Garfield - named for an American President

Garfield was originally called Cannibal Creek. The term Cannibal Creek is believed to refer to the killing of dogs by dingoes and was the name of an early cattle run, also called Coonabul Creek, based around Mount Cannibal. Another interpretation is the term comes from a corruption of the Aboriginal couna meaning ‘forehead’ and bal meaning ‘he’ or ‘she’. This referred to the shape of Mount Cannibal, which was said to resemble a head. (1)

The town grew up around the Cannibal Creek railway siding which opened in 1885 to accommodate the timber tramline which was constructed by William Brisbane, a contractor on behalf of Francis Stewart. This tramline run for about 8 kilometres, to the Two Mile Creek, the Garfield North road basically follows this tramway. (2)  In June 1886, the Cannibal Creek Post Office was established at the Railway Station. (3)  There was community agitation to change the name and eventually Garfield was selected and the Post Office became known as the Garfield Railway Post Office on May 16, 1887 and in the July the School also changed its name from Cannibal Creek to Garfield, after the assassinated American President, James Garfield.  (4)

James Abram Garfield (1831-1881), 1870s.

   Brady-Handy Collection, Library of Congress). LC-BH826-1484-B.

https://www.loc.gov/item/96522558/

So who was President Garfield, the man who gave the town its name? (5)  James Abram Garfield was the 20th President of the United States of America. Garfield is considered the last of the ‘log cabin Presidents’ as he was literally born in a log cabin on November 19, 1831 in Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. His parents were Abram and Eliza (nee Ballou) Garfield. His father died when he was two and his mother had to raise her five children on her own. Garfield worked in canal boats that sailed between Cleveland and Pittsburgh; then he worked as a carpenter and later supported himself by various jobs whilst he studied at College. These studies lead him to become Professor of Classics at the unusually named Western Reserve Eclectic Institute in Ohio. He married Lucretia Rudolph in 1858 and they had seven children, two dying in infancy. Lucretia died in 1918, aged 85.

Garfield’s political career commenced in 1859 when he was elected to the Ohio Senate. During the Civil War (which lasted from April 1861 to May 1865) he served on the Union side and became a Brigadier General and two years later a Major General of volunteers. He was an abolitionist and supported the end of slavery. While he was serving in the Union Army, he stood for election for the Federal House of Representatives and was elected in October 1862. Garfield then went on to win another eight elections.

Garfield became President by defeating the Democratic nominee, General Winfield Scott Hancock, and began his Presidency on March 4, 1881. General Hancock had also served on the Union side during the Civil War.

Garfield’s presidency, noted for his attack on political corruption, was short lived as on July 2, 1881 he was shot by Charles Guiteau at the Baltimore and Potomac Railway Station in Washington. Guiteau was an embittered and delusional man as he believed that Garfield should have appointed him to the post of Ambassador to Vienna or Paris - he made a few requests that went unanswered. Guiteau planned the assassination, had purchased the gun, practiced with it and started stalking the President who, unlike today, travelled without a body guard. He shot him firstly in the elbow, and then the back, where the bullet lodged behind the pancreas. Guiteau stood trial for murder, and was convicted and hung.

Sadly, for President Garfield he had a very slow death and this was exacerbated by the medical procedures of the time - there were no antibiotics, doctors didn’t wash their hands before or after any procedures so his wounds became infected due to them prodding around for the bullet, the removal of which was seen as a high priority. Apparently medical practice at the time was to reduce the patients’ diets and Garfield was fed only on eggs, bouillon, milk, whiskey and opium. Because of this, he lost 45 kilograms before he finally died on September 19, 1881, at the age of 49, from an infection and internal haemorrhage; although newspaper reports at the time say he died from sheer exhaustion. (6) His doctor was the ironically named Dr Bliss.

