George and Margaret McLellan's farm, Ellerslie, at Lyndhurst

On August 8, 1908 The Leader newspaper had an article on Dairying in the Lyndhurst district. This was the start of the first paragraph - At Dandenong the two Gippsland railways diverge. The next station on the South Gippsland line is Lyndhurst, distant twenty-three, miles from Melbourne. Conveniently situated with regard to the metropolis, it is only to be expected that the district would be dotted with dairy farms. From the local station a considerable quantity of whole milk is daily railed direct to Melbourne. In this connection a Sunday railway service proves of great value to the suppliers (1)

One of these dairy farms dotted around Lyndhurst, was owned by George and Margaret McLellan. Their farming operations were reported on in newspapers in 1908  and 1912 and give us a general  insight into the life of a farmer and a specific insight into their farm management.  The farmer's life is often romanticised, but in reality it is a life of long hours all year round, coping with the vagaries of the weather, the high cost of feed if it is needed to be bought in and the cost of labour. The McLellans supplied milk to the Melbourne market which as the 1908 article pointed out in this connection it is well to remember that a supplier to a city milk distributing firm is bound to supply a certain minimum quantity all the year through. He cannot, like the butter factory supplier, let his cows go dry when the feed fails, but must, in one form or an other, provide them with the wherewithal to produce a normal yield of milk during every day in the year (2).

Mr G. A. McLellan's Ayrshire Herd, at Lyndhurst

 Weekly Times September 29, 1917 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132695134

The two articles basically cover the same ground, so I transcribed only the 1912 article, which is below. Of interest is the fact that this article actually mentions George's wife. The reality is that on family farms the wife played just a large as role as the husband, but she is rarely mentioned in any other articles I have come across. 

Before we look at the McLellan's farm, we will have a look at the McLellan family. George's father Donald, a Scotsman, took up land in Lyndhurst around 1853. In 1857 he married Catherine  McMillan and they had seven children - Dugald (1859), John (1859), Margaret Ann (1862), Alexander Malcolm (1863), Archibald (1865-1868), George Archibald (1872) and Mary Flora (1870). They were all raised on the farm, called Ellerslie, Taylor's Road, Lyndhurst. It is George Archibald who is the subject of this story. George married Margaret Close in 1905. She was the daughter of James Close and his wife Louise Hall. They were both locals, the Close family owned Willowdale, on Cranbourne Frankston Road (read about Willowdale  here). Louise was a Hall from Ercildoune in Hall Road, Lyndhurst (read about Ercildoune, here). (3).

George and Margaret had three children, Gladys (born 1907, married Keith Bedwell in 1935); Mabel (born 1910, married Charles McNab in 1938. The McNabs owned Ercildoune after the Hall family, read about this here) and George Archibald (born 1916, married Barbara Perry in 1945). George had taken over the family farm, Ellerslie, and in turn it was taken over by his son, George, who was still on the farm in 2004 (4). George snr died on December 2, 1958, aged 87. Margaret, died on September 14, 1958, aged 85.  They were both cremated at the Necropolis at Springvale. (5).

The 1908 article was in The Leader, on August 8, 1908 (read it here) The article, below, was in the South Bourke and Mornington Journal of March 21, 1912 (see here)

Mr. Geo. McLellan's Dairy Farm. The Economics of Dairying.

 Dairymen engaged in the supply of whole milk for the metropolitan area find that the season is entirely unfavorable. The heavy rains of winter rendered the land so boggy that the sowing of the usual crops was rendered more or less impossible. In the few cases where Algerian oats were sown the yield was extremely poor. In many instances not more than a ton of hay to the acre was harvested. Immediately on the heels of this excessively wet period set in a spring notably lacking in rain. The sodden ground soon set hard, and again almost defied ploughing. Where such fodder crops as maize, sorghum and millet were sown the results have been extremely unsatisfactory. October and November were remarkably deficient in moisture. There was a fair precipitation in December. Since then there has been an abnormally rainless interval. 

About the end of January the pastures began to dry up to almost incredible extent. Contemporaneously the milk yield of the cows has fallen to unpayably low averages. This is a general consensus of opinion amongst dairymen that the manner in which the flow of milk from the cows has dwindled is almost without precedent. It is now tolerably certain that all the fodder crops are failures. With good hay at drought prices, and bran costing about £6 a ton on the farm, hand feeding is necessarily a costly item. It is claimed by some of our most capable dairymen that even with milk selling at 1/ a gallon it is not possible just now to do more than cover working expenses. There is no profit for the producer.

One of Mr McLellan's best milkers

The Leader August 8, 1908 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197064710

A Typical Case

Mr. George McLellan, of Lyndhurst, is a well-known dairyman engaged mainly in the production of whole milk for the metropolitan area. He is one of the leading Ayrshire breeders of the State, and his fine representatives are frequent prize winners at many of our important agricultural shows. His cows are bred largely on utilitarian lines, and the Ayrshires from this farm are an unusually good lot of milkers. The figures of such a farmer are therefore instructive, since there can be no question as to the good dairy character of his milking herd. The animals are also well fed-almost too well fed, one is inclined to suggest, having regard to the heavy cost of concentrates at the present time. 

The fodder supplied to three good milkers. 

The pumpkin was a soft skinned American pumpkin named the Mammoth is successfully grown, and is found of great value. It has the special quality of not requiring to be cut up before being fed to the cows. As its name suggests, it grows to a large size, is a heavy yielder, and provides a wholesome, succulent fodder at a time when other green feed is scarce (6). 

