Mobile Library at Cockatoo by Marcia Holdsworth

A few years ago, Marcia wrote down her memories of  Library Services at Cockatoo, and so they don't get lost from our history I thought we would share them in this blog.

Before 1983, the Dandenong Valley Regional Library Service (DVRLS) Mobile library, a Bedford Bus, used to visit Cockatoo once a fortnight for a few hours. It parked in the car park at the top of McBride Street, above the shops.  The staff used a Telxon device to record loans and the data was then downloaded via the telephone back at the Pakenham library.

The Bedford Bus Mobile Library

After the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 DVRLS set up a joint-use Community Library in an area of the Cockatoo Primary School library. It opened around May of that year and Marcia Holdsworth was appointed Officer in Charge in the October. The Library initially opened to the general public Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning. The cost effectiveness of the Community Library was re-assessed in 1992 and after negotiations with the School it was decided to phase out the service and re-introduce a Mobile Library Service.

Thus in January 1993 the Mobile timetable was expanded to include a stop at Cockatoo. The mobile had been recently upgraded to a brand new semi-trailer mobile provided by the then Pakenham Shire. It now parked at the Cockatoo Kindergarten/Bowling green car park in McBride Street. The new vehicle visited every Thursday afternoon until 7.30pm and with the extended hours the circulation increased. The Mobile Library still visits Cockatoo every Thursday from 2.15pm to 6.00pm.

The Cockatoo Library

The only other photo we have of the Cockatoo Library,  sadly, it's fairly ordinary. It was taken by the Shire of Pakenham in the 1980s.

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Mobile Library towns - back in time

Casey Cardinia Library Corporation (CCLC)  has a Mobile Library which services various towns throughout the Cardinia Shire.   If you aren't  a regular Mobile Library user but happen to be meandering around the country side then you should pop in and take a look if you see it stopped and open for business. The Mobile has a good collection of  items - books, DVDs, CDs, magazines etc - you just use your regular CCLC membership card.  Click here to access the timetable. If you want to read about the history of Mobile Library services in the region, click here.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look back in time, at the towns where the Mobile Library stops.

On Monday, it stops at Bunyip, Garfield and Tynong.

Bunyip - Main Street,  1908.

Photograph: Call of the Bunyip by Denise Nest.

Garfield - Looking down Main Street, 1910.

Photograph: North of the line: a pictorial record

Tynong - Looking west

Photograph: North of the line: a pictorial record

On Tuesday, it stops at Beaconsfield Upper and Gembrook.

Beaconsfield Upper - Wilson's store

Photograph: Upper Beaconsfield: an early history by Charles Wilson

Gembrook - Walker's Store

Photograph: North of the line:  a pictorial record

On Wednesday,  it stops at Beaconsfield.

Beaconsfield - Woods Street

Photograph: Beaconsfield History Group

On Thursday, it stops at Maryknoll and Cockatoo.

Maryknoll - Post Office and General Store, 1969.

Photograph: Maryknoll: history of a Catholic Rural Settlement by Gael White (2002)

Cockatoo - Fairbridge's store

Photograph: North of the line:  a pictorial record

On Friday, it stops at Lang Lang and Koo-Wee-Rup. 

Lang Lang - Main Street

Photograph: Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp Historical Society collection

Koo-Wee-Rup - Rossiter Road, 1923

Photograph: Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp Historical Society collection.

On Saturday, it's back to Bunyip.

Bunyip - Pearson and Company store, c. 1905.

Photograph: Call of the Bunyip by Denise Nest

If this has inspired you to visit the Mobile Library then click here for the link to the time table. 

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Guest Houses : Rose Series post cards

Staying at a Guest House in the hills was once a popular holiday activity. The Rose Stereograph Co. produced many post cards of Guest Houses, here are some from our region, taken from the 1920s to around 1954. These post cards are part of  the State Library of Victoria collection and are available on their website www.slv.vic.gov.au.

