Cranbourne Park Estate land sale November 9, 1888

On November 9, 1888 the blocks at Cranbourne Park Estate at Cranbourne were auctioned off. The land was sold on very easy terms with a two pound deposit. The auctioneers, Carney & Kelly, in conjunction with John Collins provided the prospective buyers with a 'special train leaving Princes Bridge Station at 11.15am' and  also provided a 'free luncheon in a spacious marquee'

Map of the Cranbourne Park Estate

State Library of Victoria  - click here to view or download a larger version http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/135527

Part of the advertisement for Cranbourne Park Estate in The Age November 8, 1888

see the full advertisement here http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193401330

Here is a list of the Streets in the Cranbourne Park Estate and the derivation of their name

Barkley Street

Sir Henry Barkly (1815 - 1898) was Governor of Victoria from 1856 to 1863. Barkly Street had already been used in Cranbourne in the original 1850s sub-division, read about this here. The western end of the original Barkly Street is now called Brunt Street and the eastern end is Lecky Street. 

Berwick Road

It was called Berwick Road as it lead to Berwick (actually it leads to Narre Warren, but perhaps they thought that Berwick was more well known than Narre Warren)  Now known as Cameron Street, after early land owner, Alexander Cameron, who took up land in Cranbourne in 1851.

Bowen Street

Sir George Ferguson Bowen  (1821 - 1899) was the Governor of Queensland from 1859 - 1868, Governor of New Zealand 1868 - 1873,  Governor of Victoria 1873- 1878, Governor of Mauritius 1879 - 1882 and then Governor of Hong Kong 1882 - 1886 - so clearly moved around the British Empire serving Queen Victoria wherever he was sent. 

Camms Road

Charles Camm (1837 - 1924) is listed on the Cranbourne Parish Plan as owning Lot 69, 100 acres, this land was at the end of Patterson's Road, near Pound Road. According to the Cranbourne Shire Rate books, by 1884, as well as this 100 acres, Robert Camm (1811 - 1890) was listed for 87 acres Lot 7 and 316 acres Lot 35, which was originally owned by Alexander Cameron. There is some discrepancy with the spelling of the name - the Parish Plan lists it as Cam,  the Rate books call it Camm and Niel Gunson in his book The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire spells it as Cam.

Canterbury Road

John Henry Thomas Manners-Sutton (1814 - 1877) was the Governor of Victoria 1866 - 1873. In 1869, on the death of his brother, he became the third Viscount Canterbury.

Hotham Street

Sir Charles Hotham (1806 - 1855) was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Victoria in December 1853 and full Governor  in February 1855, a post he held until he died in December 1855. The Eureka Rebellion took place during his appointment.

La Trobe Street

Charles Joseph La Trobe (1801 - 1875)  was the Superintendent of the Port Phillip District from 1839 - 1851, then Lieutenant Governor of Victoria 1851 - 1854. 

Loch Street

Henry Brougham Loch (1827 - 1900) was the Governor of Victoria 1884 - 1889, he was then appointed High Commissioner for South Africa and Governor of the Cape Colony.

Melbourne Road

Obviously the road to Melbourne (if heading north), but now called High Street, part of  the South Gippsland Highway and also called, in the past, Western Port Road or the Bass Road or Grantville Road as that was where the road went to when heading south. Melbourne was named for William Lamb, second Viscount Melbourne (1779 - 1848), a British Prime Minister.

Normanby Street

George Augustine Consantine Phipps, second Marquis of Normanby was the Governor of Queensland 1871 - 1874, Governor of New Zealand 1874 - 1878 and then Governor of Victoria 1879 - 1884. 

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The mystery of Minihan's Road

Monahan's Road is in Cranbourne; it runs from Sladen Street up to Breens Road. There is a park on Monahan's Road called Minihan's Reserve. However, I believe that Monahan's Road was originally called Minihan's Road after the Minihan family.  So, the mystery is why is it now known as Monahan's Road and what happened to Minihan's Road?

