following week. The building was erected soon after. It remained in use as Shire Offices until 1915, it now serves as the pavilion on the Templestone Recreation Ground. Previous to the erection of this building the Board met in a tiny office rented from Mr. Evans for £3 a year.
On September 26th the Secretary received a letter from the International Exhibition in London requesting the Board to forward photographs of other matters of general interest about the district to the exhibition; the Board's reply was: "as there are few if any exhibits, as well as exhibitors in the district the Board does not feel competent to forward any returns."
On June 1st, 1875, the Warrandyte people having presented the necessary signatures, the territory which now comprises the Warrandyte Riding was officially severed from the Lilydale Shire and united with the Templestone District Board. This acquisition did add to the Board revenue but also increased its liabilities considerably. The present Warrandyte-Ringwood Road, then known as the Parish Boundary Road, was quite impassable; it served some scattered settlers around South Warrandyte and connected with the White Horse Road, though there was no Ringwood in those days. The main road from Warrandyte to Templestone was equally bad, particularly the section of the Old Road which struck off at Deep Creek at right angles and joined with Newman's Road about a quarter mile nearer the river than the present road. In November, 1870, Mr. C. S. Stewart, P.M., who was compelled to use this road regularly in order to hold the Court of Petty Sessions at Anderson Creek, complained of the state of the road. The Board's reply was as follows: -
"Sir,
In reference to your letter of the 28th ult. calling this Board's attention to the bad state of the public road through Templestowe to Anderson Creek. I am directed by the above Board to inform you that it is their intention to reform and repair (as far as their finances will allow) the bad state of the public road through Templestowe as far as Mr. Smith's house this summer, and would be very happy to make the other places good if they had the means.Thomas O'Brien, Clerk."
In July, 1873, the Board endeavoured to obtain some Government assistance when the Chairman, Edward Tatham, wroe to the Commissioner of Roads and Bridges as follows :-
With the annexation of the Warrandyte section, the Net Annual Valuation of the Board rose to £10,300 which, under the act, was sufficient for the District to be proclaimed a Shire, but no steps were taken in this direction until the year 1875 and then it was more to offset a further move by Heidelberg to have the Templestowe Road District made a Riding of their Shire.
After a slight readjustment of boundaries with the Nunawading Shire, the Templestowe Road District was officially proclaimed as the Shire of Bulleen on the 3rd of May, 1875. Statistics for the year show the estimated population of the new shire to be 1540, dwellings numbered 340, ratepayers 325. The total value of rateable property was £156,000 and the Net Annual Valuation £10,460. The net income from rates amounted to £522 at a 1/4 in the £1 and there were 80 miles of roads within the Shire. It is noticeable that, with the annexation of Warrandyte, the value of rateable property rose from £48,000 to over £150,000, but the Net Annual Valuation rose by less than £5,000.
"Sir,The appeal appears to have fallen on deaf ears and, in December, the much mooted toll gate was established at the corner of Foote and Union Streets, Templestowe, with a check gate at the junction of Thompson and Manningham Roads. It was not so profitable as the Doncaster Gate, but the proceeds did not have to be shared with another authority. The charges were the same as those operating at the Johnson Street Bridge Toll Gate at Abbotsford, i.e., Sheep, pigs, lamb or goat - 1d., Ox or head of meat cattle - 1d., Horse, mare, ass or mule - 2d. Every dog, chaise, coach or other carriage if drawn by one horse - 6d., 2 horses - 1/6, 3 horses 1/6 etc. Drays were charged according to the width of the tyre. The Doncaster Toll Gate was later brought into line with these charges.
You will notice by the Government Gazette of the 1st June, 1873, that a certain portion of the Shire of Lilydale has been enacted into this district and the Templestowe Board desires to bring the following facts to your notice.
It has been found absolutely necessary to form and metal a large portion of the road at the west end of the district leading from Heidelberg towards Kew. There is also a long piece of road to the east of the township which is in need of forming and metalling and, further, that the Board wishes to impress on you the fact that a considerable number of farmers and market gardeners are located on this piece of road who are compelled to use the same at night for the purpose of attending the Melbourne Markets, which is at the risk of life and limb that they do so.
2. By the main toll road between Melbourne and Anderson Creek, the oldest seat of gold diggings in the colony has never yet so far as this Board is concerned received any subsidy from the Government, and at present there is about 5 miles of road in the state of nature, between the end of the metal and the township. Now this being the case, and we as a local body are desirous of doing all we can as far as our means will allow, wish to draw your attention to the same and trust you will be able to assist us in getting over our difficulties. We, as a Board, prefer applying to you in this way, rather than adopting the more common course of waiting on you accompanied by sundry members of the Assembly."
With the annexation of the Warrandyte section, the Net Annual Valuation of the Board rose to £10,300 which, under the act, was sufficient for the District to be proclaimed a Shire, but no steps were taken in this direction until the year 1875 and then it was more to offset a further move by Heidelberg to have the Templestowe Road District made a Riding of their Shire.
After a slight readjustment of boundaries with the Nunawading Shire, the Templestowe Road District was officially proclaimed as the Shire of Bulleen on the 3rd of May, 1875. Statistics for the year show the estimated population of the new shire to be 1540, dwellings numbered 340, ratepayers 325. The total value of rateable property was £156,000 and the Net Annual Valuation £10,460. The net income from rates amounted to £522 at a 1/4 in the £1 and there were 80 miles of roads within the Shire. It is noticeable that, with the annexation of Warrandyte, the value of rateable property rose from £48,000 to over £150,000, but the Net Annual Valuation rose by less than £5,000.
Chapter 6. Beginnings of the Shire of Bulleen
The Shire of Bulleen having been duly proclaimed by the Victorian Parliament, the first elections were conducted on the 1st July, 1875, when the following were the successful candidates: Cr. E. Tatham, M. H. Hon J. Smedley Jnr., R. Laidlaw, W. Kent and J. Delaney. Messrs. J. Smith and Robert Hunter were unsuccessful, the latter had taken a prominent part in advocating the Templestowe toll gate, so it is not surprising that he ran last in the poll. The returning officers were Robert Thompson at the Shire office, Thomas Evans, Deputy Returning Officer at Doncaster, and Richard Clay, Deputy at Anderson Creek.
The first meeting of the council was held on July 21st, when Cr. Tatham became the first Shire President. The late Chairman of the Roads Board, Mr. R. Williamson, was asked to sign a voucher for the transfer of £88. 2.11 to the credit of the old Board in the Bank of New South Wales, Melbourne, and pay the same into the Commercial Bank at Heidelberg to the account of the Shire of Bulleen. Thomas O'Brien was re-appointed Secretary and Thomas N. Bride was appointed Inspecting Engineer on a percentage basis.
In August, Cr. Moore gave notice of a motion to divide the Shire into three separate ridings, viz. Doncaster, Templestowe and Warrandyte. His idea, however, was not well received and the motion was lost. Cr. Laidlaw stating that the proposal should have come from the ratepayers. At the September meeting of the Shire, Robert Williamson and Joseph Smith waited with a petition signed by 87 ratepayers urging the council to construct a deviation to the road between Deep Creek and Newman's Road. At this time travellers to Warrandyte had the choice of two next to impassable routes, one being the present Porter's Street which is recognised as one of the steepest around Melbourne and was consequently very trying on the horses, and the other was the old Government road which struck off at right angles at Deep Creek.
At the same meeting, Messrs. Richard Serpell and Frederick Rhodes requested the Council to build still another deviation, this time from Williamson Road to Anderson Creek Road, the road now known as Serpell's Road; at that time the residents living in the area bounded by King Street and Reynolds Road were compelled to make a long detour via Doncaster to Templestowe. The Council acknowledged the need for both deviations but felt that, with their limited means, they could not undertake more than one at the time, and decided to proceed with the one from Deep Creek, though Mr. Bride was instructed to draw up a survey of both roads.
The summer of 1875 saw the Shire's first serious epidemic, on the first of November the Central Board of Health informed the Council that two cases of Scarlet Fever had occurred in the district, one being at the Morning Star Hotel and the other at Sandilands. They urged the Council to take every precaution, and to provide a disinfecting apparatus capable of 250 deg. of heat in order to disinfect the patients wearing apparel free of charge. At the following meeting, the Sergeant of Police at Heidelberg wrote stating that there had been several instances of Scarlet Fever in the Shire and, in some cases, the families had been too poor to obtain medical assistance; the police had provided the services of Drs. Roberts and Bleak and he was enclosing an account for their services. On the motion of Drs. Smedley and Laidlaw it was decided that the Council would pay the medical fees of families who were unable to meet the same.
A petition, signed by the ratepayers of Bulleen and Warrandyte, requesting that the Shire be divided into three ridings as urged by Cr. Hoare was bitterly criticized by the Councillors. On the motion of Cr. Laidlaw the Secretary was directed to write to the Public Works Department stating that the allegations contained in the petition, of the diversity of interest of various portions of the Shire and the remoteness of other parts were entirely incorrect, and that no acts of injustice had been performed by the Council. An amendment moved by Crs. Hoare and Kent that the memorial be allowed to take its course was defeated by 4 votes to 2.
The Governor in Council, however, decided to grant the prayer of the petition and the Shire elections held in August, 1876, were the first held under the three riding scheme, when the following candidates were successful :- Doncaster Riding - Henry Finger, John Smedley, Alfred Hummell; Templestowe Riding - Robert Williamson, Robert Laidlaw and John Delaney. In Warrandyte - Lewis Grant, George Hollaway and Henry Stiggants were returned unopposed. Mr. M. H. Hoare, who had worked hard to bring about the constitutional rearrangement, unfortunately ran last in the Doncaster poll and lost his seat. His efforts to increase the Council revenue by establishing toll gates, and the fact that he was a hotel keeper, had made him unpopular with the ratepayers. He, however, had some consolation when Lewis Grant sent in his resignation without taking his seat; he stood for the vacancy at Warrandyte and scored a comfortable win over the popular local candidate, Thomas J. Dowd.
In September, 1876, the Councillors received rather a bombshell when the Secretary informed them that the Victorian Government had abolished all toll gates not returning a yearly revenue of £500; both the Templestowe and Doncaster Toll Gates had fallen into this category and consequently the tolls had ceased to be collected since the 31st of August. Local authorities throughout the land were protesting violently at the Government action, but the Bulleen Councillors stated they were not in favour of re-establishing the Doncaster Toll unless they received a more equitable share of the proceeds from the Boorondarra Council. The subject of re-establishing the Templestowe Toll was left in the hands of the Member of Parliament, however, as all toll gates were abolished from the 31st of December, 1877, no further action was taken. The Doncaster Toll was put up for sale by Tender in February, 1879, when the keeper's house was sold to G. H. Smith for £9. 2. 6. The gate was sold to Colin Phillips for £2 and the tank to James Tierney for £1. The notice board was repainted and sent to do further service at the Anderson Creek Pound. A tender of £1. 5. 0 for the Templestowe Toll House and 12/6 for the gate was considered to be too low and was not accepted by the Council.
