In the Wake of the Pack Tracks : a history of the Shire of Berwick

In the past three blog posts we have covered some of the key Local Histories for the Casey Cardinia Region - The Good Country, which traces the history of the old Shire of Cranbourne, The Early days of Berwick, which covers the Eastern end of the old Shire of Berwick and The Story of the Dandenongs which looks at the hill towns. My final key resource is In the Wake of the Pack Tracks : a history of the Shire of Berwick, now the City of Berwick and the Shire of Pakenham. This books covers the entire Shire of Berwick, from Doveton to Bunyip. It was complied by the Berwick Pakenham Historical Society. Its predecessor was From Bullock tracks to Bitumen, published in 1962, now out of print (but certainly worth chasing up through a second hand book dealer as it contains some information not in the new book).

In the Wake of the Pack Tracks has a history of the early pioneers in the area, a history of the Shire of Berwick, a look at early hotels and transport routes and a chapter on every town in the Shire from Doveton, all the way down the Railway line to Bunyip, south of the railway line it looks at Cora Lynn and Iona and north of the railway line it covers Harkaway, Narre Warren North, Beaconsfield Upper, Dewhurst, Cockatoo, Gembrook, Pakenham Upper, Maryknoll and Tonimbuk. This is a very accessible Local History, good for school projects. 

The book is also available for sale from the Berwick Pakenham Historical Society. They operate a Museum at the Old Shire Offices, corner Main Street and McGregor Road, Pakenham. (enter via service road off James Street). It is open Sunday afternoons.

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Story of the Dandenongs 1838-1958 by Helen Coulson

In the last two blogs we have looked at two of of my 'frequently referred' to resources and in this blog I will look at another great Local History Story of the Dandenongs 1838-1958 by Helen Coulson. This was published in 1959 and is a history of the old Shire of Fern Tree Gully. Even though many of the towns, covered by the book, are not part of Casey or Cardinina we still have strong historical, social and physical links (such as the Puffing Billy Rail line) to these towns.The Scoresby Ward of this Shire was, until 1889, originally part of the Shire of Berwick. Clematis, Emerald and Avonsleigh returned to us after the 1994 Local Government changes. The towns covered in the book include Emerald, Macclesfield, Avonsleigh, Narre Warren North and East, Clematis, Menzies Creek, Ferntree Gully, Bayswater, Wantirna, Scoresby and Lysterfield and the rural part of Cockatoo. There is a full list of Fern Tree Gully Councillors to 1957 and a great index, for those seeking family history information.

The Story of the Dandenongs tells us about one of the early families in the area, the Row family, after whom Rowville was named in 1903. Frederick Row was a co-founder of Goldsborough, Row and Company, Melbourne wool brokers. He acquired land in the area in the 1860s and called his property Stamford Park. Frederick and Elizabeth Row built a magnificent house there in 1882 (pictured below) which is listed by the National Trust and on the Register of the National Estate. The Rows entertained lavishly , especially during the Spring racing season and lived extravagantly. Mrs Row used to spend 100 pounds on a Melbourne Cup outfit (the equivalent of about $5,000 today) and had the reputation of being 'the haughtiest woman who ever stood in a pair of boots'. Frederick Row was also said to have been the first person to introduce sparrows and hares into Australia. Stamford Park remained in the Row family until 1909.

Stamford Park, built 1882.

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Early days of Berwick and its surrounding districts

In the last post I talked about The Good Country : Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson. In this post I will look at another of my well used resources Early days of Berwick and its surrounding districts - Beaconsfield, Upper Beaconsfield, Harkaway, Narre Warren and Narre Warren North, complied by Norman Beaumont, James Curran and R.H Hughes. It was first published in 1948, revised in 1959 and 1979 and finally republished with an index in 2005. I know it is a bit dated, especially in its attitudes to Aboriginals, and some people say it has a number of errors, however it is still one of my favourite resources.

The joy of this book is that it was written by locals, with long term connections to the towns which they write about, so it is very good on the early European settlers and early properties. For example the section on Berwick, which looks at early residents of the town and surrounding areas, tells us that Two Crimean War veterans, Mr Drummond and Mr Adams, resided in High Street, Berwick. These two old gentlemen, wearing their Crimean War medals, could often be observed sitting in the Boulevard, enjoying the sunshine. It was said that Mrs Drummond was a contemporary with and associated with Florence Nightingale, nursing at the Crimea. It's this type of information which makes this book such a great resource for people with family connections to the area.

