South Bourke and Mornington Journal and the Motor Club Hotel, Cranbourne

Exciting news - Trove, the National Library of Australia digitised newspaper resource, has now added issues of the South Bourke and Mornington Journal to its content. It's a great resource and is currently on-line from 1872 to 1920. The Journal has lots of local news relevant to local and family historians in the Casey Cardinia region - its masthead boasts that it circulates throughout Dandenong, Berwick, Pakenham, Koo-Wee-Rup, Clyde, Lang Lang, Dalmore, Yannathan and Monomeith amongst other locations in the County of Mornington.

I came across some advertisements for the Motor Club Hotel in Cranbourne (or Kellys as it is more commonly known). The first Hotel on the site was the Mornington Hotel built around 1860 by Thomas and Elizabeth Gooch. The Cranbourne Road Board met in this building.

The Mornington Hotel, Cranbourne

Image: The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson

In The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire, Niel Gunson writes that Thomas Gooch was chief mate on the Sacramento. Elizabeth (nee Minister) had also been on the same ship, which was wrecked near the Heads, Port Phillip Bay. They both lost all of their possessions, but found true love and married each other in 1853. Elizabeth gave birth to nine children between 1855 and 1867. They were Thomas (1855), Alfred (1857), Susan Ellen (1859), Arthur (1860), Charlotte (1861), Walter Edward (1863), Harriet Beumont (1864), Frank Frederick (1865), Fanny Elizabeth (1867).

Thomas and Elizabeth Gooch

Image: Cranbourne Shire Historical Society

Application by John Taylor to change the name of the Mornington Hotel 

to the Motor Club Hotel

South Bourke & Mornington Journal  December 21, 1911. 

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66179793

Sometime in 1911, John Taylor took over the licence of the Mornington Hotel and in December 1911  he applied to have the name changed to the Motor Club Hotel and this was approved at a Licensing Court Hearing held December 14, 1911. This name  may have been related to the birth of the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria in Tooradin or may have reflected the fact that Cranbourne was a popular destination for early motor car excursions. John Taylor purchased the freehold of the hotel in 1912.

John Taylor advertises that he has purchased the freehold of the Motor Club Hotel, January 1912.

South Bourke and Mornington Journal, January 18, 1912  

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66179912

Julia O'Brien took over the licence of the Motor Club Hotel in February 1913, until March 1914. It was then operated by Gertrude and William Kilroy, until May 1918. Read more about the Kilroys, here. William James Taylor, then held the lease until Sarah Kelly, a member of the  Kelly family, who were also licensees of the Cranbourne Hotel (which was situated where Greg Clydesdale Square in High Street is now located) took over the license of the Motor Club Hotel in June 1919, as this article and advertisement in the South Bourke and Mornington Journal attests (see below).

Mrs Sarah Kelly takes over the lease of the Motor Club Hotel from Mr Taylor, in June 1919.

South Bourke and Mornington Journal, June 19, 1919

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66196239

This was the first advertisement from Mrs Kelly at the Motor Club Hotel, June 1919.

South Bourke and Mornington Journal, June 19, 1919  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page6365244

The existing Motor Club Hotel, was built around 1924. I am basing this on the valuation in the Cranbourne Shire Rate Books - in 1923/24 and 1924/25 the Net Annual Value was 240 pounds, in 1925/26 -it had leaped to 420 pounds and the next two years it was 400 pounds, so I believe the increase in rates was due to the erection of the new building. As the Local Government year used to run from October 1 to September 30 then the new building would have been erected between October 1924 and September 1925 to appear at the higher valuation in the 1925/26 year.  The building is listed on the City of Casey Heritage Database, which describes it as a prominent local land mark and of historical and social significance.

The Motor Club Hotel, taken in the late 1920s or 1930s.

Image: Cranbourne Shire Historical Society  

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Wattle time

If you live on the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp or drive through it, then you would have noticed the wattle trees are in bloom. I believe the species is the black wattle (acacia mearnsii). It grows anywhere, it is on the bank of the Main Drain from Iona to Koo-Wee-Rup and if you dig up any soil and leave it for a few weeks you will soon have black wattles growing. The trees are neat enough when they are young, but after a few years they get messy, branches break off and they begin to look a bit ugly.