Beaconsfield Upper - Salisbury House  Guest House

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2099

Beaconsfield Upper - Runnymede Guest House

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/6081

Cockatoo - Eastgate Guest House

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/422

  Emerald - Avonsleigh House

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/4108

Emerald - Emerald House

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/4612

Emerald - Fernlee Guest House

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/1403

Emerald - La Belle Guest House

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2547

Emerald - Silver Springs Lodge

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/3775

This advertisement for Silver Springs Lodge comes from The Advocate of May 4, 1950.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper

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Views from the hills: Rose Series post cards.

The Rose Stereograph Co. produced a series of post cards of views of Victoria - they are a great source of historical images  for the local historian and many are available on the State Library of Victoria website www.slv.vic.gov.au In this post we will look at some of these post cards that show views from the hills. They were taken between circa 1920 and 1954.

Beaconsfield Upper - The outlook from Kyogle (a guest house) 

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2098

Beaconsfield Upper - The magnificent view

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2091

Beaconsfield Upper - Outlook over Western Port

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2113

Cockatoo - View from Lovely Valley

State Library of Image H32492/2328

Cockatoo - From Pheasant Hill:  a birdseye view of of Cockatoo

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2166

Emerald - A magnificent panorama of hill and dale.

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2122

Emerald - A glorious panorama

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2130

 

Emerald - View from the new road

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2320

Emerald  - West Gembrook Road

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2119

Gembrook - Panorama of Gembrook

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/6117

Gembrook - View showing Beenak Ranges

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/4108

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Cockatoo - the early years

The original Europeans in the Cockatoo area came for gold that was found in the region around 1859.  The diggers had followed the Yarra River and then its tributaries including the Cockatoo Creek. The diggings were not rich and most of the miners soon left the area, however in the 1870s some settlers looking for land came to the area including Alexander Crichton, a butcher from Berwick, who selected 1500 acres (607 hectares) of land at the head of the Nangana Creek in 1874. Other early selectors were Henry Smartt and Matthew Kirkpatrick. Crichton opened a store on his land between Cockatoo and Gembrook. 

 

From the State Library of Victoria Collection Image H32492/2330 

George Simmons is credited with opening the first store in the Cockatoo township in 1895, however the seminal event in the history of the development of Cockatoo was the opening of the narrow gauge railway line on December 19 1900. The railway, now known as the Puffiing Billy line, connected the town (as well as Emerald and Gembrook) to the existing line from Melbourne to Upper Ferntree Gully. This opened up the timber industry in the area and the establishment of saw mills including the Belfrey sawmill owned by John James Bell as well as Goldsack and Smith Brothers. Shops and businesses opened around the Cockatoo Railway Station including James McBride’s store in 1903. McBride was also the post master and the source of the name McBride Street.

Cockatoo School, No. 3535 opened in March 1907 in a corn store and moved into a new building in Ivy Street in 1918. This building was re-located to its current site in 1951. A Public Hall and library opened in Cockatoo in 1914, was enlarged in 1934 and had a supper room and kitchen added in 1957. Sadly, the hall along with many other buildings and houses were lost in the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires.

From the State Library of Victoria Collection Image H32492/422

The railway line also brought tourists and week-enders to Cockatoo to enjoy the fresh mountain air, fishing  and other attractions and guest houses were established, such as Eastgate.

The Argus Saturday April 30, 1949, page 36  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22725516

The area was originally named Cockatoo Creek by the gold diggers, apparently because of the abundance of cockatoos, however the railway station was  called Devon when the Puffing Billy line opened in 1900. The name was changed to Cockatoo Creek in 1901and then shortened to Cockatoo in 1904, though the Post Office retained the named of Cockatoo Creek until the First World War.

