The history of Yallock - Part 2 by H.J. Boxshall

The following account of the history of Yallock was written by Henry John Boxshall (1880 - 1968) a pioneer Yallock resident.  The history was written in March 1957 for the pupils at the Yallock School and was published in the Koo Wee Rup Sun of June 26 1968.  This is part 2 and you can read part 1 here and part 3 here.

The history of Yallock - Part 2 by H.J. Boxshall
Mr H.J. Boxshall continues his article of the early history of the Yallock area. He mentions some of the landowners and some of the troubles they encountered. At the end of the article last week, Mr. Boxshall was talking about some of the churches in early history.

A short while after the building of St. Saviour's church at Yallock, a Methodist church was erected on Mr. Bateson's property, and this was done by voluntary labour. Mr. T. Pretty did almost all the work on both churches, refusing, any payment for his labour.

METHODIST CHURCH BUILT AT YALLOCK
The Methodist church was well attended in the years prior to the outbreak of World War One. After the war many of the supporters of the church left the district and the church was later moved into Kooweerup.

Methodists to preach at Yallock were Mr. Upton, Mr. Sherlock, Mr. G. Shinkfield, Mr. Val Trigg and Mr. C. C. McPhee, the latter was a very popular minister and was a prominent member of both the cricket and football teams. He enlisted in the war and on his return had to resign from the Ministry due to some throat affliction. There were others who preached there whose names I cannot recall.

The first Church of England organist was Miss Alice Cox who later married Mr. Fred Simmel. Mrs. Simmel was present at the service held at St. Saviour's in November 1955 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the church. She died the following year in her 82nd year.

EARLY SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS
Early Sunday school teachers whose names I recall were Mrs. J. Jones, Miss Ridgway and Miss Collyer. Miss E. Games was superintendent of St Saviour’s Sunday School for many years, assisted by Miss B. Boxshall who succeeded Miss Games when she left the district to live in Melbourne. Miss Games was also the organist at the church for many years, one of my sons Mr. O. Boxshall now holds the position.

I would like to pay a tribute to the memory of Mrs. Jones, whose name is mentioned above. Mrs. Jones was the wife of one of our earliest arrivals at Yallock. She was a qualified midwife and was always ready and willing to go to the help of anyone who was ill or in trouble, any hour of the night, wet or fine - she was truly a Christian woman. After leaving Yallock, she conducted a private hospital at Wonthaggi, where she passed away, when well over 80 years of age.

GATES BLOCKED THE ROADS
When the early settlers arrived here they found all roads leading to this area blocked by gates.To get on to the Monomeith Road, three gates had to be opened. There was a gate near the No. 5 drain bank leading into "Quamby" Andrew Lyall's property; another into Monomeith Park and then another had to be opened to get on to the road at Bourke's stockyards. A gate across the No. 5 bank or Creamery Road, as it is sometimes called, blocked the road to Kooweerup and the way out to Yannathan was also blocked. It was sometime before the landowners responsible, fenced their land to give the settlers free access to their blocks.

There was no bridge over the Yallock Creek, where the present one is located and the settlers filled the creek bed with ti-tree so as to make a ford to enable them to get across to Kooweerup.The river could only be crossed when the Creek was low and when the river rose too high, Kooweerup could only be reached via Monomeith and the highway.

An old creek bed in "Quamby" had to have about five chains of corduroy laid to enable traffic to get to the Monomeith Road. The work was done by the settlers, who organised working bees. Works of this sort had to be done by the settlers themselves as it was useless to ask for assistance from the Government and this area was called "No man's land" as far as adjoining Shires were concerned.It was some time in the late nineties that the Cranbourne Shire took over and valued the area. Mr. A. Facey, the Shire Engineer was the valuator.

THEY LOST A DAY'S PAY TO GET THEIR WAGES
I would like to record here another inconvenience men on the drain work had to contend with. No matter where they were working they had to travel to Kooweerup to pick up their fortnightly pay.The pay office was at W. Stuart's store, situated by the canal bridges. (The house still stands there and must be one of the oldest, if not the oldest building in Kooweerup township).