Image: Heather Arnold 

The flowers are a pale yellow, not nearly as pretty as the Cootamundra wattle (acacia baileyana) or Australia's floral emblem, the Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha Benth.) But from late July to the first few weeks of August the Black Wattle is glorious - they line the roads and the drain banks and you can look across the paddocks and see glimpses of yellow everywhere. It really is a magnificent sight.

Main Drain Road, looking west from the Eleven Mile Bridge at Cora Lynn.

Image: Heather Arnold 

The Main Drain, looking west, from the Eleven Mile Bridge at Cora Lynn.

Image: Heather Arnold 

Image: Heather Arnold 

You can also see other remnant Swamp vegetation, including the Swamp Paperbark (melaleuca ericifolia) . The photograph, above, was taken in Dessent Road at Vervale, but you can see this everywhere, including a stand near the sandpits in Thompson Road at Cranbourne and some along the Cardinia Creek, which you can see from the Pakenham by-pass. The picture (below) was taken, I believe, around Lang Lang in 1913. The plant can grow to ten metres high.

Image: Heather Arnold 

Another common plant are the reeds (phragmites australia), they grow everywhere on the Swamp, where there is a bit of water. This was taken also taken in Dessent Road. You can also see the reeds in the photograph, below. It is part of a series of post cards produced for Koo-wee-Rup in the late 1930s or early 194os. I think that's a blackwood wattle (acacia melanoxylon) behind the bridge.

Image: Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society

William Wordsworth may well have been inspired by a host of golden daffodils, but to me there is nothing better that a host of golden wattles, brief though their time of glory may be, so here's another photograph, below, taken on the corner of Main Drain Road and Eleven Mile Road, Cora Lynn.

Image: Heather Arnold 

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Clyde

There is a great website produced by Joan Vanderhorn and John Campbell on the history of Clyde. Naturally enough it's called A Clyde history and the website address is  https://www.earlyhistory4clydevic.com/index.html Joan and her brother John grew up in Clyde and in 1978 John wrote the book A Clyde History: Public Hall and Mechanics' Institute Jubilee to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Clyde Hall. If you have an interest in Clyde history or just an interest in the general history of the area then this is a great site.

Joan has also created the Clyde Victoria 3978-History blog http://clydehistory.blogspot.com - to accompany the website. The blog is more interactive and you can leave comments - plus it is easy to add content to so is more immediate. The Clyde website and blog are great examples of using new technology to promote history. Obviously Joan and John have a great knowledge of Clyde history and by creating this website and blog they are sharing it with the wider community. It's not only this generosity in freely sharing the information that I feel is really important but the fact that the website and blog are recording the life of a township that is undergoing massive change - farms are now being developed into housing estates. I know that change is inevitable but that's why it is important that people like Joan and John are prepared to record and share our changing history.

However, this change is not the first change in the history of Clyde - this came came with the coming of the Great Southern Railway which was opened through to Tooradin in October 1888. A station was built south of the original Clyde township and this effectively created two towns, the original settlement between Pattersons Road and Hardys Road and Berwick-Clyde Road and the new Railway town (where the existing town of Clyde is). The old town became officially known as Clyde North as from 1915 and the rail town became known as Clyde. To find out about the Schools, Halls, Churches and other businesses in both Clydes click here.
The Library has very few photographs of Clyde, but we do have a few aerials from 1981, which I have reproduced below. The top aerial shows the Clyde Cricket Ground, called the Lineham Oval, on the corner of Clyde road and Pattersons Road (top right corner), then following Clyde Road to the bottom of the photograph, where it intersects with Twyford Road. You can follow Twyford Road into the second photograph where you can see the Clyde township.

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Narre Warren Mechanics' Institute

The first township of Narre Warren was surveyed in 1860, and is now known as Narre Warren North and the township which developed around the Railway Station, which opened in 1882, became Narre Warren Railway Station and later just Narre Warren.