Image: The Leader August 8, 1908 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197064710

The farm consists of 320 acres, of  which about 50 acres is under crop each year. About 30 acres of Algerian oats are sown in autumn, while some 20 acres are seeded with Hickory King maize at the first convenient opportunity in spring. At the present time 44 cows are being milked. They consume each week 134 bushels of bran and 2 tons of chaff. In addition to the continuous service of Mr. McLellan and his wife the dairying absorbs hired labour costing £4 10/ per week. Fixed charges, such as rent or interest on the value of the land, interest on the capital sunk in stock and working plant, depreciation and rates and taxes, amount to £5 per week. 

So far, the milk is selling at 11d. per gallon. The weekly expenditure (7) is therefore as follows:

134 bushels of bran at £6 per ton.. £  8  0  0

2 tons of chaff at £3 ... .................. £  6  0  0

Wages ... ... ... .... .......................... .£  4 10 0

Fixed charges ... ............................ £  5  0 0

Railway freights..............................£  1 0  0

Total expenditure............................£24 10 0

Income:

Sale of 525 gallons at 11d.............  £24 1  3

Profit on sale of stock . ..................£ 2  0  0

                                                               £26 1 3

Lyndhurst Railway Station - the milk from the McLellan farm was sent

 to Melbourne from this Station.

Image: The Great Southern Railway: the illustrated history of the building of the line in South Gippsland by Keith Macrae Bowden. (Australian Railway Historical Association, 1970)

Charges that are ignored

According to this statement, Mr M'Lellan and his wife work hard all through the week, and at the end of it are, strictly speaking, less than two pounds in pocket. This is an accurate review of the financial position of a capable dairyman under the conditions that have obtained during the last months, and which are likely to continue for several months longer. 

The question not unnaturally arises, why does the dairyman continue at such a poorly remunerative industry? There are two answers. One is that it is not always an easy matter to get out of a going concern. The other is that, like many other men on the land, this farmer ignores several charges which are essentially a part of the cost of production. For instance, the farm itself is worth from £3300 to £3500. At four and half per cent. this represents £156 per annum. Plant, including implements, horses, vehicles, engines, cans, etc., represents an outlay of £675. As the wear and tear is heavy, depreciation of at least eight per cent. should be allowed for by the owner. In other words, he is content to make a fair return over actual working expenses without paying due regard to those fixed charges which are always a recognised item in any correct balance sheet.

Labor Problems

It may be argued that Mr McLellan could have reduced his cost of feeding by growing fodder crops on the farm. To some extent this claim would appear to have a sound basis. As a matter of fact, a good area is placed under maize each year, and a portion of the crop is converted into ensilage. But when this point was submitted to Mr. M'Lellan he pointed out that it was impossible to go in for much cultivation nowadays. The labor problem, he avers, will not only prevent the dairyman from extending his cultivation as he would like, but will actually compel him to restrict it. The growing of fodder crops on right lines, their cutting, storing and hand feeding, are all operations calling for a large supply of

reasonable cheap and efficient labor. At the present time this seems to be out of the question; therefore the dairyman will be able to produce less fodder for the regular nutrition of his cows. 

It is pointed out that the claims of the Rural Workers' Union will represent on an average farm a weekly payment of from 70/ to 80/to each adult worker. If the eight hours' principle is cancelled, and overtime and other concessions are allowed-according to the scale formulated by the union-it is pretty safe to say that the average dairyman will have to pay £4 a week for each man he employs. A scrutiny of Mr. M'Lellan's balance sheet will show how impossible it is that his wages should be thus doubled.

(South Bourke and Mornington Journal March 21, 1912, see here.  The article was originally published in The Leader)

Trove list - I have created a list of articles connected to the McLellan family on Trove, access it here.

Footnotes

(1) The Leader, August 8 1908, see here.

(2) The Leader, August 8 1908, see here.

(3) Information in this paragraph comes from 100 Years in Skye 1850-1890, by Dot Morrison (Mornington Family History Society, 2004) 

(4) This information is from 100 Years in Skye 1850-1890, by Dot Morrison, as above and reports on the family in the local papers, see my Trove list, here.

(5) Margaret's death and funeral notice were in The Age, September 15, 1958 and George's death and funeral  notice in The Age of December 3, 1958.

Margaret's funeral notice in The Age September 15, 1958

George's death notice in The Age December 3, 1958

(6) The Leader, August 8 1908, see here.

(7) It is hard to get the columns to line up. The figures show pounds, shillings and pence - hence total expenditure is 24 pounds, ten shillings and no pence and total income is 26 pounds, one shilling and three pence.

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Nurse Brockhurst's private hospital in Cranbourne

In May 1918, Mrs Isabella Brockhurst applied to the Cranbourne Shire Council to register a private hospital. Dr Langley, the Shire Health Officer reported to the Council meeting that whereas the building is not large and the rooms small, the place is very clean, and the rooms are quite suitable for the purposes of a maternity hospital. In the hands of Mrs. Brockhurst it will be well conducted, and a great benefit to the district (1).  The Hospital was called Kilora. It would be interesting to know who the first baby was born at her Hospital, the earliest birth notice I can find is this one of Mervyn Forster, born September 22, 1918.  

The birth of Mervyn Forster at Nurse Brockhurst's Hospital, 

September 22 1918.

The Age September 22, 1918  https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/155133300

Sadly not all births had a happy ending and this is the notice for baby Leslie Westaway, who only lived 40 hours.

The Argus, November 12, 1923 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1997125

In February 1919, Nurse Brockhurst applied to register the building as a nursing home (2), I presume so she could broaden the scope of her services. The Hospital was advertised regularly in 1920 in the South Bourke & Mornington Journal. The advertisement was always on the bottom left corner of the front page. 