The Paymaster was Mr. Clowser, assisted by Mr. J. O'Brien, (one of the overseers of the drain work and who at one time became one of the largest land owners at Yallock). Picking up your pay nearly always meant losing a day's pay, because as the work advanced it took the men further away from Kooweerup, where the drain work was started. Long tramps over very rough tracks, that a horse could not travel had to be undertaken.

On entering the office to receive your pay you would find alongside the Paymaster the local butcher, baker, storekeeper etc. with their fortnightly accounts and after these accounts were settled the wage-earner had what was left, which was at times very little.

The story is told of one hardy old pioneer who was walking slowly away over the canal bridge and was hailed by one of his work-mates. "What is the matter Tom? You don't look too happy this morning". "Happy", said Tom, "and what do I have to be happy about? I just picked up my pay and look what I have left". He disclosed a few coppers in the palm of his hand and with that, tossed them into the waters of the canal and dejectedly walked on.

THE EARLY SETTLERS
The following are the names of the first commers to Yallock—
Starting at the corner of Finck's Road -  the No. 5 Road, corner block was occupied by W. Donaldson, bricklayer then A. Renfrew, furniture salesman; H. Treeby, labourer; then my father T. Boxshall, landscape gardener. Mr. Boxshall was for a period of 14 years foreman of the Exhibition Gardens, Carlton and had laid out a large area of those particular gardens.

An elder brother of mine, A. Boxshall, engine driver, Victorian Railways was next. Then followed H. Scharf, carpenter. He had left Germany to escape militarism. His two sons later enlisted in World War 1 and were both killed in France. W. Chance was next followed by O. W. Reitchel, bricklayer and on the corner block at the hall road was M. O. Donald, mail contractor and stud master. The last four allotments mentioned are now occupied by Mr. George Peck.

The block now owned by Mr. Deppeler was occupied by E. Rossiter; the 60 acres now owned by Mr. Still belongs to the Lyall family; on the corner block, now F. Stephens, was Mr. Simmil, blacksmith; Mr J. Jones was first on the block now owned by Mr F. Ashby. Then followed Mr Arthur Orford, labourer, and his house was burnt down during the 1898 bushfires. The owner left the district shortly after.

The first on the block opposite the hall and now belonging to the Bailey family were Mr. Kroschell, Mr. Glowasky, whose son was later a very well known member of the Victorian Police Force. Mr. Chas Woodman owned these allotments for some years.

One of the earliest settlers was Mr. F. P. Stephens, farmer, who donated the land for the Church of England. His son now resides on the property and next to him, Mr. Priestly snr. Mr. E. Batson followed him and lived on the property some years. Mr. Batson was a member of the first School Committee, he donated the land for Methodist Church. The Ashby family now own the farm. Mr. Geo. Wright, builder lived on the corner block, later owned by Mr. C. Brazil.

Names I recall further east and on McKay's Road are G. Richardson, Geo. Casey, J. McKay, J. Orchard, B. Lineham, W Cadee, L. Coates, J. Ieckleson, T. O'Shea and W. Cameron. The land for the hall was given by Mr. Fred Simmill.

Next on O'Briens Road was T. Harker, now owned by Stephens and Thompson; Mr J. McGee was next and this property is now occupied by Mr. F. Lineham. Mr. W. Harker owned the block at the corner of O'Briens Road and No. 6 Road. Also on the same road lived Mr. J. T. O'Brien, a local Cranbourne Shire Councillor for many years. He was a former overseer on the drain works. Mr. James Stevens, a sailor, was next. This farm was later owned by Mr. A. Dalyrimple, a member of the school committee for a number of years. After his departure it was taken over by Mr. Horace Barr (A.I.F.). Mr. W. Fechner now owns it.

The first to live on the block now owned by Mr. W.Thomas was Mr. A. T. (Dick) Priestley, son of Mr. Priestly mentioned previously in this article. Mr. Priestly later had a store in Lang Lang and a farm at Yannathan. Next to Priestly's was Mr. E. Powis who kept a boarding house at Dandenong. His son H. Powis lived on the block. He was a well known footballer with Dandenong and had previously played with Essendon in the League. He was also a member of the local football and cricket clubs.

