The Tivendales of Officer

I did  a blog post a while ago on The Vagabond, a journalist who worked in Melbourne in the 1870s and 1880s (read post, here).  The Vagabond was John Stanley James (1843 - 1896) and after a mixed career in England and America he arrived in Melbourne in 1876 and commenced writing in The Argus, under the name of The Vagabond. As I said in the post, additional research has revealed that The Vagabond was more than likely, the father of J.B. Cooper, the author of the The history of Prahran and the History of St Kilda, amongst other works. This family research was undertaken by Julianne Spring, the great grand-daughter of J.B. Cooper. You can read more on this, here. There is a local connection between J.B. Cooper and this area, but first I will tell you something about him..

I believe the accepted story is that John Butler Cooper was born October 3, 1863 to Mary Butler in Melbourne. Mary was born in Ireland and then moved to England where was employed as a servant to a wealthy family. When she fell pregnant, she was sent to Australia to have her child. It  is thought that she added the name Cooper to the child's name to disguise the fact that she was unmarried.  She lived in Melbourne with members of the James' family and later married The Vagabond's uncle, John James. As I said recent research by Julianne Spring points to The Vagabond as the father of the Mary's child.

I went to a talk by Julianne at the Brighton Historical Society and she mentioned that John Butler Cooper had married Susan Tivendale and I immediately wondered if she was connected to the Officer Tivendales (Tivendale Road in Officer is named for the family) and she was, her brother James moved to Officer around 1889.

Susan and James were two of the nine children of James and Janet (nee Skeil) Tivendale. You can read about James and Janet and their family, here. James (the son) married Eliza Stevenson in 1877 and they had four children - George Frederick (1878 - 1965, married Ethel Georgeann Harris in 1908),  Matilda Elizabeth (1879 - 1956), William Thomas (1881-1955, married Rosetta Amelia Mary 'Dot' Harris in 1916) and Ernest Charles (1885-1960, married Florence Marden in 1913).  Ethel and Dot were sisters, the daughters of  Solomon and Rosetta (nee Sparkes) Harris of Beaconsfield Upper. Susan Tivendale and John Butler Cooper married in 1889 and they had six children between 1890 and 1908.

I am not actually sure if John Butler and Susan Cooper ever ventured down to Officer to visit her brother, James, however it is possible as they could easily have taken the train. James could have picked them up at the railway station in the horse and cart and they could have have spent a pleasant time in rural Officer, in the Tivendale house in Bay View Road and, on a clear day, if they climbed up the hill to the top of the road, they may even have viewed the Bay!

If they did visit they may also have had a close encounter with some wild life.  Ernest wrote this letter to Aunt Connie, who authored a children's page in the Weekly Times. The letter was titled Foxes and Snakes and was written on November 20, 1899 - Dear Aunt Connie,— I am returning my collecting card with the amount collected (£1 10s). Am I entitled to a certificate? There has been a lot of rain here lately. The crops are looking very well. Ours will soon be ready to cut. My brother got two foxes out of a burrow, and my father killed three snakes one day. He sees a snake nearly every day. Your affectionate nephew,— Ernest Charles Tivendale. (Yes, Ernest, and you well deserve one.—
Aunt Connie.)

Ernest Tivendale's letter to Aunt Connie of the Weekly Times

Weekly Times December 9, 1899.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222521297

Back to James - James is first listed in the Shire of Berwick Rate Books in 1889/1890 - he is a brick maker and he has a house and 10 acres in Lot 8, Section D, Officer's sub-division. James was one of five brick makers in Officer at the time.

In the 1880's the building trade was booming in Melbourne, and as suitable clay for bricks was found at Officer, a number of brick yards commenced business. At one period five were making bricks. they were Fry's om Starling Road; Holt's, near the Railway Station; Morey's, where the Tile Works are now; Reece's, where Whiteside's Orchard is ; and Tivendale's near where Hick's Pipe Works are. These are now gone, and no bricks are made in Officer.  (From Bullock Tracks to Bitumen: a brief history of the Shire of Berwick published by the Historical Society of the Berwick Shire, 1962) Most of the brick works closed in the 1890s due to the depression and the subsequent downturn in the building industry.

