Koo Wee Rup Village Settlement

The Illustrated Australian News of November 8, 1894 published these photos of the Koo Wee Rup Village Settlement. The Village settlement was on the newly drained Koo Wee Rup Swamp, read about this here.

Koo Wee Rup Village Settlement

Illustrated Australian News of November 8, 1894 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/255107

Settler's House

Illustrated Australian News of November 8, 1894 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/255107

Scrub cutting

Illustrated Australian News of November 8, 1894 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/255107

Settler's Homestead

Illustrated Australian News of November 8, 1894 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/255107

View of Main Drain

Illustrated Australian News of November 8, 1894 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/255107

Livingstone's Survey Camp

Illustrated Australian News of November 8, 1894 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/255107

The last photo is of Livingstone's Survey Camp. I believe this is William Livingstone. Livingstone, from Warragul, was a surveyor. He was also at one time a Warragul Shire Councillor and the Shire Valuator (1).  In 1893, the Warragul Guardian reported that Messrs. Boyd and Livingston Surveyers, Warragul, have just received instructions from the Lands Department, to survey the Timber Reserve adjoining Neerim North, into blocks ranging from 20 to 80 acres (2).  I assume that he was surveying on the Swamp for the same purpose, even though the Swamp blocks were generally of 20 acres or less. 

The life of a surveyor was an interesting one. This was reported in the Warragul Guardian in February 1894 - Mr. Livingstone, surveyor, had the good fortune to kill no less than 30 snakes by a single stroke the other day. A miner in the vicinity of the Rokeby Village Settlement was just about to drop into his shaft, when, to his horror, he detected a big tiger snake disporting itself in the bottom of the hole. With blanched face he acquainted several men near of the fact, and Mr. Livingstone, getting a 20 feet pole, managed to kill the vicious reptile, which, on being opened, was found to contain no less than 30 young ones. The specimen was so well developed that it was subsequently skinned (3).  Naturally, we do not condone the killing of snakes, they are a protected species.

William Livingston married Ellen Ireland in 1885. She was the daughter of Robert Ireland, a Jindavick pioneer (4).  William died in 1928 at the age of 68, whilst he was giving evidence in a court case. Read about this in The Age, here (5).

Footnotes

(1) Copeland, Hugh The Path of Progress: from forests of yesterday to homes of today (Shire of Warragul, 1934) p. 328.

(2) Warragul Guardian, April 18, 1893, see here.

(3) Warragul Guardian, February 20, 1894, see here.

(4) The date of the marriage comes from the Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages. The information about Ellen comes from Copeland pp. 45, 46 and 328.

(5) The Age, March 29, 1928, see here.

Life in a Village Settlement on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp

This account of life on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp appeared in the Mudgee Guardian of January 31, 1907. I believe it is somewhat exaggerated, however life certainly was hard for those early settlers. The story took place 'some time ago' - the opportunity for 'half-time employment on the Government drain' mentioned in the article finished in November 1897, so, if true, the story took place before then. The bit about the kangaroo dog stealing the baby and carrying it away for two miles is interesting, given what happened to Lindy and Michael Chamberlain's baby, Azaria, in 1980. You can read my history of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp, here, and other accounts of Village Settlement life, here.

This is the article from the Mudgee Guardian of January 31, 1907, transcribed from Trove, here. According to recent Victorian news the village settlement of Koo-wee-rup in that State contains more concentrated essence of hopelessness than any other alleged village settlement in Australia - not even excluding the experiment in misery at Southport, Tasmania*. Some time ago it seems a man tried to settle at Koo-wee-rup and kept on endeavouring for three months. During that period all his clothes and most of his skin were distributed impartially on the jagged points of the all-pervading ti-tree stumps; his horse, weakened by excessive chewing of ti-tree bark, got into a crab-hole and wouldn't Koo-wee-rup any more; his wife fell into a ' big drain ' twice while trying to go catch eels; his children were chased by black snakes and got lost and sun-struck on their way to the half-time school, four miles up the swamp; goats or some other wild animals from the surrounding forest came in the early morning and demolished the few decrepid cabbages and frost-bitten potatoes in the garden; the native cats killed the fowls; a neighbor, or a neighbor's pig, came in the night and stole his flour and half a sack of onions; and a vagrant kangaroo dog stole the baby out of the gin case cradle, and only dropped it after a two mile chase through the ti-tree. 