Garfield’s death was well reported in many papers in Australia (7)  but it is still an interesting choice to rename a small town in West Gippsland after an American President, six years after his death. Clearly around this time there was agitation to change the name Cannibal Creek. Bill Parish, in his short history of Garfield, which was published in the 1962 Back-to booklet, said it was due no doubt to the fledging government’s urge for mundane respectability (8) 

One of the names suggested was Hopetoun, however the South Bourke and Mornington Journal in February 1887 reported that at the Berwick Shire Council meeting, a letter had been received from the Railway Department, stating the name of Cannibal Creek cannot be altered to Hope Town [sic], as suggested, as there is already a postal town of that name in the colony. (9)  Hopetoun was named for the Earl of Hopetoun, a British politician and the Governor of Victoria from 1889 until 1895, and Governor General of Australia from 1901 until 1902. (10)

At the same meeting in February 1887 the Council had also received a letter from Hugh Paul of Cannibal Creek, regarding new names for Cannibal Creek.  The letter stated that at a public meeting held there on the 29th ult. the following names were agreed to, the first to be selected if eligible, if not the second, and so on in rotation -  Mount View, Gladstone, Garfield, Kenilworth, Soho. - The list of proposed names to be forwarded to the Railway Department. (11)

Suggested names to replace Cannibal Creek

South Bourke and Mornington Journal, February 9, 1887 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70394536

As for these options - the meaning of the Mount View name is obvious. Gladstone would have been after William Ewart Gladstone (1809 - 1898) who was British Prime Minister on four occasions. Kenilworth is a town in England or perhaps it was named for the novel Kenilworth by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1821. This book was still popular in the 1880s; in fact a new illustrated edition de luxe version of the novel was printed in 1885 according to advertisements in the paper at the time. Soho is a district in London, which later developed a reputation as a trendy entertainment and red light district,  so perhaps we are lucky that Soho wasn’t selected.  The South Bourke and Mornington Journal reported on April 13, 1887 that the Railway Department had written to the Berwick Shire stating that the name of Cannibal Creek had been altered to Garfield, as suggested by the residents. (12)

Acknowledgment 

Unless footnoted,  the life and death of President Garfield is from - 

Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-A-Garfield

Smithsonian magazine - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-stalking-of-the-president-20724161/

East Carolina University - Dr Williard Bliss 

https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/0307 

Footnotes

(1) Blake, Les Place Names of Victoria (Rigby, 1977)

From Bullock tracks to bitumen: a brief history of the Shire of Berwick (Historical Society of Berwick Shire, 1962)

Watson, Angus B Lost and almost forgotten towns of Colonial Victoria : a comprehensive analysis of Census results for Victoria 1841-1901 (A.B Watson, 2003)

For other information on the Cannibal Creek name see here -https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2024/02/mount-cannibal-origin-of-name.html

(2) McCarthy, Mike Settlers and Sawmillers : a history of the West Gippsland Tramways (Light Railway Research Society of Australia, 1999)

(3) Warragul Guardian, June 10, 1886, see here. 

(4) Riverine Herald, May 6, 1887, see here;  Cannibal Creek to Garfield: a history of Garfield Primary school, No. 2724, 1886-1986, published by the Centenary Committee. The Committee consisted of -  Mary White, B. Andrews, R. Spencer, Kevin Daley, Rosemary Parham and Mick Whiting.

(5) See Acknowledgement, above, for the sources used for the President's life and death.

(6) The Argus, October 25, 1881, see here. 

(7) The Argus, September 21, 1881, see here.

(8) Parish, William Back to Garfield, 1887-1962 (Back-to Garfield Committee, 1962)

(9) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, February 9, 1887, see here. 

(10) Lord Hopetoun - Australian Dictionary of Biography 

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hopetoun-seventh-earl-of-6730

(11) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, February 9, 1887, see here. 

(12) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, April 13, 1887, see here.

Mount Cannibal - the origin of the name

The Pakenham Gazette of June 1, 1962 had the following article 

"Cannibal" or "Connibul" Creek

Pakenham Gazette, June 1 1962, p. 9

"Cannibal" or "Connibul" Creek
The Historical Society has been endeavouring to ascertain whence the name "Cannibal Creek" was derived. Incidentally that was the name of Garfield until about 75 years ago.