Early comers who did not stay long were Chas.Williams and a man named Rogers. The latter was the first on to the block lived on by the Gudgin family for years. Mr. Gudgin  senior was followed by his son William and then his grandson Harold. The property is now owned by Mr. Geo. Light. On the school road and close to the school was Mr. C. J. Izzard, saddler, who donated the ground to the school. Mr. Izzard was the first Yallock Progress Association secretary.

Robert Fountain was the original settler on the  block now owned by Mr. Light, next was Mr. D. Ware, Mr. E. Collyer, one of the school's earliest committeemen.

Others associated with this road were W. Hatty, Senior; Mr. Savage, D.Cahill and S. Flewin, Mr. W. Hatty Junior, Mrs. W. Brown. Mr. D. Abel now owns a number of these blocks. Mr. W. A. Cox lived for a while on one of the blocks now owned by Mr. A. M. Bethune.

The first to live on the block now occupied by Mr. T. Light was Charles Ware, a former road contractor. On the next block was Thomas Kirwin, farm labourer and next Mr. A. J. Cox, bootmaker, Mr. J. C. Hatty was first on the block now occupied by Mrs. Humphrey. Mr. Wise (late A.I.F.) also lived there for some years.

Early settlers on the No. 6 or Catani Road were Mr. F. O'Neill, E. Giggins, W. R. Donaldson, V. Blythe. The latter was an ex-serviceman and was for some years president of the local branch of the V.D.A.

On Finck's Road adjoining Donaldson's were J. Yeaman, engine driver; next B. J. Cox, father of George who now lives there. H. Reid was next, and he left his house when it was destroyed by fire. On the Finck's Road and No. 6 Road where Mr Kane lives was W. Nichol and later Chas. Woodman. The block over the road was first owned by W. Scanlon. Mr. L. W. Finck senior was next. He was secretary of school committee for any many years and also secretary of the hall committee.

This is part 2 of Henry Boxshall's history of Yallock. You can read  part 1 here and part 3 here.

The history of Yallock - Part 1 - by H.J. Boxshall

The following account of the history of Yallock was written by Henry John Boxshall (1880 - 1968) a pioneer Yallock resident.  The history was written in March 1957 for the pupils at the Yallock School and was published in the Koo Wee Rup Sun of June 19, 1968.  This is part 1 and you can read part 2  here and part 3 here.

The history of Yallock - Part 1 - by H.J. Boxshall
This portion of the Kooweerup Swamp was made available for selection in the latter part of the year 1894. Many of the first settlers came from Macedon where a village settlement was formed in 1893, the land there was not suitable for closer settlement and the settlers were removed to Yallock. Permits to occupy twenty acres were issued to the settlers and they were required to pay fifteen shillings per twenty acres per annum for the first three years, then a lease was given for twenty years. After the expiration of that time and, provided all payments and conditions had been complied with, a Title to the land was given.

After much agitation by the local Progress Association of which the late Mr. C. J. Izzard was Secretary, and who with the great assistance of the then Member for Mornington, the Hon. Alfred Downard, M.L.A., Parliament agreed to forego all interest on the half yearly payments, otherwise it is doubtful if the settlement would have survived. Mr. Downard was a good friend and a big help to the settlers and was always ready to do what he could to obtain any concessions for the settlers who had to fight so hard to get on.

In those early days of settlement living conditions were bad and the settlers had to endure onsiderable hardships, it was hard on the men, very few of whom had any experience of farming life and knew nothing of stock management. Most of them were used to city life, many being capable tradesmen but owing to the big depression of the early 1890's had lost their savings and unemployment was rife. The Government of the day instituted the Village Settlement Scheme to get as many of the unemployed out of Melbourne as possible.

HOUSING WAS POOR
When the head of the family went on his allotment a tent was put up and then a shelter of sorts was erected, not many could be called houses. Many were merely bag humpies and the families lived in these make-shift places until more substantial wattle and daub were built. Life was hard for the wives and children of those early settlers most of whom were town bred and used to the amenities of city life.

