Endeavour Hills

Endeavour Hills, early 1970s.

Endeavour Hills was officially gazetted as a suburb on July 14, 1971. According to the Endeavour Gazette : the official newsletter of Endeavour Hills, the project was first conceived in 1970 when Lewis Land Corporation purchased the 1,032 acre site (about 420 hectares). The developers wanted to create a modern suburb that would make use of as many advanced town planning ideas as possible. Endeavor Hills was designed with large areas of parks and sports grounds. Schools, Churches and shops were integrated into the design plan and all the power lines were underground. The first land sales, from the Lewis Land Corporation, took place on November 24, 1973.

The first Endeavour Gazette, where much of the information for this article came from.

As the suburb was being developed at the same time as the 200^th anniversary of the arrival of Captain Cook in the Endeavour, it was considered fitting to name the suburb after the Endeavour. There are over 80 streets in Endeavour Hills named after crew on the Endeavour. Daniel Solander was a Naturalist, Zachary Hicks Crescent was named after the second Lieutenant, Howson Close was named for William Howson, the Captain's servant, who joined the ship at age 16. Other streets in the suburb have been named after historical figures such as David Collins, Deputy Judge Advocate, who arrived with the First Fleet and later established the ill fated settlement at Sorrento and John Fawkner and Thomas Mitchell. Other early suggestions for names for the new suburb were Pine Hill and Piney Ridge, due to the number of pine trees in the area, as you can see in the photograph at the top of this post.

An early aerial view of Endeavour Hills. Click on the image to enlarge it.

The first stage of the development consisted of 312 sites. These sites were located on James Cook Drive ; Isaac Smith Drive and the six Closes running off Isaac Smith Drive - Nicholson, Rearden, Terrell, Howson, Manley and Slatterly ; Joseph Banks Crescent and the eight Courts off Joseph Banks Crescent - Hughes, Parker, Dawson, Jordan, Ramsay, Haite, Hardman and Sutherland. Early residents could choose from three different building companies and prices started at $14,500 for a 13.8 square house to $18,200 for a 17.25 square house. A block of land cost about $12,500.

Lewis Land Corporation Sales Office, early 1970s. 

The Sales Centre was on the corner of Heatherton Road and Joseph Banks Crescent.

An early sales brochure.

Endeavour Hills was promoted as a prestige suburb with good capital return, being close to Dandenong, near the Freeway and near the Churchill National Park. New residents received a voucher for a free supply of native plants and shrubs for their garden.

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Wireless Experimentation Station at Koo Wee Rup.

A very poor quality photograph of one of the buildings at the

Koo-Wee-Rup Wireless Experimentation Station.

Photo is taken from the Koo Wee Rup Sun of November 6, 1974.

Koo Wee Rup was once at the centre of International Wireless communications. In 1921, Amalgamated Wireless (Australia) Ltd. (A.W.A), selected Koo Wee Rup as a site for a Wireless Experimentation Station. The site of the Station was in Rossiter Road, near the intersection of Sims Lane, on land owned by John Mickle and it operated from June 1921 to 1922. It was at this Station that it was confirmed that direct and efficient communication between Great Britain and Australia was feasible when the very first direct press message was sent from the United Kingdom to Australia. It was received at 5.00 am on December 5, 1921 at Koo Wee Rup by Bill Bearup. Radio communications, at this time, were sent and received by a series of relays.

Wireless signals sent from Britain had already been received directly in Australia as early as 1918, as European Stations could be heard at certain times in Australia. These transmissions are effected by weather and especially sun activity (as anyone with a modern day HF radio would know).

Great Britain had proposed the establishment of an Imperial Radio Scheme, based on a series of relays, at the Imperial Conference of 1921 (the fore-runner of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting). Australia would have been at a disadvantage under this Scheme as we were at the end of the line and many relays were situated in politically unstable countries. The Prime Minister, Billy Hughes, rejected this Scheme at the Conference.