The Tivendale brick works was one of the brick works which did not survive and by 1897 the Rate Books list James as a farmer - he had 40 acres, Lots 5,6,8 & 10, Section D, Officer's sub-division. Where is this land? I am not exactly sure as I cannot find a Parish Plan with that sub-division on it, however the extract, above, from From Bullock Tracks to Bitumen locates Tivendales 'near where Hick's Pipe Works are', which is just to the west of Bayview Road. Hick's kiln and some  structures still remain at 335 Princes Highway in Officer, it has a  Heritage overlay (read this here)  but it is living a precarious existence surrounded by development.

James and Eliza left Officer in 1918 according to this report in the Pakenham Gazette -  Mr James Tivendale, an old resident of the district, is leaving next week, with his wife and daughter, to live in Mornington, his son Mr E. Tivendale having taken over the farm. (Pakenham Gazette, April 19, 1918) James died on November 20, 1921 aged 70 and Eliza died on October 2, 1942, aged 89.

The son who took over the farm was William and his brother, George, had a store at Officer. It was in the 1917/1918 Shire of Berwick Rate Books that George was first listed as a store keeper, but he had  a store as early as 1916 as he was listed as an agent for the South Bourke and Mornington Journal in May 1916. The Pakenham Gazette of June 1, 1917 reported that Messrs Tivendale and Adams, the local storekeepers, are arranging to erect new premises, a step necessitated by their expanding business. 

George Tivendale's store at Officer - his children are in front of the store.

Image is from North of the Line: a pictorial record, published by the Berwick Pakenham Historical Society in 1996. Image has been cropped.

In 1936, the Dandenong Journal of  January 16 - had this report on George Tivendale's store -
Mr. G. F. Tivendale has leased his grocery business for a term to Mr. S. A. Robinson, of Pakenham, who took over the business on January 4. Mr. Tivendale has been in business in Officer for over 20 years, and has seen many changes in its history. The original store was a small building near the site of Mr. Rudge's home. As the business improved, an enlargement was necessary, and the present corner site was wisely secured by Mr. Tivendale. Last year the store was enlarged again, and electric light was installed. The 'present corner site' was on the west side of the Princes Highway and  Tivendale Road.  Stanley Robinson, who took over George Tivendale's store, had operated a grocery store in Pakenham from 1925 - you can read about the Robinson family and their Pakenham grocery stores, here.

The Tivendales were involved in the Officer community over the years, such as the Officer Union Church where George Tivendale was one of the original Trustees. The Church was officially opened in December 20, 1929. Penny Harris Jennings,  the great niece of both Ethel Tivendale and Dot Tivendale, and the grand-daughter of their brother, Claud, has written a short history of the Officer Union Church, you can read it in the Beaconsfield Banner, here. (Penny's article is starts on page 13)

As this is not meant to be a comprehensive history of the Tivendale family, this is where we will leave them. I have created a list of articles and family notices connected to the Tivendale family on Trove, you can access it here.

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Fraser's Hotel at Pakenham

Michael Kelly established a hotel in Pakenham, on the west side of the Toomuc Creek in 1869. From 1881, the hotel was operated by Eliza and Alexander Fraser.

We can find out something about the Frasers from a Licence renewal hearing that took place in December 1882 at the Berwick Court and was reported in the South Bourke and Mornington Journal on December 13, 1882.  Mrs Fraser had applied for the renewal of her licence for her hotel and billiard table. This was opposed by Sergeant McWilliams on the grounds that her house was so badly kept that it disturbed the quiet of the neighborhood, and that she had got a husband living with her, therefore was not a responsible person to hold a publicans' license, as she might be called away by her husband at any moment. She had also been fined for Sunday trading. Her hearing was postponed until January 5, 1883 and this was also reported in the South Bourke and Mornington Journal of January 10, 1883.  At this hearing, Sergeant McWilliams said that the problems at the hotel were getting worse and that two months ago there was a drunken man lying outside covered with blood, apparently having been in a fight. Mrs. Fraser interfered, when Mr Fraser kicked her and gave her a blow in the face. 