Mrs P.B. Ronald has found in "Pioneer Families of Port Phillip" by Billis and Kenyon, a possible clue.

Amongst pastoral runs in existence about 1845 were "Connibul Creek" (leased by Michael Ready and James Hook), north of Kooweerup; and "Connibul Creek No. 2 (leased by O'Connor and Hayes), north of Bunyip River.

Could "Cannibal Creek"' be a corruption of the original "Connibul Creek."

 In response to this, a letter from E.C. Henry appeared in the next issue of the Pakenham Gazette, June 8, 1962

Origin of name "Cannibal"
To the Editor
Sir, - The square-topped mountain north of Prince's Highway and due north of Garfield, from which the creek and surrounding ranges get their names is known far and wide as Mount Cannibal.
One of the many droving trips between Warragul and Pakenham with my brother, Alan, in the early part of the century, I asked how the name Cannibal originated, thinking it referred to Cannibalism amongst the black tribes which were about Gippsland in the early settlement days.
The old generations who kept the hotels where we stopped at various stages, were always willing to impart what they knew of early-day history, and I regret that I did not record some of the things we were told as they would make interesting reading to-day.
Mount Cannibal got its name from the following incident, which is said to have happened:
A timber cutter camped near Mt. Cannibal left his dog tied near his camp, with water and food (probably a carcass of a kangaroo) for a couple of days, while away getting supplies. On his return to camp he was horrified to find only the dog's head. The dog had been eaten by dingos, which were known to be in the adjoining ranges.
Dog ate dog, hence the name Cannibal.
This may be the answer to the query.

Yours, etc.
E.C. HENRY "Glen Falloch," Berwick.

Pakenham Gazette, June 8, 1962, p. 9

Note 1: Mrs P.B. Ronald -  Heather Barry Ronald (nee Lambert, 1928-2007), of Koo-man-goo-nong, Pakenham. Wife of Peter Ronald. Mrs Ronald was the author of  various books including Wool before the wind: a history of the Ronald family and the Australian Mercantile Land and Finance Company; Hounds are running; a history of the Melbourne Hunt; Wool past the winning post: a history of the Chirnside family and Farewell my heart : the life of Violet Barry Lambert O.B.E., J.P.

Note 2: E.C. Henry - Evan Clarence Henry (1887-1980). From his obituary -  Mr Evan Clarence Henry, who died in the Berwick Bush Nursing Hospital last Tuesday, aged 93 years, was indeed, a part of the history of the town. He played an important role in establishing the character of the township and during his lifetime influenced the direction taken by many of the organisations around the Berwick district.

A living memorial to Mr Henry are many of the beautiful trees lining the streets of Berwick. He, together with Dr. Percy Langmore, worked at establishing the trees over a period of fifty years.

He was a life member of the Berwick Agricultural Society, of which he was President on several occasions, a member of the Board of Management of St. Andrew's Church for over 40 years. Chairman of the Berwick Cemetery Trust for 22 years, a foundation member of the Berwick Historical Society, author of histories of the pioneers of the Pakenham and Berwick district, a Justice of the Peace since 1946 and served on the Bench for 14 years. Chairman of the Berwick branch of the Liberal Party for a number of years. President of the Men's Auxiliary of the Berwick Hospital for three years, and a foundation member of the Berwick Masonic Lodge formed in 1924. (Pakenham Gazette, January 23, 1980, republished here https://upperbeaconsfieldhistory.au/g0/p413.htm#i12383)

Jabez Janes and Maria Ann Goldsmith

Jabez Janes operated a beer house, on the south side of Cannibal Creek, in what is now North Garfield, from 1866. He had an eventful life with what appears to be little success on either a personal or financial level. This is the story of Jabez and the mother of his children, Maria Goldsmith. 