Mrs Brockhurst's regular advertisement in the South Bourke and Mornington Journal in 1920

South Bourke & Mornington Journal June 10, 1920 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66198223

In the last months of 1926 and throughout 1927, Mr Branston, the Dentist, ran this advertisement. He consulted at Nurse Brockhurst's Hospital on Monday between 1.00 pm and 5.00pm.

South Bourke & Mornington Journal September 23, 1926

 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article214585764

On June 8, 1927, Isabella was appointed the Registrar of Births and Deaths at Cranbourne (3). She held the postion until her resignation on November 24, 1931 (4). This means that she may have both delivered the baby and then registered the birth.

Isabella's appointment as Registrar of Births and Deaths at Cranbourne

Victoria Government Gazette June 15, 1927 

 http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1927/V/general/79.pdf

There was an article in the South Bourke and Mornington Journal of June 1927 saying that Sister Gould had taken over the Hospital vacated by Nurse Brockhurst (5), however there are still references in the newspapers of Nurse Brockhurst's Private Hospital after this so either Sister Gould did not stay long or perhaps it was still referred by it's original name. 

What do we know about Mrs Brockhurst? She was born Isabella Suriez around 1884 in the Falkland Islands, that remote part of the British Empire in the South Atlantic Ocean. She is the first person I have ever come across born in the Falklands. Isabella was married to Frank Brockhurst on March 6, 1906 at St Stephen's Church of England, West Ealing, which is part of Greater London.   He was a 23 year old Dairyman, born in Alton in Hampshire and she was a 22 year old Spinster. Her father's occupation on the marriage certificate was listed as Shepherd in the Falkland Isles (6).

I believe Isabella's father was actually called Carlo not Claro. This is an excerpt from Isabella and Frank's Marriage Certificate showing his occupation.

London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; London Church of England Parish Registers; 

Reference Number: DRO/148/01/009 - From Ancestry.cpm

Their daughter Isabella Mary was born November 2, 1906 at Godalaming, Surrey and their son Francis George (known as George) was born June 5, 1908, also in Godalaming (7).  The family were listed in the 1911 Census at Godalaming - Frank's occupation was a Dairyman; Isabella's occupation was 'assisting in the business'. The household also had two boarders and a servant living with them (8). 

I do not have a date for when the family came to Australia, but in 1914 they were listed in the Electoral Rolls at Tallangatta, then in 1917 at Spring Meadows in Cranbourne. They are listed at this address in 1927 as well (9).  Frank's occupation was a farm hand and they did not own the property. There was a clearing sale of cattle and some equipment held at Spring Meadows in February 1920 and the owner was listed as George Lehman (10)  and another sale in March 1928 when the property was auctioned. It was described as 327 acres, stocked 750 sheep and 80 cows were milked  - a large concern in those days. Sel. Kennon Esq., was the owner in 1928 (11). This was Selbourne Kennon, of  J. Kennon and Sons - the operators of a large tannery, leather manufactury and wool exporters in Richmond on the Yarra River (12). With Frank's experience as a dairyman in England, he would have been a valuable employee. After the farm was sold,  Frank and Isabella moved to Perivale,  a house in Childers Street,  Cranbourne (13).  Perivale is less than two miles from West Ealing where the couple were married - perhaps that was the location of their first home together.

Whilst the family was at Cranbourne their daughter, Isabella Mary, known as Molly was married on March 30, 1929 at St John's Church of England to Fred Whiteway of Northcote. The Church was filled, the bride being very popular said the report in the Dandenong Journal. Iris Stick was one of Molly's bridesmaids and later in 1929 she married Molly's brother George (14).

Frank and Isabella left Cranbourne in October 1931 - Much regret is expressed that Mr. and Mrs. F. Brockhurst, after a residence of 15 years in Cranbourne, are shortly leaving the district. Mrs. Brockhurst has conducted a private hospital for a number of years, and has won the affection of many residents. She and Mr. Brockhurst have taken an active part in local movements' for the welfare of the town and district. They have been especially interested in St. John’s Church of England, having been actively associated with the organisation of that church (15). 

The next I can find of the Brockhursts was that in 1937 they were listed in the Electoral Roll at Maffra.  Isabella died on October 6, 1954 at Maffra and Frank in September 1963. They were both cremated at the Necropolis at Springvale (16). 

Small private hospitals, like the one operated by Isabella Brockhurst were the mainstay of medical care in the suburbs and country towns at this time - almost always run by women, and they dealt with births, deaths and everything in between - including illness, accidents and caring for people after operations

Other examples of small hospitals in this region are -

  

Shepton Private Hospital in Berwick

Dandenong Advertiser January 29, 1914  https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/8487638

Mrs Fink's Private Hospital in Dandenong

Koo Wee Rup Sun August 20, 1919.

Mrs Osborn was at Koo Wee Rup - I am unsure whether she operated a hospital in her house or if she attended to patients in their own homes.

Koo Wee Rup Sun August 13, 1919.

From 1911, Bush Nursing Hospitals were established in country towns. The Bush Nursing movement provided a country town with a qualified, experienced Nurse and the local community had to raise the money to fund the cost of the nurse’s salary, board, uniform and transport. The earliest Bush Nursing Hospital in this area was at Koo Wee Rup which opened in July 1918. It later became a Soldiers Memorial Hospital and later still the Westernport Memorial Hospital. Pakenham was established in 1926 and Berwick in 1940. I have written about these Hospitals, here. The first large public hopsital in the area was opened at Warragul in August 1908 and Dandenong was opened in April 1942.