In the summer months water was scarce and had to be carted, and in many cases carried long distances. In the winter, water was at times too plentiful as families living near the creek found to their cost. In the summer when water was when water was scarce, the weekly wash was done down at the creek, where firewood and water was plentiful.

One of the worst hardships the settlers had to endure was the lack of medical attention, the nearest doctor was at Dandenong and the nearest telephone was at Monomeith Railway Station. If a doctor was urgently needed, as in a case of life or death, it had to be the latter. There were two cases here at Yallock where the mothers of two large families died because medical help could not be obtained in time. In both cases all the doctor could do was to give a certificate of death.

Another big drawback was the lack of a school. The children had to go either to Yannathan or McKenzies School, the latter being situated on the corner of Bethunes Road opposite Hodgen Brothers' farm on Kooweerup Road. The teacher's name was Mrs. McKenzie. This school was later moved to Kooweerup. Mrs. McKenzie was the first teacher. Most of the Yallock children attended the Yannathan school and, as that school was outside the three miles limit, it was inevitable that the attendances were a long way from 100%. This was not to be wondered at as the children often had to wade through water to reach the school and to sit wet footed all day. In summer they had to traverse snake infested paddocks and were expert snake killers.

The settlers lost no time in agitating for a school and a meeting was arranged to meet an inspector who was sent up by the Education Department to discuss the matter with the parents. As there was a big attendance of children of school age, over 40 being present, the inspector could see the need of a school and promised to send a teacher along as soon as a suitable building was available and a place for the teacher to board could be found.

About this time the settlers saw the need of a hall for a meeting place, recreation, etc. A hall was built and rented to the Education Department to hold the school, which was started in 1899. Mrs. Agnes Curtin was the first teacher and boarded with Mrs. James Stevens. She was a very capable teacher and stayed two years. She was followed by Miss Ellis, who did not stay long. Then Mr. F. Oldfield took charge sometime late in 1902. He was a splendid teacher and a hard worker for the general good of the Yallock people. He taught at Yallock for about 12 or 13 years, the longest term of any Yallock teacher. He was a fine man and was greatly respected by both scholars and parents. He was the first to teach in the new school, opened in 1912. Miss Doris Savage was first Sewing Mistress in the new school, Miss M. Cox having held that position when the school was held in the hall. Miss Savage was followed by Miss V. Games. Miss B. Boxshall (my daughter) was the last to hold that position at the Yallock School. The school residence was built in 1921 and the first teacher to occupy the house was Mr. George Coughlan.

Most of the early settlers found employment excavating the drains. The' earth was dug out and loaded on to barrows and wheeled out on planks. The drain banks were later formed into roads. The work was hard and often men had to work waist deep in water. The settler was allowed to earn £5 on the drain work and then required to do improvements on his block to the value of £5, when he would be given a ticket to go back to the drain work and earn another £5. This drain work was not very regular as time went on, as the money granted for the work would be used up and the work would be held up until more money was made available.

Flooding also caused interruptions. The water would come down and wash planks and barrows away. Many of these would be found later lodged in the ti-tree along the creek (most of the settlers owned a Government barrow). Owing to the irregularity of the drain work, and the farms being a long way from self-supporting, many of the settlers left their wives and families to carry on with the farm work and took jobs of draining, clearing and picking up (cleaning up after burning off) in Gippsland forest country, others who could see no chance of making a living from such small holdings left their blocks and sought field and new pastures. The vacated blocks were allotted (in some cases by ballot) to the remaining settlers, who were now allowed to increase their holdings to the value of £250 (approximately 50 acres) thus holdings were increased as time went on, by the settlers selling out to neighbours. So many families leaving the district and Bayles Township getting a school was the cause of reducing the attendance at the Yallock School from over 40 to its present low number.

It was some time before it was possible to make a living from the land owing to the difficulty of clearing and preparing for ploughing and grassing down. After the first light ti-tree scrub stumps were cleared the land settled, and large ti-tree stumps showed through. After these were dealt with there were large patches of gum tree stumps known as "Cat-Heads", and it was some years before all the stumps were dealt with. Fences made of the stumps were a common sight: the stumps were also handy for enclosing cow yards and pig pens. These stumps were eventually used up as firewood when post and wire fences were erected. For some years the price of all farm products were very low. Cream delivered to Wood and Company Butter Factory at Lang Lang brought five pence per pound (Commercial butter), milk was delivered for three pence per gallon to Wood and Company Creamery, situated on Mr. R. Peck's property near the Yallock creek bridge, and other farm products were at equally low prices.