The Sergeant went on to give other evidence against Mrs Fraser - Some time ago, about 17th May, 1882, he was on duty in Berwick about nine or ten o'clock, when he was met by Mrs. Fraser in a great state of excitement, who rushed into his arms, exclaiming that she had run away from her husband, as she thought he was going to kill her. At his persuasions, on that occasion, she, after some trouble, returned home. Shortly after that she telegraphed down for the witness to come up to her hotel for the purpose of protecting her against the cruelties of her husband, which witness did. Afterwards she took out a summons before Mr. F. Call in Melbourne, binding her husband over to keep the peace towards her. He also said the outside buildings were in a very dilapidated condition, and what with its being surrounded by pigs and geese and other animals, it was in a most disgusting and beastly state.

Mrs Fraser's lawyer, Mr Gillott, appeared for her and answered some of the allegations and that she was dependent on the profits of the hotel for the support of herself and three children. Other information presented  about Mrs Fraser included  She had held a publican's licence for thirteen years; eleven years in Melbourne at the Inverness, Royal George, and Kirks Bazaar Hotels. There were twelve rooms in the Pakenham Hotel - Michael Kelly, the owner of the hotel, sworn, stated that if the license was granted he was prepared to put the hotel in proper order. The house had been continually licensed for the last fourteen years. The present applicant had been in it since 15th September 1881.  

Mr. Gillott made an able address, and after joining issue on all of the objections that had been raised, said the only tenable one was her unsatisfactory marital relations with her husband which was not
misconduct on her part but her misfortune for which she should not be deprived of her only source of livelihood and thrown upon the world with only a few sticks of furniture to sell to enable her to commence life afresh. The Court granted her licence to keep the hotel for another year on the condition that it was better conducted and the building put in order. For some reason  the licence for the billiard table was not granted. The next few years the licence was renewed without an issue and at a hearing in June 1886, the licence was formally transferred from Alexander's name to Eliza's name.

Fraser's Hotel was part of allotment 1 & 2, Section 2, to the left (or west) of the Toomuc Creek. You can see Bourke's La Trobe Inn (also called Bourke's Hotel) on the other side of the creek.

The Township of Pakenham, County of Mornington. H. Permein, Assist. Surveyor ; lithographed at the Public Lands Office, Melbourne, April 22nd, 1858 by T. Ham. Victoria. Public Lands Office

State Library of Victoria - see the full map here -  http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/100195

Eliza Fraser (nee Mulcahy) died July 31, 1890 at the age of 43. Her Will lists her property - that piece of land at Pakenham being part of allotment 1& 2, Section 2, Parish of Pakenham on which is erected a weather-board house containing seven rooms, and kitchen and bedrooms detached containing 3 rooms and the said land containing one acre. Also all that piece or parcel of land situate at Pakenham containing half acre or thereabouts. The value of the land was £890 and the total estate including personal property was valued at £915. The Estate was left to her three sons -  John James Ward, Arthur Ward and Alexander Fraser. Eliza had married Arthur Ward in 1869 and he died May 26, 1874. She married Alexander Fraser in 1878 - the year they moved to Pakenham - more of which below.  Her executors were her son, John James Ward, Patrick Kennedy and John Dwyer.