Jabez was born in England around 1823 and he arrived in Victoria on the Ameer in March 1852 (1). Also on the ship was a man listed as A. Goldsmith. The two men had their occupation listed as labourer. Two years later in July 1854, 20-year-old Mary Ann (also called Maria) Goldsmith and her 18-year-old sister Elizabeth arrived in Melbourne on the Ontario. Maria and her sister were born in Kent, were domestic servants and a note on the shipping record says that Maria was engaged by Mrs Woodruff of Brunswick and Elizabeth by Mrs Bathurst of Heidelberg (2).

Somehow, Maria met Jabez, perhaps through his shipmate, Mr A. Goldsmith. What we do know is that in December 1855 Maria gave birth in North Melbourne, to a baby girl whom she named Agnes Maria. Agnes’ birth certificate states that the father was John William Goldsmith, a blacksmith, born in Kent and the mother was Maria nee Richards (3). However, when Agnes married James Charles Bowden in 1873 her marriage certificate lists her surname as Janes and her father as Jabez Janes.  Her 1891 death record lists her maiden name as Janes. I suspect that Jabez was the real father and that Maria ‘created’ a husband to cover the fact that the baby was born illegitimate, a stigma in those days (4).

Six more children (5) followed -

• Clara Jane (1857-1928) Clara’s surname at birth was Goldsmith, her birth was registered in Melbourne and the father listed as unknown. Clara’s surname when she married Charles Roberts in 1874 was listed as Janes and Jabez is listed as her father on her death certificate.
• James George (born and died 1859). Registered at birth and death as Janes. Place of registration was Melbourne.
• Harry William (1861-1942) His birth was registered twice - under Goldsmith and under Janes. Place of registration was Melbourne. He married Mary Morrow in 1894. His marriage and death registrations were under Janes. His death certificate lists his birthplace as Labertouche Creek.
• Caroline (1863- death date unknown) Surname at birth was Goldsmith, birth was registered at Williamstown and the father listed as unknown. I have no other information about her.
• Alfred Walter (1865-1947) Surname at birth was Goldsmith, father listed as unknown, birth registered at Melbourne. Married Marguerite Barry in 1891. His marriage and death registrations were under Janes.
• Emily Sarah (1867-1933) Birth registered under Janes at Emerald Hill (South Melbourne). Married Johan Erik Johanneson in 1887.

Jabez and Maria never married each other which given the stigma, as I said before, of having children out of wedlock was unusual. Possible reasons are that he was already married in England or she was actually married to John William Goldsmith and they separated and she then took up with Jabez (in which case the shipping record I found belongs to another Mary Ann Goldsmith). I don’t know, but I feel that he had already married in England.

Back to Jabez. His various interactions with the legal system were reported in the newspapers.  The first we hear of him is in January 1859 when there was a report in The Argus about his insolvency. His occupation was listed as a carter and his address was North Melbourne (6). Jabez’s estate was placed under sequestration which meant a Trustee was appointed to take charge of his estate, liquidate assets, and settle any debts. In the August the court approved of the plan of distribution to settle his debts (7).   Two years later in April 1861 his estate was placed under sequestration again (8). This time his occupation was listed as mail contractor and his address was Big Hill, which was a mining town south of Bendigo. He was discharged from the second insolvency in September 1862 (9).

Jabez's application for a publican's license for his property at Labertouche Creek.

The Age December 7, 1864 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/18275719

In December 1864, Jabez Janes advertised of his intention to apply to the Dandenong Magistrates Court for a publican’s licence for a house situated at Labertouche Creek, Gippsland Road. The premises were described as being constructed of lath and plaster, containing two sitting rooms, four bedrooms exclusive of those required by my family and it was to be known as the Diggers’ Rest (10). He describes himself as a storekeeper (see above) so was he already operating a store at Labertouche Creek  and he wished to change it to a Hotel? It appears he wasn’t granted the licence as he applied again in July 1865, this time to the Berwick Magistrates court for the same licence for Diggers’ Rest (11).  Labertouche Creek is north of Longwarry and runs into the Tarago River. It is interesting that his son, William Harry, born in 1861, believed he was born at Labertouche Creek, even though the family (or at least Jabez) were at Big Hill in 1860/1861 (12).

