Elephant Rock

 

Image credits: Department of Crown Land and Surveys (24/2/2019)

A unique natural landform and a community hub, Elephant Rock has served the local community for decades, with records dating back to the 1970s. The huge granite rock, shaped like the animal whom it is named after, is located on Beaconsfield – Emerald Road, Dewhurst. Regularly painted by professional painters and muralists including the likes of Ted VanGo and Katherine Brandenberger, as well as members of the public, the rock is sure to change with every drive by.

Announcements for births, deaths, marriages and other events allow the community to come together and celebrate the important moments in life, as well as the memories of loved ones.

    Louise Quinn-Watson, administrator for the Elephant Rock Facebook page, believes “Elephant Rock has been an important landmark of the area for many years. Most everyone has a memory or a story about it even if they’ve not painted it themselves.”

    The site allowed Louise and her family to commemorate and share their story with the community. “When my baby goddaughter [Ruby May Simmonds] passed away in 2017, my family and I painted the rock with Ruby’s name as a way of sharing her name with the world around us.”

Image credits: Elephant Rock Facebook Group (2/10/2021)

    During the Reservoir construction from 1970 to 1973, the original road to Emerald was to be abandoned, and the newly proposed road would run through where Elephant Rock was located, on the Bimbimbe property. At the time, construction workers believed the rock to be a fraction of the size. Upon digging, they discovered the rock would be far to difficult to remove. This lead to a problem; the new road would need to run right through the site. It was decided the rock would remain, and the road was constructed around it. Now a permanent fixture in many local lives, the rock is easily accessible via a public car park, offering views overlooking the Cardinia Reservoir. 

Image credits: Elephant Rock Facebook Group (24/2/2019)

    If you would like to follow the announcements made at Elephant Rock, follow Elephant Rock’s Facebook page.

 

Written by Brooke Pickering

References:

Jenny Pritchard, J. (2022, June), Landscaping at Elephant Rock. Upper Beaconsfield Village Bell. https://www.upperbeaconsfield.org.au/wp-content/uploads/upperbeac/Village-Bell-2022-228-Jun.pdf

Quinn-Watson, L. [@ElephantRock]. (2022, August 8), Elephant Rock [Facebook], https://www.facebook.com/TheElephantRock/

Pave Festival (2021), Elephant Rock Painting. Pave Festival. https://www.pavefestival.org.au/elephant-rock-painting/

Upper Beaconsfield History. (2022). History of Upper Beaconsfield. https://upperbeaconsfieldhistory.au 

Images:

Department of Crown Lands and Survey. (1971). Elephant Rock [Photograph]. Provided by Upper Beaconsfield History. Department of Crown Lands and Survey. (1971). Elephant Rock [Photograph]. Provided by Upper Beaconsfield History. Residents of Upper Beaconsfield and surrounding areas - Main Page (upperbeaconsfieldhistory.org.au)

Elephant Rock. [@ElephantRock]. (2011, 2 October). Elephant Rock [Photo]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/TheElephantRock/

Elephant Rock. [@ElephantRock]. (2019, 24 February). Elephant Rock [Photo]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/TheElephantRock/

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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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Emerald Country Club

The Emerald Country Club was established in the 1920s on part of the land originally owned by Carl Axel Nobelius who operated the Gembrook Nurseries from 1886. After Carl died on December 31, 1921 the nursery was sold to a syndicate who developed part of the property as the Emerald Country Club. Two of Carl's sons, Cliff and Arch, operated the nursery business until 1955.

The land was developed into a Country Club with a golf course, tennis courts and swimming pool and  a housing estate (more on that later). Before the Country Club house was built in 1929, Nobelius' house, Carramar, was used for this purpose. Carramar still exists and is now a private home.

The Argus February 22, 1941 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8175507

Carramar was sold by the Country Club, perhaps in the 1930s when they were alleged to have gone into liquidation. I don't  have  a photograph of Carramar but I have found this advertisement for the sale of the house in The Argus from February 22, 1941. The house is described as containing three reception rooms, a full sized billiard room, five bedrooms, two bathrooms, excellent domestic and staff accommodation as well as a detached gardener's cottage of six rooms. As the land had the finest collection of trees in the State and was just under five hectares, a gardener was no doubt essential.

Emerald Country Club

State Library of Victoria Image Image H32492/3631

The Emerald Country Club house was completed in 1929 and was designed by Architects Cowper, Murphy and Appleford. Amongst other works they designed the interior of the Sun Theatre in Yarraville (opened 1938); St Moritz ice skating rink (1939); the Dendy Theatre in Brighton (1940); they rebuilt the Regent Theatre in Collins Street to the original design after a fire in 1947 and had  also undertaken interior work on the Palace Theatre in Bourke Street in the mid 1950s.