The question of compensation for the property owners on the Deep Creek - Newman's Road deviation came before the Council in September, 1878. Mrs. Honara Kent stated that she would be pleased to let the Council have the land if she received a similar strip of the old road in compensation. Mr. J. Smith stated that he would accept £8 an acre and finally agreed on £7. Mr. Johnston, who owned a tiny allotment of 2 roods on the corner of Newman's Road, wanted £20; the Council offered £10 but Johnston was adamant and the matter was adjourned in the hope of reaching a satisfactory agreement. Later the fencing contractor reported to the Council that Johnston had ordered him off the property. Johnston, who was present, said he could not accept less than £15. The Councillors remonstrated that, as they were dealing with taxpayers' money, they could not pay more than a fair price and they would have to summon him before the court; the case was accordingly heard at Heidelberg in February, 1877, when Johnston was allowed £5 for his land and ordered to pay £1.13.0 costs of court.
Considerable progress was made towards improving the Shire's roads in the succeeding 2 years, the Deep Creek deviation was declared open for traffic, though a great deal of earth works were necessary and it was the best part of 20 years before the Council got it into proper order. In the Warrandyte Riding considerable progress was made on the road between Deep Creek and the township, this being largely through the efforts of Cr. Hoare and included the grubbing and forming of the road from Deep Creek to the Recreation Ground, the cutting of the Deep Creek Hill which was carried out by Ben Logan, the metalling of the road for a quarter mile through the township, and the erection of a bridge over Holmes Creek on the Warrandyte - Ringwood Road with the aid of a small subsidy from the Lilydale Council.
The first meeting of the council was held on July 21st, when Cr. Tatham became the first Shire President. The late Chairman of the Roads Board, Mr. R. Williamson, was asked to sign a voucher for the transfer of £88. 2.11 to the credit of the old Board in the Bank of New South Wales, Melbourne, and pay the same into the Commercial Bank at Heidelberg to the account of the Shire of Bulleen. Thomas O'Brien was re-appointed Secretary and Thomas N. Bride was appointed Inspecting Engineer on a percentage basis.
In August, Cr. Moore gave notice of a motion to divide the Shire into three separate ridings, viz. Doncaster, Templestowe and Warrandyte. His idea, however, was not well received and the motion was lost. Cr. Laidlaw stating that the proposal should have come from the ratepayers. At the September meeting of the Shire, Robert Williamson and Joseph Smith waited with a petition signed by 87 ratepayers urging the council to construct a deviation to the road between Deep Creek and Newman's Road. At this time travellers to Warrandyte had the choice of two next to impassable routes, one being the present Porter's Street which is recognised as one of the steepest around Melbourne and was consequently very trying on the horses, and the other was the old Government road which struck off at right angles at Deep Creek.
At the same meeting, Messrs. Richard Serpell and Frederick Rhodes requested the Council to build still another deviation, this time from Williamson Road to Anderson Creek Road, the road now known as Serpell's Road; at that time the residents living in the area bounded by King Street and Reynolds Road were compelled to make a long detour via Doncaster to Templestowe. The Council acknowledged the need for both deviations but felt that, with their limited means, they could not undertake more than one at the time, and decided to proceed with the one from Deep Creek, though Mr. Bride was instructed to draw up a survey of both roads.
The summer of 1875 saw the Shire's first serious epidemic, on the first of November the Central Board of Health informed the Council that two cases of Scarlet Fever had occurred in the district, one being at the Morning Star Hotel and the other at Sandilands. They urged the Council to take every precaution, and to provide a disinfecting apparatus capable of 250 deg. of heat in order to disinfect the patients wearing apparel free of charge. At the following meeting, the Sergeant of Police at Heidelberg wrote stating that there had been several instances of Scarlet Fever in the Shire and, in some cases, the families had been too poor to obtain medical assistance; the police had provided the services of Drs. Roberts and Bleak and he was enclosing an account for their services. On the motion of Drs. Smedley and Laidlaw it was decided that the Council would pay the medical fees of families who were unable to meet the same.
A petition, signed by the ratepayers of Bulleen and Warrandyte, requesting that the Shire be divided into three ridings as urged by Cr. Hoare was bitterly criticized by the Councillors. On the motion of Cr. Laidlaw the Secretary was directed to write to the Public Works Department stating that the allegations contained in the petition, of the diversity of interest of various portions of the Shire and the remoteness of other parts were entirely incorrect, and that no acts of injustice had been performed by the Council. An amendment moved by Crs. Hoare and Kent that the memorial be allowed to take its course was defeated by 4 votes to 2.
The Governor in Council, however, decided to grant the prayer of the petition and the Shire elections held in August, 1876, were the first held under the three riding scheme, when the following candidates were successful :- Doncaster Riding - Henry Finger, John Smedley, Alfred Hummell; Templestowe Riding - Robert Williamson, Robert Laidlaw and John Delaney. In Warrandyte - Lewis Grant, George Hollaway and Henry Stiggants were returned unopposed. Mr. M. H. Hoare, who had worked hard to bring about the constitutional rearrangement, unfortunately ran last in the Doncaster poll and lost his seat. His efforts to increase the Council revenue by establishing toll gates, and the fact that he was a hotel keeper, had made him unpopular with the ratepayers. He, however, had some consolation when Lewis Grant sent in his resignation without taking his seat; he stood for the vacancy at Warrandyte and scored a comfortable win over the popular local candidate, Thomas J. Dowd.
In September, 1876, the Councillors received rather a bombshell when the Secretary informed them that the Victorian Government had abolished all toll gates not returning a yearly revenue of £500; both the Templestowe and Doncaster Toll Gates had fallen into this category and consequently the tolls had ceased to be collected since the 31st of August. Local authorities throughout the land were protesting violently at the Government action, but the Bulleen Councillors stated they were not in favour of re-establishing the Doncaster Toll unless they received a more equitable share of the proceeds from the Boorondarra Council. The subject of re-establishing the Templestowe Toll was left in the hands of the Member of Parliament, however, as all toll gates were abolished from the 31st of December, 1877, no further action was taken. The Doncaster Toll was put up for sale by Tender in February, 1879, when the keeper's house was sold to G. H. Smith for £9. 2. 6. The gate was sold to Colin Phillips for £2 and the tank to James Tierney for £1. The notice board was repainted and sent to do further service at the Anderson Creek Pound. A tender of £1. 5. 0 for the Templestowe Toll House and 12/6 for the gate was considered to be too low and was not accepted by the Council.
The question of compensation for the property owners on the Deep Creek - Newman's Road deviation came before the Council in September, 1878. Mrs. Honara Kent stated that she would be pleased to let the Council have the land if she received a similar strip of the old road in compensation. Mr. J. Smith stated that he would accept £8 an acre and finally agreed on £7. Mr. Johnston, who owned a tiny allotment of 2 roods on the corner of Newman's Road, wanted £20; the Council offered £10 but Johnston was adamant and the matter was adjourned in the hope of reaching a satisfactory agreement. Later the fencing contractor reported to the Council that Johnston had ordered him off the property. Johnston, who was present, said he could not accept less than £15. The Councillors remonstrated that, as they were dealing with taxpayers' money, they could not pay more than a fair price and they would have to summon him before the court; the case was accordingly heard at Heidelberg in February, 1877, when Johnston was allowed £5 for his land and ordered to pay £1.13.0 costs of court.
Considerable progress was made towards improving the Shire's roads in the succeeding 2 years, the Deep Creek deviation was declared open for traffic, though a great deal of earth works were necessary and it was the best part of 20 years before the Council got it into proper order. In the Warrandyte Riding considerable progress was made on the road between Deep Creek and the township, this being largely through the efforts of Cr. Hoare and included the grubbing and forming of the road from Deep Creek to the Recreation Ground, the cutting of the Deep Creek Hill which was carried out by Ben Logan, the metalling of the road for a quarter mile through the township, and the erection of a bridge over Holmes Creek on the Warrandyte - Ringwood Road with the aid of a small subsidy from the Lilydale Council.
Another important work which was carried out during the year 1878 was the cutting of Swadleys Hill from the Morning Star Hotel, the contract being let to Mr. Deveron for £236. The cutting was put down to the depth of about 4 feet and was little wider than the average vehicle, it was considerably deepened and enlarged in 1886. Another work done at the same time and by the same contractor was the cutting of Sandilands Hill on Thompson Road, just off Bulleen Road, which cost £180, both roads were closed during the work and it is said that the Pobby family made a sizable profit by charging a toll of 6d. for traffic to cross their paddock on Swadleys Hill.
Mr. Bride gives us a good description of the roads then existing in the Shire when he reported on the condition of Anderson Creek Road from the Deep Creek Bridge to the section corner in December, 1878; he found that for 27 chains from the Deep Creek Bridge the road was both steep and siding with many deep water courses running across it, and was usually impassable in wet weather; from there to the school corner (now Reynolds Road) there were many ruts and water courses but generally passable.
From the school to the section corner a good track wound its way through the trees and stumps. Another road which he inspected was Springvale Road, then described as a cross road leading off the Dancester - Ringwood Road. He stated that it was largely impassable and that 30 chains of the road in front of Hislop's property would have to be formed and drained and a culvert inserted to stop the water from flowing all over the road. The work was carried out as the property owners agreed to pay a substantial amount towards the cost.
In 1879, Cr. Robert Laidlaw reported that he had inspected the Deep Creek deviation road in company with Mr. Ferguson, M.L.A., and the latter was of the opinion that there was every chance of obtaining a Government grant towards the cost of the work. It meant a long struggle, however, and it was not until January, 1882, that Mr. J. Keys, M.L.A., reported that the Government had given the Shire a grant of £300, - £150 for the deviation and £150 to erect a bridge across Koornung Creek on Elgar Road. The increased traffic in connection with the building of the Box Hill - Lilydale Railway had made it imperative to erect a bridge at the crossing.
The Council was slowly but surely winning the battle to improve the roads of the Bulleen Shire. In 1881, however, they received rather an unfortunate setback when the firm of Messrs. Solicitors, wrote stating that Mr. F. Heydon, his wife and sister of Ascot Vale, had been upset in a conveyance on the Doncaster Road on April 18th, and they were holding the Council responsible owing to the bad state of the road; after long and drawn out legal proceedings, the Council was ordered to pay £800 damages. When the news was known in June, 1884, that the case had gone against them a special meeting of the Council was called to discuss means of meeting such a heavy claim in view of the limited amount of revenue and the large requirements of the district. It was ultimately decided to meet the claim by means of the general rate and to raise a special loan for the works of the Shire. Mr. Tom Petty in later years stated that this claim cost the Shire nearly £2,000, and that all the back roads were consequently fenced off to protect the ratepayers and it is owing to this case that Church Road still remains fenced off today.