Isabella Brockhurst and other nurses like her who operated their own hospitals in country towns provided a valuable service to the local area, where they were involved in community life and and even more importantly, won the affection of many residents (17).

Trove List

I have created a list of articles on Trove on Isabella and Frank Brockhurst and the Hospital, access it here.

Footnotes

(1) Lang Lang Guardian, May 11 1918 see here.

(2) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, February 6 1919, see here.

(3) Victoria Government Gazette June 15, 1927, p. 1910   http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1927/V/general/79.pdf

(4) Victoria Government Gazette December 3, 1931, p. 3348

http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1931/V/general/278.pdf

(5) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, June 16 1927, see here.

(6) I found out Isabella's maiden name and birth place from the Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages. This led to their Marriage Certificate, which is available on Ancestry.com and their entry in the 1911 Census, also available on Ancestry.com and these documents contained the details in this paragraph. 

(7) Isabella Mary's Baptism record in on Ancestry.com and that gave her date of birth. Francis' birth date comes from his Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947 at the National Archives. He enlisted in the Army on August 1943 and was discharged January 14, 1947.

(8) 1911 U.K Census is on Ancestry.com.

(9) Electoral Rolls available on Ancestry.com

(10) The Argus, February 21, 1920 see here.

(11) The Argus, March 14, 1928, see here.

(12) Articles about J. Kennon & Sons in the Australasian, August 25, 1923, see here and the Weekly Times of September 3, 1932, here

(13) Dandenong Journal, April 11, 1929, see here.

(14) The wedding was reported in the Dandenong Journal, April 11, 1929, see here. George's wedding date is from the Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages. Molly and Fred had two sons - Raymond and Robert. Raymond sadly died in July 1942, aged 12 years old. George and Iris had one daughter, Valma. 

Death notice for Raymond Whiteway, Frank and Isabella's grandson.

The Argus July 18, 1942 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11986395

(15) Dandenong Journal October 29, 1931, see here.

(16) Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust https://smct.org.au/deceased-search

(17) As the Dandenong Journal of October 29, 1931 wrote about the Brockhursts  (see here.)

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Moola - a town on the Puffing Billy line

The township of Moola, on the Fern Tree Gully to Gembrook Railway line (as the Puffing Billy line was officially called) was proclaimed on December 16, 1913 (1).

The township of Moola is proclaimed.

State Government Gazette No. 195, December 24 1913, p. 5534.

http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1913/V/general/195.pdf

The town of Moola is marked on this 1926 map - as you can see it is located between Wright's Station and Cockatoo.

Tourist map of Dandenong Ranges, Fern Tree Gully and Gembrook district, created by the 

Victoria. Department of Crown Lands and Survey, 1926.

State Library of Victoria - click on this link to download the full map and a higher-res version http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/170469

Just over  a week after the town was proclaimed the land, which was Crown land, was advertised by Baillieu, Patterson and Allard. I believe this was the company of William Baillieu (1859-1936) who was also a member of the Legislative Council from 1901 until 1922 (2).  Some might consider that a member of the Government being the agent to sell Government land would be a conflict of interest.

The auction was to take place January 14, 1914 (3). The land was advertised as magnificent week end sites, near the Cockatoo railway station - 

Allotments 1, 2, 3, 4, area about 2½ acres each. Upset, £6 per acre.

Allotments 5, 6, 25, 26, 27, 28, 20, 30, 31, area from 3 to 5 acres each. Upset, £5 acre.

Allotments 7, 8, 24, area from 2¾ acres to 4¾ acres each. Upset, £4 acre.

Advertisement for land sales at Moola - auction to be held January 14, 1914.

The Age December 27 1913 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196241976

Eleven of the sixteen allotments were sold - there were four block with a reserve of £6 per acre and they sold for between £8 and just over £9 per acre. Of the blocks with the reserve of £5 - four were passed in and five sold - only one made more than the reserve and it went for £6/10 an acre. There were three blocks for sale with a reserve of £4, two sold - one for £4/10/ per acre and the other £5/7/6 per acre and there was no report on the other (4). That makes a clearance rate of 68 per cent. 

It does not appear that the rest of the blocks sold very quickly,  perhaps due to the uncertainty of the First World War. Parts of Moola were in the Shire of Fern Tree Gully and in 1920, the Council received correspondence  from Department of Lands and Survey notifying that request that the unsold land at Moola, between Wright and Cockatoo, be offered for sale, has been noted (5).

Letter to the Fern Tree Gully Shire Council

Box Hill Reporter, May 7 1920 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/257153934

The next report I could find about Moola was in 1941 when there was a report of a Berwick Shire Council meeting about a letter from the Lands Department camec confirmation of the reservation of 13 acres for a swimming pool and plantation at Moola (Cockatoo). The land is to be used for public purposes, and the council is the committee of managmemt (6). It seems an odd place for a swimming pool in what was a non-existent town.

Proposal for a swimming pool and plantation at Moola

Dandenong Journal April 23, 1941 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/214602937

In 1950, the Ferntree Gully Shire sold off some allotments because the owners had failed to pay their rates. Even allowing that in the end all the sixteen blocks were sold,  it is interesting that by 1950 six of the owners had lost interest in the blocks or perhaps more likely they were purchased as a speculative venture, had not increased in value and were not worth bothering about (7). 

Shire of Ferntree Gully - sale of lands for rates - allotments at Moola.