1963 aerial of Cranbourne  (photograph taken December 14, 1963). Monahan's Road is on the left hand side of the photograph,and ends at what appears to be  a ploughed area, but is now, I think, part of  SP Ausnet Cranbourne Terminal Station.  You can see the beginnings of a new housing estate, centered either side of Camms Road, to the left of the Railway Line. This includes streets such as Evelyne Avenue, Virginia Avenue, Rosalie Avenue etc. Also off Camms Road and between  the railway line and the South Gippsland Highway, you can see the development of Circle Drive, to the north of this is Clairmont Aveneue and Fenfield Steet . What looks like a quarry is now Donnelly Reserve. 

The Minihan family were listed in the Shire of Cranbourne Rate Books from 1868. William Minihan is listed  as owning 54 acres (about 22 hectares) in Section 5, Lot 9 in the Parish of Lyndhurst. William Minihan is buried in the Cranbourne Cemetery. He was buried in Janauary 1911, having passed away aged 88. In the same grave is his wife Mary (nee Coffey) who died in 1905, aged 76 and their daughter, Mary, who died in 1896, aged 32. Also buried in the cemetery are some of their other children - Catherine, who died in 1947 aged 87; Ellen who died in 1896 aged 31 and Patrick who died in 1926 aged 70. There were two other children - Johanna, who married Patrick McGrath in 1896, aged 26 and  a son John, who died in 1936, aged 69.

John and Patrick are listed in the Cranbourne Shire Rate Books, as owning land in Cranbourne, from the 1880s. All the land owned by the family is in Lots 7,8,9 and 10 in the Parish of Lyndhurst. This is exactly the same area where Monahan's Road is today. So we know from the Rate Books that the Minihans owned the land from the 1860s until 1937, when it was sold after John died.  I presume that they were dairy farmers as it was the most typical farming activity in the area at the time and there are reports in various papers of John selling dairy cattle.

This is a sketch map produced around for the publication of the book Cranbourne: a town with a history, published by the City of Casey in 1996. (You can access an on-line copy of this book here). A long term Cranbourne resident, Mrs Kelsall, identified the location of Cranbourne residents in the 1930s and 1940s and shows John Minhihan's house on Monahan's Road.

We also know there used to be  road called Minihan's Road. The Cranbourne Shire meeting minutes were reported in the South Bourke and Mornington Journal, and in the paper which was published November 7, 1900 a contract is let to 'from and gravel'  part of Minihan's  Road.

South Bourke and Mornington Journal, November 7 1900.

From Trove http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper

When John died in 1936, the family notice in The Argus, lists his address as Minihan's Road in Cranbourne, though seen on the sketch map, above, his house is located on Monahan's Road.  The notice is reproduced below.

John Minihan's death notice in The Argus, February 17, 1936, showing his address as Minihan's Road.

From Trove http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper

I believe that Monahan's Road was originally called Minihan's Road. We know that there used to be a Minihan's Road in Cranbourne; we know that the Minihan family lived on what is now called Monahan's Road and that they owned land on either side of Monahan's Road for seventy years. The mystery is, why was it changed? I do not know.  In sporting parlance, if I was a Minihan, I would say 'we was robbed'.

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Street names of Cranbourne

This is a map of the original Cranbourne township allotments which includes the original owners. The streets names represent two different sources of names - some are named after local land owners and some are named after Government officials. I have made an ‘educated guess’ as to the source of the street names which I believe are derived from Government officials but as the first Cranbourne township lots were surveyed in 1856 and the first land sales took place in March 1857 and this period coincides with the time that these officials were influential then I believe that they are the most likely source for the names.

Map of the 1850 subdivisions in the Cranbourne township

click here to view or download a larger version http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/94154 

See below for the full version  of this plan

Bakewell Street and Lyall Street
John Bakewell and William Lyall were part of the influential partnership of Mickle, Bakewell and Lyall who arrived in the area in 1851. John Mickle (1814 to 1885) and John Bakewell (1807 to 1888) were business partners in Melbourne from 1847 and they were soon joined by William Lyall (1821 to 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.