The citation on the National Trust Heritage Register describes the building as  The clubhouse design follows the American Craftsman and English Arts & Crafts Bungalow precedents in its use of the low gabled form, local rubble freestone (inside and out), and other natural finishes such as the Marseilles pattern terracotta roof tiles, stained and lacquered timber linings and joinery (interior).... This conscious use of natural material is also reflected in the construction of the log lake-side pavillion (presumed originally roofed with paling/shingle). 

When the Club first started the membership was limited to those who purchased land in the surrounding estate which was created by the establishment of Elm Crescent, Poplar Crescent, Sycamore Avenue, Oak Avenue, Nobelius Street and Lakeside Drive, which lead into the Club. A number of houses built from the 1920s on this estate still remain. You can find out more information about these houses and some of the significant trees  here on the Australian Heritage Database.

The Country Club, Emerald

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/1154

The Country Club went through various owners - in 1932 club members formed a new Company to purchase the golf course and Club house - the asking price was 14,850 pounds. Five years later another Company was formed and the asking price had halved to 7,000 pounds. In the 1970s the golf course was enlarged to 18 holes and it still in existence today. More of the history of the Club can be found on the Australian Heritage Datebase entry referred to above.

Ist fairway Country Club, Emerald

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/3532

Women's Weekly May 9, 1956  Trove http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper Photographer: John Askew.

This picture is from the Women's Weekly of May 9 1956 and shows Mr Clifford Wright watching an iron shot by Mr Ray Hawkins at the Emerald Country Club. The caption also mentions some of the features of the Club including tennis courts, a natural lake (ideal for swimming and fishing), bowling and putting greens, a scenic golf course with some of its fairways carved out of dense forest.



I have created a list of newspaper articles about the Emerald Country Club on Trove, click here to access the list.

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Emerald Lake and Swimming Pool

To celebrate summer I'd thought we would have a look at some great photographs of the Emerald Lake and pool, a popular swimming location for locals since the 1930s. Click here for an engaging history of the lake by Graeme Legge. These photographs are all from the State Library of Victoria collection and are all part of the Rose Series of Postcards. There are no specific dates on the photographs but I presume they are from the 1930s to 1950s.  www.slv.vic.gov.au

The Kiosk across the Lake, Emerald

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2550

Springboard and Raft, Swimming Pool Emerald

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/148

The Drive, Swimming Pool, Emerald

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/1531

 Swimming Pool, Country Club, Emerald

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/639

A Magnificent view of the Lake, Emerald

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/2970

Spring board and water slide, Swimming Pool, Emerald

State Library of Image H32492/733

The kiosk at lakeside swimming pool, Emerald

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/3772

Kiosk and parking area, the Lake, Emerald

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/881

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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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A little of Emerald Lake - by Graeme Legge

With the advent of a local swimming pool in the 1930s, residents had ready access to the refreshing coolness of water in the summer heat as well as having a facility in which to swim. And even many who couldn’t swim were not too self-conscious to simply walk into the water and splash around. In all honesty, in the days of rainwater tanks and when water-levels ran low, some were seen at the Lake cooling and refreshing themselves with the benefit of a block of soap! So it was that the younger generation of the time were often the first in families to be able to swim.

Emerald Lake Park, looking back from the Lake towards Main Road.

Swimming lessons for local school children were conducted before World War 2 in the 1930s. Miss May Aisbett was one teacher who conducted these lessons. Then there was Arthur Bolton, propagator at Nobelius Nursery who also gave lessons. Swimming lessons became part of the School curriculum in the late 1940s.Head Teacher, Phil Skelton of Emerald Township State School (now Emerald Primary School) taught swimming to the older pupils in the Lake. At afternoon recess (‘play time’) on Friday afternoons, those going swimming would leave the School, run down the road and along the tracks to the Lake and quickly change into their bathers and be ready for Mr Skelton’s arrival by car. The Children’s Pool was used for instruction in leg-kicking and arm-stroke practice. Upon swimming one length of the Children’s Pool a swimmer qualified for the ‘Herald Certificate’; two lengths earned the ‘Junior Certificate’.

Diving instruction saw children lined up, standing on one of a stone wall at the end of the Children’s Pool. In turn, each stood at the end of the wall, feet together, arms raised above the head followed by the instruction ‘Go in head first’. For any who seemed likely to jump instead, Mr Skelton was not beyond thrusting out his arm in front of the would-be diver’s ankles thus ensuring that ‘head first’ it was.

Children were dismissed from swimming lessons at the Lake to make their own ways home from the Lake. This was often an adventure in itself – passing fruit trees with delicious (but ‘green’) apples to feast upon and playing games. It was usually a leisurely trip home walking up the hill from the Lake. Later, with ‘safety’ in mind, School children were ‘bussed’ to the Lake and return for one shilling a week. Ray Lockyer, Jack Eudey and Hilda Van Den Dungen were among the volunteer, trained instructors who led the program.