The man responsible for the growth of this town was Sidney Webb. Webb agitated for a Railway Station at Narre Warren and he collected money to purchase land for a road to connect the town to the Station. He built the early shops in the township which further consolidated when Sidney Webb donated land for the School which opened in 1889 and Mechanics' Institute which opened in November 9, 1891 (or the birthday of the Prince of Wales as the invitation, reproduced below, says)


The building was used for lectures, concerts, Balls, billiards, and meetings. It also housed a subscription lending library which initially was open 3.00pm to 4.00pm on Saturdays and 4.00pm to 5.00pm on Tuesdays. In 1898 there were 990 books in the Library and this had grown to over 2,000 in 1905. The Library ceased operation in 1941, when the books and the shelving were sold. Library services at Narre Warren later operated from a building in Malcolm Court.

The Mechanics' Institutes of Victoria have an ongoing scanning project to scan the existing records of all Victoria's Mechanics' Institutes. Over 1,000 Mechanics Institutes were built and 562 remain, including the Narre Warren one.


The records of the Narre Warren Mechanics' Institute have been scanned. The first Minutes we have are from the meeting of March 14, 1892, they are shown above. Given the role that Sidney Webb played in the development of the Narre Warren township it is not surprising to find that he chaired the meeting. The meeting appointed 'Messrs S.Webb and McDonnell as ' joint Librarians honorary.' S.Webb was Sidney Webb's son, also called Sidney. However, we have earlier Ledger records that date from August 1890, which list donations made for the establishment of the building and, later on, subscriptions. These scanned records provide us not only with a full picture of the workings and activities of the Mechanics' Institute but also a snapshot of who lived in the township at the time. They are an amazing resource.

Subscriptions collected in 1895, click on the image to enlarge it.

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Lawson Burdett Poole and Laura Mary Poole (nee Brunt)

The Poole family have played a significant role in the development of the Cranbourne area, Brothers, Frederick (1826-1894), George (1827-1909), and Thomas (1837-1906) were early settlers in the area. George operated the Sherwood Hotel. Frederick was elected to the Cranbourne Road Board, which became the Shire of Cranboure in 1868, from 1865 to 1872, 1873 to 1874 and 1885 to 1893. He was Shire President in 1887-88.


Frederick and Mary Ann Poole had a son William Burdett Poole. William Burdett married Mary Frances Einsedel. Mary's grandmother Pauline Einsedel had migrated to Australia from Prussia in 1849 with four children. Her husband and other children had died of cholera shortly before the family left for Australia. Pauline's son Gustav settled in Cranbourne and one of their ten children was Mary Frances. William and Mary had three children - Lawson Burdett Gustav born 1898; Cora Violet (1900 to 1983, married Malcolm Gowan Watson in 1922) and Frances Myrtle (1902 to 1986 married Culbert Cecil Fisher in 1925). Lawson went to School at Cranbourne State School and then Swinburne Technical College and in 1919 opened the first garage in Cranbourne (shown above). His is also credited with having the first car in Cranbourne, a 1918 Buick; the first telephone line in 1920 and the first talking picture plant in 1929.

In 1932 he married Laura Mary Brunt (1891 to 1981). The couple are shown, above. Laura was also from an old Cranbourne family, her father was William Brunt and her mother was Mary Jane Espie. They lived at Spring Villa, where the Settlement Hotel is now located. William's cousin, Ralph, who came to Australia with him lived at Officer and is the source of the name Brunt Road. William was a Cranbourne Shire Councillor from 1904 to 1923.

Laura and Lawson had no children and devoted much of their life to community service. Lawson was a Justice of the Peace, an Honorary justice and Life Governor of the Dandenong Hospital, the Hastings Hospital and Westernport Memorial Hospital at Koo-Wee-Rup. The Berwick Hospital benefited from a donation from them and the Lawson Poole wing was named for him. Dandenong Hospital also had the Poole ward to honour their generous donations. The Pooles also supported a variety of local groups such as schools, churches and the Girls Guides. Lawson was involved in the Cranbourne Masonic Lodge from 1923.