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Cockatoo kindergarten is heritage listed

The history of Cockatoo has twice been recognised at  an official level recently. Firstly, the fight to have the McBride Street kindergarten placed on the Victorian Heritage Register has been successful and secondly the community has received a Local History Grant.  The kindergarten had been nominated to be included on the Victorian Heritage Register in 2011 and it was rejected on the grounds that it wasn’t of State significance. The decision was appealed and in April 2012 the Heritage Council reversed the decision and the kindergarten was  placed on the Victorian Heritage Register.  The Kindergarten was built in 1976 in an interesting twelve sided design, designed by Richard Allen.  However, its importance to the Cockatoo community is its role as a refuge during the Ash Wednesday  fires of February 16, 1983 when 300 people, including 129 children, sheltered inside and survived the fires that devastated the Cockatoo community and much of the rest of Victoria.

 

In the end the Appeals Committee found that the kindergarten was of historical and social, significance to the state of Victoria and meets the significance threshold for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register. The battle to save the kindergarten is a testament to the strength and tenacity of the people of Cockatoo to  stand up and fight for their community.To see the Statement of Significance for the Kindergarten, click here or go to the Victorian Heritage Register http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au  and type Cockatoo into the search box. 

There is an interesting community website, called Victoria's Heritage and Cockatoo's Ash Wednesday story, at https://sites.google.com/site/cockatoosheritageashwednesday/  which was set up during the battle for Heritage listing, which has photographs and the history of the kindergarten and information about the township and the bushfires.The picture of the kindergarten,below, is taken from the website.

Source: Victoria's Heritage and Cockatoo's Ash Wednesday story website

The other goods news for the Cockatoo community is that the Cockatoo History Committee has been awarded a $4,729 Local History Grant. These grants are presented each year and are administered by the Public Records Office of Victoria. The Grant for the Cockatoo History Committee is to undertake a project to preserve Cockatoo’s existing oral, photographic and documentary history and make widely available for the community. Funds will be used to transfer interviews from cassette tapes to CD, to have audio files transcribed and purchase archival supplies.

In the end that’s good news for Cockatoo and good news for history.

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Parish and Township Plans

Parish and Township Plans are available on the Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV) website. These Plans are a great resource for both local and family history as they show the ownership of land after the Crown, so if your ancestors purchased land at a Government Land Sales or acquired land through a Closer Settlement or Soldier Settlement Scheme - then you might find their name on a Parish or Township Plan. To access these plans go to the PROV website www.prov.vic.gov.au and on the left hand side of the home page, click on "Access the collection", "Searching", "Search within a Series". The Series number (or VPRS) is 16171. Type in the town or Parish you are interested in. Plans can be saved (they are PDF files) or printed off. Alternatively, if you search by the "Find by Number" option (and type in 16171) then you can browse all the digitised plans.

The Series, officially called "Regional Land Office Plans Digitised Reference Set", have three consignments or components - (1) Parish and Township plans (2) Soldier Settlement and Closer Settlement Plans and (3) County and Parish Index. All these Plans are working plans, so some have annotations, tears and what appears to be coffee stains.

The Plan, above, is the Pakenham Parish Plan, part of the County of Mornington. The Pakenham township, shown on the Plan, is the original town on the Highway, near Toomuc Creek. This town grew up around the Latrobe Inn, established around 1850 by Michael and Kitty Bourke. Michael Bourke also acted as Post Master for nearly 30 years. Kitty Bourke kept the Hotel and Post Office from the time of her husband’s death in 1877 until 1910. The Latrobe Inn was a Cobb & Co. coach stop and for obvious reasons was later known as Bourke’s Hotel. The town, which developed around the Pakenham Railway Station, was officially known as Pakenham East until the 1960s. The Railway line from Oakleigh to Bunyip was completed in October 1877.

The township map, above, is of Emerald. Emerald is said to derive its name from nearby Emerald Creek, which had been named after an early prospector Jack Emerald. Jack had been found murdered in his hut; it is thought the culprits believed he had a quantity of gold hidden there. Gold was discovered in the area in November 1858 but the rush lasted only a few years, however some settlers remained in the area and small eucalyptus distilleries were established. A school was opened in 1878 at what is now called Avonsleigh or East Emerald. However the seminal event in Emerald’s history was the establishment of the Gembrook Nurseries by Carl Axel Nobelius in 1886.The name Gembrook Nurseries was taken from the Parish of Gembrook, where Emerald township is located.