John Dwyer took over as licensee of the hotel after Eliza’s death, according to a Berwick Licensing Court hearing, held on December 5, 1890.  The 1889/1890 Rate books list Eliza as the owner of the hotel, for some reasons in the previous three years she is not listed and in 1885/1886 she listed as renting the building from Michael Kelly, which means it was sometime in that date range that she purchased the building from Mr Kelly.  I am unsure what happened after that - a property was listed in Eliza Fraser's name (either as Estate of or Executors of) up to the 1894/1895 Rate books, the address being Lot 1 Staughtons sub-division - I think that is possibly 'the parcel of land situate in Pakenham' that was listed in the Will, and not the Hotel. The 1895/1896 Rate Books has this property listed as being owned by Mrs F. Allen, occupation Housekeeper. In the 1897/1898 Rates her occupation has been gentrified to 'Lady' - she has the property up to 1905, but that's as far as I went looking.  I cannot find John Dwyer listed in the Rate Books, so I have no information about other owners of the hotel property or the fate of the building.

Before we finish up we will have a look at  Eliza's children - her first son, John James Ward,  was born 1872 in Ballarat. He married Ellen Gertrude Rice in 1891 and, sadly, died  April 12 1893 in his 21st year. Ellen applied for Probate on July 21, 1893 and  the following information was listed - he was a grocer from Pakenham and they had two children - Bernard - 18 months old and John James - 2 months old. Ellen was living in Cowwar at the time.

John's death notice

The Age April 13, 1893

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193441926

Eliza's middle son, Arthur Ward, was born in 1874 in Ballarat. Arthur enlisted in the First World War, on November 19, 1915 at the age of 42 (Service number 20154).  His address was a miner and he lived at Donnybrook in Western Australia. Arthur Died of Wounds on April 17, 1918. His Next of Kin was his sister-in-law, Ellen Hawes of Cowwarr. Ellen had married Edgar Hawes in 1897. Arthur is listed on the Honor Board at St Patrick's Catholic School in Pakenham, see here.  There is more information on the St Patrick's Honor Board and other Great War Memorials in the Pakenham District on Patrick Ferry's website - A Century After the Guns Fell Silent Remembering the Pakenham District's WWI Diggers 1914-1918 http://www.pakenhamww1.com

Reference to Arthur Ward's death - 'native of Pakenham' - buried at Vignacourt in France

Commonwealth War Graves Commission; London, United Kingdom; The War Graves Of The British Empire, Hem Farm, Hem-Monacu Suzanne Communal, Suzanne Military, Herbecourt British, Frise Communal, France. 

www.ancestry.com.au

Death notice of Ellen - John's wife and Arthur's sister -in-law

The Argus November 15, 1955

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71780185

Eliza's last son, Alexander Fraser,  was born in  Pakenham in 1879. This means that the Frasers were in Pakenham at least two years before they took over the licence of the Hotel in 1881, so I did some more research and found an article about an Insolvency case brought against Alexander Fraser, farmer, of Pakenham. The article tell us that Alexander and Eliza had purchased 165 acres each in June 1878 and that my wife was possessed of and carried on business in the Royal George Hotel, Elizabeth street - so this confirms that this couple are the same ones that held the hotel licence. You can read the full report, here, in The Herald, June 9, 1880. I presume Alexander being declared bankrupt was the catalyst for Eliza Fraser going back into the hotel business. I don't know what happened to Alexander Fraser - either the father or the son -  in the end.

I have created a list of newspaper articles on Trove on Eliza Fraser and her hotel and family, you can access it here.

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Ordiyal Estate at Clyde.

The Ordiyal Estate at Clyde was located at in the Parish of Sherwood - Sections 8 and 19, part sections 9, 10, 11 and 12 and Portions 47, 48 and 49 - all up just over 2,469 acres. It has connections to two notable names connected to the history of Victoria.

The land was originally part of John Bakewell's holdings. John Bakewell was a member of the influential partnership of Mickle, Bakewell and Lyall who arrived in the Western Port area in 1851. John Mickle (1814 - 1885) and John Bakewell (1807 - 1888) were business partners in Melbourne from 1847 and they were soon joined by William Lyall (1821 - 1888) whose sister Margaret was the wife of John Mickle.  In 1851 they acquired the Yallock Run (based on the Yallock Creek, south of Koo Wee Rup). In 1852 they acquired the Tooradin run and in 1854 they acquired the Great Swamp run and at one stage they occupied nearly all the land from Cranbourne to Lang Lang.