Evidence of the popularity of the district as a tourist resort is clearly shown in the early 1880s with the opening of the towers. In January, 1882, the Rev. Max Von Schramm led a deputation to the Council comprising of John Smedley Jnr., A. Reynolds and R. Clay seeking the Council's assistance in obtaining police protection for the district. The deputation stated that the inhabitants of Doncaster were a quiet and peaceable people, but it was well known that the place was becoming a resort for strangers, especially on Sundays and holidays, and some were of an undesirable element; there had been trespassing and damage to fruit gardens. The Council stated that they were wholeheartedly in favour of the idea and the Doncaster Riding Councillors were appointed to wait on the Chief Secretary. The following April Mr. Keys wrote stating that the request had been approved.
In September, 1882, Mr. W. Kent waited on the Council on behalf of a number of residents of Deep Creek and stated that it was desirable to open a new trafficable road from Deep Creek to Melbourne. There was, he said, a circuitous road existing, but, owing to a steep gudge, traffic was next to impassable, and the residents of Deep Creek and Warrandyte were compelled to cross private property for which they had to pay an expensive and vexatious toll. The circuitous road referred to was Blackburn Road and the route desired to be opened was through Mr. W. Rutledge's property from the section corner to Wagstaff Corner, which is now the Anderson Creek Road.
Mr. J. Smith opposed the application stating that, although the necessity existed for the new road to Melbourne, he questioned the advisability of opening it; at present his property was situated on a main road - if the new deviation was put through his property would be on a bye-road and therefore lose some of its value. The engineer reported that the cost of improvement to the old road would be £336 as against £176 for opening the new road, and a total of £47 had been promised by residents towards the cost. The new route, he said, would be a more gradual grade and a better road for the horses. Mr. Smith immediately took exception to the engineer's plan, but the President over-ruled him saying that he could not allow their accredited engineer to be subject to an uncalled for challenge by an unqualified man.
A long and animated discussion then took place among the Councillors as to whether they should proceed with the plan in view of the heavy cloud of legal expenses which hung over the Council. Speaking to the proposal, Cr. Petty said he agreed that the deviation was most important but, thought they should have some guarantee as to where the money was coming from before they undertook the work. Cr. Firth disagree stating that the dangerous places on the old road should be put in order first. He was supported by Cr. Williamson who said if the dangerous places were left, some accident would probably occur and they would be mulched in such damages that well might ruin the whole Shire.
The Shire President, Cr. Smadley, said he agreed with necessity of securing the dangerous places, but he thought there were few places dangerous to sober persons and they couldn't be expected to guard against accidents to drunken persons. He accused Cr. Firth and Williamson of sidetracking the issue, which they in turn hotly denied. Mr. Smith submitted that, if the new road was opened, the Council would have to maintain two roads instead of one. He stated that the only reason why Mr. Rutledge made a charge for crossing his property was because Mr. Kent had threatened one of his men for crossing his land, otherwise the charge would never have been made.
The question of a plebiscite was then mentioned, but the President thought it would be an undignified course for the Councillors to take. Cr. Petty and Firth said they had no objection to the poll, but Cr. Laidlaw endorsed the view of the President, saying that if they could not decide the issue under discussion they were not fit to sit as representatives of the ratepayers. Cr. Hutchinson said he was all in favour of the deviation, but they had a large amount hanging over their heads that might require a 2/6 rate and that would mean ruin to many people.
The President then moved that "contingent on the ratepayers raising 1/3 of the cost the Council should proceed with the work of opening up the new deviation". Cr. Laidlaw counselled him not to rush the issue and the President agreed to give it as a notice of motion.
On the motion coming up for discussion the following month, Cr. Firth said the Council had only £48 to meet an expenditure of £100. Cr. Pettit however, pointed out that £47 had been promised by the residents - that would be sufficient to purchase the land and improvements would have to wait until sufficient funds were available. On the motion being put, it was carried unanimously with the exception of Cr. Firth. The road was fenced and surveyed almost immediately but, of course, it was several years before it was formed and metalled.
Still another road was opened the following month, February 1884, when the Engineer announced that the deviation originally urged by Messrs. R. Serpell and Alfred Rhodes was ready for traffic. A slight hitch occurred when Mr. J. Read said he did not agree with certain actions of the Council and he would not sign the transfer paper unless the Council agreed to pull down the deviation fence. Cr. Laidlaw traversed the long and arduous task the Council had had since the move for the road had first begun and stated he had gone too far to turn back but, on Mr. Read still declining to remove the fence, the President demanded to know when he intended to do the work or else they would have no option but to take legal action. Mr. Read then reconsidered and undertook to have the fence removed before the next Council meeting.
Cr. Laidlaw then moved that the new line of road be named Serpell's Road. Mr. Serpell, he said, had given a handsome sum towards the cost of putting the road through and had taken a great interest in the movement since the beginning. Cras. Williamson and Smedley endorsed his remarks about Mr. Serpell's high spirited action, a little pleasantry then took place among the Councillors on the success which had attained their efforts. They said the Government had made a further grant of £150 towards the cost of the Deep Creek deviation and £200 towards the cost of cutting the Deep Creek Hill, Serpells Road had been opened for traffic and plans and specifications had been drawn up for the new Anderson Creek Road deviation which was to prove a great boon to the residents of Deep Creek and Warrandyte and gave them a new route to Melbourne.
On February 4th, 1884, Mr. T. Burrows commenced the first coach service from Doncaster to Box Hill, leaving the Box Hill station at 7.8 a.m. and 5.11 p.m. and returning from the Doncaster Post Office at 8.47 a.m. and 6.57 p.m. The route was via Elgar Road, then known as Crossman's Road, and the fare advertised at 9d. single and 1/- return.
In December, 1884, the Shire of Bulleen, in spite of the heavy expenditure they had had to face, decided on raising a further loan of £1,000 for public works. They proposed to raise the loan by an issue of 10 debentures of £100 each at 6 per cent, payable at the Heidelberg Branch of the Bank of Australasia on the 1st March, 1885. The money to be spent as follows: £100 on the Templestowe Road, £180 for the erection of a bridge on the Williamson Road over Ruffy's Creek, and £150 for metalling the road Thompson Gully, £150 for excavations and metalling on the Warrandyte Road and £450 for the erection of a tramway up Smedleys Hill from the Morning Star Hotel to Dr. Thomas Fitzgerald's new home "Fullamore" (now the Eastern Golf Links).
Determined protests were made to the Council, particularly in regard to the laying down of the tramway. A well got-up petition by the ratepayers yielded 159 votes, but it was less than one-third of the voters' roll, which was required by law to prevent the Council from raising the loan. The Councillors, however, had a worrying time ahead of them.
Long and drawn-out efforts to obtain Government assistance to complete the Smedleys Hill Cutting had come to nothing and, in 1882, Cr. Smedley had suggested that a solution to their worries might be the erect of a tramway. Cr. Williamson commented that he had had experience of tramways in Scotland and it would probably prove a success; the years dragged on and, with still no concrete offer of Government assistance, the Council decided to proceed with the projected tramway. The loan was successfully raised and on the 30th November, 1885, Cr. Petty (in the absence of Cr. Williamson) moved the following resolution :- "That the top of Kennedy's Hill (now Smedleys) be widened to the full width leaving a foot pass of about 6 feet on the south side, next to Petty's fence, and that a tramway be laid on the north side of the road to commence at about Dr. Fitzgerald's gate, the widening to be done by day labour and the tramway to be laid by skilled labour under the supervision of the surveyor. The motion was seconded by Cr. Smith and carried unanimously.
Almost a flood of protests followed and a widely attended protest meeting took place at the Atheneum in March, 1886, when speakers stated that tramways were costly and largely of an experimental character, that no tramway had ever been put down such a steep gradient in the colony and, even if it were practical, they said it would serve only a comparatively small section of the residents, whilst other road works of a much less expensive nature could be carried out. The following resolutions were carried :-
1. That in the opinion of the meeting the Councillors of the Doncaster Riding deserve the strongest censure, and we call upon them to resign the trust placed in them.The Councillors paid little heed to the resolutions of the meeting and stated their determination to continue with the project. A deputation by Messrs. R. Serpell and W. Meader waited on the Council but were virtually declined a hearing, the President stating that the Councillors were not to conclude that, because the ratepayers said it was wrong, that it must necessarily be wrong. He did not wish to force it on them but if it were demonstrated that it was an improvement why should the Councillors stay their hand because the ratepayers opposed it?
2. That the meeting request the Council to cause a poll to be taken to decide the tramway issue. 3. That the following be a committee to carry out the resolutions and, if necessary, urge the Governor in Council to intervene to prevent the laying down of the tramway :- Messrs. C. Smidt, W. Meader, J. Kent, Bloom, Serpell, Clay, Chivers, White and Schukraft.
Cr. Williamson, however, stated that he was going for a trip to Scotland in April and would obtain skilled advice from the engineers there; the matter was adjourned pending his return and little more was heard of the scheme though the cutting was completed. It is, however, a co-incidence that the prime movers to prevent the scheme were later prominent shareholders in the Lancaster - Box Hill Electric Tramway Company.
In September, 1886, the Minister for Public Works wrote asking the Council if there was any demand for unskilled labour in the district in view of the large number of unemployed in the city. The letter gave vent to a lengthy and irregular discussion. Cr. Petty strongly criticised the actions of the Government in paying such high wages to unskilled workmen, thereby placing them on a footing with artisans and mechanics. Cr. Williamson commented that there was plenty of work in the district, but not at the wages wanted by the unemployed, he considered that 15/- to 16/- a week was quite sufficient remuneration for farm servants and harvesters. It was resolved to inform the Minister that there was no work in the district for the unemployed. It is noticeable that at the same meeting Cr. Williamson declined the office of President, saying that "old age was creeping on".
Many changes had taken place in the district during the long and heated discussions in Council which marked the period, both Doncaster and Templestowe had made considerable progress, but there was also ground for concern in regard to public health. Typhoid Fever broke out during the year 1886, but considerably worse was the outbreak of Diphtheria in 1889; there was no satisfactory treatment for it then, and several rows of tiny graves in the German cemetery tell their own story of the tragic occurrence, the disease was prevalent in fruit growing areas but the actual cause was put down to sixty people dumping nightsoil in the district during the early hours of the morning. A determined effort by the Caulfield Shire to have the Government prescribe drastic penalties for this type of offence was supported by the Bulleen Council, it however took a long time to stamp out. The East Doncaster State School was, in particular, most unhealthy and was more often closed than open with successive epidemics of Typhoid, Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever and Measles etc. In January, 1891, a young teacher by the name of Thomas Rutter came from Warragul to be Head Master and was lying dead in his grave in less than six weeks after his appointment, a victim of Typhoid Fever. The Box Hill Reporter stated that it was really time something was done about the school and the Department appears to have taken some action in making the school more hygienic.
