Sherwood Parish Plan showing Benjamin Cox's land holdings - Allotments 32, 33, 40 & 41 (original owner J. Bruce) and Allotment 31 (original owner G.Poole) He also had the Carnmallum Pre Emptive Right
Advertisement for the Devon Meadows land
The Argus, September 17 1913
Click here to see the full advertisement http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article7289816
However a community soon developed. In 1916 the school was established with an enrolment of 46 pupils. Harriet Bury was the first teacher and by 1932 there were three teachers working in the one room, so an extension was added, another extension was added in 1955 and the school was divided into two rooms. In July 1917, the School held a bazaar and social to raise money for the Red Cross. At times, the Mechanics' Institute was leased to provide additional space for students. This Hall was opened on October 1, 1925 on five acres donated by Benjamin Cox. Funds to repay the debt on the Hall were raised by Sports Days, Balls, Bazaars and Exhibitions. The Sherwood Dramatic and Musical Society of Devon Meadows not only entertained the locals but also raised money for Hall. In 1925 a public telephone was erected at the Five Way store. The phone was connected to the Clyde Exchange.
In the 1930s Devon Meadows also had a Horticultural and Agricultural Society, which as we found out in the last post, ran the local flower show.
The Argus, Friday July 26, 1935, p.3
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11751638
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11751638
Devon Meadows has long had a connection to the horticultural industry with the establishment in 1959 of Faceys Nursery by Rex Trimble. In 1971, the Wood family moved Woodlyn Nursery which had been established in Clayton in 1937 to Five Ways. Devon Meadows is also home to the Schruers Vegetable Farm, a major producer of vegetables including leeks, lettuce, celery and endive. Peter Schreurs had started growing vegetables on his 20 acre (8 hectare) farm in Thompsons Road in Cranbourne in 1958. He purchased the 500 acre (202 hectare) Royston Park in Devons Meadows in 1989. With their farms at Devon Meadows, Clyde and Cora Lynn the family grow vegetables on a scale that most of the original Devon Meadows small farmers could only dream of. There are some interesting videos on the history of the Schreurs Farm and also of vegetable production on their website www.leeks.com.au
*Rhoda was interviewed for the book Uncovering Devon Meadows: a collection of local lives. Published by the Devon Meadows Primary School, 1985.
*Rhoda was interviewed for the book Uncovering Devon Meadows: a collection of local lives. Published by the Devon Meadows Primary School, 1985.
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