The Minister of Lands visits the Koo Wee Rup Swamp January 19, 1894.

On Friday, January 19, 1894 the Minister of Lands, Mr M'Intyre, the Chief Surveyor, Mr Callinan and the Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, Carlo Catani, visited the Koo Wee Rup Swamp. It was reported in The Age of January 22, 1894. It is transcribed below and you can see the original on Trove, here. It is a good description of life on the Swamp.

THE KOOWEERUP SWAMP.  

VISIT BY THE MINISTER OF LANDS.

BY OUR SPECIAL REPORTER

Mr. M'Intyre, Minister of Lands, accompanied by Mr. Callinan, chief surveyor of his department, and Mr. C. Catani, engineer in charge of roads, bridges and reclamation works, made a visit of inspection on Friday to the Kooweerup Swamp. In 1890 this particular area was 52,900 acres of water 2 to 3 feet deep, shaded by scrub.In 1892 a drain had been constructed to 4 miles from Western Port. Bloomfield Brothers then contracted to carry the drain 2 miles further inland, and subsequently (when the unemployed difficulty had to be faced by the late Ministry) that contract was extended indeinitely on condition that no fewer than 400 men were employed on the work. In March, 1893, the arrangement was terminated and the 400 men were thrown out of employment.Next month the new and present Minister of Lands appeared on the scene, and he found the men clamoring for work. "Look here," he said, "if I give you a block of land each and employment at the drainage every alternate week, you to work every other week on your own land, will that suit ? " The answer came immediately in loud cries of "Yes!" Mr. M'Intyre had no legal power to do this, but he believed it to be a right thing, and took the chance of Parliament ratifying his action. The land along the main drain was duly plotted out in 20 acre lots, and the men returned to work under the new system.

 It is no exaggeration to describe what has followed as a wonderful transformation scene. The water has been gathered into channels, and the main channel forms a rapid little river, whose velocity has to be checked by means of artificial "drop downs " or falls every mile or so. The reclaimed land is of very extraordinary richness, having some 6 to 9 feet of vegetable mould on a bed of clay. The mould is no longer actually boggy, but it is nearly as pervious as a snow drift. You can easily push a walking stick into it to the handle, and it is quite elastic or springy under the feet. It Is evident that this is soil which is not only in want of the sweetening influence of the sun, but that it is very much in need of compression. It is also evident, however, that it is not necessary to wait for the sweetening and the compression before putting this land to a good use.

All down the line of the main drain are settlers' houses of canvas, felt, or weatherboard, and around them are vegetable gardens of luxuriant growth. Nearly every settler is already practically independent of the rest of the world in the matter of food. They would certainly be entirely so if vegetarians. They have potatoes in abundance and of most excellent quality, cabbages weighing from 10 to 15 lb. apiece, turnips of prodigious size, and a multitude of other garden products of really superior quality, and when you taste them you have to confess that the sour land yields very palatable food.

The Koo Wee Rup Swamp - a settler's home.

A vegetable garden of luxuriant growth as described in the article.

Image: The Illustrated Australian news, February 1, 1894.

State Library of Victoria Image IAN01/02/94/4c

The settlers' houses are well scattered, but those of them on the main channel standing in line seem to form at one place a street three to four miles in length. Then comes a break in the settlement due to the reservation of land for sale by auction, and nearing the Great Southern railway primitive houses again come into evidence scattered broadeast over the reclaimed swamp. To Mr. M'Intyre it was truly a very gratifying sight.

At the Bunyip railway station Mr. M'Intyre was interviewed by Mr. Charles Wilson on behalf of himself and 11 other men who desire to form what they would call the Blue Gum Valley Land Settlement Association It was stated that the men were all hard workers and residents about Longwarry and Drouin, and they coveted 2000 acres on the highest part of the swamp to the south of Longwarry. Mr. M'Intyre asked that the names should be forwarded to him, and promised to give the matter consideration. He however pointed out that Parliament had determined that in future swamp land should be sold. Mr. M'Intyre and party next embarked on a very primitive but serviceable tram car which was drawn by a reinless horse over a tram line built by the settlers, with timber provided by the Government at the small cost of about £50 per mile. The car was loaded with bags of flour, boxes of provisions and eight passengers ; and although the progress made was slow, it was safe and sure. At the end of a mile and a half we came to a locality known as the Bunyip Junction, where there is a general store and an experimental garden - the latter being a departmental affair.

Behind the store half a dozen men were working one of Davies and Company's Bennett American stump pullers. This seemed rather slow work, but the settlers said it was very effective and satisfactory. The machine is provided by the department, and the settlers are charged about 1s a day for the privilege of using it. The experimental garden is a plot of 2 acres, and it is a complete success. It was only started in August last, but it is already covered with all kinds of vegetables, fruit trees and grasses. Apricots and cherries are doing remarkably well, cabbages are as big as cheddars and as hard as boulders ; there are heavy crops of very toothsome peas and beans ; also splendid samples of sugar beet, lint, maize, buckwheat, clover, &c.

The Koo Wee Rup Swamp - Settlements on the bank of the Main Drain.

This is the serviceable tram car which was drawn by a reinless horse over a tram line built by the settlers, described in the article. 

Image: The Illustrated Australian News, February 1, 1894.