You can buy the revised 2005 edition from the Berwick Pakenham Historical Society.They operate a Museum at the Old Shire Offices, corner Main Street and McGregor Road, Pakenham. (enter via service road off James Street). It is open Sunday afternoons.

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The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson

My role as Local History Librarian is to answer any Reference questions from patrons on the history of the towns, families, groups or events in the City of Casey or Cardinia Shire. Amongst the resources I use is the Casey Cardinia Archive and a few key Reference books. One of my favourite local histories is The Good Country : Cranbourne Shire written by Niel Gunson, with contributions by Leslie Key. It was published by the Shire of Cranbourne in 1968. It is a well researched, authorative publication. This book is especially good on the early European settlers including the squatters and early land owners in the region. There is a chapter on the development of the town of Cranbourne and the Shire of Cranbourne. The Shire of Cranbourne originally covered Lyndhurst, Hampton Park, Tooradin and the coastal towns, Dalmore, Cardinia, Koo-Wee-Rup, Catani, Yallock and Bayles, Lang Lang, Yannathan, Monomeith and Caldermeade. Gunson covers the development of infrastraucture in the Shire such as roads, railways, schools and churches.There is a chapter on the drainage of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp and one on the Soldier Settlements in the area.
The Appendix includes a full list of Councillors to 1982 and an interesting article on the families at Yallock by H.J. Boxshall. If you have any historical connections to the old Shire of Cranbourne, then this book is a 'must read'.

A sequel was published in 1988, The good Country : Into the dawn of a new day (1968-1988). It was written by Fred Hooper, the Head Master at Koo-Wee-Rup High School in the 1960s and 70s. Both books are available for loan at our Cranbourne Branch.

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Hampton Park

The area that is now called Hampton Park, is part of the Parish of Eumemmerring. Until the Hampton Park sub-division in 1917-1918 rate payers of the area were listed variously as living in Eumemmerring, Dandenong or Lyndhurst. The area was locally known as Garner’s Paddock, after the owners, the Garner family of Dandenong.

The first European settlers in the area were the Edey family, Isaac and Catherine and their two sons William and Tom. They selected 231 hectares (572 acres) of land around Hallam Road in 1842. Their homestead was situated about where Ormond Road is now. Isaac (1808-1886) and Catherine (nee Davis 1820-1875)  had two sons, William and Tom. William married in 1874 to Mary Anne O'Leary and they had five children - Emily, Maggie, Lily, William and Percival Isaac, who all worked at home on the farm.

Other early settlers in the area were Peter Davis who purchased 128 hectares (316 acres) of land in 1852 and then another 358 hectares (885 acres) in 1854. This land was purchased for one pound per acre. The other early settler was David Duncan who purchased 163 hectares (156 acres) in 1863. These three original land owners subdivided their land during the last part of the nineteenth century into smaller farms of up to 40 hectares (100 acres) . The Reedy family were one of the purchasers. Jack and George Reedy returned to their dairy farm after serving in World War One. Jack’s wife, Dolly, was Secretary of the Progress Association for 30 years. Their son, Ken, has had the Ken Reedy reserve in Hampton Park named in his honour as recognition for his community work. The Scott family purchased part of Garner’s paddock and run a dairy farm on the south side of Somerville Road.

An interesting fact about Hampton Park was that it used to be the site of the Cranbourne Pound.
According to Niel Gunson the author of  The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire the area had originally enclosed the Dandenong Pound (later known as the Cranbourne Pound).  The ‘pound’ Paddock was later owned by the Garner family of Diamond Hill, well known in Dandenong as undertakers and coach builders. When W. Garner was gored by a bull the paddock was purchased by E.V Jones of Somerville Road, Footscray. It was Jones that created the Hampton Park subdivision in 1916 (more on this below). The Dandenong Pound was officially established November 20, 1849 and the name was changed to the Cranbourne Pound in July 1868. This pound was closed in January 1887 and relocated. Pound Road led to the pound and that is why it is called that. You can read more on Pound Road, here.