The nearest Post Office was at Monomeith Railway Station. After some months the Postal Department made up a loose bag for Yallock and the mail contractor, "Monomeith to Heath Hill" - Mr. John Ridgway, of Yannathan had to be met at Bourkes Stockyard three times a week to take delivery of the bag. The mail was looked after by the Boxshall family for ten years. For some time the mail was delivered daily to the school. Later a post office was granted and looked after
by Mr. R. Games. This office was closed some years ago, but the loose bag is still delivered at the same place now occupied by Mr. Deppeler.

The first religious service was held in Mr. T. Boxshall's house by the Presbyterian Minister Rev. Colin Robertson of Cranbourne. Services were also held at the home of Mr. W. Donaldson by Mr. Robertson and also the Anglican Clergyman Rev. A. A. Wiltshire who was the first Church of England Minister to hold a service at Yallock. At the time Yallock was in the Cranbourne Parish and Mr. Wiltshire had to travel long distances, on horseback, over rough and stumpy tracks. He would hold a service at Cardinia in the morning then on to Yallock for the afternoon service, then back to Cranbourne for the evening service. This meant a Sunday journey of over 40 miles but, Mr Wiltshire never failed and was always on time.

A meeting was held at Mr. Boxshall's house to go into the matter of building a Church, both Mr. Wiltshire and Mr. Robertson attended, it was seen that there were not sufficient followers of either or any denomination to support a Church so, it was suggested that a Union Church be built. Mr. Wiltshire was strongly opposed to a Union Church. On Mr. Izzard's suggestion it was decided to build a hall, services of different denominations could then hold there. Until the hall was built sometime about 1899, services were held in a small wattle and daub building, the roof being thatched with swamp reeds, this place was built by Mr H. Reid for a blacksmith's shop on Mr. Jones' property (now owned by Mr. F. Ashby). The venture was not a success and services were held there by different Protstant denominations until the hall was opened.

The building of St. Saviour's Church at Yallock was started in November, 1905, the first stump was put in by Mr. John Mickle, a local Shire Councillor, on the 15th of that month. The whole of the work of the building the Church was done voluntarily by Mr. Thomas Pretty, a carpenter who had a farm on the Yallock Creek. Mr. Wiltshire left Yallock before the Church was built. He was sent to the Euroa District, not long after taking charge there he met with a fatal accident. He was taking snaps with his camera on the rocks above a deep gorge when he slipped and fell to the rocks below, he was killed instantly. His passing was deeply regretted, he was highly respected and loved by all who knew him. It will give a better idea of the time of Mr. Wiltshire's ministry at Yallock when I tell you we were waiting at the hall before the service started, on his arrival and after greeting us Mr. Wiltshire said, "I have good news for you, before leaving Cranbourne this morning, word came through that the siege of Mafeking was ended and the Boers have been driven off."

A few months before the church was built the first Bishop of Gippsland, Bishop Pain arranged for an amalgamation of the Kooweerup and Lang Lang district. The Priest in charge was Rev. E. H. Smith. The Rev. Henry Lane was the last minister to come from Cranbourne to preach at Yallock. After leaving Cranbourne, Rev. Lane was made Chaplain of the Melbourne General Cemetery.

This is part 1 of Henry Boxshall's history of Yallock. You can read  part 2 here and part 3 here.

Infectious Diseases in the Koo Wee Rup Swamp area

This post looks at diseases in our past and their impact on the local community. 