State Library of Victoria Image IAN01/02/94/4a

At the Minister's request some potatoes wore dug up; and there was a pot full at every root; although they were only planted four months ago. A medium sized cabbage weighed 10 lb.This garden has  served its purpose. It has demonstrated what the soil of the Kooweerup swamp is capable of in the immediate present, and it will now be disposed of by the department, probably to the gardener, a Mr. Pincott, who is one of the settlers.

Two houses, alleged to be sly grog shanties, were called at, and the occupants received what should prove vary salutary warnings from the Minister. A settler named West, who has 20 acres allotted to him in one part of the Swamp and who has cleared several acres there, expressed a desire to change his 20 acres for 5 acres nearer Bunyip. There are about 30 others anxious to make a similar exchange. The complaint is that the land they hold is not yet sufficiently dry for cultivation. The land they now desire is part of an area on a slightly higher level reserved for sale ; but no sooner did Mr. M'Intyre see the land objected to than he jumped at the proposal made. "Five acres elsewhere for 20 acres here? Yes," he said, " It's a bargain." There could be no doubt that the despised country was of immense value, which was indicated by luxuriant crops of thistles wherever clearings had been made, and that the bargain, although it may suit the present settlers now, will be to the ultimate advantage of the State.

Farther on we arrived at a store run by the department in the interests of the settlers. As is known the settlers are allowed to earn certain amounts per month, according to the numbers of their families. The amounts are small and have to be made the most of. It was found that local price for necessaries were beyond their slender means, so this store was opened under the management of the department to supply groceries, clothing, &c., at the lowest possible prices. It is State Socialism without disguise. The goods are retailed at a profit only sufficient to meet the expenses. The consequence is an all round reduction in prices by about 33 per cent. Boots for which 16s. had to be paid elsewhere are here obtainable at 9s. 6d. ; mole trousers are sold at 5s. instead of 6s. 6d., ling at 5d. instead of 1s. per lb., soap at 4½d. instead of 6d., tea at 10d. instead of 1s. 6d., sugar at 2d. instead of 3d., and so on. The amount of business done by the store is about £30 a week, and it has been in successful operation since November last.

Close to Kooweerup railway station a stump extractor was examined with much interest. It is a heavy triangular structure with two steel edged beams, and is pulled by a team of oxen. It tears up every root. The department have provided this implement; and let it out at a price equivalent to 8s. an acre. Some of the local settlers asked for the construction of a bridge over the main drain on the ground that they had been debarred from using the railway bridge. Mr. M'Intyre seemed rather indignant at the action of the Railway department in this matter, and he promised to provide the material for a small bridge if the settlers would erect it themselves. This was eagerly agreed to. On the whole of the swamp there are now 368 settlers, representing about 2000 souls, and it was estimated by a local official, who has full knowledge of them, that at least 70 per cent, are permanently fixed on the soil. As to what might happen to the reclaimed swamp in case of a phenomenal flood, time only can reveal. It was pointed out to the visitors that whereas the water in the main channel is only from 6 to 18 inches in depth it ran a banker in the flood of last year, but that it only overflowed and caused damages at certain points, where flood gates to keep the water back have now been constructed. Mr. M'Intyre and his party returned to town on Friday night by the Great Southern line.

Across the Koo Wee Rup Swamp in 1910 by bicycle

This article was published in The Australasian on April 30, 1910. The author took a trip, by bicycle, across the Koo Wee Rup Swamp - 90 miles of cycling in all. Read the original, here.

The Australasian on April 30, 1910

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142925112

WHEEL NOTES

By FORTIS

ACROSS THE KOO-WEE-RUP

The cyclist may propose; but if he is wise, he will allow the wind to dispose; and that is what I did one day last week. I wished to take a run from the ranges to the north and N.E of the metropolis but found on waking that a fierce north wind would dispute progress in that direction; but I changed my objective. Adopting the Dandenong road, I passed through that town in a cloud of dust so dense that I had to slow down to walking pace, as nothing could be seen beyond a few yards. At the Berwick and Cranbourne junction, a mile beyond, a halt was made to determine which highway should be taken, and the road to Berwick was chosen, as indications of change of wind was apparent in the clouds.
The direction now was almost due east, hence the wind was less a helping factor than before. However, some fast coasts were obtained over the hilly section to Berwick, and another long one after climbing the steep hill in the town. Beaconsfield and Officer were then passed through; and at Pakenham, the lower road - that south of the railway - was taken to Nar Nar Goon and Tynong to Garfield, 48 miles from Melbourne, which was reached shortly after 1 p.m.

ALONG THE MAIN DRAIN
The term "Swamp" usually suggests an uninteresting area, and. 1 thought, in crossing the reclaimed Koo-wee-rup Swamp, that there would be little to interest. I knew there was roadway along the main drain, and on leaving Garfield a winding track, was followed in a S.E. direction, when the "drain" - it is more like a canal - was crossed at the rising village of lona, a distance of three miles. Crossing on a substantial bridge, and veering S.W, I followed the drain in a perfectly straight line, and over a fair to good surface for 4½ miles, where I passed through another village in the making, known as Cora
Lynn. Keeping straight on - the road and drain could be seen straight ahead as far as the eye could reach. I traversed another 4½ miles without a turn, making a continuous run of nine miles in a bee-line to the south-west. At the end of this stage was another small collection of houses, but I could not ascertain what the name was - if it had one.

