Thursday 23 July 2020

Postcards of Beaconsfield Upper

Here are some postcards of Beaconsfield Upper (1). The photos may have been taken earlier, but two of the postcards are postmarked 1907 and I believe the cards were most likely produced around this time. The first 15 years or so of the twentieth century were a boom time for postcards - they enabled people to send  a short message involving commercial transactions (see here) or for personal reasons (see here) or to extend seasonal greetings (see here) - the sort of transactions that we would make today with a quick phone call, email or text message.  They were also a source of cheap souvenirs for holiday makers to either keep as a momento or to send to family and friends at home. There is an interesting history of postcards on the Australia Post website, see here.


This is Stoney Creek Road, Beaconsfield. Beaconsfield Upper was originally called Beaconsfield, but gained the 'Upper' due to the establishment of the Beaconsfield Railway Station, which opened December 1, 1879. The settlement which developed around the Station was at one time called Lower Beaconsfield, however when a new Post Office was established there in June 1891, the town around the Station was officially known as Beaconsfield and the town in the hills, Beaconsfield Upper (2).  The town is also referred to as Upper Beaconsfield.  Stoney Creek Road  was once known as the Main Gembrook Road (3) and runs in an arc from the Beaconsfield-Emerald Road, where it returns to a few kilometres north. Stoney Creek is a tributary of the Cardinia Creek.


This is labelled Burke's Road, Beaconsfield. I presume this is Bourke's Creek Road which runs from the Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road at Pakenham Upper and meanders along past the R.J. Chambers  Flora and Fauna Reserve to the Beaconsfield-Emerald Road at Dewhurst, which is north Beaconsfield Upper.  Bourke's Creek is a tributary of the Toomuc Creek.  Bourke's Creek is most likely named for the Bourke family who took up Minton's Run on the Toomuc Creek in 1843 and established the La Trobe Inn, also known as Bourke's Hotel, on the Gippsland Road (now the Princes Highway) around 1850. You can read more about the Bourke family, here.


This area shown in this postcard is known as Charing Cross, a triangular area at the intersection of Beaconsfield-Emerald Road and St Georges Road and Salisbury Road. The image used in this postcard dates from 1898 (4) and shows the General Store. The term Charing Cross comes from the area in London and according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica the name derives from the Old English cerring (“a bend in the road” or “a turn”) and refers either to the nearby great bend in the River Thames or to a bend in the Roman road that ran west from London (5).


The first mention I could find in the newspapers of the term Charing Cross was in 1891, when George Craik (6) wrote to the Shire of Berwick on behalf of  H. J. Williams (7) to erect a verandah on the shop.
South Bourke and Mornington Journal February 4, 1891 



A bucolic scene.


Notes
(1) These are from my own collection -  I was given three as a gift and purchased one of them. You know how it is, we all have to stay home due to Covid 19 and so on-line shopping fills in the time that I used to use for socialising and attending Historical Society activities!
(2) Wilson, Charles W. Upper Beaconsfield: an early history (The Author & the Upper Beaconsfield Association, 2013), p. 44.
(3) Wilson, op.cit., p. 31.
(4) Wilson, op.cit., p. 107, 107
(6) George Craik (1840-1918)  You can read about George on Marianne Rocke's excellent and extensive website, Residents of Upper Beaconsfield,  https://www.upperbeaconsfieldhistory.org.au/   George's entry is here 
(7) H. J. Williams - not sure who this is - Marianne lists a Henry Jabez Williams and a Henry Joseph Williams, but they don't seem to be associated with the store.

Monday 13 July 2020

Country Roads Board Photographs

The Country Roads Board was established in 1913 to maintain major roads in Victoria. Previous to this all roads were the responsibility of the local councils. The Public Records Office has digitised much of the CRB's photographic collection, you can access them here.  In two other posts I shown the Princes Highway photographs (see here) and the South Gippsland Highway photos from this region (see here). This post show four other photos of the area.


400 gallon heaters set up for spraying on the Cockatoo-Gembrook Road, 1931.
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image 30_00259


Road running North from Cockatoo station, 1913.
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image 13_00036


  Brunt's gravel pits near Cranbourne, 1913.
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image 13_00183


Quarry at Tynong opened up by contractor Manrell, Pakenham, 1929.
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image  28_00201

 CRB's photographic collection can be accessed here.  The CRB Princes Highway photographs from this region can be seen here and the South Gippsland Highway photos from this region, here.