In September 1865, Jabez was charged with careless driving in Collins Street injuring a woman named Margaret Bell (13). He was fined £10, appealed the decision, but the appeal was rejected (14).

Report of Jabez's reckless driving on August 29, 1865.

The Argus September 23, 1865 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5785965

In January 1866, Jabez was back in the newspapers again in the reports of an Inquest on the body of a man whose name is unknown, who was found dead in the bush, near the Wombat Creek, on the Gipps Land road. Jabez James, a publican, whilst engaged looking for a horse, saw the body of the deceased lying near a waterhole.…The jury, in the absence of any direct evidence to show how the deceased met with his death, returned a verdict of found dead in the bush (15).

In December 1866 the following public notice appeared in The Argus -
I, JABEZ JANES, now residing at Cannibal Creek, do hereby give notice, that it is my Intention to apply to the justices sitting at the Court of Petty Sessions, to be holden at Berwick on the 4th day of January next, for a CERTIFICATE authorising the issue of a BEER LICENCE in my house, of five rooms finished and others partly built, situated at Cannibal Creek, and unlicensed. Dated 15th day of December 1866  (16). The location of his hotel was on the south side of Cannibal Creek, in the vicinity of Bassed Road, and was later the site of the Pig & Whistle Hotel (17). 

Jabez's application for a beer licence at his premises at Cannibal Creek.

The Argus December 21 1866 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5781709

However, less than a year later Jabez became insolvent again. This was reported in The Argus in September 1867 - Causes of insolvency - Falling-off in business in consequence of Government changing the line of road between Cannibal and Shady Creeks, seizure of goods under execution, and losses by illness and by fire. Liabilities, £258 4s; assets, £66; deficiency, £192 4s (18). Jabez was discharged from the insolvency in February 1868. His insolvency must have resulted in his losing his licence to operate the hotel as in February 1870 he again applied to the Court at Berwick for a licence for a beer house at his property at Cannibal Creek (19).

Report of Jabez's insolvency

The Argus September 21, 1867 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5778563

In July 1870, he was charged with rape and remanded. At a hearing in the September he was discharged, as the Crown declined to go on with the case (20).

Later in 1870, Jabez was once more before the court, this time the Williamstown court. Here is the report from The Argus of November 4, 1870. Mary Ann Goldsmith summoned Jabez Janes, a beer-seller at Cannibal's Creek, near Dandenong, for deserting his family. This was a distressing case. Both parties were advanced in life, and it appears that they had cohabited for a great number of years, and that the woman had borne him five children. The eldest was 15, and the youngest was three years old. Complainant stated that she left Cannibal's Creek on the 14th September, and brought the children to Williamstown, the defendant having left her and the children without support. Since their stay in Williamstown they had been getting relief from the Ladies' Benevolent Society. Janes admitted that the children were his, and that the complainant was their mother. He was unable to work through bad health, but he was willing to take charge of the two little boys, and a friend of his would provide for the youngest child. Their mother, however, refused to let them go. The Bench ordered the defendant to pay 20s. per week for the children's support and find one good surety in £20 for the payment of the money. As the man had neither money nor friends to assist him, he was sent to gaol (21).

The report says that there were five children, the eldest 15 which was the age of Agnes, which gives some weight to my theory that Jabez was actually her father. It also suggests that their daughter, Caroline, had also died young, as if she were still alive there would have been six children.

The final newspaper report that I can find relating to Jabez was in September 1871, in the Williamstown Chronicle -   Jabez Janes was summoned to show cause why the recognizance entered into by him on the 18th January in the sum of £20 to pay £1 weekly to the clerk of petty sessions, Williamstown, for the support of his illegitimate children, should not be adjudged forfeited and estreated. The arrears to the 2nd September amounted to £6. The Bench agreed to adjourn the case for fourteen days, to give the defendant an opportunity of paying the money in that time (22).