Mountain District Free Press March 16, 1950    https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/254781655

Moola was a short lived locality on the Puffing Billy line and according to Mark Fiddian in his book on the Puffing Billy line (8), the proclamation of the town was rescinded in 1952. Moola Road is all that remains of the town of so-called magnificnt week end sites.

Trove list

I have created a list of articles on Trove on Moola, access it here.

Footnotes

(1) State Government Gazette No. 195, December 24 1913, p. 5534.

http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1913/V/general/195.pdf

(2) William Baillieu - read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here.

(3) The Age December 27 1913, see here. The same advertisement was in The Herald and The Argus.

(4) The Argus, January 15, 1914, see here. The results are below and also give the size of the allotments in acres, rods and perches.

The Argus, January 15, 1914 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/7245919

(5) Box Hill Reporter, May 7 1920, see here. 

(6) Dandenong Journal April 23, 1941, see here. 

(7) Mountain District Free Press March 16, 1950, see here.  

(8) Fiddian, Mark Potatoes, Passengers and Posterity: a history of Puffing Billy's Railway  (The Author, 1978), p. 63.

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The Hunt Train and the Melbourne Hunt Club

In 1850, George John Watson, the founder and first Master of the Hounds of the Melbourne Hunt Club arrived in Melbourne (1). His father, John, was the Master of the Carlow Hounds in Ireland from 1808 until 1869. George also bought with him from Ireland a few couples of fox hounds from his father's kennels. In 1853, George acquired the best of the hounds from the disbanded Werribee and Corio Hunts and the Melbourne Hunt Club was established. The hounds were kept at Kirk's Bazaar (2). Kirk's Bazaar was a horse bazaar (or sale yard) in Bourke Street, between Queen and Elizabeth Streets. It was established in 1840 by James Kirk, and later taken over by Watson. George Watson, also owned the I.Y.U estate on the Toomuc Creek at Pakenham from 1866 until 1884 (3).

In the late 1850s George moved the hounds to East St Kilda, initially in Dandenong Road and then to Alma Road (4). The Club later moved to Neerim Road in Caulfield, then in 1885 to Mount Derrimut or Deer Park. In 1897 the Club again moved, this time to Oakleigh, on land between North Road and Centre Road. It was at Oakleigh until 1929, when it relocated to Cranbourne (5). The Club moved from one location to another due to development - the empty paddocks of St Kilda, then Caulfield, then Oakleigh became housing estates and this was the eventual fate of the Cranbourne land. In 1996 the Hunt Club buildings were demolished or removed and it is now also covered in houses.

The Melbourne Hunt Club, when it was located in Cranbourne, played a large role in the social and community life of Cranbourne and the surrounding area and you can read about it here in a article written by my predcessor, Claire Turner Sandall. 

Window in the Oaklands Hunt Club building at Somerton.

Photo: Heather Arnold

The Melbourne Hunt Club was one of four clubs operating in Melbourne at this time - there was also the Findon Harriers, the Oaklands Hunt and the Yarra Glen and Lilydale  Hunt (6). The Oaklands Hunt Club building, in Somerton, is now a reception centre. It consists of a mid 1870s homestead, 'Sherwood' and a 1938 Tudor Revival style hall with six interesting etched glass windows with hunting motifs, including one of a fox with a hunting horn and a border which includes acorns. It is shown above.

The Hunt Train at Berwick Railway Station, July 11, 1927.

A2.800 on Hunt train at Berwick. Victorian Railways, photographer.

State Library of Victoria Image H1077

Before everyone had a car and a horse float particpants in Hunts in the greater Melbourne area took the Hunt Train to the locations and this is really what this post is about, because I came across this photo (above) of the Hunt Train at Berwick in 1927. The Hunt Train not only took passengers but their horses and the hounds as well.

Notice of the Hunt train timetable

The Age September 7, 1925 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/155816521

The earliest reports of Hunt Train which I can find is from 1883 (7). There was this interesting report from 1909, below, about this train holding up the regular trains on the Whittlesea line, on a Friday.

A complaint about the Hunt train

The Argus September 23, 1909 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10735700

The Melbourne Hunt Club frequented this region, even when they were based at Oakleigh.  The Herald reported on the Club in 1924 - It hunts over the wide-stretch of country lying between Beaconsfield and Clyde, and meets are hold regularly twice a week during the season - this year probably on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On an average some fifty members attend on each day, and many citizens of Oaklelgh have witnessed the picturesque scene when the hunt train draws in, and the clamoring, eager hounds are placed aboard by the huntsman and his assistants. It is the hounds, with their expressive faces and beautiful eyes, that usually attract the greater attention by the way, though fleeting glances are also thrown at the scarlet clad human beings (8). 

There was another report of a hunt in September 1927, which started at Andrew Chirnside's property, Edrington at Berwick. It went from Berwick to Beaconsfield to Officer and if you know where Brunt Road and Rix Road is, it will give you some idea of the route taken by the Hunt.
Hounds were then taken on to the Cardinia Creek, which was worked from Lecky's crossing. Hounds found a fox in Abbott's, and pushed him through the timber into Marsden's, over Pound road, to Boag's. Here bounds took some little time to bustle their fox through the thick tea-tree, but at last got him away to the open on the Berwick side. Leaving the creek hounds ran through Boag's into Nixon's and May's, but here the fox turned back and crossed the Cardinia Creek to the sand pits. The pack ran up-stream for about a mile, then swung right-banded through the pipe works into Stevens's, where they turned in the cultivation and beaded for Brunt's. Travelling at a great pace hounds streamed across Brunt's flat into Jones's, where they crossed a lane into Rix's, and headed for Officer station. Heavy rain began to fall, and as hounds ran through a mob of cattle, they were at fault. Swinging on their own cast they hit off the line once more, and rattled through Rix's up to Officer road into C. Greaves's, where they were again in trouble in the crop. The heavy rain seemed to wash away all traces of scent (9). 