South Gippsland Highway - Country Roads Board photographs

The Country Roads Board was established in 1913 to maintain major roads in Victoria. Previous to this all roads were the responsibility of the local councils. The Public Records Office has digitised much of the CRB's photographic collection, you can access them here.  This post shows the South Gippsland Highway photographs from this region; the Princes Highway photos can be seen here.  Other CRB photos of the region can be seen here.


South Gippsland Highway section 1 - maintenance tent: Cranbourne - Dandenong Road, 1914. 
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684  Image  14_00191_B


South Gippsland Highway Section 1 - between Cranbourne and Tooradin - recently reconstructed, 1936.
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684  Image  36_00144


South Gippsland Highway Section 1 - between Cranbourne and Tooradin - recently reconstructed, 1936.
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684  Image  36_00145


South Gippsland Highway Section 1 : between Five Ways and Tooradin, 1945.
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684  Image  45_04174


Bridge across Tooradin Inlet on South Gippsland Highway - Section 1, 1927.
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684  Image 25_00075


Bridge across Tooradin Inlet on South Gippsland Highway - Section 1, 1927.
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684  Image 25_00076


Bridge across Tooradin Inlet on South Gippsland Highway - Section 1, 1927.
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684  Image 25_00077


South Gippsland Highway Section 1 : reconstruction near Koo-Wee-Rup, 1934
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image  34_00103


South Gippsland Highway Section 1 : reconstruction near Koo-Wee-Rup, 1934
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image  34_00104


Timber bridge over main drain at Koo-Wee-Rup - South Gippsland Highway - Section 1, 1913.
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image  13_00177

I don't know what that building is on the left.


South Gippsland Highway - section 1 - Lang Lang River looking upstream with old bridge in background,  1928.
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image  28_00178


Old bridge over Lang Lang River on South Gippsland Highway - section 1,  1927.
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image  25_00072

 CRB's photographic collection can be accessed here.  This post shows the South Gippsland Highway photographs from this region; the Princes Highway photos can be seen here. Other CRB photos of the region can be seen here.

Princes Highway - Country Roads Board photographs

The Country Roads Board was established in 1913 to maintain major roads in Victoria. Previous to this all roads were the responsibility of the local councils. The Public Records Office has digitised much of the CRB's photographic collection, you can access them here.  This post shows the Princes Highway photographs from this region, plus two from Dandenong; the South Gippsland Highway photos can be seen here. Other CRB photos of the region can be seen here.


Main Street, Dandenong, 1913. 
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684  Image 13_00047_A


  Township of Dandenong - market day - Princes Highway East, 1913.
 Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684  Image 13_00158


  Berwick township section East side looking West, 1928.
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image  28_00005

St Andrews Presbyterian, now Uniting Church, is on the left.


  Berwick township section East side looking West, 1928.
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image 28_00005


Junction of Princes Highway East with road to Upper Beaconsfield, 1913.
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image 13_00032_A

This is, of course, Berwick and the Border Hotel / Berwick Inn.


Princes Highway East Section 1 - Cardinia Creek Bridge at Beaconsfield, 1931. 
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image 30_295

The Gippsland Hotel (now the Central Hotel) is on the left.


Princes Highway East Section 1 - between Pakenham and Nar-Nar-Goon, 1918
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image 18_00030


Princes Highway East section 1 - from Tynong Road - base course of granite, 1929.
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684  Image 28_00098


Princes Highway East section 1 - between Garfield and Tynong turn-off: maintenance of granite sand surfacing 1929
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684  Image 28_00100


Bridge over Bunyip River between Bunyip and Drouin : Princes Highway East, 1913
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image 13_00166


Princes Highway East section 1 - bridge over Bunyip River, 1929.
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image 28_00095


Princes Highway East Section 1 : wrecked approach span : Bunyip River Bridge after December floods 1934 : Eastern end
Photographer: Country Roads Board VPRS 17684 Image 34_00084

CRB's photographic collection can be accessed here.  This post shows the Princes Highway photographs from this region, plus two from Dandenong; the South Gippsland Highway photos can be seen hereOther CRB photos of the region can be seen here.