The Lake and Kiosk in the 1940s.

An anchored ‘raft’ floated in the centre of the Lake as a safety measure upon which tired swimmers could rest. The distance across the Lake was underestimated by some swimmers, so the raft provided relief. But it was also a great source of play as a floating platform. The raft was made of eight ‘forty-four gallon’ drums with sturdy timber decking. A number of lifebuoys were also strategically located around the Lake ready for immediate assistance.

The Lake Kiosk. The first kiosk was built in the 1940s and the popularity of the Lake is evidenced by the number of cars and tourist buses in the car park.

There came a time when Emerald Life Saving Club was formed and went into action when swimmers ‘got into trouble’. In February, 1960 the Club Rooms were officially opened and a grand occasion it was. Sir John Latham, escorted by the bagpipes of the Victorian Police Pipe Band to the grounds of the Club House. Sir John said in his gracious remarks that ‘Emerald is no less a jewel than the stone after which it was named, and that the Lake is its highest facet.’ Residents continue to cherish the Lake and its beautiful surroundings with all its walks, parklands and playgrounds far beyond the swimming season.

Cr Graeme Legge is a Cardinia Shire Councillor, local historian and an Emerald identity. This article was first published in Signpost, the Community newsletter.
The photographs are from Emerald In Focus : a photographic history published by the Nobelius Heritage Park and Emerald Museum, in 2006. It is a great book with over 300 photographs on all aspects of the history of Emerald. It is available for loan from Casey Cardinia Library Corporation or you can purchase a copy from the Emerald Museum. The Museum can be contacted on 03 5968 2152 or P.O Box 578, Emerald, 3782. The Museum and Heritage Park occupies part of the Gembrook Nurseries, operated by Carl Axel Nobelius and his sons from 1886.

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Lost and Almost Forgotten towns of Colonial Victoria.

Many people tracing their Family history, come across a town which cannot be located on a modern map. This may be because the town no longer exists or that it has changed its name. To help locate these "missing" towns you could consult Lost and almost forgotten towns of Colonial Victoria : a comprehensive analysis of Census results for Victoria, 1841-1901 by Angus B.Watson. Mr Watson has listed all the towns and villages , as defined by the Government Statist, for all Victorian censuses between 1841 and 1901. Perhaps your ancestor attended Tobin Yallock State School or Cannibal Creek State School or a family document lists Irishtown as an address. These won't be found on a modern map but this book will tell you that Tobin Yallock later became Lang Lang and Cannibal Creek State School was re-named Garfield and that the Emerald Gold field diggings were listed on the 1871 Census as Irishtown. The book also lists the population of the towns, so it is interesting to read that Berwick grew from a population of 60 people in 1861 with 14 dwellings to 452 in 1901 with 98 dwellings. This book is available for loan at our Pakenham and Cranbourne branches.

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Emerald and the Nobelius Nurseries.

The Emerald Museum and Nobelius Heritage Park is at Crichton Road in Emerald. The park occupies part of the Gembrook Nurseries, operated by Carl Axel Nobelius and his sons from 1886. Carl was born in Finland in 1851 to Swedish parents and he migrated to Melbourne in 1872. By 1903 Nobelius was advertising over one million trees for sale and this had increased to 3 million trees just before the First World War. The nursery concentrated on fruit and ornamental trees and supplied trees world wide, including to South Africa to replant their orchards after the Boer War. Many of the ornamental trees planted by Nobelius can still be seen at the Nobelius Heritage Park.

The Emerald Museum has an interesting display of material representing Emerald's past including Nobelius memorabilia, the Writers of the Dandenong exhibit and a gold mining exhibit. Gold was discovered at Emerald in 1858.  Visit the website for more information  - http://www.emeraldmuseum.org.au/  An attractive and informative booklet Nobelius Heritage Park : an illustrated guide by Jo Jenkinson, is available at the Museum.

Back to Carl Axel Nobelius (1851 - 1921) - he married Emily Brightwell (1857 - 1911) in 1877. They had eleven children - Hilda (born 1877 - 1941, married name Taylor), Carl Oscar (1879 - 1958), Otto Victor (1881 - 1882), Conrad Percival (1883 - 1968), Archibald Victor (1885 - 1962), Ethel Ruby (1887 - 1965, married name Hayes), Clifford Stanley (born and died 1891), Rupert Wilfred (1891 - 1965), Clifford  Leonard (1892 - 1967), Rudolf Stanley (1895 - 1896) and Stella Irene (1897 - 1974, married name Skehan)

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