The district, however, made steady progress in the 1880s. The first police station was erected in 1882, an electric telegraph wire was laid to the Doncaster Post Office early the following year, the Templestowe Mechanics Institute was opened by Mr. J. Keys, M.L.A., the same year, and a branch of the E. S. & A. Bank was opened in the house now occupied by Mr. Fred Petty in Doncaster in March, 1886. The Church of Christ and the State School were opened the following year, whilst agricultural returns for the year 1887 showed that the Shire of Bulleen headed all Victoria in the output of fruit, it possessing 1878 acres of orchard, 91 acres of garden and 45 acres of vines. The figures for neighbouring Shires were :- Lilydale - 451 acres under vines and 85 under orchard, Eltham - 470 under orchard, 24 under vines, 23 under garden, Heidelberg - 450 under orchard, 27 under garden and 10 under vines.
Chapter 6. The Failure of the Land Boom and its Effect on Doncaster
The pioneering spirit of the people of Doncaster was probably never seen to a better advantage than when they pioneered the first electric tramway service to Box Hill in 1889, it surely ranks as one of the most adventurous undertakings ever attempted in the state and deserved success.
The service originally commenced from White's Corner and branched in an easterly direction to Frederick Street and later ran on the present site of Tram Road. It is believed to be the first in the Southern Hemisphere, and was in operation nearly 4 years before the celebrated electric tramway that ran along Military Road, North Sydney. In America electric trams were introduced as early as 1881, and there were some 350 miles in operation when the Doncaster line was commenced. Electric trains first ran in Berlin in 1879.
The tram was originally imported by the Great Southern Electric Company and was exhibited by W. H. Masters & Co. at the Melbourne Centenary Exhibition of 1888, it was a six bench car and powered by a 12 H.P. electric motor built by the Ball Electric Co., Eire, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. At the exhibition it ran on temporary rails in the Carlton Gardens parallel with Carlton Street and next to a switch-back railway. It earned the sum of £106 in 6d. rides and was awarded a First Order of Merit by the Jury of the exhibition.
The first to suggest the establishing of the tramway at Doncaster is believed to be a T. T. Draper Esq., who sold the idea to a Doncaster Land company and the Box Hill - Doncaster Electric Tramway Company was formed, the Southern Electric Company no doubt welcomed the idea as they were having trouble in disposing of the tram. The principle shareholders in the venture were C. J. Taylor, a barrister of Chancery Lane, Richard Serpell, William Meader and William Sell. The company had a nominal capital of 15,000 £1 shares and a paid up capital of £6,000. The tram made its first trip on October 15th, 1889 when it carried 35 V.I.P's from Box Hill to Doncaster in 20 minutes and didn't slow down to less than 5 miles per hour on the steep Doncaster incline.
A grand banquet was held in conjunction with the opening at the Tower Hotel, a telegram was read from the Premier, the Hon. Duncan Gillies, regretting that an urgent cabinet meeting would preclude his attendance, but the Legislature and the different Councils were well represented in the persons of Mr. E. H. Cameron, M.L.A., the Hon. C. J. Ham, James Balfour M.L.C., Messrs. F. Stewart and C. J. Dixon. M.L.A's., Cr. Hicks, President of the Boorondarra Shire, Cr. Houghton, President of the Nunawading Shire and Cr. Hunter, President of the Bulleen Shire.
In the course of his remarks, Mr. Cameron said he was secretly glad that the Premier had been unable to attend, specially in view of the withdrawal of the Doncaster Railway Bill, as it was probable that some members of the audience would have asked embarrassing questions. Some local residents, he said, seemed to believe that the tram had given the Government an excuse to postpone their railway bill, but he thought that such an idea was entirely erroneous and he was certain that the bill would be re-introduced again at the next Parliamentary Session. Prof. Kernot, in responding on behalf of the Union Electric Company, commented that it probably would not be long before electricity was used in place of steam locomotives on the railways.
The fact that a large majority of the shareholders of the Company were from Doncaster tends to suggest why Doncaster should have been the venue for the idea, but it is surprising that a more popular area was not found for the tramway, particularly in view of the fact that the directors certainly showed no lack of business acumen in conducting the business of the company. The first half-yearly balance sheet shows that the company made a profit of £58. 7. 2 after paying expenses and allowing for depreciation. In April, 1891, the directors were so confident of the success of the company that they purchased a second glassed-in car for £800, the upward spiral of the land boom, however, appears to have proved their undoing. The South Doncaster Land Company had sold the company a strip of land in consideration for shares, and holders were most anxious to repossess in view of the high prices for Real Estate; late in 1891 they side-stepped the law and notified the company that, if the service did not cease immediately, "forcible action would be taken to see that it did." Thus the Doncaster Tramway Company had no option but to close down their business and give the land company back their land.
The directors, however, were not to be discouraged and a second company was reformed from the ruins of the old a few months later and, for a time, the tram ran again. This time it was known as the Doncaster Electric Road Company and the rails were relaid along the present site of Tram Road, but again success did not smile on the venture. The failure of the land boom and the closing of the E. S. & A. C. Bank struck the company within a few months and caused the takings to fall away drastically. In desparation, the company offered the service to the engineer and driver, Mr. H. J. Hilton, for a nominal yearly rental until times improved.
Mr. Hilton succeeded in effecting a 25% saving by taking off the heavier glassed-in car, and, by operating the dynamo and by doing the necessary car and track repairs himself, for nearly 2 years he worked night and day to keep the service running, but with no prospects of any permanent improvement he was at last compelled to inform the company that he was unable to continue the service longer and the tram made its last trip on January 6th, 1896, much to the regret of the public spirited citizens who had made a commendable struggle to keep it running. The horrified local press commented as follows :-
"We cannot refrain from expressing our conviction, that this is one of the greatest calamities that has yet occurred in this district. What might have been ultimately a source of great wealth to Doncaster, with all its beautiful scenery, and its popularity as a resort for pleasure parties, is thus allowed to slip past. That its wealthy residents should permit the service to cease instead of coming to the aid of those who have for so long stood by their patriotic venture, surpasses our comprehension. We understand it will regenerate at Rutherglen."
A glance at the company's accounts over the last two years showed that the tram paid wages but no more, the takings being in the vicinity of £350 which allowed approximately £200 for wages and profit, though it fell away alarmingly over the last 6 months of 1895; it also gave satisfactory service mechanically, though towards the end of its career it became rather unreliable, owing to frequent breakdowns which was probably due to lack of maintenance, but, on the other hand, there is the instance of Easter Monday, 1893, when it carried more than 1,500 people bound for the Doncaster Picnic Races, time and again it negotiated the steep incline laden with people.
In 1899, Mr. Hilton returned from West Australia and there was some talk of reopening the service as the rails still remained in Tram Road, but it came to nothing. The shareholders later made a strong bid to get the Doncaster and Nunawading Councils to compensate them for the metal the had put on the road; the Councils, however, declined to allow them anything.
Efforts to induce the Government to build a railway through the district came to the same melancholy failure as the tram; approaches were made time and again and on more than one occasion the Railways Standing Committee visited the district to collect evidence but always they either passed the buck or else said it wouldn't be worth the expense involved. Efforts to have a railway constructed through the area date back to the year 1869, when the Upper Yarra Railway League was formed for the purpose of having a line constructed to Lilydale via Heidelberg and Anderson Creek. For many years an enterprising Railway League existed at Warrandyte with William Oldham as Secretary and Captain Alfred Selby as President. The proposals varied rather widely. In the 1880s plans were drawn up for a line from Canterbury, via Balwyn to Doncaster, East Doncaster, Deep Creek and Warrandyte. In the early 90s it was proposed to build a line from the Kew Railway Terminus, by means of a tunnel under High Street. In 1908 another suggestion was made to build a line from Victoria Park via the Kew Mental Hospital and North Kew, it being suggested that the Kew Mental Hospital should be transferred to Warrandyte. The proposal was investigated thoroughly by the Standing Committee, who estimated the expenditure to be £190,000 and that it would result in a working loss of £7,500 a year for the first few years; this, coupled with the fact that the Doncaster orchardists were unable to assure the Government that they would use the service as most of their fruit was going to the North Melbourne Market and it would probably be more convenient to continue with road haulage, told against the scheme and the committee recommended that a street tramway would be more suitable for Doncaster.
During the year 1890 the Doncaster Riding decided to sever from the Shire of Bulleen and form a separate Shire. The decision was hardly unexpected and was partly due to the fact that Doncaster possessed rather more than half the rateable value of the Shire and partly to the continued deadlocks that existed at the Council table. Criticism of the Secretary, Mr. T. O'Brien being one of the principle bones of contention. The Doncaster Riding Councillors charged him with being incompetent and stated that he received £150 a year for two days' work a week. A determined bid was made to remove him from office in September, 1889, which was only averted on the casting vote of the President, Cr. Hunter, but it was not an end to the unfortunate business. In November the auditor's report came to hand certifying the correctness of the accounts and Cr. Smith proposed a vote of confidence in the Secretary. The Doncaster Councillors said they would be unable to support it, but Cr. Smith insisted on moving the motion and Crs. Meader, Sell and Goodwin left the table and said "What will you do now?" Cr. Hunter: "Adjourn the meeting for a week." Efforts were made to continue the meeting but the President declined and the Council was unable to pay its contractors or daymen for a month. Mr. O'Brien had a good deal of support in Warrandyte and things had reached rather an impasse between the different Ridings; Mr. William Oldham, a well known writer from the Riverside Village commented that Mr. O'Brien had given long years of faithful service to the Bulleen Shire and it would be better for Councillors to co-operate with him rather than insult their paid servant.
The first Doncaster Council elections were held in August, 1890, when the following were successful :- A. Zerbe Jnr., J. Tully, J. Smedley, W. Sell, E. Lawford and J. Winter. The first meetings took place in the Atheneum Hall which was granted free of charge by the Trustees. In December Mr. Richard Serpell made an offer of a piece of land valued at £500 as a site for the Shire Office and Mr. Tom Petty gave a donation of £50 towards the cost of the building. The Council at first declined to accept the offer, Cr. Zerbe in particular opposed the move, stating that he would rather see the money spent on the roads. On the other hand, the press sarcastically attacked the Council, saying that they were loafing on the generosity of the Atheneum Trustees. Two further offers of land were made by Mr. Lauer, of 66 ft. adjoining Whittens Lane, and by a Mr. Zelious who offered a 1/4 acre next to the blacksmith shop. Mr. Serpell's land, however, was considered to be the more suitable and he agreed to leave the offer open for 9 months.
