My father was Hedley Mundy and was born in Templestowe. His father Henry Arthur had the orchard called “Glendessary” which was on the land bordering Porter Street, Smith Road and Oliver Road. The house was halfway along Smiths Road. Hedley lived there until he was around six years old, he had by this time two younger sisters. They then shifted to a property called “Stella Park” which was situated on the Main Road near the junction of Church Road behind the cypress hedge which is still there. The original track which went up to the big white weatherboard house is now called Reed Street.
Hedley helped his father establish the orchard which went almost to the Yarra River over the years. He met and married my mother Alma Smith, whose father Robert was one of the family of Smiths that lived in the “Smith house” Sunnyside farm in Templestowe, the house is still there. Alma came from Warrandyte, Robert having an orchard in Tyndalls Road. The house called “Fernhive” burnt in the bushfires in 1939.
Hedley‘s father had purchased land at Steels Creek and it was here that Hedley and Elma lived and where I was born. He ran a dairy farm and raised calves. Hedley was told it was to be his property but the orchard was taken over by Robert, Hedley’s younger brother. When I was two years of age, the property was sold by my grandfather so Dad was not happy - no cows, no income, no house.
We then moved to Clifton Hill into a shop where we lived for around 11 years. Dad joined the Air Force in World War II and was away for around 4½ years. As supplies were hard to get, mum and I went to live in East Ivanhoe until Dad was discharged. For two years, he rode an old bicycle to Templestowe to work in the orchard for his brother Robert. Of course it was “Stella Park” which he had helped get established as a young man. He had done a full circle back to East Templestowe!
One evening he came home to East Ivanhoe in an old chev truck which he purchased from George McGahy in Manningham Road. I was disgusted, what would the neighbours think? I was 13 years old and a snob (I think).
The next weekend Mum and I had to get into the old truck which didn’t have any doors but had cabinets and canvas blinds that rolled down. How humiliating! I sat on the floor so none of my friends could see me. We drove along The Eyrie Road past the “The Righi” where all the large homes with tennis courts and swimming pools were. One even had a T-model Ford car that I had admired. These homes were on acre lots and owned by pretty wealthy factory owners.
We drove out to Templestowe to see where we were going to live, past the Templestowe hotel and on up to Mullens the blacksmith, Keep’s general store, turned right to the state school then left into Foote Street (this road only turned right to Thompsons Road many years later). It was a graded gravel road just to the Christ Church, Church of England where the Mundy family had attended local weddings and christening over many years. There Foote Street ended (now Glendale Avenue). Dad then drove down the hill towards the cemetery. No road, just lots of gutters and grass as you drove slowly along until we came to the land Dad had bought and where I was to live.
I was horrified, there wasn’t even a house let alone a road. The road only came up from Church Road to just near the cemetery gate in Foote Street. No water or electricity.
Dad had purchased the land of 10 acres from Victor Smith as he was moving to Warragul. Bob, Dad‘s brother had also purchased 10 acres next to us to plant up peaches. We were to live next to the cemetery which was mainly bushland and lots of long grass and snakes. That was my initiation to living in Templestowe at the impressionable age of 13.
Dad and my uncle Norm built a shed of asbestos sheeting with a lean-to and drop toilet alongside. The lean-to also had a copper and cement trough and which we used as a bathroom. The shed was built in Dad‘s spare time and we lived in it for around 3½ years - no privacy, no electricity and just a tank for water. As building materials were hard to get, it was quite a while before the chicken sheds were built and Dad established a poultry farm - which incidentally he knew nothing about.
In the meantime, he approached the council to get the road graded, also the electricity bought together with the poles to our block of land. The water was extended up from Church Road. Dad read lots of articles and books about his new venture as a poultry farmer.
Williamson Road ended at Serpells Road. Fitzsimonds Lane ended at the main road. They didn’t join up until many years later when the Smith land was sold for subdivision.
During this time am I’m not sure the old bridge was built over the Yarra River or if the punt was still in use to cross into Lower Plenty. The concrete bridge was constructed around 58 years ago and we went to the opening. Dad said he was around eight years old when it was first talked about.