Here the road and drain made an easy turn, more to the south, and in two and a half miles there is a divergence to the left, to Koo-wee-rup, the Township being about three-quarters of a mile distant. Not wishing to go further east I kept on for another mile, until the Great Southern line was met with, as well as a cross-road, where a turn to the right was made. But this track curved away to the north eventually, and I recognised that it was the wrong course. In a mile, however, a road running westward was adopted, which I thought would bring me out into the main Tooradin road, and after traversing it for five miles, over a fair, loamy surface, a cross-road was met with. To go northwards was useless, so turning lo the left and crossing the line in half a mile, a turn was made (in a similar distance) into a lane running to the west, and which, in two and a quarter miles, led me out on to the main road, about six miles from Cranbourne and 35 from Melbourne.

NATURE OF THE SWAMP LAND.
In the run from Garfield to Koo-wee-rup a distance of about 16 miles, there is anything but  monotony. In addition to the small villages, there are numerous homesteads between, while the plain is not devoid of vegetation or of trees. The high scrub growth by the roadside shielded me in a great measure when the wind changed to the west, though when it shifted further, and blew stiffly from the south-west, I had a rough time for a mile or so, what it made a further change and came up from the south. Still, it was not all easy going; but the roadway on the whole was fair - good, and like a racing-track in places - but repairs are now being commenced, and it will prove sandy until rain falls. Heavy rain, however, will play havoc with the tracks; in some places the black swamp land is bare, and when wet it sticks closer than a brother.

Although the season is, and has been very dry, there was plenty of water in the main drain; clear and running, though not very deep. It seems to me to be the course of a river, cut through the swamp, forming a natural drain, where previously the river (the Bunyip, I think), used to empty itself on the land, transforming it into a swamp. The only thing requisite for making the best use of this canal is more water, So that it could be used for carrying purpose. After passing Koo-wee-rup the land was less attractive, but there are plenty of cross-roads and tracks; some rough and others sandy. On reaching the main road I ran through Cranbourne and into Dandenong, where, after 90 miles cycling, I joined the train for Melbourne.

Lubecker Steam Dredge on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp

The Lubecker Steam Dredge was the first machine used on the long running project to drain the Koo Wee Rup Swamp. Small scale works, undertaken by individual land owners, had started in 1857 when William Lyall undertook drainage works around his property. In 1875, landowners, including Duncan MacGregor, formed the Koo Wee Rup Swamp Drainage Committee. This Committee employed over 100 men and created a drain that would carry the water from the Cardinia and Toomuc Creeks to Western Port Bay. 

It soon became apparent that drainage works needed to be carried out on a large scale if the Swamp was to be drained thus the Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, William Thwaites, surveyed the Swamp in 1888.  His report recommended the construction of the Main Drain from where the Bunyip River entered the Swamp in the north to Western Port Bay and a number of smaller side drains. A tender was advertised in 1889 and by March 1893 the contractors had constructed the 16 miles of the drain from Western Port Bay to the south of Bunyip.  The Swamp was then considered ready for settlement. All work was carried out manually using axes, shovels, mattocks and wheel barrows. 

  

The Public Works Department had been unhappy with the rate of progress and took over its completion in 1893 and appointed the Engineer, Carlo Catani, to oversee the Swamp drainage works.  Catani was keen to introduce land dredges; however this was not approved because it would reduce the work available for unskilled labour. It wasn’t until 1912 that Catani was given permission to purchase a machine. Carlo Catani spent four months in Europe in 1912 and while he was away investigated various machines and selected the Lubecker steam driven bucket dredge from Germany. It was described as being of the articulated ladder type; it ran on rails and had a 9 man crew. It weighed 80 tons and had a capacity of 80 cubic yards per hour or approximately 200,000 cubic yards per annum when working one shift.  A labourer at the time dug about 8 cubic metres per day. The purchase price was £2,300 pounds, plus £632 duty. The total cost landed, erected with rails, cranes and other equipment came to £4,716.

The dredge in operation, on some official occasion.

State Rivers & Water Supply Commission photographer, State Library of Victoria Image rwg/u873

According to the Lang Lang Guardian the dredge had arrived by June 1913 and was to start work on the Lang Lang River, which was described as a ‘wandering creek.’ This dredging was to prevent flood waters backing up across areas of the Tobin Yallock Swamp lands. The paper also said that the dredge was thought to be the finest in the world and will shift earth at the rate of a penny a yard. A report in the same paper on July 16, 1913 said that 50 chains of rail would be laid for the dredge on a cleared track.  The reporter went onto say that at this time the dredge was currently scattered over the ground, and is an insoluble puzzle to visitors who attempt to construct in their minds a mechanical theory as to how this vast and complicated machine will be put together and how it is going to work.

It was obviously put together and started work, and the Lang Lang Guardian reported that the Engineer, Mr Osborne, had employed a small Tangye engine and secured it to a truck for the hauling of the machinery and goods.

This is the Tangye engine referred to, above, used to haul machinery, goods and in this case important visitors. This photo was obviously taken during an official occasion.

State Rivers & Water Supply Commission photographer, State Library of Victoria Image rwg/u877

 From a report in The Argus on October 13, 1915 we can get an idea of how the Dredge operated - it excavates by means of an endless chain arrangement, wherein each link of the chain consists of a heavy steel shovel head…these scrape away the ‘spoil’ and then they deliver it onto a mechanical conveyer …which dumps the earth onto a regular embankment or if necessary into wagons that cart it away.