Barkly Street
Sir Henry Barkly (1815 to 1898) was Governor of Victoria from 1856 to 1863. The western end of Barkly Street is now called Brunt Street and the eastern end is Lecky Street. It is separated by the Cranbourne Secondary College site.

Brunt Street
Brunt is named for the Brunt family. William Brunt and his wife, Mary Jane (nee Espie), lived at Spring Villa, where the Settlement Hotel is now located. William was a Cranbourne Shire Councillor from 1904 to 1923. Brunt Road in  Officer is named after William's cousin, Ralph Brunt. Ralph and his wife Mary Jane (nee Funston)  had land from 1871 on the  Cardinia Creek and later had part of the Gin Gin Bean run, near Officer.

Cameron Street
In March 1851, Alexander Cameron (1815 to 1881) took up the lease of the Mayune Run and a few years later at the Government land sales he purchased 592 acres, the Mayfield Pre-emptive Right, on the corner of what is now Cameron Street and the South Gippsland Highway (where the Life style retirement Village is now located). The Cranbourne Road Board was proclaimed in June 1860 and Cameron was elected in 1863 and served until 1867. He was married to Margaret (nee Donaldson, 1822-1895) and they had seven children.

Childers Street
Hugh Culling Eardley Childers (1827 to 1896) and his wife, Emily (nee Walker) arrived in Australia in 1850. His first Government appointment was an Inspector of Denominational Schools in 1851. He was a member of the Legislative Council and appointed Auditor General. He was the first vice chancellor of the University of Melbourne and helped found the Melbourne Public Library (both established in 1856). He returned to England a few years later where he became a member of the House of Commons and was also a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society.

Clarendon Street
George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon (1800 to 1870) was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1847 to 1852 and the British Foreign Secretary on three occasions from 1853 to 1870. He negotiated a favourable outcome for Britain at the end of the Crimean War in 1856 at the Congress of Paris Peace talks. The Crimean War, which was a war between Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia against Russia took place largely on the Crimean Peninsula in Russia. The war was commemorated in many towns in Australia by street names such as Alma, Inkerman and Balaclava which were places of battle etc during the war.

Codrington Street
Sir William John Codrington (1804 to 1884) was Commander in Chief of the British Forces in the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856. Alternatively, but I feel less likely, Codrington Street could be named for the British Admiral, Sir Edward Codrington (1770 to 1851) who was Captain of the HMS Orion at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) and also served in other Wars.

Lecky Street
Lecky Street is named after local land owner, James Lecky (1802 to 1884). He purchased Gin Gin Bean on the Cardinia Creek in 1846. Lecky was a Cranbourne Road Board and Shire Council Member from 1860 to 1881 and Shire President on many occasions. He and his wife Elizabeth (nee Woods, 1803 to 1891) and their six children arrived in Victoria in 1841.

Lyons Street
Admiral Sir Edmund Lyons (1790 to 1858), Ist Baronet Lyons, commanded the Black Sea fleet during the Crimean War.

Russell Street
Lord John Russell (1792 to 1878) was Home Secretary under Lord Melbourne when he was the British Prime Minister on various occasions between 1834 and 1841. Russell was also the British Prime Minister from 1846 to 1852 and from 1865 to 1866. Lord Melbourne is the source of the name Melbourne and Russell Street in the city is also named after Lord Russell.

Sladen Street
Sir Charles Sladen (1816 to 1884) was a member of the Legislative Council and Treasurer of Victoria and Premier for 67 days in 1868.

Stawell Street
Sir William Foster Stawell (1815 to 1889) was appointed Victorian Attorney General in 1851 and became Chief Justice of Victoria in 1857.

Map of the 1850 subdivisions in the Cranbourne township

click here to view or download a larger version http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/94154 

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