It was during this time of my life that I started to work at the Queensland Insurance Company in William Street as a stenographic typist and bookkeeper. I used to ride my bike to the blacksmiths and Jack Mullens would take my bike into his shop while I caught the bus into the city. The Withers bus driver knew who his passengers were each day and would always wait for the passengers if they were running a bit late. One mother was always late, she lived alongside the Templestowe Memorial Hall and had a tribe of little ones. She was a doctor of something at Melbourne Uni and regularly caught the bus with a baby and two under school ages. The older three would wait at the gate near Riddles shop to stop the bus while mum was laden with various bags. Baby came running down the hill and fall into the bus, two littlies still in pyjamas would get into their clothes, eat their breakfast, while mum changed and dressed the baby, before she left the bus near Carlton where she walked to the uni. No doubt the older ones got to school nearby. I often wondered why she wasn’t happier being just a mum? Perhaps she liked studying or was a lecturer? Bus drivers were very obliging in those days.
Dances were held in the local hall each month. Families attended in mass, great suppers in the supper room and a live band. Don Blackie was drummer, pianist Jeff Horton, a saxophonist. Sometimes Cliff Tully played the piano and his daughter Eunice sang. They lived in Williamsons Road. Three balls were also held at the Athenaeum Hall in Doncaster. Two shillings for a dance, two shillings and sixpence per person for the Balls. Hot suppers were included, great fun and well attended. Funds to RSL, footballers, Box Hill Hospital.
A number of funerals were being held each week in the cemetery. Dad was called on to be the gravedigger (by hand) and snake killer for people who visited their graves at times. The snakes lived under the tombstones in summer and would come out and lie in the sun. They also used to visit the poultry farm pens in search of water. Mum kept long sticks at doorways and gates and was not afraid to use them. She was a country girl.
We had a prolific fruit and veggie garden and were self-sufficient. Cows provided milk, cream, butter. Chooks eggs for baking and cooking, with roast chicken regularly when they looked a bit crook. Mum made jams, chutney and pickles as well as preserving the fruit in season. Of course, veggies of all descriptions, we really wanted for nothing. Even potatoes peelings planted which gave us lots of potatoes each year.
Dad became secretary of the cemetery before the trust was formed with Perc Chivers, Ray Hanke, Don Mitchell, Alex Clay. Funerals were getting quite common as Heidelberg and Lilydale Cemeteries were full and closed. The cemetery was enlarged, bush area was cleared and machinery bought to dig the graves. The trustee saved money and spent it on lots of upgrades and improvements over the years. Dad was on the trust up until he died at 80 years of age and is buried there as well as the two generations before him.
Dad played football as a young man before he married and cricket until later as well. He also built the Sunday School building at the Church of England where he was an elder. He was quite the go-to man for repairs, painting and renovations in the district.
Foote Street started at the school on the western end and finished at Church Road until Perc Chivers and Bill Reid sold their properties. The road now called Reynolds Road was developed right through to Andersons Creek Road as properties sold and land acquired for the road. Foote Street was extended west from the school to Thompsons Road later on.
My parents would be most surprised to see the amount of traffic and the size of the road in Foote Street now. I remember when it was just a goat track.
When the bridge was built across the Yarra to Eltham, I took Dad to the opening. He said it had been talked about when he was around eight years old. A boat had been used for years, and took some time to cross. His eggs were delivered to Eltham.
As age and health problems developed, Dad sold the poultry farm and moved to Bulleen. Alma passed away at the age of 56. The old weatherboard Church of England that was on the corner of Foote Street and Glendale Avenue was bought for one dollar by Graham Cock who transported it to Bonds Road, opposite Odyssey house. His parents had a farm there and it was established and renovated and is now run as the “Vine and Branches” centre. I have visited it and it looks lovely and very happy to be of use to the community.
I have certainly seen a lot of changes in Templestowe in my lifetime. The War Memorial was originally at the T-intersection near Jack Mullens’ blacksmith shop. The model brass cannon on the step was stolen many years ago and the memorial was shifted to the park on the corner of Foot Street and High Street where ANZAC services are now held. The cannon was never recovered.
In the retirement village in Fitzsimons Road is a billabong that aboriginals camped (opposite the football ground). The punt across the river was at Bonds Road, Lower Plenty near the bridge and boats were rowed across the river to Eltham (Fitzsimons Lane).
Great grandparents the Mundys were licensees of Finns pub before moving to Church Road (north of the cemetery). Templestowe Cool Store was on site of petrol station (west side of Fitzsimons Road). Smith house was called “Sunnyside Farm”. One of the Smith boys had a butcher shop on corner down from the Uniting Church - John or James?
I really just lived in Templestowe for six years as I married Harry Crouch in 1953 and moved to Williamsons Road in Doncaster.
Source: June Crouch - Recollections of my early life in Templestowe. At our General Meeting 5 April 2026, long-time Doncaster and Templestowe resident June Crouch gave a talk on her recollections of her early life In Templestowe. Transcribed notes reprinted in DTHS Newsletter 2026-03
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