Around August 1916 the Dredge had completed its work on the Lang Lang River, having removed 78,000 cubic yards of earth and creating a channel a mile and half long. It was then taken over by the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission and worked on the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp on the Main Drain, Cardinia Creek and the Yallock Outfall Drain.

Lubecker Dredge

State Rivers & Water Supply Commission photographer, State Library of Victoria Image rwg/u855

           

According to a paper presented to the Institution of Engineers by Lewis Ronald East in March 1935, by June 1934 total excavation by the Dredge was 1,332.231 cubic yards. It never worked full time and never at more than at 60 percent of its capacity.  The average cost of excavation was 7.9 pence per cubic yard, but with interest and depreciation the total cost was 9.15 pence per cubic yard, well over the Lang Lang Guardian’s original estimate of one penny per yard.  East also reports that the dredge has now practically completed its useful life.

Lubecker Dredge

State Rivers & Water Supply Commission photographer, State Library of Victoria Image rwg/u871

  

Other machines working on the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp included a steam powered Stiff Leg Dragline, weighing 25 tons, purchased in 1925 for the cost of £2,200.  This had a five man crew and was rail based and a working cost per cubic yard of 7 pence.  In 1929 a 45 ton steam powered Full Swing Dragline was purchased for £3,100. This had a three man crew and a caterpillar undercarriage and a per cubic yard cost of 4.4 pence.  In 1929 the first non-steam powered machine, another Full Swing Dragline was purchased for £3,700. This weighed 26 tons, had a two man crew a caterpillar undercarriage and had a working cost per cubic yard of 2.4 pence.  East said that the economy of caterpillar traction and of crude oil power are obvious.  You can see some photos of other dredges that worked on the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp, here.

Finally, what happened to the Lubecker Dredge? We don’t know but presumably it was cut up for scrap as all that remains are a set of wheels on display at the Swamp Look-out tower on the South Gippsland Highway.

The Lubecker Dredge wheels at the Swamp look-out tower.

You can read more about Carlo Catani in my Carlo Catani blog, here.

Bunyip and the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp 1887

This account of the township of Bunyip and the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp comes from the South Bourke and Mornington Journal of August 3, 1887.  Click here to access this article on Trove

From an occasional Correspondent.

"Vare iz de downsheep" The interrogator was a foreigner, and the person questioned was, Mr. Barrow, the local storekeeper of the "rising" township of  Bunyip. For Bunyip, by the way, is at present only a small hamlet; in fact it is able to do very little more than 'claim to have, a ''local habitation" as well as a name. Nevertheless it has two hotels, well conducted by Messrs. Hanson and Finch. These two hostelries, with Mr. Barrow's general store, amicably uniting themselves pretty well form the township. There are also one or two unpretentious dwelling houses about, and a State School, of which Mrs. Skinner is the tutelary genius, lies back a little out of sight. 

But still Bunyip may be designated as a rising township, for it stands prominently upon a steep "rise" overlooking the great Koo-wee-rup Swamp. To the foreigner's enquiry, "vare iz do downsheep," the interrogated resident replied with a majestic and comprehensive sweep of the hand, which took in the whole of the vast municipal settlement, "it is here." The foreigner looked puzzled and gazed earnestly round the whole sweep of the horizon, and then a bright idea penetrated his befogged intellect. "Oh! over de hill" he said, and was about to rush on thitherward to seek the goal of which he was in quest; but he was intercepted in his intention by the resident, who rejoined-"No; here. This is the township. Circumspice!"  It was calculated to wound the civic patriotism to have thus with minute emphasis pointed out the locality in which one lives, but there is nothing for it but to remit it to the category of "another injustice to poor old Ireland," and Bunyip must bear its trials with what heroic fortitude it can. 

I don't have any photos of Bunyip from 1887, but this is the Gippsland Hotel (Top Pub) and Main Street in 1908.

Photograph from The Call of the Bunyip by Denise Nest. 

It was only the other day that a young lady in a passing train, looking out over the dreary stretch of Koo-wee-rup Swamp with its forest of dead timber, expressed somewhat emphatically, if not euphoniously, the opinion that this was the last place the Creator made, and was left unfinished by Him. But then the day was a gloomy one, and the prospect from the train was not enlivening. Had the critic been able instead to have stood on the summit of the hill on which the township stands, on a bright day and have seen the magnificent view of the Cannibal ranges, and a sweep of mountain scenery right away to the snow-covered Baw Baw; and again, out over the Koo-wee-rup Swamp, the hills and the sea (ships being sometimes even discernable to the naked eye) had this opportunity been afforded to the fair critic, she would doubtless have been less severe in her comments. More than this, had she been gifted with prophetic, not to say poetic, vision she would have had presented to her mind's eye a still more attractive picture, when the now dismal-looking Koo-wee-rup Swamp shall be moved by the industry of the husbandman, and picturesque homestead with beautifully verdant fields shall gladden the eye and heighten the beauty of the even now splendid panorama. 