Opposition to the building of the hall gradually mounted during 1891 and a petition signed by 92 residents was presented. The elections held in August that year were fought on the issue as to whether the hall was to be in Doncaster or at Deep Creek, the retiring Councillors were re-elected and Mr. Serpell's offer was accepted, but it was agreed that a clause should be inserted in the deeds, that the sum of £500 should be paid to Mr. Serpell or his descendents if the land ever ceased to be used for the purposes of a Shire Hall. A problem which confronted the Council was how best to accept the donation as there was every possibility that the opponents of the scheme would challenge the Council in the courts and cause them to spend a great deal of money on legal expenses. It was first suggested that the Council pay Mr. Serpell £5 deposit and the balance if they ever agreed to remove the Shire Hall, but it was later agreed that Mr. Serpell would give an extra 10 feet of land fronting Main Road and be paid £100 for the whole.
£5 was offered for the best design of the building and, it being won by Mr. Anderson, he was authorized to draw up the plans, and on December 14th, 1891, W. D. Herbert's tender of £496.10. 0 was accepted for the erection. Business was first conducted in the hall on June 3rd 1892; it had been proposed to hold an official opening ceremony but this was spoilt owing to mix up with the key. In August that year the Council decided to combine the positions of Secretary, Engineer, and Rate Collector and the services of Mr. F. Thomas, who had been Secretary since the Shire's inception, and Mr. Colin Phillips, who commenced as Rate Collector to the old Roads Board in 1867, were dispensed with.
On the 12th August, 1892, a mishap at the Antimony Hill Gold and Antimony Mining Company (whose workings stood near the corner of Thompson Road and Main Street, Templestowe) cost the lives of two miners, Lewis Dudley Grant, aged 30 of Anderson Creek, and James McRae Young, 45, previously of Reedy Creek. It was stated at the official inquiry that the two men went down the shaft at midnight on the Friday and commenced working on the 230 foot level, they sent up 3 or 4 buckets of mullock and, after firing some explosives, the braceman John Tierney, heard a sudden inrush of water. He ran and informed Charles Pooley the engine driver and then descended the shaft by means of the ladder and found the bottom full with rising water. Some time was lost in contacting the manager, Matthews, but when the story became known there was no lack of helpers, and the local residents bailed throughout the weekend until the bodies were recovered on the Monday morning. Lewis Grant was the son of the genial "host" of the Anderson Creek Hotel and was a very popular young fellow in Warrandyte. His funeral was largely attended. The company got up a subscription to benefit the next-of-kin of the two men, but it did not get so very far owing to the depressed state of the times. The reason for the disaster was stated to be the breaking through to the old workings used some 30 years before. The disaster virtually proved the end of the company's activities, a couple of years before the mine was employing as many as 30 hands.
The year 1892 was one of the most depressed in Victorian history, there being more than 20,000 unemployed in the colony, but strange to say, land values continued to rise at a very unhealthy rate, the local banks were well aware of the dangerous measure of inflation that had crept in and, as early as 1887, they had declined to lend on real estate security; financiers however had been easily found on the Scottish Market and the boom had continued unabated. The depressing year of 1892 was followed by the crash of the Federal Bank and several others in January, 1893, and retrenchments in staff was rife throughout the colony, but still a remarkable measure of confidence prevailed among the Doncaster and local land companies. On April 14th, 1893, the following article which spelt ruin to many local residents, appeared in the "Reporter" in screaming black headlines:-
"Suspension of the E.S. & A.C. Bank.Great excitement prevailed in Box Hill yesterday morning when it was known that the above bank had temporarily suspended payment pending formulation of a scheme for reconstruction, as the event was unexpected and the bank is the only one between Camberwell and Lilydale, a great deal of inconvenience has been occasioned to its numerous customers in the district who, we are glad to say, had great confidence in the institution, and are still of the opinion that it will be reconstructed on a firmer basis than ever.We regret that many unfair and unjust strictures have been passed upon Mr. Toon, the local manager, but we assure our readers that he is entirely free from all blame, and that it is not his fault that the present crisis has been brought about. He has at all times done his best for the bank and its customers and, if the same good management and forbearance shown in Box Hill had prevailed elsewhere, there would have been no occasion to suspend payment for one minute."
After the initial shock, the news was received with comparative calm, a letter officially notifying the Doncaster Council that the Bank had suspended payment was read at the following meeting of the Council and, on the motion of Crs. Petty and May, a letter was sent to the directors sympathizing with them in their troubles.
Economic conditions remained bad for at least 4 or 5 years, and several well known residents of Doncaster and Templestowe lost their properties, including a well-known member of the Council table, Cr. R. G. Cameron, who had made a very favourable impression during his three years in the Council and would have been a valued acquisition to the town.
Though the residents of the district suffered severely, there is no doubt that their lot was not nearly as bad as those of the more populous areas, and many praiseworthy efforts were made to assist the city folk. Local orchardists gave large quantities of fruit to needy families, while the young men of the district were known to cut loads of wood and cart it to the nearest railhead where it was transported to Melbourne free of charge by the Rail Department and sold in aid of the various charities. In July, 1893, the Mayor of Melbourne wrote to the Doncaster Council pointing out the distressing state of hardship which existed among a large proportion of the population of Melbourne and asking that the Council solicit donations to aid the various charities. The task was allotted to various young ladies in the town, who worked assiduously and succeeded in collecting the sum of £18.12. 9. Their names were :- Misses Schramm (2), Hislop (2), Furham, Petty, May and Buck.
The newly formed Doncaster Council faced a difficult year during 1894 when, by a peculiar set of circumstances, the whole Shire became deadlocked and the contractors and employees were unable to receive their wages for nearly four months. The trouble again arose over the services of the Secretary, Mr. McKenzie, whom several of the Councillors claimed was inefficient. Three times his services were only retained on the casting vote of the President. In that year Crs. E. Thiele and May left for West Australia without resigning, and it became necessary for the remaining 4 Councillors to be present at every meeting in order to preserve the quorum and the trouble coming to a head when Cr. Sell gave notice of motion that McKenzie be removed from the position of Secretary; later, in the same meeting, Cr. H. Thiele gave notice of motion that a rate be struck for 1894. Believing that Cr. Sell's motion re McKenzie would be carried at the following meeting, Cr. Petty left the table in order to spoil the quorum, and thus Cr. Thiele's motion re the rate could not be discussed. The same thing happened almost every week for three months, the President declining to allow Cr. Thiele's motion to be discussed first and Cr. Petty leaving the table in protest, and all the time the creditors and employees of the Council were left bewailing their luck. A deputation from the Council waited on the Minister of Public Works, requesting that he act as mediator in the dispute; he listened patiently to their doleful story and then said he couldn't help them; the best thing they could do was to go home, strike a rate, and be a happy family again and leave the subject of the Secretary until new blood came into the Council. However, the President still declined to accept Cr. Thiele's motion first and the trouble dragged on until McKenzie finally resolved the issue by sending in his resignation, the rate was struck, Mr. F. Thomas was re-appointed Secretary and the Council became a happy family again; for a little while anyway.
The burning down of the Tower Hotel took place on January 25th, 1895, and caused a great deal of excitement in Doncaster, brigades hurried from Hawthorn, Kew, and Surrey Hills but only managed to save the adjoining residential section. The proprietor, Mr. J. Nissen, was overcome by smoke and had to be carried to safety, within a few months a much larger building was erected (part of which still stands) and was taken over by Mr. Pierce, late of the Hill Hotel, Mitcham. The Tower Hotel was built by Alfred Humell. In 1885 he sold the hotel and picnic grounds to William Meader, who showed great drive and determination. In all, the hotel contained 39 rooms and had stabling for 20 horses, it was delicensed in 1917 and became a grocery store.
The subject of universal and woman suffrage was the topic of the day in the 1890s; the Trade Union Movement had gained considerable momentum in the economic chaos which followed the failure of the land boom; Universal Suffrage was recognized as one of the principal platforms of the infant Labour Party. On November 23rd, 1896, the Council received a letter from the Shire of Echuca requesting that the Council send a delegate to a conference in Melbourne to consider proposed alterations in the Constitution Act; particularly in regard to one man vote and woman suffrage with the view of appealing to the Legislative Council.
In opening the debate, Cr. Thiele said he thought it was inadvisable to send a delegate. It was a great mistake, he said, for Shire Councils to meddle in politics - it was outside their function altogether. Councillors could not claim to represent the ratepayers as far as politics were concerned; the people had placed that power in the hands of the parliamentary representatives, and it would be a foolish thing for Councillors to try and co-erce them. The best policy would be for the Council to simply receive the letter and mind its own business.
"I don't agree," said Cr. Stutt, "even though I am one of the oldest liberals in the colony, I do not believe in this one man, one vote business, or in giving votes to women, it is a monstrous shame that Sir William Clarke should be placed on the same level and have the same say as his boots."
Cr. Thiele interjected: "The chances are that the boots may be the better man of the two."
Cr. Stutt: "Anyway, as one of the oldest liberals in the colony, and as one who has spent a great deal in the cause of protection, I am opposed to putting property owners on the same level as swagmen. The present Government was supposed to be liberal, but it was being frightened by the Trades Hall into trying to alter the constitution. The women do not want votes, only a few fanatics and canting humbugs do that wish to gad about and neglect their homes."
Cr. Crouch then moved that the President be sent as a delegate, which was seconded by Cr. Stutt.
The President, Cr. Pickering: "I will not attend the conference to oppose the one man, one vote proposal or extending the franchise to women, I thoroughly believe in the principal of one man, one vote and one woman, one vote."
Cr. Thiele said he hoped the Council would have the good sense to let the matter drop, but it was finally decided, on the motion of Crs. Finger and Zerbe, to send Cr. Stutt to the conference.
In 1897, the Mayor of Melbourne made a further appeal to the Shire, this time for assistance for the famine stricken millions of India. A public meeting was held at the Atheneum on the evening of February 17th. The Rev. Max Von Schramm, in moving that the fullest sympathy be extended to the starving Indians, recalled the heart-breaking scenes of the Indian famine of 1877, when it was no uncommon sight to see parents offering their children for sale in the streets or even killing them to prevent them from suffering. The Rev. H. S. Hollow, in seconding the motion, said many voices were calling to them that night - the Mayor of Melbourne's conscience, the peoples of India and the voice of God. Only last Sunday the Ministers had thanked God for the good crops they had received whilst out there in India millions were starving. It was decided to leave the matter of raising funds in the hands of the Council, and the following young ladies were appointed as a committee to canvass the district for subscriptions:- Misses Rosa Smith, C. McDowall, Ethel Petty, Watts, Lizzie Taylor, Stone, Clay, Hislop and Zerbe. Unfortunately no records are available of the success that crowned their efforts.
The year 1898 is chiefly remembered for the founding of the Doncaster Recreation Ground, in that year the Doncaster Cricket Club was granted the right to use the Recreation Ground as their permanent home, and the following year they laid down their first concrete wicket and the Pavilion was erected by Mr. Johnstone in 1900 at a cost of £37.10. 0. In 1901, a second Recreation Ground was established at Doncaster when the Doncaster Heights Cricket Club was granted the use of Federal Park, a portion of which was formerly owned by the Education Department. The original site for a park at Doncaster was in Church Road; it was considered to be unsuitable and was sold by the Government in 1893 - the Council insisted on being reimbursed to the extent of £250 and the money was used to buy the Recreation Ground.