Infectious diseases had to be notified to the Board of Health and the Shire Council Medical Officers included a list of the diseases in their Annual Report. In 1912, Dr Harkness submitted his annual report to the Shire of Cranbourne for 1911 and it included - six cases of diphtheria in Cranbourne, one at Clyde, two at Lang Lang, all of which recovered. There was one case of typhoid fever at Kooweerup, which unfortunately ended fatally. One case of typhoid fever at Heath Hill, recovering in this instance. Measles was epidemic at Tooradin, Yannathan and Lang Lang (1).  Thirty seven years later in the 1948 annual report, the Shire of Berwick medical officer, Dr Farrell, reported there had been seven cases of scarlet fever, one each of polio, malaria, puerperal fever and tuberculosis and none of diphtheria (2).

If a person was sent to hospital with an infectious disease then it was reported to the local council and thus became part of the Medical Officer's report at Council meetings. As there were no privacy considerations in those days, the names of the patients were also published in the newspapers. Thus we learn that in April  1910 Mr. T. Roper from Cora Lynn had typhoid; in 1915, Antonio, Catherine and Annie Garbellini, of Five Mile Drain had diphtheria, as did Elizabeth and Doris Gill of Koo Wee Rup; in the same year Raymond Jeffers from Cora Lynn had meningitis.  In 1917 four members of the McKay family of Yannathan had diphtheria and  Harry Evans from Cora Lynn had pulmonary tuberculosis. (3)

Diphtheria at Koo Wee Rup

South Bourke and Mornington Journal, June 8 1898 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70020369

Koo Wee Rup had seen a diphtheria epidemic in June 1898, in fact a newspaper had the headline A grave state of affairs (4). Dr Bennie from Berwick investigated this and the cause of the outbreak was blamed on night soil (sewerage) contaminating the drains which were used for drinking water (5). He also said the settlers were too poor to obtain proper food and clothing, and have had a very bad season, so that with poor food, poor clothing and tainted water, it is astonishing that the outbreak has not been more extensive (6).

The report of Dr Harkness to the Shire of Cranbourne in 1912 said that the schools at Tooradin, Yannathan and Lang Lang were closed for the measles outbreak and the school at Clyde for the diphtheria outbreak. (7)

In 1912, diphtheria was considered so serious that the Berwick Shire wanted to implement a severe solution -
For some, years past periodical outbreaks of diphtheria have occurred at Garfield, and the local health officer, Dr. Chas; J. Oliver, recently recommended that rigid action be taken in regard to the places to which he traced the source of infection. In his report he recommended that one building should be destroyed. Dr. Oliver again wrote to the Berwick shire council on Saturday, and stated that he had visited Garfield in connection with the diphtheria outbreak. He was convinced that the building in question was the centre and source of the infection. Cr. Pearson, Mr. Ramage, clerk of works, and himself visited the place, and made certain recommendations.
He was informed that none of the recommendations had been carried out, and the residents were in a state of panic. Some refused to send their children to school. The clerk of works explained that the council, did not have power to burn the building unless it paid compensation, and the shire secretary stated that he had written to the Equity Trustees Company to find out who owned the place, but was informed that the company knew nothing about it.
Cr. A. Fahey said it appeared that the council was powerless to do anything. Could it not fumigate or disinfect the building? He moved that the shire secretary and clerk of works visit Melbourne, and bring the matter under the notice of Mr. Holmes, of the Public Health Department. (8)

Apart from the health issues, the council was also concerned about the cost of treating patients. Every patient admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital was charged to the Council and for the year 1912, the Council had already had to pay £149. Councils could also opt to ‘join’ the management of this Hospital for £42 per annum, which would cover the cost of all patients in a year. (9)

In May 1915, diphtheria was so bad that both the Iona State School and the Iona Catholic Schools were forced to close. There was also a diphtheria outbreak at Koo Wee Rup North State School in 1925 and the school building was condemned and classes were held in the hall. (10)

Children were also kept home from school due to chicken pox outbreaks. In October 1930, the Dandenong Journal reported that in Cranbourne An epidemic of chicken pox is raging in the town, and over 20 children are away from the school - enjoying themselves, playing in the street. (11)

At the end of World War One, there was a worldwide Spanish Influenza epidemic. This disease infected forty per cent of Australia’s population, and caused the death of up to 15,000 Australians. The Australian population at the time was just over five million. (12)