And this enhancement of the beauties of the locality should not be hidden in the very far distant future, and that some are far-seeing enough to perceive that this is evident from the fact that at a recent sale of Bunyip land lots at the outside boundary of the suburban area realised as much as £6 per acre. During his election tour Dr. L. L. Smith pledged himself to get the reclamation of the Koo-wee-rup Swamp entered upon as one of his first Parliamentary works, but the hon. gentleman substituted a trip to England, and since his return has forgotten to redeem his promise. But the work is one which must inevitably be undertaken before very long, for such a splendid tract of richly fertile country cannot long be allowed to lie waste within so short a distance of the metropolis. Here is a direction, Mr.Editor, in which your pen, so long wielded in advocacy of the interests of this district, might usefully be exercised. Meanwhile Bunyip is dependent for its existence upon the firewood trade. In a small place like this little can be expected in the way of social news. The arrival and departure of mails and trains constitute the excitements of the place.

A short overview of the drainage of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp.

I must acknowledge the books  From Swampland to Farmland: a history of the Koo Wee Rup Flood Protection District by David Roberts (Rural Water Commission, 1985)  and the chapter Draining the Swamp in The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson (F.W. Cheshire, 1968) in the preparation of this history.  You can read a more detailed history of the drainage of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp, here. 

Drainage works on the Swamp began in the 1850’s on a small scale and in 1875, landowners formed the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp Drainage Committee. This Committee employed over 100 men and created drains that would carry the water from the Cardinia and Toomuc Creeks to Western Port Bay. You can still see these drains when you travel on Manks Road, between Lea Road and Rices Road – the five bridges you cross span the Cardinia and Toomuc Creek canals (plus a few catch drains) which were dug in the 1870’s. 

It soon became apparent that drainage works needed to be carried out on a large scale if the Swamp was to be drained and landowners protected from floods. The Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, William Thwaites, surveyed the Swamp in 1888 and his report recommended the construction of the Bunyip Main Drain from where it entered the Swamp in the north to Western Port Bay and a number of smaller side drains as well. A tender was advertised in 1889. Even with strikes, floods and bad weather, by March 1893 the contractors had constructed the 16 miles of the Drain from the Bay to the south of Bunyip and the Public Works Department considered the Swamp was now dry enough for settlement. In spite of this, the Public Works Department was unhappy with the rate of progress and took over its completion in 1893 and appointed the Engineer, Carlo Catani to oversee the work.

Catani implemented the Village Settlement Scheme. Under this Scheme, all workers had to be married, accept a 20 acre block and spend a fortnight working on the drains for wages and a fortnight improving their block and maintaining adjoining drains. The first 103 blocks under this scheme were allocated in April 1893. The villages were at Koo-Wee-Rup, Five Mile, Cora Lynn, Vervale, Iona and Yallock. Many of the settlers were unused to farming and hard physical labour, others were deterred by floods and ironically a drought that caused a bushfire. My great grandfather, James Rouse, a widower, arrived on the Swamp with his nine year old son Joe, in 1903. James, who had been a market gardener in England, was part of a second wave of settlers who were granted land as they had previous farming experience.  By 1904, over 2,000 people including 1,400 children lived on the Swamp. By the 1920s, the area was producing one quarter of Victorian potatoes and was also a major producer of dairy products.

 No amount of drainage works could protect Koo-Wee-Rup from the 1934 flood

The original drainage works were completed in 1897 but later floods saw more drainage work undertaken, including widening of the Main Drain and additional side drains. None of these works protected the Swamp against the Big Flood of  December 1, 1934. The entire Swamp was inundated; water was over six feet deep in the town of Koo-Wee-Rup and over a thousand people were left homeless. Another bad flood hit the Swamp in April 1935 and yet another one in October 1937. A Royal Commission was also established in 1936 and its role was to investigate the operation of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission regarding its administration of Flood Protection districts, amongst other things. The Royal Commission report was critical of the SRWSC’s operation in the Koo-Wee-Rup Flood Protection District in a number of areas and it ordered that new plans for drainage improvements be established. The subsequent works saw the creation of the Yallock outfall drain and the spillway at Cora Lynn, the aim of which was to take the pressure off the Main Drain in flood times and channel the flood waters directly to Western Port Bay.

Today we look at Swamps as wetlands, worthy of preservation, but we need to look at the drainage of the Swamp in the context of the times. Koo-Wee-Rup was only one of many swamps drained around this time; others include the Carrum Swamp and the Moe Swamp. To the people at the time the drainage works were an example of Victorian engineering skills and turned what was perceived as useless land into productive land and removed a barrier to the development of other areas in Gippsland.

100 years ago this week - an escaped 'lunatic'

This is an account of the capture of an escaped patient from Mont Park Mental Hospital from the South Bourke and Mornington Journal of April 30, 1914.  The work Lunatic has now gone out of fashion to describe a person who is mentally ill. According to the Oxford Dictionary the word Lunatic comes from the Old French lunatique, from late Latin lunaticus, from Latin luna '‘ moon’ ' (from the belief that changes of the moon caused intermittent insanity).

South Bourke and Mornington Journal of April 30, 1914.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper  http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/66185203

Trooper Maher, is Stephen Maher, listed in the 1914, 1919 and 1924 Electoral Rolls as living at Pakenham. His occupation is listed as Constable. His wife was  Bridget Catherine (nee Ryan).   There is an interesting account, below, of Constable Maher having his horse taken from him, sounds like it was a bureaucratic decision made without any consultation - so no change there in 100 years. 