A Supreme Court action in the year 1899 over the erection of a large dam on the property of John Winter in High Street was both needless and unfortunate, and caused considerable concern to local orchardists who were erecting dams for irrigation purposes. In the litigation Martin Lyons claimed £1,000 damages and an injunction to restrain Winter from erecting a large dam on his property as he was obstructing a water course running through his property. Mr. Justice Hood, in his judgement, delivered on the 4th October, 1899, said he had carefully examined both the properties and the evidence and had formed the opinion that the plaintiff had no riparian rights, as the gully was only a water course in times of heavy rain and accordingly entered a judgement with costs for Winter.
The decade saw the passing of several of the first line pioneers of the district including Robert Williamson, Jane Petty, Gotleib Thiele and August Zerbe Snr., and also the death of the Shire Secretary, Mr. Frank Thomas on November 15th, 1900. He had filled the position of Secretary with credit to himself and to the benefit of the Shire; he was a keen follower of cricket and music and was Bandmaster of the Doncaster Brass Band for some years.
The close of the year 1900 was the close of the 19th Century, and the occasion was marked by the Doncaster Brass Band playing selections at Holy Trinity Church Gate until 11.30 p.m. on the evening of December 31st; the Band later retired inside the church where a special service was conducted by the Rev. Hollow to mark the dawn of the new century, the early years of which were destined to be very important in the development of fruit growing at Doncaster and Templestowe.
Chapter 7. Cool Storage brings about New Era in Fruit Industry
The subject of cool storage and refrigeration, as applied to the preservation of meat, dairy produce, fruit etc. was occupying the attention of experts throughout the world at the close of the 19th century, and it was not long before the fruit growers realized the potential which lay behind the industry for them, and it is to the credit of the local growers that Doncaster led the Commonwealth in the introduction of Cool Storage. The new industry opened up wide fields in the export trade and made it possible for fresh fruit to be sold throughout the year for domestic consumption. The system was based on the principle of the evaporation of liquid ammonia and was first introduced into Victoria by Rudolf Werner & Company, Refrigeration Engineers of Burnley Street, Richmond.
The rapid development of the fruit industry was largely brought about by co-operation among the growers; as early as 1885 they had banded together to protest against the Government decision to allow unrestricted imports of Tasmanian apples into Victoria, and they were quick to realize the advantages of co-operation. The Doncaster Fruit-growers Association was formed at a public meeting in the Atheneum on the 1st April, 1892, when Mr. Fred Thiele was elected President and Mr. Sykes, Secretary, the aims of the association were to try and modernise the industry by educating the growers. Arrangements were made for speakers to lecture on the best methods of agriculture, and in combating such pests as blight, fungi, and codlin moth etc. Shortly after, efforts were made to amalgamate the district fruit growing associations which led to the formation of the Doncaster and Amalgamated Fruit Growers Association which, in turn, became the Victorian Fruit Growers Central Association in March 1893.
The voice of the local association kept a vigilant watch on the growers' interests but, at the same time, endeavoured to be impartial. On one occasion in 1895, the Castlemaine Branch proposed that the Victorian Government be asked to place a duty of 6d. a bushell on bananas; the local speakers, however, pointed out that such provision might benefit the revenue but would only tend to take the living away from the Queensland grower without being of any real assistance to the local growers.
The first attempts to try out the new method of cool storage was previous to the year 1900 when certain independent growers sent fruit for preserving to the Glaciarium in South Melbourne, then, in 1903, the President of the newly formed Doncaster - Box Hill Show Society, Mr. Alex Hunter, packed eggs and apples for preservation. The samples were opened 6 months later on July 27th, 1903, in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture and found to be in perfect condition. In February of that year, the Doncaster Fruit Growers Co-operative Company was formed at a public meeting chaired by Mr. Tom Petty at the Atheneum. It had as its objective the buying of space in overseas' steamers for fruit export; the company also established a jam manufactory at Richmond to assist in disposing of the surplus fruit. The export of fruit proved quite a success but the jam factory lost heavily and the company was compelled to close within a couple of years.
In August, 1903, the first approach was made to the Government for the erection of a Cool Store when Mr. Tom Petty moved at a conference of fruit growers that the Government be asked to provide additional cool storage accommodation and to provide space on steamers for overseas' shipments of fruit. At the same meeting, Cr. Sell drew attention to the long delays that were often encountered in consigning fruit by rail to Sydney; "it is not uncommon" he said " for fruit trucks to be shunted off the mail train at Junee Junction and be left standing in the siding for more than 24 hours."
In October, 1904, the Bent administration placed £2,000 on the estimates for the erection of a cool store at Doncaster - the first in the state. At first it was proposed that it should be erected in the tower paddock and, in consequence, the tower would have to be lowered to the first platform. "It wont matter much" said one newspaper, "as few visitors ever dare to climb beyond that point." The trouble was later absolved when Mr. William Stutt offered the Government half an acre behind the Doncaster Hotel. The store, which had capacity for 6,000 cases, was officially opened by Mr. (later Sir) Frank Madden on the 16th March, 1905, and was followed by a very fine banquet given by Mr. Stutt to mark the occasion. The first engineer at the store was Mr. French who was one of Victoria's first refrigeration engineers.
During the year 1906 the Templestowe Shire received an unfortunate setback from which they never fully recovered, when their Shire Secretary and Engineer, Lindsay Russell, defrauded them out of £630, an amount which represented nearly a year's revenue to them. Russell, who resided at Camberwell, was engaged as Shire Secretary on the death of Mr. O'Brien in 1904 and his defalcations commenced almost immediately. He was also Secretary to the Upper Yarra Shire and Engineer to Doncaster and Nunawading Shires etc.
No inkling was received that anything was amiss in the Shire's finances until October, 1906, when Mr. P. S. Franklin, Shire Treasurer, sent in his resignation owing to the unbusinesslike manner in which Russell was keeping the accounts. No meeting could be held for some time owing to Russell's supposed illness and, when one was finally convened on November 26th, it was stated that Russell had given himself up to the police and had admitted stealing large sums from the Templestowe and Upper Yarra Councils.
The Shire President, Cr. Hunter, in moving that Mr. H. J. Price (Shire Secretary, Heidelberg) be appointed Secretary temporarily, said that the Council was fortunate as they could not have a better man to rely on at such a time. Mr. Price, in reply, said: "the first and all important step was to get in every penny they could so as to relieve themselves as soon as possible of their liabilities. It would be necessary to fix up the estimates without delay and give notice of the rate intended to be struck. Their position was most unfortunate but they would have to face it fearlessly and be lenient to no-one." It was decided that they had no option but to strike a rate of 1/6. Mr. J. S. Gillespie, formerly rate collector of Heidelberg, was appointed Shire Secretary in January and Mr. W. P. Skeane, Engineer.
Russell, who was tried on six counts of forgery and embezzlement to the amount of more than £200 from the Upper Yarra Shire and the Lilydale Warburton Railway Trust before Mr. Justice Chomley in the Supreme Court on December 14th, looked troubled and haggard in the dock, and Mr. G. A. Maxwell later remembered as the "Blind Council" - made an eloquent address on his behalf, requesting the judge to treat him as leniently as possible. Mr. Justice Chomley, however, said that the learned counsel had been unable to suggest any valid grounds why the prisoner should be lightly dealt with; in regard to the embezzling he may have been led into it by bad accountancy; but the two acts of forgery, one by changing a cheque from £7 to £97, and the other by changing £1 to £51 could not have been committed without knowledge of the nature of the crime committed. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment.
The death of the Rev. Max Von Schramm in November, 1908, removed an outstanding personality in the early days of Doncaster. His father, Henrich Von Schramm, was a major in the German Army Reserve and a brother won the Iron Cross of valor in the Franco-Prussian War. He came to Australia first in 1852 after spending seven years at sea and in which service he rose to the rank of Mate. At first he tried his luck on the Bathurst Goldfields and, finding no luck, he walked overland to Melbourne and, getting into rather low water, was working in a soap factory at Port Melbourne when he met Mr. Gotleib Thiele, who invited him to come to Doncaster and be their teacher. At first he opened a school in his home, and later opened a school under the National Schools Board. On retiring from the school in 1876, he studied for the Ministry and was Lutheran Pastor until a short time before his death. The Argus paid him a high tribute and stated that he had been a weekly visitor to the Melbourne, Alfred and Childrens' Hospitals for more than 50 years. Another distinguished resident who passed away the same year was Sir Thomas Fitzgerald, who built the well-known property of "Tullamore" (about 1883). He died on board the S.S. "Wyreema" whilst on a sea voyage between Townsville and Cairns. He was born at Tullamore, Ireland, on the 1st August, 1838, and arrived in Melbourne in 1858; he was a surgeon at the Melbourne Hospital for some years and later entered into private practise. He was also honorary consulting surgeon to the Queen Victoria, St. Vincents and Austin Hospitals, and gave distinguished services in the Boer War. At the time of his Knighthood by Queen Victoria in 1897, the Australian Medical Gazette commented as follows :- "It is not too much to say that if a poll was taken of the profession from Port Darwin to Wilson's Promontory and from Auckland to Perth it would have been hard to find a more worthy recipient for the honour than Dr. Thomas Fitzgerald."
The year 1910 commenced with a brush between the Templestowe Council and the local Cricket Club, over the opening of the Recreation Ground which had just previously been purchased by the Club and handed over to the Council. Addressing the Council, the President, Cr. Smith, said the ground had been taken over by the Council in trust for the ratepayers and it was the duty of any club wishing to use the reserve to ask the Council for permission first. The Templestowe Cricket Club had been using the ground without asking any permission, and he understood there had been a little jollification; the Club President had actually taken it upon himself to declare the ground open. He took this as a slight and a slur on the Council and moved that the Secretary write to the Cricket Club requesting them to send in an application for the use of the ground. In formally seconding the motion, Cr. T. H. Petty said it was no fault of the Club that permission had not been asked; the Secretary had been instructed to apply but had evidently omitted to do so; As a match had been arranged with the Warrandyte Club and they could not very well postpone it whilst they awaited an official opening of the ground.
A marked increase in the production of fruit from the years 1906 to 1912 was probably due to the number of new orchards planted at East Doncaster and Templestowe about the turn of the century, and the Government Cool Store proved quite inadequate to the task; almost from the beginning it was increased in size from 6,000 to 10,000 cases about 1907 and was again extended from 10,000 to 20,000 in 1909, when the oil engine was replaced with a suction gas plant and complete new refrigeration machinery was installed at a total cost of £2,226. The additions were again opened by the Premier of the day, the Hon. John Murray Esq. on April 22nd, 1910. The store was purchased from the Government by the growers in 1915 and renamed the Central Cool Stores. It was closed in 1932 owing to the poor prices ruling in the fruit world and the amount of repairs necessary for the machinery.