Jabez either could not or did not take the 'opportunity' of paying the money he owed Maria for the support of his children as in December 1871 he was charged on warrant with deserting the family. This is the last we hear of Jabez. 

Jabez charged with desertion

Victorian Police Gazette, December 5, 1871. 

The Victorian Police Gazette is on Ancestry.com.

Maria died at only 42 years of age on August 7, 1874 at the Benevolent Asylum in North Melbourne. Her death certificate lists her surname as Janes, said she was a domestic servant, widow with five children, was born in Kent and had been in Australia for 20 years. It also lists her father as Charles and her mother’s name as Maria (23). It would have been devastating for the children to lose their mother, who obviously did all she could to keep her family together in the days when employment opportunities for women with children were scare, child care was non-existent, there was no supporting parents benefit and no financial report from the father. I really hope that the children had happy lives. I have found death notices for three of the children and Clara’s death notice said that she was a loved mother; Harry was a loved husband and father and Alfred a loved husband, father, and fond uncle (24).

I cannot find a death record for Jabez, but if the statement on Maria’s death certificate is correct, he had already passed away by 1874.  

Trove List - I have created a list of articles on Jabez Janes on Trove, you can access it here.

Footnotes

(1) Shipping record in on Find My Past. His date of birth is taken from his age listed in the Victorian Police Gazette December 5, 1871. 

(2) Shipping record, which includes the information about the future employers,  is from Ancestry.

(3) This information comes from Agnes' birth certificate.

(4) Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/research-and-family-history/search-your-family-history

(5) Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/research-and-family-history/search-your-family-history

(6) The Argus January 15, 1859, see here.

(7) The Argus, August 12, 1859, see here.

(8) The Argus, April 29, 1861, see here.

(9) The Herald, September 16, 1862, see here.

(10) The Age, December 7, 1864, see here.

(11) The Argus, July 15 1865, see here.

(12) Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages 

(13) Her name is also listed as Margaret or Mrs Hill, but I think Bell is the correct surname. See my Trove list for reports on the incident.

(14) The Leader, October 14, 1865, see here.

(15) The Leader, January 20, 1866, see here. There is also a report in the South Bourke Standard, January 19, 1866, see here 

(16) The Argus December 21 1866, see here.  

(17) From Bullock Tracks to Bitumen: a brief history of the Shire of Berwick (Historical Society of Berwick Shire, 1962) p. 18.

Here's a map I drew years agao showing the location of the Pig & Whistle Inn, which was on the same site as Jabez Jane's establishment.

(18) The Argus September 21, 1867 see here. I have written about the new line of the road, here.

(19) Release from Insolvency The Age February 14, 1868, see here. Re-application for licence The Age February 26, 1870, see here. 

(20) See my Trove list, here, for reports on the rape Court cases.

(21) The Argus November 4, 1870, see here.

(22) Williamstown Chronicle, September 23, 1871, see here.

(23) Death certicate of Maria. It said she was 42 years old which means she was born in 1832, not 1834 if you take the fact she was 20 when she arrived in 1854.

(24) Clara's death notice Williamstown Chronicle,  December 1, 1928, see here. Harry's death notice The Age August 13, 1942, see here.  Alfred's death notice The Age September 25, 1947, see here.

Early days of Garfield and Cannibal Creek

The earliest recorded European settlers in the Garfield region were the lessees of the two Connabul Creek Runs, both leased in 1845. Connabul Creek 1,of 8,960 acres, was leased by Michael Ready (or Reedy) and James Hook and Connabul Creek 2 was leased by Terence O’Connor and a Mr Hayes. Essentially, these Runs were located between the Ararat Creek and the Bunyip River, north of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp. Another source tells us that a Mr Thompson had the Cannibal Creek cattle run from 1845.