The Koo Wee Rup Station was staffed by Thomas Bearup, E.A Burbury and E.G Bailey. T. W. Bearup was Thomas William (known as Bill) Bearup (1897-1980). In 1916 he joined the Marine Service of Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia). He later worked for the ABC and was Studio Manager for 3LO and had various positions within the ABC until he retired in 1962.

The experiments of Bearup, Burbury and Bailey used a heterodyne type receiver, with six stages of radio frequency amplication and two stages of audio frequency amplication. Their research showed that wireless signals could be received over long periods each day from New York, Rome, England, Paris and Germany and were consistent enough to prove that direct wireless communication was both practical and reliable between Australia and Britain.

A.W.A (who worked in conjunction with the Marconi Company) won the Contract from the Australian Government to construct and maintain Wireless Stations capable of direct commercial services to Britain and Canada.

The Gippsland Gate Radio and Electronics Club Inc (GGREC) re-enacted this feat in 2010  at the Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society and one of their members, Steve Harding, had access to Bill Bearup's diary and this is what Bill wrote on June 14, 1910, the day after he arrived at Koo Wee Rup. He was describing the radio station -

It is about a mile from the hotel in the middle of a paddock. The aerial is a 2-wire inverted to 400 feet long & about 60 feet high. The stations buildings comprise two rough, unpainted, wooden “shacks” – one for the instruments & one for the engine & dynamo. The walls inside have been coated with brown paper to keep out the cold. Inside! What an uproar! Wire, cells, valves, instruments, switches & so on just stuck anywhere & everywhere. No effort has been made to make the station permanent – it has been established purely as an experiment. The only set available is a kerosene case! Power is obtained from an A.W.(A).L. 1½ K.W. rotary converter driven as a dynamo by a “Sunshine” two stroke 5 H.P. petrol engine. The receiver is a Marconi type 55D giving adjustments up to 30,000 meters. Radio frequency is amplified six times (V.24 valves) & rectified by a seventh valve (Q). ‘Phones’ Browns low resistance. Kept the noon to 4pm watch & was relieved by Lamb. It appears that this station belongs to the Marconi Coy & not the Amalgamated Wireless, though operated by the latter. The idea is to collect scientific data to show whether direct communication with Europe is practicable. I wonder if we are all fully seized with the importance of our mission?

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Dewhurst

Dewhurst lies between Beaconsfield Upper and Emerald and was originally known as Beaconsfield North. The Progress Association had the area named Dewhurst in the 1920s. A mail service was established, with Mr Wain as the first mail man, and a Post office was opened in Mr Cation's house. The Dewhurst State School was erected in 1934 and operated until 1953 when it closed down, having at the time, only nine pupils enrolled. In the 1950s the town had the Post Office, a Public Hall, a Fire Station, a Methodist Church, the Falls Guest House. The first house in the area was said to have been built by Dr Louis L Smith in 1888, he called his property Louisville, but is was later known as Bim Bim Be. Other early residents in the area include Mr Mulcahy of Edgevale, later owned by the Harris family; Mr Ricketts; Captain Jones, an Orchardist; Frank Knapton; Mr Shanks, who built the Methodist Church; Mr Spivey; Mr W. Care; Mr Bateman, who ran a piggery; Carl Hepner; Mr Dacks of The Towers; Mr McMeekin of View House and Mr Bunt an orchardist. Most of the residents were farmers or orchardists. The town was in an attractive bush setting, which attracted 'week-enders' one of the most famous being Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia from January 1966 until December 1967. The bush setting also had a dark side, with bush fires being a constant worry. The original town is now under the waters of the Cardinia Dam, which was completed in 1973.


This information comes mainly from From Bullock tracks to Bitumen, a forerunner of In the wake of the Pack Tracks. If you are a reader of Local Histories, published 30, 40 or more years ago, you will know that authors rarely seemed to refer to local identities by their given names, which is why many of the early residents listed above have surnames only. This photograph comes from the book In the Wake of the Pack Tracks. 

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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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