The Government Cool Store was again proving inadequate even with the improvements, and in May, 1911, the Box Hill Reporter announced that a number of growers had decided to band together and build another cool store; "a site has already been purchased" they said, "and it is hoped to have it ready by the fruit season." The store, which is now known as the West Doncaster Cool Stores, was founded by Messrs. John Tully and John Tom Petty and today has capacity for 40,000 cases. Mr. Albert Tully was Secretary of the company and Mr. H. J. Hilton - the pioneer of the Doncaster Tramway Company - was first refrigeration engineer.
During the years considerable progress had been made to public institutions and transport etc. In 1896 a 2-inch water main was laid from the Surrey Hills Reservoir to the Doncaster Shire Hall which proved extremely useful for domestic purposes. A telephone was established at the Doncaster Post Office in February, 1903, largely through the efforts of the Doncaster Fruit Growers Association who found guarantors to the extent of £65. The calls at first were 3d. a time but were reduced to a 1d. in 1907; the lack of suitable trees to tie the line to prevented its extension to East Doncaster for a number of years, and it was not until 1910 that it was laid to the East Doncaster Post Office which was then at the State School. The same year telephone communications were laid to Matthews Post Office Store near the corner of High Street, Templestowe. In 1907 the E.S. & A. Bank purchased the Old National School and extended it into one of the most up-to-date branches in the district.
In November, 1912, it was announced that Victor Sonenberg, who was running a twice-daily mail service as far as the Doncaster Hotel, intended to operate from East Doncaster to Box Hill 5 times a day, with 3 services on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. Sonenberg was operating a handsom 4-horse wagon which took 45 minutes for the journey, but it was motor transport that was the talk of the day - even electric trams were outdated according to a resolution passed by the Prahran Council in December, 1911. It stated: "that the time has arrived when the present system of electric traction for municipal tramway purposes is almost, if not quite, outdated and that motor buses of the most modern type be substituted."
In December, 1912, the Doncaster people had their first experiences of motor buses when Mr. A. C. Withers ran a motor bus service from Doncaster to the Kew Tram Terminus in conjunction with the Doncaster Progress Association. The service operated for 2 years until it was forced off the road owing to the existence of the first World War. Considerable credit is due to Mr. H. M. De Mole, the local bank manager and secretary to the Progress Association for his untiring efforts to keep this service running.
In December, Sonenberg also announced that he was purchasing a fine new motor bus that would accommodate 26 people, and would make the journey to Box Hill in 15 minutes; he, however, likewise operated it only for a short time and went back to horses during the world war.
The serious financial straits of the Templestowe Shire had rather an amusing prelude in July, 1913, when the President, Cr. Speers, stated that he thought £12 was too much for the Presidential allowance and that as the Council was weak financially, he proposed to donate £2 to be expended on the boundary road between Warrandyte and Lilydale. Cr. F. Tresise took immediate exception, saying: "I do not approve of it, the President has been put to a great deal of expense, £12 is little enough, he is creating a precedent and it is hardly fair." Cr. Hunter: "I second the motion, I think it is a very bad precedent for the President to institute, we all know what his duties are in a Council like this."
The President: "I must decline to accept the motion."
Cr. Hunter: "You will be doing a wrong act if you refuse the motion, the sum of £12 does not pay you for the trouble; the President is out of pocket."
The President: "I beg your pardon, I am not out of pocket, I have a surplus."
Cr. Hunter: "And what about the lost time?"
The President: "I reckon a man ought to be able to put up with that."
Cr. F. McNamara:"It rests with the President, what he does with £2 or £20, but it is not quite right to do it that way."
Cr. W. Sloan: "I am in favour of the motion, but if the President says he wont accept it, then we can't do much about it."
The President: "Well I may accept the motion, but honestly I don't want to.
Cr. McNamar: "Give it to charity."
Cr. Smith: "Give it in a private way, that's what I would do."
The motion was put and carried.
In October, the Templestowe Shire suffered a grievous loss with the death of the Secretary, Mr. J. S. Gillespie. He had rendered sterling service to the Council since his appointment in 1907, and had endeared himself to everyone in Templestowe. Though known to be suffering from an incurable malady, he had discharged his duties with courtesy and efficiency to the last. Speaking to the President's motion of sympathy, Cr. Speers said it was indeed a painful task, "I always thought that with Mr. Gillespie's assistance, we had a chance of getting this Shire on a solid footing."
Mr. W. Thomas, the Doncaster Shire Secretary, was appointed to succeed Mr. Gillespie, but their hopes of getting the Shire on a sound basis were dashed within a couple of years when the Minister for Public Works officially directed that they were to re-unite with the Shire of Doncaster. The end came about in rather a melodramatic fashion.
In April, 1915, Crs. Tully, Zerbe and Clay of the Doncaster Shire were present at a meeting of the Templestowe Shire to discuss a direction from the Public Works Department that the Shire Engineer be paid a fixed salary of at least £100 a year, when a registered letter came to hand from the Hon. F. Hagelthorn, Minister of Public Works, stating that, as the general and extra rates levied by the Templestowe Shire during the 12 months ending September 3rd, 1914, did not yield the sum of £1,500, the Minister intended on the expiry of not less than 3 months from the date given on such notice, to proceed to obtain an order-in-Council, under the ammended Local Government Act 1915 to unite the Templestowe Council to the Shire of Doncaster.
The President, Cr. Sloan: "That's the Shire's death notice."
Cr. Speers: "I welcome it." I have always been in favour of amalgamation."
Cr. Zerbe commented that the matter of amalgamation had been looming on the horizon for some time, personally he thought the Doncaster people would be happy to say to Templestowe "come along with us". "It is a coincidence, he added, that in May next it will be 25 years since the old Bulleen Shire was divided into the Shires of Doncaster and Templestowe."
Cr. Clay disagreed, saying that he preferred home rule for Shires, and he thought that when men were willing to carry out their work they should be left alone. Cr. Tresise of Warrandyte said he was glad they were amalgamating with Doncaster and not another Shire.
The last meeting of the Templestowe Shire took place on 28th September, 1915. No special elections were held until August the following year when Templestowe and Warrandyte became the one riding. It was not until the year 1926 that Warrandyte severed and formed a separate riding.
In November, 1913, much regret was caused by an announcement that the Doncaster tower was unsafe and would have to be demolished, a steady stream of visitors came from the city armed with cameras, while the locals would take lingering glances at the old land mark as they passed in their automobiles. "The Doncaster Hill," said one newspaper, "will be as common place as Bunkers Hill without the tower." A letter was received from Cr. W. H. Hiscock of Kew urging the Doncaster Council to purchase the tower and make a small charge for admission in order to defray the cost of repairs. The Councillors were sympathetic; Cr. John Tully stated that he would be sorry to see such an old land mark removed and it was decided that the President and Secretary would keep a close eye on it with the view of taking prompt action if the occasion arose; unfortunately they were rather thrown off their guard by a statement by the proprietor that he intended to build another tower - bigger, better and 40 feet taller than the other one. By mid-February, 1914, all that remained was a few heaps of rubble and timber. The flag pole was presented to the Shire President, Cr. H. Clay (it now stands at the Doncaster Bowling Green) and an ink stand was made from the timber by Master Petty and presented to Mrs. Hummel in Tasmania and, of course, the new tower never eventuated.
Proposals that Doncaster should instal the electric light were made in May, 1914, but met with a mixed reception though Lilydale and Nunawading Shires had previously decided to proceed with a similar electrical supply scheme. In July of that year, a deputation from the Progress Association and led by Mr. A. F. Thiele waited on the Council, to urge that they proceed with the scheme immediately; they estimated that the overall cost would not be more than £3,000. The Councillors were hesitant and Mr. John Petty suggested that, for the sake of £10 to £20, they should seek expert advice; he was supported by Cr. Zerbe who said that economy had been their watchword for the past 25 years and it was time they became more progressive.
On July 27th plans and specifications for three different projects were placed before the Council by Mr. V. J. Crowley, and Electrical Engineer of Elizabeth Street, City. One plan entailed the erection of a power house and had an overall cost of £4,616; as it was estimated that at least 150 homes would be required to accept the light for it to be a payable proposition, he recommended the second plan which entailed the purchase of the current from the Melbourne Electric Supply Company's point at Koonung Creek. It was estimated that the overall cost of this would be £1,835 and that they would need to borrow £2,000. The project entailed the running of three high tension wires and four low tension wires along Doncaster Road to Blackburn Road. It was proposed to reticulate Doncaster, Blackburn, Anderson Creek, Bismark, Williamson and Elgar Roads and Waldau Lane.
The scheme was provisionally accepted on October 5th, when five guarantors agreed to indemnify the Council against loss for 5 years; in the meantime, however, hostilities had broken out and there was a strong move to postpone the scheme for 12 months. In December it was stated at the Council meeting that they would never have a better opportunity in regard to materials etc. than at the present time; it had also been found that the project could be erected for £1,750 and the loan had been accordingly cut to that amount, the money was borrowed from the Commonwealth Bank at 4½%. A bid by a section of the ratepayers to prevent the project by calling for a referendum failed when only 74 people voted against the proposal.
The contract for the building was let in May, 1915, the entire project being supervised by Mr. Crowley. The scheme was later extended as far as Springvale Road at a cost of a further £1,000. The ceremony of switching the light on took place at Beer's (now White's) Corner at 8.30 p.m. February 9th, 1916. The occasion was not quite as successful as was wished, owing to the adverse state of the weather and the fact that the ceremony was due for the previous evening, but had to be postponed owing to the Melbourne Electric Supply Company being unable to provide the current. Crs. Zerbe, Tully and Speers were present together with a small gathering of spectators who were later entertained at the Shire Hall by the President, Cr. Zerbe. The first Shire electrician was Mr. Frank Wright, who was a part time employee as his services were shared with the Lilydale and Nunawading Electric Supply Authorities.
During the year 1915 the Atheneum was remodelled and enlarged at a cost of £1,000, generously loaned by Mr. Fred Wilson for 5 years, with the option of a further 5 years. Guarantees of £100 each were accepted from Messrs. Clay, May, Zerbe, Sell, Robinson, Lawford, John and Thomas Petty, Barkly and Thiele. In August the same year the hall was offered to the Government for use as a military hospital; a medical report stated that there was need for a better water supply, laundry and septic tank. £100 was promised locally to carry out these alterations but the building was not accepted.
In the meantime, the district was throwing itself wholeheartedly behind the war effort. In September, 1915, Cr. Tully announced that a total of £964 had been collected in the Shire towards the various patriotic charities, including £50 by the Shire of Doncaster; £40. 5. 0 from a special collection at the Lutheran Church and £24 to the Belgian Relief Fund even a crop of oats was planted at the Federal Park Cricket Oval for patriotic purposes.