Lawson was a member of the Cranbourne Turf Club, where he joined the committee in 1919 and was Chairman from 1959 to 1979. The Lawson Poole Stand at the Turf Club and the Lawson Poole Reserve in Cranbourne are named in his honour. Lawson died in 1987 and is buried with Laura in the Cranbourne cemetery.

Photographs: The photograph of the garage is from the Cranbourne Shire Historical Society collection. The photo of Laura and Lawson is from a brochure produced in 1977 for a Testimonial for the couple, but I have no other details about the form this Testimonial took. The picture of Lawson taken at the Race track is photo of an oil painting. The testimonial brochure and the oil painting are both in the Cranbourne Shire Historical Society collection.

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World Heritage Day April 18

April 18 is the International Day for Monuments and Sites, more commonly known as World Heritage Day. According to the information on the official website World Heritage is the shared wealth of humankind. Protecting and preserving this valuable asset valuable asset demands the collective efforts of the international community. This special day offers an opportunity to raise the public's awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage and the efforts that are required to protect and conserve it, as well as draw attention to its vulnerability. The theme for 2011 is Water. When I found that out I thought it would prove to be a difficult theme, however once I started thinking about it, I discovered there is a huge amount of 'water related' heritage in the Casey Cardinia Region.

The Main Drain in flood in July 1958, taken at the Eleven Mile Road Bridge at Cora Lynn.

Image: Rouse family collection.

Here's a random list - the drainage of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp, the role of the beach in our cultural and social life, the fishing industry and families connected to this industry, water supply, swimming pools, lakes and swimming holes.

Water skiing at Tooradin, in the early 1960s.

Image: Rouse family collection.

Other water related heritage includes the role of the local Water Boards and the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, who also built houses in towns such as Koo-Wee-Rup. Then there are railway steam engines and steam traction engines used in the timber industry.

 

Alf Weatherhead's Steam traction engine, taken at the Narre Warren Quarry. The Weatherheads also had other steam powered machines at their timber mills in North Tynong.

Image: Rouse family collection.

I thought some more and came up with ship wrecks, French Island, barges, jetties and wharves, the influence of creeks and water ways in early settlement patterns, Warneet Yacht Club, Bills horse troughs and the irrigation of orchards and market gardens.

The Royal Hotel at Koo-Wee-Rup built in 1917. This picture of a 'watering hole' was taken in the 1934 flood.

Image: Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society

Finally there are floods, the history of our local hotels (watering holes) and families with a 'watery' name such as the Poole family of Cranbourne.

 

Lawson Poole's garage, established in Cranbourne in 1919.

Image: Cranbourne Shire Historical Society

The Casey Cardinia Library Corporation Local History Reference Group will give short presentations on a water related theme to celebrate World Heritage Day, on Monday, April 18 from 10.00am to 12 noon. Venue is the National Trust Casey Cardinia Branch Rooms, Heritage Centre, Pioneers Park corner Peel Street and Lyall Road in Berwick. All welcome. Guests are invited to bring along their own photograph or objects which have a water related theme to share with the rest of the Group.

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Early Settlers of the Casey Cardinia district

The Narre Warren and District Family History Group (NW&DFHG) have produced Early Settlers of the Casey-Cardinia District. The book records the names of the early settlers in the area that was once the Berwick Shire and the Cranbourne Shire and is now covered by the City of Casey and Cardinia Shire. The book covers the prominent early landowners who arrived here from the 1830s through to the more humble families who worked the land and created the community spirit which built our towns and organizations.

It is naturally not an exhaustive list. Some information came from research from NW&DFHG members and some information was submitted by descendants of the settlers.

This is a valuable contribution to the history of our area.

The NW&DFHG, run entirely by volunteers, started in 1989 and has produced a history of their first twenty years, Kindred Spirits.

Their Research Room at the Cranbourne Library has an extensive collection of local, Victorian, Australian and overseas information.  For opening hours, meeting details and other information visit their website at www.nwfhg.org.au

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