Dandenong Advertiser of May 7 1914

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper   http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88355315

South Bourke and Mornington Journal of  17 June 17, 1920,

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66198261

Stephen and Catherine had ten children, Rosaline (born 1886), Cathleen (1888), Florence Mary (1890), Olive Veronica (1893), Stephen Raymond (1894), John Thomas (1896), Thomas Francis(1899), Daniel Michael (1901) Leonard Joseph (1903) and Mary Monica (1905). Stephen died in 1931 aged 70 and Bridget died in 1939 aged 77

A tramway through the Swamp June 1893

An early account of life on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp from  page three of the Warragul Guardian and Buln Buln and Narracan Shire Advocate from  June 23, 1893, see here. I have transcribed the article.

Those of the unemployed who were sent to work at Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp by the Public Works department some time ago, and who have since obtained 20-acre blocks fronting the Main Drain from the  Lands Department, with the view of cultivating  them and making homes for themselves and their families there, are showing a praiseworthy desire to assist themselves. Each alternate week they devote towards clearing the ti-tree off their blocks, and now they have entered into an arrangement with the Public Works department to construct a tram way from Koo-Wee-Rup Station, on the Great Southern Railway, along the Main Drain to Bunyip Station, on the Gippsland line, a distance of 15 miles. They have formed themselves into a co-operative company, and each man on the settlement is to give one day's work free towards constructing the tramway.

They have also agreed to give a shilling a month for six months towards the purchase of the rails, which are to be supplied by the Government, and each man undertakes to go into the bush and cut 50 sleepers without making any charge. The gauge of the tramway will be 2ft. 8in., and it will be worked by horses. The spongy nature of the country precludes the formation of good roads, and hence the necessity for the tramway. As soon as it is finished they will work it and charge freights according to distance. The Government intend giving the men every encouragement, and an expert in horticulture from the Agricultural Department will shortly visit the settlement and give the men instructions how to plant fruit trees, &c., on their holdings.

Official visit to Koo-Wee-Rup December 1893

This is an interesting account of the early days of Koo Wee Rup Swamp settlement from page six of  The Argus of December 22, 1893, see here. I have transcribed the article.

The Minister of Public Works, Mr Webb, paid his first official visit yesterday to the drainage works and village settlement in connection with the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp. He was accompanied by Mr Methven and Mr Winter M.L.A’s; Mr Davidson, Inspector General of Public Works and Mr Catani, the engineer in charge of the drainage works. At the Bunyip end of the Main Drain the prospects of the Village Settlers seem very good, the land being exceptionally rich, though heavily timbered. Very good progress has, in some cases, been made with gardens, and the Government experimental plot, though the results are those of  a few months’ work only, forms a very useful object lesson to those not familiar with the cultivation of the soil. All the fodder grasses as well as Lucerne, maize, mangels [a type of beet, related to silverbeet and beetroot], flax, hemp, beet and vegetables of many varieties were growing splendidly, though the land, cropped for the first time has hardly lost its sourness. Early potatoes especially give a splendid crop. 

There can be no doubt as to the value of this Bunyip land eventually, but the clearing is heavy work, and though there is an impression in Parliament at one time that 20 acres was too large a block here, a visit to the spot shows that by the time the land has been brought into proper cultivation the new home will be well earned. A wooden tram has been laid down for the carriage of goods and this worked on co-operative principles, has already paid a dividend. There were a great many children running about idle in the settlement and the school, for which residents are still pressing, is badly needed. 

The principle of a fortnight’s work on the Swamp and a fortnight on their own land works admirably and a vast improvement is manifest since May, when the first settlers were just building their huts and not a tree had been cut. The Department consider that they will be able to provide work on those lines for the next tree years and by that time the settlers at the Bunyip end at any rate will be in a position to get a profit from their blocks.

Travelling down towards Koo-Wee-Rup the land is not nearly so good. The clay is at too great a depth and the surface is soft and peaty, so that now, even in dry weather a horse cannot leave the beaten track or he is at once bogged in the soft soil. The Minister and members saw for the first time a sled for dragging up scrub by the roots at work, but though it has achieved good results on sounder land, the soil was too soft here for a team of 18 bullocks to do much good. It would appear as though the cost of clearing here and getting land ready for grass even has been somewhat under-estimated. The bullocks in this case were, however, new to the work, and much more better results are obtained when they become accustomed to sinking in the treacherous soil. Most of the ti-tree has been burned off, but the thick network of roots and short stumps remain, making it almost impassable. Most of the settlers at the Koo-Wee-Rup end of the drain are making gardens, but the results are not quite so good as at the other end, through the land apparently being more sour. 

The first steps towards building a second school here are being taken. By-and-by a tramway will run the whole length of the Main Drain from Bunyip to Koo-Wee-Rup, but at present there is a gap of several miles in the middle of it. Mr Webb was not at all impressed with this end of the Swamp and to anyone acquainted with the difficulties of clearing scrub lands; it was obvious that with hand labour only it is a slow and toilsome task. The Minister was inclined to think that the same amount of work given to the founding of a home in the northern irrigable lands would give a better result in quicker time. All, or nearly all, the men settled in the Swamp at present are married men with large families, who prior to coming here were barely able to keep body and soul together.

Who was the first white child born on the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp?