Hampton Park sub-division map, c. 1920

State Library of Victoria 

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/169514

Further subdivision took place after the World War One into blocks between 2 and 8 hectares. This subdivision was named the “Hampton Park” estate by the developer Edward Victor Jones of Somerville Road, Footscray. These settlers were the first residents of the town of Hampton Park. They were tradesmen or worked on the red gum timber, in the clay deposits at the Hallam pits or for local farmers. Among the settlers were the Norris, Robjant and the Kirkham families. The Norris family owned the store. Mrs Annie Norris had the honour of cutting the ribbon to open the Primary school. Mr W Norris and Mr F Kirkham were secretary and President respectively of the Progress Association. Mr Fred Robjant donated land for the Methodist Church. The first Post Office was conducted by Mrs Norris (no relation to the other Norris family).

The small town of Hampton Park soon grew and community organizations were formed. The Primary School was opened in February 1922 with 28 students enrolled. The Hampton Park Progress Association was established around 1925, possibly 1923,  and the Public hall on September 8, 1937. You can read a report about the opening celebrations, here.  In the late 1930s or early 1940s electricity was connected to the town and the Fire Brigade established. In the 1960s town water was connected. The very early settlers of Hampton Park had to rely on water from the Dandenong Creek or a dam on Scott’s farm. The 1960s also saw the establishment of the Tennis Club, the Holy Trinity Anglican Church and the establishment  of St Kevin’s Catholic Church, in Somerville Road. The St Kevin's building was re-located from Glen Waverley.

The former St Leonard's Church from Glen Waverley was relocated to Hampton Park and opened in late 1961. Pictures from A Parish carved from the Bush : the centenary history of the Dandenong parish (St Mary's) 1883-1983. (Published by St Mary's Church in 1983). Click on the image to enlarge it.

There were some minor residential sub-divisions off Somerville Road in 1955 and again in 1961. Large scale sub divisions began in the 1970s, no doubt spurred on by the connection to the sewerage system in 1973. With the new housing came a new population and the need for increased community facilities. The 1970s saw the construction of another primary school and a shopping centre. In the 1980s the Senior Citizens, the Community House were established as well as the Secondary College which opened in 1987. St Kevin's Catholic Primary School was established in 1988 in Somerville Road and relocated to the current site in Hallam Road in 1990. A new Church and Parish Hall was built in 1991. This decade also saw the expansion of Hampton Park east of Hallam Road. Parks were established, including the Marjorie Eastick Reserve. Mrs Eastick was a long term resident of Hampton Park and involved with the Progress Association and other community groups.

Hampton Park may no longer be the small country town that it was in the 1920s but it has a strong community spirit which has seen the residents and the Hampton Park Progress Association continually work for new community facilities. This is reflected in the new Community hall, the Arthur Wren hall, that was opened in 1994 to replace the 1930s building, and more recently the opening of the Hampton Park library in January 2004.

Much of the information about the early days of Hampton Park comes from The history of Hampton Park by Roy R. Scott, written in 1970 and  published in the Dandenong and  District Historical Society Journal, Gipps-land Gate.

I have created a list of newspaper articles about the early days of Hampton Park on Trove, click here to access the list.

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The Railways - The Strzelecki Line

The train leaving Yannathan Station, Easter 1940, on the way to Bayles.
From the Bayles Fauna Park Collection.

In this post we will look at another railway line which traversed the Casey Cardinia region -  the railway line which used to run from Koo Wee Rup to Strzelecki. At its opening in June 1922 it was known as the Koo Wee Rup to McDonald’s Track Railway. McDonald’s Track had been surveyed between 1860 and 1862 by George McDonald. It ran between Lang Lang, Poowong, over Mt Worth to Moe with the aim of providing a stock route through to Sale. The Gippsland Railway line through to Sale was completed in 1879 and early McDonald’s Track settlers, especially those around Poowong, soon began to agitate for a railway line to help ease their transport problems through the densely forested, damp hills. The 32 kilometres (20 miles) or so between Poowong and Drouin took over a days travel and all goods and produce were carted on pack horses or drays.