The presence of a number of German Street names in Doncaster was causing the residents a little embarrassment and a petition led by Mr. Fred Zerbe, and signed by 22 ratepayers, was presented to the Council on February 6th, 1916, requesting the Council to rename Bismark and Wilhelm Streets and Waldau Road and suggesting the following alternatives. Wilhelml St. to become King St., Waldau Rd. to become Queens Ave. and Bismark St. to become Weatherby Road. The petition was allowed to lie on the table for a month and upon it coming up for discussion Cr. Pickering pointed that there was already a Queens Avenue in Doncaster though it hadn't been taken over by the Council, he had spoken to the petitioners and they suggested the name of George Street. In regards to Weatherby Road, he thought it foolish to have it only on one side of the main road. Cr. McNamara inquired after whom Weatherby Road took its name but none of the Councillors had any idea. Cr. Tully then stated that no monarch had been held in higher esteem than Queen Victoria and if that name was given to Bismark Street from the main road it would not clash with Weatherby Road. The alterations were agreed to and carried on the motions of Crs. Pickering and Crouch. Thus Wilhelm Street became King Street, Waldau Road became George Street and Bismark Street became Victoria Street.
The years 1917 and 1918 proved particularly trying on the community owing to the drawnout period of hostilities. The Doncaster Council, on the whole, steered clear of the protracted arguments on conscription which figures rather widely in the debates of neighbouring public bodies - they contended that it was a matter entirely for the Federal authorities. In 1917 the Shire President, Cr. T. H. Petty, enlisted and the Council had difficulty in finding his successor, and things were made worse in November of that year when Mr. W. Thomas resigned as Secretary owing to ill health after 17 years of service with the Shire. Mr. W. A. Webb filled the position temporarily and in December Reginald A. Simmons, Assistant Engineer to the City of Camberwell was accepted from 12 applicants on a salary of £300 a year.
Hostilities ceased at long last in November, 1918, and a large crowd assembled on the hill opposite the Shire Hall to welcome home Ken Graham, the first returned soldier, on November 25th. Several small parties returned but it was not until May, 1919, that the principal body arrived when the following were accorded a rousing welcome :- Lieut. Edgoose and A. E. Ireland, Privates Beer, C. & W. Watts, G. Lloyd and H. Elder. Lieut. Ireland was the only representative from Doncaster to win a commission on the field.
In 1919 the community, though tired after the four weary years of war, had to face still another scourge in the Spanish Influenza Epidemic. On January 31st, 1919, the Box Hill Reporter stated that the scare of pneumonic influenza was rampant in the Eastern suburbs and there were many rumours of a serious outbreak at Box Hill, but there had been few proven cases. Both the Nunawading and Doncaster Councils had taken the precaution of arranging public innoculations at the surgery of their joint health officer, Dr. A. P. Vaughan, in Rutland Road at a fee of 2/6.
At the Doncaster Council Meeting of February 15th, Mr. Simmons told the meeting that he had distributed circulars on the treatment and prevention of the disease throughout the Shire. In regard to the establishing of an emergency hospital the President, Cr. McNamara thought the Council could leave it in the hands of the Secretary and himself if the occasion arose. Cr. Tully disagreed saying that he thought they should act at once. "The Nunawading Council was making arrangements for a hospital at the Showgrounds and if Doncaster desired the use of it they should communicate with Box Hill immediately, otherwise they should take steps to establish one of their own, or else if cases occur we will have no hospital to take them to. People are asking what the Council is going to do and there is a good deal of dissatisfaction. I have asked Dr. Vaughan to inspect the Atheneum and make a report on its suitability as a hospital but so far I have heard nothing" added Cr. Tully.
Cr. McNamara commented that Dr. Vaughan had been so busy with great crowds waiting outside his surgery that he had no chance of coming over to the Atheneum. It was decided to try and obtain assistance for Dr. Vaughan and an emergency sub-committee comprising of the President, Secretary and Cr. Tully was appointed.
At the following meeting Cr. Tully reported that the Health Department had informed him that it was impractical to establish a hospital in the Doncaster Shire as neither the Templestowe State School nor the Atheneum were suitable, but the Education Department had been good enough to place the Mont Albert State School at the disposal of the Nunawading Council for a hospital and he thought it was probable that Doncaster could join with them, but as the epidemic was already on the wane nothing more was heard of Cr. Tully's proposal.
The following August the disease struck Doncaster again, and though it was short-lived it proved to be of a particularly lethal type. The Shire President, announcing with regret the deaths of J. Cashen, Norman Hunts, a little girl belonging to George Cameron, and Ernest Crouch, the resolution of sympathy was carried with the Councillors rising in silence.
Official figures of the epidemic were given by Dr. Vaughan in his health report to the Doncaster Council in April, 1920. It was stated that there had been 109 cases of pneumonic influenza in the Doncaster Shire and 3 had proved fatal. The comparatively limited spread of the disease he attributed to the isolated nature of the housing in the Shire, the healthy condition of the homes, and the ready way the innoculation provided by the Council had been availed of by the residents.
Chapter 8 The Post War Era brings about many Changes
The year 1919 marked the dawn of the new era and Doncaster and Templestowe set about with renewed vigour to try and build the new world which so many had spoken of during the long years of war. Plans were drawn up for a domestic water supply, sanitation, renewal of the motor bus service to Kew, electric light for Templestowe and several others.
In November, 1919, the local growers, in conjunction with the Kew traders, formed the Box Hill - Kew Motor Bus Company and a motor with hard tyres was purchased at a cost of £800. The service operated about 5 times daily to Box Hill and twice to Kew and ran in opposition to the Sonenberg Service to Box Hill. The Templestowe and East Doncaster (Orchardist) Cool Stores were built during the war years and the latter was enlarged to 155,000 cases capacity in 1920, the largest in Victoria outside Melbourne, and the local press had good reason to comment "that the building is now really of striking size." Before the close of the year still another cool store had been erected at the corner of Springvale and Mitcham Roads, later known as the Denvale Cool Store.
The Doncaster Branch of the R.S.S.A.I.L.A. was officially opened on August 8th, 1919, in the presence of General Brand and Sir Robert Best M.H.R. At Templestowe peace celebrations were held in the newly erected cool store in the presence of Mr. W. H. Everard M.L.A. and the Shire President, Cr. Frank McNamara, and plans were made for the building of a Memorial Hall to fill a long felt want for the residents and also to build a memorial column on a suitable site. On the King's Birthday holiday in 1920 more than 800 people attended sports on the recreation ground when it was announced that the committee had £400 in hand for the projects and that £100 had been reserved for the erection of the tablet. It was decided that the most suitable site for the erection of the column would be at the corner of Anderson and James Streets. It was unveiled by Major General Forsyth C.M.G. on December 18th, 1921, in the presence of Chaplin General Tregear, the Shire President, Cr. Harry Clay, and a large number of spectators. The Memorial Hall was built on the site of the Mechanics Institute and was opened by the then Premier, Sir Harry Lawson, on June 22nd, 1922. Sir Harry, in the course of his remarks, paid a tribute to the magnificent public spirit of the people of Templestowe; he also dealt at considerable length with the problems of decentralization, while Mr. Everard, in a short address, spoke of the 13 Templestowe soldiers who would not come back. The overall cost of the building was about £2,500 and an overdraft of about £800 remained at the time of the opening. Other well known residents noticed at the opening were the Shire President, Cr. Clay, the President of the Hall Committee, Cr. F. McNamara, the Secretary, Mr. R. W. Searby, and the Treasurer, Mr. T. H. Pett[y].
The unveiling of the soldiers' memorial additions to the Atheneum Doncaster took place on Anzac Day, 1921, it being the first year that Anzac Day was commemorated; the ceremony was performed by Brig.-Gen. Elliott. The same year, the old Templestowe Shire Hall was removed from its old site at the corner of High and Parker Streets and transported up to the recreation ground to do further service as a pavilion. Several proposals were made during the war years to sell the structure but each time it brought protests from the Templestowe people.
Though things were obviously rolling along at a good steady tempo locally, there were several reminders that things at the other end of the world were far from happy. In January, 1920, the Doncaster Council, at the earnest solicitations of the local Red Cross Society, decided to donate £20 to the Starving Children of Europe Fund and a special collection at the Doncaster Church of Christ realized £14 for the fund.
A comprehensive report of the first 5 years of the Doncaster Electrical Supply Authority ending the 31st March, 1921, showed that the scheme since its inauguration had made a total profit of £156, the total revenue had been £3,246 and the expenditure £3,060. During the year 1920 electrical supply had been reticulated along Anderson Creek and Blackburn Roads and the East Doncaster scheme had been completed along the Springvale Road. Plans had been drawn up for the reticulation of Templestowe at a cost of £4,000; after some difficulty with guarantors the work was finally got under way and was completed early in 1922. In 1921, the Council decided to employ a full time electrician and the position was advertised at a salary of £208 a year. There were more than 30 applicants, the successful one being that of William Hummerston, a returned Anzac of North Williamstown and holder of the French "Medaille Militaire"; he however resigned owing to the fact that he was unable to comply with the Council's requirements re residential qualifications in March, 1922, and Mr. J. H. Day was appointed on the same salary with the right of private practice.
After some years' agitation, the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works undertook to supply Doncaster with water in 1921. The scheme embraced the laying of 9-inch pipes from the O'Shannassy Main at Mitcham to the White Horse Road and 6-inch pipes from there to Doncaster; the 2-inch pipe then running from the Surrey Hills Reservoir was to remain to provide for the needs of the extreme west end of the town. The total distance of piping was 5 miles 43 chains, and of the overall cost of £10,820. Doncaster's share was £9,010. Work on the scheme commenced about the middle of 1922, the water being first flushed through the pipes the following November and the connections to the houses taking place during December and January.
The news of the passing of two of the first line pioneers in the persons of Thomas Petty and Richard Clay in 1923 was received in the town with great regret. Mr. Tom Petty who died on the 22nd January, 1923, aged 77, was known as the father of the fruit industry at Doncaster, he came from England with his mother, Mrs. Jane Petty, at the age of 9 in 1855. He had unbounded faith in the industry and, when others said there was too much fruit grown, he planted more and urged others to plant also. His confidence and energy proved a great factor in making Doncaster one of the leading fruit growing centres of Australia. Besides his valued service to the old Bulleen Shire, he was one of the original trustees of the Atheneum, a position which he held until his death, besides countless other activities. He came from England as a Band of Hope boy and consistently kept the pledge throughout his life.
Richard Clay, who passed away on February 22nd, 1923, at the age of 81 was also an early pioneer of Doncaster. He came from England with his parents about 1851 and to Doncaster about 2 years later, the family residing near Mr. Cameron's garage for many years. Richard Clay was of a modest and retiring personality and was known for his kindly disposition; he took a keen interest in local affairs, though with the exception of a term with the old Templestowe Roads Board, he never aspired to public life. He received rather a severe blow in 1917 when his youngest son, Sergeant Harold Clay, was killed in France and his wife died almost the same week.
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