In February 1919, it was reported that Iona Hotel, Garfield was closed for ten days due to two cases of influenza occurring on the premises... Both cases were of a light nature, and are now convalescent. In the July, the Bunyip and Longwarry State schools were both closed due to Influenza. (13)

The Argus in January 1919, had reported on the impact in the local area - Several place have been quarantined during the last couple of days, including the Tooradin Hotel, Tooradin, and various residences. A youth of 19 from Cranbourne died in Dandenong from pneumonic influenza. There were several cases at Tooradin, Clyde, and Koo-wee-rup but these are reported to be progressing favourably. The Cranbourne Shire Council on Saturday decided to prohibit all meetings throughout the shire until further notice, and refused to name holidays for races and the show. Where there are assemblages of 20, masks must be worn. The shire president (Councillor P.M. McGregor) is arranging for free public inoculations next week. Arrangements are also being made in the event of a more serious outbreak for a field hospital at Cranbourne. (14)

The Field Hospital was established in July and  Sister Norah Lehman, who had  recently returned to Australia after serving in the Australian Army Nursing Service was placed in charge. The South Bourke and Mornington Journal reported - 

A wave of influenza has claimed many residents as victims, which has necessitated the shire council taking over the vicarage (by kind permission of the Church authorities) as an emergency hospital. Sister N. Lehman has been appointed in charge, and is being ably assisted by Nurses Rechie and King. The hospital at present is full and all patients are progressing nicely. (15)

A year later in June 1920, the Cranbourne Shire Health Inspector reported on the local response to the Influenza epidemic and noted that - 

at Cranbourne, an emergency hospital in the capable hands of Sister Lehman, lately returned from the war, was opened and was the means of saving more than one life (16). 

1937-1938 was an especially bad time for polio (or infantile paralysis) in Australia and the majority of the cases were children. In August 1937, Bunyip school was closed due to polio.  Once again, the Dandenong Journal reported on parents whose children were home from school, but not isolated - 

A feature of the later stages of the epidemic of infantile paralysis has been the co-operation given by parents to the expert Consultive  Council in its effort to restrict opportunities for the spread of the disease. When the schools were first closed, complaints were made that parents were permitting their children to go into crowds, thus negativing the purpose of closing the schools. Since then, however, most parents have been careful to keep their children at home - in the danger area at any rate. There have been some individual cases of parents becoming panicky, but in the great majority of instances this is not so. Even in Parliament care has been taken not to encourage panic. (17)  Many events were cancelled at this time due to the polio outbreak including a Back to Bunyip celebration planned for December 1937 (18)  

In the summer of 1949/1950 my Dad, Frank Rouse, and other members of the Cora Lynn Scout Group had a camp on Fraser Island in Queensland. One of the boys at the camp developed polio and the whole camp had to be quarantined for a week; because Dad was only young, he thought it was great - an extra week’s holiday, however polio was a serious disease with lifetime consequences.

One of the causes of infectious diseases was insanitary drains. In March 1914 there was a series of reports in the papers regarding the drains at Bunyip. Apparently, the drains were not cleaned during the summer months and thus they became a catchment for refuse water and odorous filth  (19) and this caused disease. The Berwick Shire disputed the state of the drains and said there had been no infectious disease in the town and that statements that disease had entered every house in the town were untrue. The newspaper reports of the state of the health of the town of Bunyip led to a drop in tourism numbers - The Easter holidays passed off very quietly in Bunyip, not half the number of visitors of previous years coming to the town or district. The reason for this is hard to understand, unless it be that many people stayed away because of the absurdly false reports spread by one or two "ratty" individuals that infectious diseases were rampant in Bunyip. (20).