The term Cannibal Creek is believed to have come about because early Surveyors in the area had left their fox terrier in their camp and when they returned they found the dog had been killed and eaten by Dingoes and thus they named the creek Cannibal Creek. Another version of the name is that the word Coonabul comes from a corruption of the Aboriginal word couna meaning “forehead” and bal meaning “he” or “she”. This possibly referred to the shape of Mount Cannibal, which was thought to resemble a head.

The Garfield area opened up after a road was surveyed from Dandenong to Gippsland in 1847 along the edge of the ranges and when this proved to be impassable in places, a new road, which became the coach route, was surveyed between 1857 and 1859. This went through Cannibal Creek, via the old township of Buneep and onto Crossover. The Melbourne to Sale telegraph line followed this route in 1865, which eventually gave the road the name of Old Telegraph Road (see map).  Where this road crossed the Cannibal Creek, a small settlement was surveyed in 1860 and the township of Cannibal Creek was born. In 1866 Jabez Janes established a beer house on the south side of Cannibal Creek.  

According to a public notice in The Argus of December 21,1866 Jabez applied for a Beer Licence in my house of five rooms finished and others partly built. He was granted the licence, however a year later he was declared insolvent due to the falling off of business in consequence of the Government changing the line of road between Cannibal and Shady Creeks. He had debts of £192 pounds. Three years later Jabez, who was described as a beer-seller at Cannibal’s Creek was back in the Courts again, when he was charged with deserting his de facto, Mary Ann Goldsmith, with whom he had five children, and leaving her and the children without support  He was ordered to pay support and put up a surety of £20. The Argus goes on to report that as the man had neither money nor friends to assist him he was sent to gaol.  I have written more about Jabez Janes and Mary Ann (also called Maria) Goldsmith, here.

The next licensee of hotel then called the Pig & Whistle was Mrs Kathleen Leeson. Mrs Leeson died in 1910, aged 100 years old. Kathleen and her husband Robert had selected land at Cannibal Creek in the early 1860s.

Competition for the Pig & Whistle came with the establishment in 1867 of David Connor’s New Bunyip Inn. This was built on the Bunyip River on the Gippsland Road, as the Princes Highway was then called. The coach route then changed direction at Cannibal Creek and turned south east to this Inn, and became known as Old Sale Road (see map). A small settlement developed around the Inn, including the establishment of a bakery by William Snell. However, Garfield really took off with the establishment of the Railway, which we will look at in the next post.

Garfield - after the coming of the Railway

In another post I looked at the history of Garfield up until the coming of the Railway, which is really the seminal event in the history of Garfield. The Gippsland line to Sale was opened in stages - Sale to Morwell in June 1877, Oakleigh to Bunyip on  October 8 1877, Moe to Morwell December 1877, Moe to Bunyip March 1878 and the last stretch from South Yarra to Oakleigh in 1879. Originally, the only Stations between Dandenong and Bunyip were Berwick and Pakenham. The timber industry boomed after the railway and a series of sidings developed along the line to despatch timber such as Officers Wood Siding in 1881, where the Officer family sent firewood to Melbourne.  This is now the Officer Station. Around the same time, Fraser’s Siding was established to accommodate Donald Fraser’s Saw Mill and this later became Longwarry. In the Garfield area the Railway lead to the establishment of two early industries, Jefferson’s Saw Mill and brick works and the Cannibal Creek Saw Mill Company.