According to Mickle Memoirs of Koo-Wee-Rup written by Dave Mickle, the first white or European baby born in the town of Koo-Wee-Rup was John Leslie O’Riordan who was born in August 1892. John’s parents, John and Elizabeth, had opened the first store in the town in 1890. I checked the Victorian Births Deaths and Marriages Indexes (BDMs) and they list Horace Napier Mackenzie as being born in Koo-Wee-Rup in 1891, the year before John, so should Horace get the credit for being the first European baby born in Koo-Wee-Rup?  Horace’s parents were George and Grace Mackenzie. Grace was the teacher at the Yallock, later known as Koo-Wee-Rup State School, from 1888 until 1911.  The other baby listed as being born in 1892 was Andrew Clark, the son of John and Barbara Clark. I imagine these births were registered at Cranbourne as they had a Registrar of Births and Deaths, Alexander Duff, who was appointed in 1855. Koo-Wee-Rup’s first Registrar was Alexander Leithhead, who was appointed in June 1894.

Then I wondered if we could determine was the first white baby born on the Swamp, in general, not the town of Koo-Wee-Rup. There were many men working on the creation of the Main Drain between 1889 and 1893, at one time over 500 were employed - many of whom had their families with them and after the adoption of Carlo Catani’s Village settlement scheme more families arrived and lived on their allocated twenty acre block – by September 1894 there was said to be 230 families on the Swamp or 1280 persons.

Once again I checked the BDMs to see what Swamp babies I could find - Yallock, the Village settlement outside of Bayles, had eight babies listed between 1892 and 1895. One of the problems in determining birth places is that it seems that many babies in the BDMs have the place of registration listed as the place of birth. The first Registrar at the eastern end of the Swamp was not appointed until January 1, 1895 when James Pincott was appointed for Bunyip South (as Iona was previously known). In 1894 no babies were listed as being born in Bunyip South but in 1895, 49 were registered, 69 the next year and 49 in 1897. As a comparison, in 1895 only 36 babies were registered at Dandenong so that’s a lot of babies and I suspect that due to travel difficulties many parents had put off registering their children until a Registrar was appointed locally.

Even to get to Nar Nar Goon, which had a Registrar since 1887, would have been a long journey. Nar Nar Goon had 64 babies registered between 1889 to 1895. Garfield did not get a Registrar until September 1899 when John Daly was appointed and eight births were registered in 1900, these are the first births listed at Garfield in the BDMs, though it seems unlikely there had been no births in the town in the previous twenty or so years.  Previous to this it appears that Garfield babies were registered elsewhere – for instance Ingebert and Mary Gunnulson (he was a Garfield builder) registered babies at Nar Nar Goon in 1889,1890, 1892 and 1894, in 1896 at Bunyip South and in 1900 at Garfield.  George and Mary Brownbill registered babies at Bunyip South in 1896 and 1898 and Garfield in 1901.  So this shows the difficulty in determining how many babies were born on the Swamp and who was the first.

Most of these early births would not have had a Doctor present. There was one at Cranbourne, at least from 1866, though a report said that he was a clever man, but one who had the habit that many otherwise good man has fallen victim to. The Minister [Alexander Duff, the Presbyterian Minister] kept his books and instruments and for special cases he sobered up for a couple of days, the hotel being tabooed to him till he had completed the case in hand. It may well have be less risky not to have a doctor attend. A doctor visited Koo-Wee-Rup weekly from Cranbourne from around 1900 and the first resident Doctor in the town came in the 1920s. A Bush Nursing Hospital with a skilled nurse opened in Koo-Wee-Rup in July 1918. Many women, especially in rural areas, would have had a local midwife, usually very experienced but with no formal qualifications attend to her when she gave birth at home. The availability of nurses and doctors would partly account for the improvement in the infant mortality rate. In the 1890s, this rate varied from ten to thirteen percent, that is for every 1,000 babies born, 100 to 130 babies would die under the age of one. In the 1920s this rate had dropped to around six percent.

There was an interesting case reported in The Argus in May 1893 – the headline on the May 8 story was Supposed child murder at Koo-Wee-Rup. The body of baby boy was found buried in a box. The police interviewed Mrs Johnson, an experienced nurse, who had helped deliver the baby of a Mrs Parker on February 4, 1893.When Mrs Johnson had arrived Mrs Parker was lying in a miserable bed with only a piece of blue blanket for covering and alongside the bed was the dead body of a well grown fully developed male child. When Mrs Johnson returned the next day the baby had gone and she was told that the father on the baby, Michael O’Shea, had buried the baby. Subsequently Ellen Parker and Michael O’Shea were charged with causing the death of the child and arrested. You can read the full article on Trove, here.

The account of the inquest, in The Argus of May 17 1893 (reproduced from Trove, left) said that both Ellen and Michael belonged to a rough and very unrefined order of society. The jury decided that there was insufficient evidence to convict the accused and they were found to be not guilty. A very sad state of affairs for all concerned and it especially brings to focus the hard life the early settlers lived on the Swamp, with primitive, wet conditions, no decent housing, no schooling for the children, poor wages and no medical help.

This brings us back to the first question as to who was the first white baby born at Koo-Wee-Rup or on the Swamp.  In the end, it doesn’t really matter. Of more importance is the quality of life and I can report that of the first three babies said to have been born in the town of Koo-Wee-Rup, John O’Riordan, Horace Mackenzie and Andrew Clark all had more fortunate lives than the poor, little baby born to Ellen Parker, as John lived until he was 85, Horace lived until he was 93 and even Andrew Clark (whom I know nothing else about) lived until he was 67.

100 years ago this week - Food production

One hundred years ago, this week in March 1913, this appeared in the West Gippsland Gazette, and is a reminder of what a rich area this once was for food production.