After Government land sales in 1856 the trio subdivided their jointly owned land. Bakewell’s portion included Tooradin, Tobin Yallock, the Bluff and Warrook on the Yallock Creek. Mickle received the Upper Yallock blocks which he renamed Monomeith. Lyall received the Yallock pre-emptive right and the remaining land. William and Annabella Lyall built Harewood house in the 1850s and the property remained in the Lyall family until 1967. John Bakewell died in England in 1888.

In the 1860s Bakewell leased out his properties - the Ordiyal property, also called Oordiyalyal (and listed as Cordigalgal by Niel Gunson in The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire) was taken up by W.S. Cox, who is the first notable name to own the property. Dr Gunson says that in October 1877, Cox purchased the land. W. S. Cox was William Samuel Cox (1831-1895). He was a racehorse owner, established the Moonee Valley racecourse in 1882 and is the namesake for the Cox Plate horse race. The race was established in 1922 and  is a race for three year old thoroughbreds. It was originally run over 9 and a half furlongs or 2,090 yards and is now 2,040 metres. The Racing Victoria website says that Cox took pains to ensure that the racing was honest and to offer sufficient prizemoney to attract a good class of horse. He also had a flair for timing, and he secured an October meeting on the Saturday before the VRC Derby, which remains today as the meeting at which the Cox Plate and Moonee Valley Cup are run. Today, the Cox plate is the second richest race after the Melbourne Cup.

The first mention I can find in the papers of William Cox at the property was in The Weekly Times of August 17, 1877 Having seen one or two winners by Chieftain at Benalla and Deniliquin, it is evident that he imparts the family characteristics to his stock. He should have a most successful season at Oordiyalyal, near Cranbourne, where Mr. Cox has placed him at the service of the public at the low figure of 5 guineas.  

In 1883, Cox put Oordiyalyal as he called it, up for sale, along with his Sherwood Forest estate, which adjoined it to the south. The State Library of Victoria has a  plan of the properties

Plan of Oordiyalyal and Sherwood Forest Estates, 1883

State Library of Victoria

Click on this link if you wish to see an enlarged version of the plan http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/293703

I assume it was at this sale that Robert Chirnside (1830 - 1902) the second notable name connected to Ordiyal,  purchased the property.  Robert Chirnside was the nephew of Thomas Chirnside (1815 - 1887) and Andrew Chirnside (1818-1890).  Thomas had arrived in Australia in 1839, and Andrew the next year and they prospered and acquired various farming properties and their wealth was showcased by the construction of the grand mansion, Werribee Park, from 1873 which was completed late 1877 or early 1878. Robert was the son of Peter and Margaret (nee Bell) Chirnside and he arrived in Australian in 1857 to manage the Werribee run for his uncle Thomas. 

Werribee Park mansion built by brothers Thomas and Andrew Chirnside in the 1870s. 

South East View of Werribee Park Mansion. (The Property of T. and A. Chirnside, Esqs.), 1880. Photographer: Fred Kruger. 

State Library of Victoria Image H24834

In 1868, Robert married Margaret Forbes, whose grandfather was the Reverend James Clow (1790 - 1861).  Clow was a Presbyterian Minister, the first one in Victoria, who arrived in Melbourne in 1837 and had land and a house on the corner of Lonsdale and Swanston Street. Clow took up the Tirhatuan Run in August 1838. This run takes in parts of modern day Dandenong, Endeavour Hills and Narre Warren  North, and he built  a homestead, just north of what is now Wellington Road, Rowville.  Clow Street in Dandenong is named after him.  Robert was the first cousin of Andrew Chirnside (1855 - 1834) the son of the Andrew Chirnside, mentioned above. Andrew Jnr was married to Winifred Sumner and they owned Edrington at Berwick. The couple both died within three months of each other in 1934 and Edrington passed to Lady Casey and her brother, Colonel Rupert Ryan, niece and nephew of Winifred. Read more on Edrington, here.