The Hunt Special, c. 1920s.

Image: Mrs G. Moore's collection from Hounds are Running: a history of the Melbourne Hunt by Heather B. Ronald (Lowden Publishing Company, 1970)

The fact that they hunted during week days meant that the average working person could not participate as they were at work. Hunting was an activity for the well off. The same Herald article referred to above itemised the costs involved in hunting - 
The average citizen knows comparatively little of this "Sport of Kings' - which is not at all surprising, in view of the fact that the average income is strictly limited. To hunt regularly during the season will cost a man at the very least £5 per week, and this is doing it cheaply. There is no difficulty in spending twice or thrice that sum if desired, and a fairly heavy investment of capital is required at the start. A suitable horse, for instance, may cost anything from £50 and upwards - often upwards. There are, indeed, a few "one-horse men," but the average hunting follower keeps two animals, and there are some even who use five or six. In addition, there is the hunting kit to be purchased - no small item, so that the would-be fox hunter must be prepared for a big outlay.

In any of the good stables the horse will cost about £3/3/ a week for keep, and to this the expense of taking it on the train to the various meets has to be added. Furthermore, the hunt club subscription, may be £10/10/, for the season, and there are sundry incidentals to be paid for, so that, taking it all round, hunting is not a cheap pastime; but it is a fascinating one, and the delights of an eight to fifteen miles run in the keen winter air across open country have been sung by poets and described by writers innumerable....the value of the hounds at Oaklelgh varies from £35 to £100 per animal (10). 

The Hunts were an activity in which many women participated with the men. The names of the participants of the 1927 Hunt from Edrington was listed in the report and there were 32 men listed and 23 women - Misses Moira Pennefather, on Phillip; Geraldine Pennefeather, Dell; Daisy Farrell, Menander; Hylda McCardel,Clark's Chance; Ursula Syme, Red Harry; Fairlie Hagenauer, Little Rocket; Marie McKinnon, Simon; Betty Bayles, Snip: Margot Anderson, Albury; Violet Farmer, Rubicon Lad; Jess Mackenzie, Jemba; Gwen Johnston, Rocket; Fairlie Lyon, Harmony; Noel Lyon, Ansaldo; Lorna Embling, Delteetim; V. Jordan, Refrain; Violet Turner, Bonnie Lass; Jean Demergue, Redcap; Joan Sewell, Judy; Betty Sewell, Hazel; Suzanne Sewell, Sam; Edith Churchill, Greygown; Violet Richardson, St. Leonard (11).

 

These women are off to the Hunt, organised by the Findon Harriers. The photo gives you an idea of the outfits which were required to be  worn.

Misses L. Warner, D. Foster and D. Clarke arriving at Spencer Street station to catch the special hunt train to attend today's meet of the Findon Harriers at Epping.

The Herald, August 26, 1932 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/243040370

Hunting also appeared to be an activity enjoyed by young and old. There was a report in The Herald in June 1933 of a meeting of the Findon Warriors - Foremost among the riders was one of the oldest huntsmen in Victoria. Mr H. C. Pennyfather, riding Bogie, is more than 70, but had travelled from Berwick for the day's sport. Little Isabel Bunting, aged 5, was the youngest follower. On a shaggy pony she had ridden four miles with her father to the meet (12). It would be unlikely that it would be accepted that a five year child should ride with a hunt these days, as the whole aim is to chase down and kill a fox, however these were different times. Mr Pennyfather was Hugh Claude Pennefather of Ardsley, Clyde Road in Berwick, he died in February 1951 at the age of 87 (13).

The last report I can find of a Hunt train was in 1936 (14). By then, more people would have had cars and it appears by the mid 1930s horse floats became more common (15). So the sight of horses and hounds waiting at railway stations for the Hunt Train became a thing of the past.

 

The Whip and the Hounds: Mr Jack Snowden, the Whip of the Melbourne Hounds, waiting for the special hunt train which left Oakleigh today for Pakenham.

The Herald July 4, 1929  https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/244104560#

The Melbourne Hounds met at Lyndhurst on June 11. The Master (Mr A.T. Creswick) and the Secretary (Mr Norman Wood) are here seen waiting with the hounds for the train at Oakleigh.

Caption and image from The Australasian, June 16, 1923

 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140745736

Trove list

I have created a list of articles on Trove on the Hunt Train, access it here.

Footnotes

(1) There are various dates reported as to Watson's date of arrival in Melbourne and also his year of birth. His obituary in The Leader of July, 14, 1906, see here, says he arrived in 1851 and that he was born in 1831. His obituary in The Herald of July 11, 1906, see here, says he arrived in 1851 and had been born in 1828. His Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, see here, says he was born 1829 in Ballydarton, County Carlow, Ireland, and arrived in Melbourne in March 1850. Watson died July 11, 1906 and his death certificate, under George John Watson, records that he was 80, which makes him born in 1826 and had been in Victoria for 55 years, which means he arrived about 1851. His death certficate  also said he was married at the age of 24, to Sarah Jane. I have a marriage certificate of a John Watson to a Sarah Jane Townsend - the marriage took place on August 20, 1850 at St James Church of England in Melbourne. James' death certificate lists eleven children.

(2) This information about the Melbourne Hunt Club and George Watson comes from Hounds are Running: a history of the Melbourne Hunt by Heather B. Ronald (Lowden Publishing Company, 1970). The direct quote about the fox hounds coming from Ireland is on page 6. Interesting book and  well indexed, the book is worth tracking down if you have an interest in hunting.