Then the inspector decided that insufficient work had been done on the holding to entitle the settler to half-time employment on the Government drain. More ti-tree stumps should be grubbed, he said. The poor devil of a villager had built fences with ti-tree stumps, walled and floored his dwelling with ti-tree stumps, poured them down crab holes in tons, had grubbed them out and piled them up in huge bonfires that scorched his hair and whiskers, and burnt down his fowlhouse; heaps of ashes 6ft deep surrounded the premises, and lay like sand dunes up against the impenetrable wall of standing ti-tree at the back; and all the time the house and garden kept sinking slowly down until they got below the level of the canal, and the water soaked through the floor and put the fire out. 

Yet, despite all this, the inspector wasn't satisfied, for the ti tree stumps increased and multiplied. At every fresh subsidence of the homestead they sprang up like mushrooms. It was no use, so the settler shook the mud from his bare feet and gave the ti-tree stumps best.

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

The 'big drain' which the wife of the settler fell into while trying to catch eels.

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

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

* Southport Tasmania Village Settlement - Ladies Relief Committee Village Settlement Scheme, establised in 1894 at Southport, Tasmania. 'The settlement was formed in 1894 to reduce the number of the unemployed in Hobart, and to induce these people to settle upon, and eventually buy some of the waste lands of the colony' Hobart Mercury November 7, 1896). Familes were given land and initially rations and were to become self-sufficient on small farms, up to 25 acres, which they would eventually pay off and own. It was not a success and handed back to the control of the Government in 1898. I have created a short list of articles on Trove on the Soithport Village Settlement, access it here.

Potatoes for health and beauty

I grew up on a potato farm at Cora Lynn, so I naturally have a fondness for the vegetable. Potatoes are grown worldwide, they are nutritious, relatively quick to grow and an effective use of land as 85 per cent of the potato plant is edible. Potatoes have been grown in the Andes for over 8,000 years and came to Europe via the Spaniards in the 16th century and then spread throughout the world. 

There used to be many potato farms on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp. In the early days potatoes were despatched by rail from local stations, such as Garfield and Bunyip; Catani and Bayles and Koo Wee Rup. In 1912 it was reported that 35 tons of potatoes were trucked from Bunyip Station on one day (1) – that’s not even a B-double load these days, but that’s a lot of bags of potatoes to all be handled manually.  

The Great Southern Advocate of July 1, 1926 had this interesting report, head-lined Koo Wee Rup Potatoes will return £500,000 and then a report of the tonnage sent from local railway stations, which indicates the importance of the vegetable to the Swamp - The potato crop in the Koo-wee-rup district was estimated to reach £500,000. This, according to railway trucks will be very nearly realised. The output of 29,404 tons was distributed: Kooweerup 6952 tons, Garfield 6451, Bayles 5591, Dalmore 3346, Tynong 2580, Bunyip 2057, Nar Nar Goon 1814, Lang Lang 443, Warragul 169. This would realise £294,030 at £10 a ton.

From December 1925 to April 30, 498 trucks (6945 tons) left Garfield and 600 tons during April. From January 1 to May 30, 156,929 bags of potatoes left Kooweerup station and there are still many thousand bags still in storage. (2)

Bags of potatoes at the Bunyip Railway Station 

Weekly Times March 25, 1911 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222241318

The importance of the potato to the area was celebrated each year in the Potato Festival, held from 1973 until 2000 at Koo Wee Rup.

Here's a light-hearted look at the health and beauty aspect of potatoes as reported in the newspapers.

September 1909 - Few women know how essential certain vegetable and fruit acids are to the general health and the retention of a good complexion. For this purpose, the most valuable are potatoes, cabbage, cauliflowers, grapes, oranges and limes (3).