Back to Robert Chirnside, he had extensive land holdings apart from Ordiyal. He owned and lived at Mount Rothwell at Little River and he also had Weering, Mowyong and Green Meadows. We know this because in 1886 he put the entire estate up lease for five years, as he was visiting Europe. Weering of 11,172 acres was advertised as being available as a stand alone property, but Little River, Mowying, Green Meadows and Ordiyal were to be let as  a whole - 16, 838 acres, the advertisement said that It has been decided to let these properties as a whole, because they are found to work so well together. The Ordiyal property had a three-roomed cottage, kitchen and bedroom and was described as a fine summer country, and carries a large number of stock, Mr. Chirnside having had 7000 sheep on it from December until the end of April this year, and it carried them well. (Leader October 23, 1886)

Advertisement for the sale of Ordiyal in 1902

The Leader November 15, 1902

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196586997

Robert Chirnside died on May 3, 1902 and left an estate of  £83,000. The Geelong Advertiser said he was apparently not as wealthy a man as many people expected. The weight of expectation in being a Chirnside! In November 1902 Ordiyal, listed as 2, 469 acres was for sale. It obviously did not sell as in January 1904 it was advertised for lease. In January 1906 it was listed for sale again, by the Trustees in the estate of the late Robert Chirnside - 

This estate comprises several hundred acres of rich black flats, running from the homestead down towards the railway line. It is all maiden country which has not been cultivated for a number of years, and has been used as a sheep run for a very long time, and is now in good heart. The situation is one of the best. The Great Southern line divides the property which runs right down to the Clyde railway station. The improvements consist of a good W.B house and stable. 

The property did not sell this time either and it wasn't until June 1909 that it could be reported that the Sale on behalf of behalf of Mr. Peter Chirnside, of Mount Rothwell, Little River, his Ordiyal Estate, Cranbourne, containing 2,500 acres to Messrs. Hagelthorn and Keenan. (The Argus June 2, 1909) Peter was the third of Robert and Margaret's ten children. Hagelthorn and Keenan quickly moved the property on as The Age reported on July 22, 1909 that Messrs. G. Power and Co. (Frank Boileau, auctioneer), Bourke-street (in conjunction with Messrs. Edwin Eagland and Co. Drouin), report the recent sale of 1200 acres and 248 acres of the Ordiyal Estate, Clyde, purchased in June last by Hagelthorn and Keenan from Peter Chirnside, to W. V. Bailey, or Garden House, Malvern, and Thomas Twyford, of Clyde, respectively, for close on £9500. It is Mr. Bailey's intention to improve his 1200 acres, and submit it to public auction, in small farms in the near future. The remaining 1000 acres of the Ordiyal Estate are under offer to northern and local buyers.

As this is when Ordiyal was sub-divided, then this is where we will leave the history of the property, apart from an explanation of the name.  On December 6, 1932 The Argus reported on a a scout camp at Gilwell Park in Gembrook - The camp will be known as the Lone "Oordiyalyal" a name new to scouting, but familiar to some of the Victorian aboriginals as a term for the "gathering of the tribes." 

Sources:
The information about the Chirnside family comes from Wool past the Winning Post: A history of the Chirnside family by Heather Ronald (Landvale Enterprises, 1978) Mrs Ronald (nee Lambert) and her husband Peter lived at Pakenham at Koo Man Goo Nong; P.B. Ronald Reserve is named after Mr Ronald, who was  local Councillor. Mrs Ronald's mother, Violet Lambert (nee Barry)  has the distinction of being  the first woman in Victoria to be elected a Shire Councillor, when she stood for the Shire of Fern Tree Gully in 1931. There is some information on the Barry family, who lived at Lysterfield, here.

I have created a list of newspaper articles on the Ordiyal property at Clyde on Trove, it can be accessed here. All the articles referenced here are on the list.

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