One way to prevent the spread of disease was the suggestion in 1913 that all trains should have an ‘ambulance’ carriage attached. Before cars people would travel to hospital on the train and thus isolating the sick in the ‘ambulance’ car would help alleviate this. The Shire of Berwick’s Health Officer, Dr Oliver stated that -

an ambulance car should be attached to trains on all lines for the transport of cases of infectious disease, as diphtheria and other infectious diseases, as a rule, occur in the homes of the poor and needy. In 90 per cent, of cases the infection, Dr. Oliver asserts, is contracted in the germ-laden railway compartments. Dr. Oliver suggests that a tent compartment for the isolation of infectious cases should be attached to each train. (21)

During the Spanish influenza pandemic, excursion trains to country races and other events were cancelled and in February 1919, The Herald reported that - To minimise the risk of infection from influenza germs, passengers are being requested by the railway Commissioners to keep open all windows in the trains. (22)

Scarlet Fever spread by post

The Age, September 7 1909 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198480981

Scarlet fever was one disease for which there were local reports for decades. One episode of scarlet fever was apparently transmitted by post - In one instance the malady was traced from an infected house in Melbourne to a house in South Gembrook, and it was transmitted by a letter through the post from one person to the other, The Age reported in September 1909. (23) In the 1940s there were regular reports of Scarlet Fever at Tynong, Garfield and Bunyip including in 1946 when the headmaster at Iona State School, Mr J. Beare, had to be admitted to the Warragul Hospital. (24)

Typhoid was also prevalent and in 1910 an outbreak was reported due to -

The insanitary state in which the men employed on the railway regrading works between Tynong and Garfield left the paddocks on which they camped has caused an outbreak of typhoid fever. Dr. Keogh district health officer has forwarded a report to the Board of Health on the matter. He states that the only means to cope with the outbreak is for the ti-tree scrub in the paddock close to where the men camped to be burnt, and the land fumigated with kerosene and disinfectants. He has urged that this be done promptly, as the rain has caused the filth to wash on the roads where the children pass daily

to school. (25)

There were some interesting cures written up in the newspapers in the 1880s and 1890s including drinking absinthe to cure cholera (26). Absinthe had a very high alcohol content, so maybe if you drank enough the pain of the symptoms such as headaches, nausea, abdominal cramps just went away. Another interesting cure was tobacco smoke which could be used as a disinfectant to kill the cholera germ (27).  Of course, we do not recommend taking up the consumption of absinthe or tobacco to protect yourself from cholera or any other infectious disease.

Trove list - I have created a list of newspapers articles on Trove, connected to and used in this article, access it here.

Sources:
(1) South Bourke and Mornington Journal March 7, 1912, see here.
(2) Dandenong Journal  March 30, 1949, see here.
(3) South Bourke and Mornington Journal July 27, 1910, see here; Lang Lang Guardian, June 9, 1915, see here; Lang Lang Guardian, October 6, 1915, see here; Lang Lang Guardian, August 11, 1915, see here; The Argus, October 12, 1915, see here; Lang Lang Guardian, October 24, 1917, see here; South Bourke and Mornington Journal, March 15, 1917, see here.
(4) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, June 8, 1898, see here.
(5) The Argus June 14, 1898, see here.
(6) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, June 8, 1898, see here.
(7) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, March 7, 1912, see here;  

(8) The Age, October 8, 1912, see here.

(9) The Age, October 8, 1912, see here; South Bourke and Mornington Journal, September 5, 1912, see here.

(10) Bunyip Free Press, May 27, 1915, see here; The Argus August 10, 1925, see here.

(11) Dandenong Journal,  October 2, 1930, see here.

(12) https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/influenza-pandemic

(13) The Age, February 18, 1919, see here; Weekly Times, July 26, 1919, see here.

(14) The Argus, February 4, 1919, see here.

(15) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, July 31, 1919, see here.

(16) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, June 10, 1920, see here.

(17)  Dandenong Journal, August 26, 1937, see here; Dandenong Journal, August 19, 1937, see here.

(18) The Age, November 15, 1937, see here; Sun News-Pictorial, December 3, 1937, see here.

(19) The Age, April 9, 1914, see here.

(20) Bunyip Free Press  April 16, 1914 see here.

(21) The Age, October 22, 1913, see here.

(22) The Herald, February 4, 1919, see here.

(23) The Age, September 7, 1909, see here.

(24) See my Trove list here and Bunyip and Garfield Express, October 25, 1946, see here.

(25) The Age, May 17, 1910, see here.

(26) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, November 4, 1885, see here.

(27) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, May 27, 1891, see here.