March 1916 - potatoes and lettuces, especially the latter, are excellent for those who suffer from scurvy skins (4). Scurvy, a Vitamin C deficiency, causes skin to bruise, bleed and a delay in the healing of wounds. 40 years later in March 1954 there was a potato shortage in Victoria which as a result an outbreak of scurvy could develop among Melbourne's young children unless the present potato shortage ended, Miss M. Honey, chief dietitian at Queen Victoria Hospital, warned last night. She said that potatoes were essential to young children to promote growth and to prevent scurvy (5). 

In January 1918 an article said that It has been demonstrated that a butter and potato diet, together with fresh fruit, soon clears uric acid out of the system (6). Uric acid is a cause of gout, so possibly a diet of scalloped potato may well be the answer.

In May 1936 the League of Nations (a similar organisation to the United Nations) Health Commission Diet Committee released a report to the effect that the use of milled white flour should be decreased and its place partially taken by lightly milled cereals and by potatoes….Potatoes, according to the committee's report, contain more iron, calcium, and phosphorus than milled cereals, and also more of vitamins B and C (7). 

October 1936 - A course of potato-water drinking for the sake of the complexion may cause you to open wide your eyes with astonishment. But if you suspect acid in the system, which usually affects skin as well as the general health, try this: Select old potatoes and scrub them thoroughly. Peel them about an inch thick and throw this peel into a saucepan. Allow two cupfuls of water to each potato. Boil for forty to forty-five minutes. Strain off the liquid and drink it warm or cold an hour or so before meals. Dietitians say that a course of this potato-liquid will not only banish acid from the system but will whiten and beautify the skin. Try it! (8). 

In January 1937 potatoes were recommended as a cure for sunburn - Sea bathing on a hot day tends to make the complexion rough and red looking. The action of the salt and the sun make one feel like a lobster. At night, before retiring, sponge your face in warm water, no soap, please. Peel a raw potato, then gently massage the skin with it for three minutes. Use a gentle massage movement always moving in a circular motion. Allow the juice to dry into the skin and remain on until the morning. In the morning add a few drops of witch hazel to the water and wash the face. This will soon whiten and clear the skin (9).

In August 1937 it was suggested that if you want a complexion like a rose then you should eat a lot of onions; they are particularly good for your complexion. For people who don't like onions, it is a good idea to mix them with mashed potatoes; the onions hardly taste that way (10).

This beauty tip comes from January 1943 - Grated potato makes an excellent eye-pack for relieving tired or strained eyes. Wrap in a thin cotton pad, place over eyes, and lie down a while (11).

We will finish off with this beauty tip from September 1950 - the article shows a photo of a model, with her face covered in fruit and vegetables, with this caption. The cucumber on our model's forehead acts as an astringent and soothes her brow as well as smoothing out a few lines. The pears on her temples and in front of her ears nourish the skin. The banana on her eyes takes away that tired look. You can actually feel it coaxing out the tiredness. The potato on her nose makes it whiter. The peaches on her cheeks, above her mouth and on her chin, feed and revive the dry skin and help to give peaches and cream complexion. The carrots around her mouth take away the lines (12).

A fine crop of potatoes, almost drawfing a Fergie Tractor, 1960. 

The photo was taken by my uncle, Jim Rouse, at Cora Lynn.

Sources
(1) The Australasian, February 3, 1912, see here.
(2) Korumburra Great Southern Advocate, July 1 1926, see here.

(3) The Leader, September 25, 1909, see here.

(4) Bendigoian, March 23, 1916, see here.

(5) The Argus, March 13, 1954, see here.

(6) Geelong Advertiser, January 19, 1918, see here.

(7) The Argus, May 20, 1936, see here.

(8) The Australian Women's Weekly, October 3, 1936, see here.

(9)  The Herald, January 14, 1937, see here.

(10) The Australian Women's Weekly, August 28, 1937, see here.

(11) Gippsland Times, January 4, 1943, see here.

(12) The Argus, September 27, 1950, see here.