Cockatoo is also in the Parish of Gembrook, and in common with Emerald has a Railway Station on the Puffing Billy line. This town was originally named Cockatoo Creek in 1859 by gold diggers, because of the abundance of cockatoos. The town was settled in the 1870s. The Railway Station was originally called Devon when the Puffing Billy line opened in 1900 but reverted to Cockatoo Creek in 1901and then shortened to Cockatoo in 1904, though the Post Office retained the named of Cockatoo Creek until the First World War. The School opened in 1907 in a corn store and moved into a new building in 1918. This building was re-located to its current site in 1951. A Public Hall and library opened in Cockatoo in 1914. Sadly, Cockatoo suffered badly in the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires when seven people died, 289 houses were burnt, 8 other buildings, including the Hall, were destroyed.

The second component of this Series are the Soldier Settlement and Closer Settlement Plans. The Chirnside Estate was a gift from Andrew Chirnside of Melville Park (later Edrington). The gift of land was reported in The Argus, a digitised version of which is available on the National Library of Australia's Trove

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848-1954), Thursday 4 April 1918, page 9.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1650358

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Ash Wednesday Bushfire Photographs

Over the past year we have been involved with a State Library of Victoria initiative, the Memory Victoria Project. This has been a three part project with the aim of better management of the Local History collections in Victorian Public Libraries. History Collections in our Library and other public Libraries were assessed by professional historians. Library staff were then given training to help conserve these collections. Thirdly ‘treasures’ were selected from the collections and toured 12 Libraries in Regional Victoria in a Memory Victoria Roadshow.

The material selected for the Roadshow told the unique story of a local area and all the material displayed was linked to the themes of life on the land and community connections. Photographs taken immediately after the Ash Wednesday fires at Cockatoo, by Shire of Pakenham Officers, were chosen from our collection. These photographs documented the aftermath of the fires and the devastation that they caused to the town of Cockatoo. They also show how the Community came together after the Fires.

The Memory Victoria project had a number of benefits for us – our collection was assessed by a professional historian and expert advice was given to help conserve the collection. Secondly, the Roadshow display gave many people a chance to view a part of our collection not normally on public display. Finally, material was displayed from only five public libraries, so it was a privilege to be part of the Roadshow. It is also an honour that Casey Cardinia Library Corporation has a collection of photographs considered to be of State significance, some of which are shown here.

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National Archives of Australia - Post Office photograph collection

Gembrook Post Office, late 1960s. (Image no. B5919/741)

Narre Warren Post Office, late 1960s. (Image no. B5919, 1537)

I was searching the National Archives of Australia site (www.naa.gov.au) the other day and I came across a most fabulous resource. They have photographs of Post Offices, on line. Most of the photos are taken in the late 1960s, but there are some older ones, some from 1901 and some taken from the Victorian Post Office Photo Album of 1943/44. In the rapidly changing Casey Cardinia region, these photographs are a glimpse of our past, when most of our towns were just that, country towns.

Vervale Post Office, 1967. ( Image no.B5919/2186)

To access the Post Office photographs, on the National Archives of Australia website, www.naa.gov.au , click on Photo Search in the top right hand corner, then Search, then enter the name of your location and the words Post Office.

Cockatoo Post Office, late 1960s. (Image no. B5919, 531)


Yannathan Post Office, late 1960s. (Image no. B5919/2378)

These photographs belong to Series B5919, which as well as containing photographs of Post Offices, also has photographs of Post Office equipment, transport and Uniforms. The whole Series occupies 30 metres of shelving and has over 5,400 photographs.

Doveton Post Office, 1966. (Image no. B5919/601)

Pearcedale Post Office, 1968. (Image no. B5919/1680)

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