Various routes for a railway line were suggested including one from Drouin to Welshpool via McDonalds Track or Drouin to Poowong via Longwarry. The Great Southern Railway line to Port Albert via Koo Wee Rup, Leongatha and Foster was opened in 1892, by-passing Poowong. The opening of this line coupled with the draining of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp saw fresh demands from the McDonald Track settlers and the Swamp settlers for a new line. The Swamp was a large producer of dairy products and vegetables and there was also a growing sand mining industry. In 1912 a new Railway line was proposed from Koo Wee Rup to McDonalds Track via areas of the newly drained Swamp.

The Koo Wee Rup to McDonalds Track Railway Construction Act was proclaimed on October 12, 1914 and construction began on August 4, 1915. Construction of the line was slowed by the re-allocation of resources during the First World War and didn’t resume with any pace until 1919. Construction was carried out in three stages. The Swamp area from Koo Wee Rup to Heath Hill, the foothills area of Heath Hill to Triholm and the mountain area from Triholm to Strzelecki. 

The line officially opened June 29, 1922 although the Bayles Station commenced limited operation over a year earlier on February 10, 1921 and Catani had opened for limited operations from May 1921*. 

The finished line was 49 kms (30 and a half miles) in length and unfortunately for the people of Poowong they were bypassed once again. The first timetable had three trains per week carrying both passengers and goods but lack of patronage saw the Strzelecki station close in November 1930 and less than 20 years after their opening Triholm, Topiram, Athlone and Heath Hill closed in August 1941. The passenger service also closed in August 1941. Yannathan was now the terminus.

The train at Bayles. 

Image: Bayles Fauna Park Collection.

The farm produce, cattle and milk and the sand mining from the Koo Wee Rup Swamp kept the Catani and Yannathan Stations open until April 1950 and Bayles to February 1959. The site of the Bayles Railway station is now the Fauna Reserve and various remnants of the Railway service can be seen there. There is also a display of historic photographs.

At the peak of the rail traffic in 1926 Koo Wee Rup Station had a staff of eleven and had 48 passenger and mixed trains and 72 goods trains per week.

Sources
This information comes mainly from Steam to Strzelecki : the Koo-Wee-Rup to McDonald’s Track railway by Merilyn Ramsay. Published by the Australian Railway Historical Society in 1991. Unfortunately it is now out of print.

*Date of Bayles Station comes from Mickle Memories of Koo Wee Rup: for young and old, v.1 by Dave Mickle (The Author, 1983) p. 75. He quotes the Koo Wee Rup Sun, but I have checked the originals from February 1921 and can't find a reference. Marilyn Ramsay quotes the same date and her source is the Koo Wee Rup Sun. Marilyn Ramsay also writes (p. 47) that Railways Weekly Notices refer to Bayles and Catani being open during construction on 21 May 1921, and Heathhill and Topriam on 7 March 1922. The Argus of June 23, 1921 reported the fact that Bayles and Catani were open for limited use - see below.

Notification that Bayles and Catani Stations were partially open for business

The Argus June 23, 1921 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1768863

The Argus of March 9, 1922 also reported that three months before the official opening the following stations were open, with some limits. Warneet was the original name for the Topriam Station. 

The Argus March 9, 1922 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4689414

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The Railways - The line that never was

The Pakenham Gazette and Berwick Shire News, from 1909-1965, is available to view at our Libraries on DVD. I came across this article from the Berwick Shire News of Wednesday, October 19th, 1910.

At a meeting of the Ferntree Gully Shire Council on Saturday, Councillor Crichton moved that Mr Keast, M.L.A be asked to approach the Government with a request to extend the Gembrook line to the New South Wales border via Wood's Point and Omeo. This motion was agreed to unanimously. Cr Crichton then went on to say that it was estimated there were over 4,000,000 acres of Crown Lands between Beenak and the New South Wales border, occupied by dingoes and wallabies only. At 3000 pounds per mile the 200 mile narrow gauge railway would cost 600,000 pounds. It was suggested that the cost of the rail would be off-set by the sale of Crown land, which should realise 625,000 pounds. The article continues If this scheme were carried out it would add 200 miles of railway to the State at practically no cost to the Government and would open up a large area of mineral country to the miner. Clearing the country would find work for the unskilled labourer all the year round and the adoption of the scheme would do away to a great extent with the necessity for buying large estates for closer settlement.

It would probably not surprise you to know that this rather ambitious railway line was never built.

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