(3) Read George Watson's Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here. The author says that he owned I.Y. U from 1872 until 1884. I believe he purchased it 1866, see this article in The Herald, April 6, 1866, here and The Leader of April 7, 1866, here. He certainly owned it in 1867, Ovens & Murray Advertiser, July 25, 1867, see here. I.Y. U. was sold to the Staughton Brothers in 1884 (Weekly Times, August 23, 1884, see here.)

(4) Mrs Ronald writes on page 6 of Hounds are Running - that They firstly moved to a site in Dandenong Road near the junction with Wattletree Road, where the low-roofed sheds which housed them were a land-mark known as the 'old kennels' long after the Melbourne Hounds moved to new quarters. The new kennels were built in Alma Road East St Kilda about 1859 on land purchased from John Callow. They were situated on the south side of the road, on the face of the hill, east of St Kilda Cemetery, between what is now Alexander Street and Lansdown Road, and extending back to Inkerman Road. On the four and half acres of land was a small wooden house, stables and kennels. The boys school 'Cumloden' was afterwards built on the site. which is now covered by blocks of modern flats.

(5) Hounds are Running: a history of the Melbourne Hunt by Heather B. Ronald (Lowden Publishing Company, 1970).

(6) The Herald, May 10, 1924, see here.

(7) See my Trove list, above.

(8) The Herald, May 10, 1924, see here.

(9) Australasian, September 3, 1927, see here.

(10) The Herald, May 10, 1924, see here.

(11) Australasian, September 3, 1927, see here.

(12) The Herald, June 9, 1933. see here.

(13) Mr Pennefather's obituary was in the Dandenong Journal of February 21, 1951, see here.

(14) See my Trove list.

(15) Shepparton Advertiser,  June 6, 1935. Interesting article which starts with the transport of racehorses by motor horse boxes has now become a specialised business in most of the leading centres of the world. Read it here.

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400th post!

This is our 400th post! The first post was on November 5, 2007 - thirteen and a half years ago. In that time so much has happened in the world of historical research and resources; the main change is the huge increase in freely available on-line content - photos and newspapers. Trove, the National Library of Australia's website, is one of the best resources - pages and pages of digitised newspapers containing a treasure trove of local and family information, it has really transformed research of our recent (last 170 years or so) history.

Most of the posts have been written by me, Heather, the Local History Librarian here at Casey Cardinia Libraries. This blog has covered so many topics and sometimes I go back to an earlier story and add to it or improve it and sometimes I forget I have a story and then Google a topic and the blog entry comes up! Sometimes I Google a topic and find the information has been used on another site, without attribution, but that is just one of those things - some people think that if information or images are on the Internet then they can be reused anytime or anyway.

So what are my favourite stories? Hard to say, this is a bit of an electic list of some of them.

Arcuate Ridges - the sand ridges which are the remains of ancient lake beds - the town of Cardinia is built on one. Read about them here. I loved geography and history at school, maybe that is why I found this topic so fascinating.

Aerial photographs - I love aerial photos - these ones here of Doveton, Eumemmerring and Hampton are some of my special favourites.

Basalt columns at Narre Warren, see here. I just found this so interesting.

Quolls - I was really pleased with this story about Quolls which were once very common in this area. It really tells us how habitat loss due to settlement has disastrous implications for wildlife. Read it here.

Unexpected connections. I come across unexpected connections all the time between people and places, not always significant connections, just interesting. An early one was when I found that Captain Robert Gardiner, early European landowner at Berwick was the great grandfather of the Sir Robert Helpmann, the ballet dancer. I just found that to be such a fascinating connection. Captain Gardiner also had a connection to the Burke & Wills expedition. I did the post on Captain Gardiner in April 2008, so it was one of my earliest 'connections'. Read it here.

Family history - I like stories which combine family and local history, so for that reason I really liked the story on the Tulliallan property, see here.

Two highlights - the blog was commended in the Victorian Community History Awards in 2010 (see here). I was so excited. Secondly, the Hollins Children's Centre in Pakenham is named for Sister Hollins, one of the first Infant Welfare nurses in the area and I suggested that name! I am still thrilled, you can read about Sister Hollins, here.

I'll be honest, I love all the stories, I am very proud of this blog. I love local history, a friend told me once that I had an innate religious curiousity into the parochial and obscure and that is true. No part of history is too obscure or parochial - that's what local history is. Everyone has a story, every thing has a story and this blog tells and shares these stories. Thank you for supporting it! Heather Arnold.

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Geranium harvesting and 'ten acres of drugs' at Westerfield, Baxter

I came across these photos from 1929 of germanuim harvesting at Westerfield, at Baxter. Westerfield was a property owned by Russell Grimwade (1). He was the son of Frederick Shepherd Grimwade (2) who established the Company Felton, Grimwade & Co. They were manufacturers of drugs and perfumes and they also established a Chemical Company and the Melbourne Glass Bottle Works. Given that liquids, powders and potions were all packaged in glass bottles and jars at the time, this was logical move.

 

Geranium harvesting at Westerfield, Baxter, December 1929. Photographer: Russell Grimwade.

University of Melbourne Archives http://hdl.handle.net/11343/77615

Westerfield was in Robinsons Road in Baxter (3), most of which was in the old Shire of Cranbourne, even though it is now part of the City of Frankston, but as I had never heard of harvesting geraniums before it is a story worth telling. The property also grew drugs for the pharmaceutical industry during World War Two, you can read about that below.