Joseph Jefferson established a saw mill in 1877 on the site of what was to become his clay pit, off Railway Avenue. He sent this timber out via Bunyip Station until a local siding, the Cannibal Creek Siding, was built in 1885 to accommodate the timber tramline which was constructed by William Brisbane, a contractor on behalf of Francis Stewart.  This tramline run for about 8 kilometres, to the Two Mile Creek,  the Garfield North road basically follows this tramway.  In the same year, Cannibal Creek Saw Mill Company Limited was registered in October by the Stewart family, with William Brisbane being a minority shareholder. Stewart had already obtained the saw milling rights to 2,000 acres of forest in 1883. Both Stewart and Brisbane had been involved separately and jointly in other mills and tramlines at Berwick, Beaconsfield and Nar Nar Goon.  The Cannibal Creek Saw Mill Company sounds like a very grand enterprise but apparently the Company was in trouble by December 1885, the tramline was disbanded in 1887 and the Company was placed in liquidation in 1888, however it deserves it’s place in Garfield’s history as the Cannibal Creek Siding, became the Garfield Railway Station.

 Getting back to Joseph Jefferson, his was a very successful business, as well as producing timber products such as fence posts and rails and firewood, he also mined the sand on his property to be used in the building industry in Melbourne and when he discovered clay on his property he began making clay bricks. The 1880s was a boom time for Victoria and Jefferson could produce over 50,000 bricks per week and fire 75,000 at a time in his kiln. The Depression of the 1890s saw a decline in the building industry which flowed onto his business and the brickworks eventually shut down in 1929.

Jefferson's Clay pit. The man on the right is believed to be Joseph Jefferson. 

Image: Settlers and Sawmillers : a history of the West Gippsland Tramways by Mike McCarthy 

(Light Railway Research Society of Australia, 1999)

In the next post I will look at the growth of the township which grew around the Cannibal Creek Siding.

If you are interested in the Timber Industry, then a good book is Settlers and Sawmillers : a history of the West Gippsland Tramways by Mike McCarthy. It is published by the Light Railway Research Society of Australia in 1999.

Cannibal Creek becomes Garfield

In the previous post we saw how a township developed around the Cannibal Creek Siding and this township became Garfield. One of the first public buildings was the Cannibal Creek State School which opened in 1886. The School was located on the Princes Highway, west of North Garfield Road. In 1899 the School building was re-located to Garfield Road at the top of the hill, half way between the Princes Highway and the Railway Station. In 1910 the Garfield School No. 2724 moved to a new building on its present site near the Railway Station. The old building was removed in 1914 to North Garfield where it became State School No.3489.

1886 and 1887 was a time of the consolidation for Garfield - in May 1886 the Cannibal Creek Post Office was established at the Railway Station. In the same year there was community agitation to have the name of the settlement changed.  On December 11 a petition was presented to the Berwick Shire from the ‘residents of Cannibal Creek’ objecting to the name of Swamp Vale for the name of the Railway siding and Post Office and suggesting that the place be named Hopetoun. The Council resolved to ask the Railway Commissioners to alter the name to Hopetoun.  In the end Hopetoun was rejected on the grounds that there was another Hopetoun in Victoria and Garfield was chosen. The Post Office became known as the Garfield Railway Post Office on May 16, 1887 and around the same time the School also changed its name from Cannibal Creek. Township blocks were sold in Garfield and the township of Garfield was officially gazetted on November 21, 1887. For the next few years the town developed, still relying on the timber and the brick works as a major source of employment, however Garfield also had a blacksmith, a builder and a beekeeper and some carriers. By 1888 Garfield also had a football team.

If you are interested in names then Hopetoun, the proposed named for Garfield came from Lord Hopetoun, was the seventh Earl of Hopetoun and the first Marquess of Linlithgow. He was Governor of Victoria from 1889 to 1895, and in 1901 the first Governor General of Australia. The name Garfield came from the assassinated American President, James Garfield, who was shot July 2, 1881 and died September 19, 1881. Swamp Vale naturally comes from the fact that Garfield was on the edge of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp. The Swamp was drained by cutting a canal from Bunyip to Western Port Bay, the Main Drain. The major drainage works took place from 1889 to 1893 when the Swamp was then considered ready for settlement and Garfield became a service centre for the Swamp residents. New businesses were established such as a baker, carpenter, saddler and even a Sweet shop run by a Mrs Williamson.