West Gippsland Gazette   Tuesday 4 March 1913, page 7

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper

At Iona, a Creamery run by the Fresh Food and Frozen Storage Company, was opened in 1897 and by 1900 it had 50 suppliers. The Creamery operated until around 1907. In 1906 Drouin Co-Operative Butter Factory established a factory in Iona on the corner of Little Road and the Main Drain. It closed in October 1928 and was demolished in 1930. Another butter factory, operated by Holdenson and Neilson, operated in Iona from 1912 and was taken over by the Drouin Co-Operative Butter Factory in April 1921. If you have been to Iona recently, it is hard to believe that it ever sustained two butter factories.  Cora Lynn also had a cheese factory, click here to find out more about it.

This is a photo of my grandparents (Joe and Eva Rouse) farm at Cora Lynn, taken in 1928. It was typical of the many small farms on the Swamp.

100 years ago this week - the state of the drains

This was in the The Argus, 100 years ago this week, in February 1913. 100 years on, local residents are still concerned about the state of the drains, so no change there.  It's a bit hard to read, so I have copied the text, below.

The Argus February 5,  1913 page 11

trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper

Sir, It is about two years since the big flood on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp and the Government promised to clear out the main canal and remove the sand and silt which had accumulated in it and so prevent it from overflowing again. But nothing has been done and if heavy rains fall there will be a recurrence of the flood and much valuable produce will be destroyed. It is scandalous that the Government, after spending so money in reclaiming this rich country, should allow the canal to silt up, where for a small outlay, it could be kept clear. The cost of this should be borne by the settlers at so much per acre. They would gladly pay to make themselves safe from floods. I hope that Mr Watt will keep his promise over this matter and instruct the Public Woks Department to proceed with the work before the coming winter. 

Yours etc    K.W.R  Feb 4

Mr Watt was William Alexander Watt, Premier of Victoria from May 18 1912 to December 9 1913 and December 22 1913 to June 18, 1914.

Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp - early drainage schemes

We will start this blog off with a brief overview of the drainage works on the Swamp. Small scale efforts to drain the  96,000 acre  (40,000 hectare) Swamp began in the 1850s and in 1875 landowners including Duncan MacGregor, who owned Dalmore,  formed the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp Drainage Committee.  From 1876 this Committee employed over 100 men and created drains that would carry the water from the Cardinia and Toomuc Creeks to Western Port Bay at Moody’s Inlet.

It was obvious however that major works needed to be undertaken to sucessfully drain the Swamp thus the Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, William Thwaites (1853-1907), surveyed the Swamp in 1887 and his report recommended the construction of the Bunyip Main Drain from where it entered the Swamp in the north to Western Port Bay and a number of smaller side drains.

A tender was advertised in 1889. In spite of strikes, floods and bad weather by March, 1893, the private contractors had constructed the 16 miles of the drain from the Bay to the south of Bunyip and the Public Works Department considered the Swamp was now dry enough for settlement. At one time over 500 men were employed and all the work was done by hand, using axes.

The picturesque Bunyip Main Drain, taken in the 1940s.

Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp Historical Society photograph.

In spite of what seemed to be good progress - the Public Works Department had been unhappy with the rate of progress and took over its completion in 1893 and appointed the Engineer, Carlo Catani (1852-1918). The 1890s was a time of economic depression in Australia and various Government Schemes were implemented to provide employment and to stop the drift of the unemployed to the city. One of these schemes was the Village settlement Scheme. The aim was for the settlers to find employment outside the city and to boost their income from the sale of produce from their farms. It was in this context that Catani implemented the Village Settlement Scheme on the swamp.

Under this Scheme, all workers had to be married, accept a 20 acre block and spend a fortnight working on the drains for wages and a fortnight improving their block and maintaining adjoining drains. The villages were Koo-Wee-Rup, Five Mile, Vervale, Iona and Yallock.

Many of the settlers were unused to farming and hard physical labour, others were deterred by floods and ironically a drought that caused a bushfire, however many stayed and communities developed. By 1904, over 2,000 people including 1,400 children lived on the Swamp. By the 1920s, the area was producing one quarter of Victorian potatoes.

There was a second wave of settlers in the early 1900s where those selected had previous farm experience, such as my great grandfather, James Rouse who had been a market gardener in England. James, a widower,  arrived in 1903 with his eleven year old son, Joe. He had selected 56 acres on Murray Road at Cora Lynn and his arrival started the Rouse family's 115 year connection to the Swamp.

That's James Rouse, my great grandfather, above.  He was born July 26, 1862 at Stratford on Avon in England and died at Cora Lynn on August 29, 1939. He had married Annie Glover of Clydebank (Victoria) on February 2, 1892 and they had five children. Sadly Annie, born July 24, 1865 died on February 7, 1899 aged 33, two months after she was thrown from a buggy when a horse bolted, in early December 1898.  The children were -  my grandfather, Joseph Albert Rouse who was born at Clydebank on November 9, 1892 and died September 3, 1954; Emily, born December 20, 1893 and she was found drowned in the Yarra on August 24, 1919 at the age of 25; Lucy, born September 2, 1895 died October 27, 1981. We knew her very well and saw a lot of her. She was living at Garfield when she died; Ruth, died aged 6 months on February 22, 1898. Annie was pregnant at the time of her accident and the baby, their child, little Annie, was born prematurely and lived only a few weeks.