Geranium oil was used in the manufacture of perfume. Russell Grimwade gave an address on essential oils in 1924. It was reported on in The Age - The art of the perfumer, Mr. Grimwade said, was to gather from all possible sources the essential oils, and blend them in the proportions that gave the most beautiful perfumes. The oils generally known as essential oils were not really what they were called, because they were not pure oils, though they contained pure oils in various proportions. They were really volatile, or ethereal, oils, and were obtained in all forms of growing plants (4).

Geranium harvesting at Westerfield, Baxter, December 1929. Photographer: Russell Grimwade.

University of Melbourne Archives http://hdl.handle.net/11343/77617

It makes the process sound easy, however a large quantity of plants were required to produce the oil. An 1886 report in the Weekly Times on the Manufacture of Perfumery said that half an acre will sustain 800 geranium plants, giving 2,250lb. of geranium leaves. That's 1020kg of leaves. As a comparison jasmine requires about a third of an acre to produce, during the entire season, 30,000 plants, which will furnish 2,2501b. of flowers...the orange tree at ten years of age will require an acre to grow 100 trees, producing 2,2501b. of flowers (5).

Geranium harvesting at Westerfield, Baxter, December 1929. Photographer: Russell Grimwade.

University of Melbourne Archives http://hdl.handle.net/11343/77616

Geraniums were not the only plants grown at the Grimwade farm. I found this very intersting article about ten acres of drugs being grown there during the Second World War for the pharmaceutical industry. It is from The Herald, August 24, 1946 (6) and reproduced here in full.

Ten acres of drugs by Angas Brammall

On a secluded pine-sheltered hillside three miles from bustling Frankston are 10 privet-hedged acres of herb garden which through the war provided all Australia with drugs formerly coming from abroad. This garden even provided the drug used in the AlF's invasion anti-sea-sickness pills. The rows of purple, red and white blooms are the result of the enterprise and foresight of Mr Russell Grimwade.

Thousands of pounds worth of digitalis, heroin, hyoscine, opium, and other deadly, but life-saving drugs were produced during the war from the 10 acres, which are part of Mr Grimwade's beautiful estate. More than 20 years ago Mr Grimwade made a hobby of cultivating small patches of herbs and drug-yielding plants. When the Second World War started he foresaw a shortage of certain essential drugs. Immediately the war started he cabled an English firm for a pound each of five drug seed varieties. Within a few months rows of plants were showing their heads above the fertile, sandy loam.

The deadly leaf harvest was gathered and sufficient seed extracted to make a hundred-fold crop the following, season. Meanwhile, engineers, architects and industrial chemists had been busy. Drying rooms, were built which; could handle 700 pounds of leaves in a single day. Choppers and desiccators were designed, and the whole vast resources of the drug industry co-opted.

The next crop was bumper. Mr Grimwade's Welsh farm manager (Mr W. Griffiths) watched with pride the steady growth of the "deadly nightshade," or Atropa belladonna, from which atropine is extracted. He saw the dark-leaved foxglove, or digitalis, flourish in the summer sunshine. He beheld the tossing red or white heads of the popples from which came opium and morphine. That harvest, too, was gathered. The new drying-rooms worked perfectly, and soon the pungent bales of drug leaves were being transformed at a city ware-house into the drugs for which military and civil hospitals had been pleading so desperately.

Assay and analysis proved Mr Grimwade's digitalis and atropa superior to the imported drugs, and, with hyosclne and colchicum, they were soon in use in hospitals throughout Australia and on every battlefront in the North.

Although a deadly poison, hyoscine in minute doses, is an antidote to sea and air-sickness, and hundreds of pounds' worth was extracted by Mr Grimwade's company from Australian-grown plants. Hyoscine tablets were issued to troops before all major landings.

Digitalis contains four important glucosides, of which three are invaluable heart stimulants; but it is an extremely poisonous drug and a lethal dose causes almost instant death. Colchicum is an amazing substance derived from a bulb. It has an immediate depressant effect on the heart and speedily causes death from collapse if an over-dose is taken, It is used, medicinally, for gout patients. Its most extraordinary property is its effect on plant life. Injected into trees or shrubs it causes giantism and the tree will grow to many time's its normal size.

Russian scientists evolved perennial wheat by soaking hybrid seed grains in a solution of colchicum before planting. The digitalis and hycscyamus leaves are treated in very much the same manner as tobacco leaves. They are strung on poles and quickly dried off at a temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit. They are then baled under great pressure and sent to the Melbourne warehouse for the extraction of the drugs. Each bale weighs 130lb.

Atropin is extracted from the root of the belladonna plant. Dahlia-like in appearance, the root is first sliced in a chopper, then dried off and crushed. Opium and morphine normally come from the white latex which is taken from poppy heads before they have ripened and dried. But by a new Australian process morphine is now extracted directly from the poppy capsules. This eliminates the laborious scraping of latex from the poppy heads.

Other products of Mr Grimwade's farm are nicotlana rustica, from which nicotine is derived, and the squill plant, which yields a valuable expectorant. Geranium oil is extracted from the Pelargonium radula, and lavender oil from carefully selected strains of the ordinary lavender plant. 

Footnotes

(1) Sir Wilfred Russell Grimwade (1879-1955). Read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here.

(2) Frederick Sheppard Grimwade (1840-1910). Read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here.

(3) I found the address from this advertisement in the Frankston Standard, December 1, 1949 

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74253500

(4) The Age, November 28, 1924, see here.

(5) Weekly Times, March 13, 1886, see here.

(6) The Herald, August 24, 1946, see here.

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