Koo Wee Rup Swamp History

This blog is about the history of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp and surrounding areas, including Garfield, and Western Port as well as some of my family history. It's my own original research and writing and if you live in the area you may have read some of the stories before in the Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society newsletter or the Koo Wee Rup township newsletter, The Blackfish, or the Garfield township newsletter, The Spectator. Heather Arnold.

Monday, November 17, 2025

Christmas Celebrations in the 1940s from the Bunyip and Garfield Express

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The Bunyip and Garfield Express from 1938 to 1948 is now digitised on Trove, thanks to the effort and sponsorship of the Bunyip Historical ...

Thursday, November 13, 2025

RAAF Plane damaged in forced landing at Iona

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On April 27, 1934 a Royal Australian Air Force Moth was damaged after a forced landing in a paddock at Iona. The pilot Squadron-Leader E. Da...

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Stormy Weather

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Here are some reports, from one hundred or so years ago, of fierce storms on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp and surrounding Shire of Berwick and Shir...

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Cova Cottage, Tooradin

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Cova Cottage, a cafe and store, was opened in 1947 or 1948 by Florence and Bill Williams. It was located on the South Gippsland Highway, on...

Friday, October 3, 2025

Ernest Oldham - the first man to enlist from Koo Wee Rup - or was he?

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In May 1915, The Age reported on the fact that Private E. Oldham had been wounded. Private E. Oldham (wounded), is the youngest son of the...

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Dissolving Bones

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If you put the term 'dissolving bones' into the newspapers on Trove , you get about 1800 results up to the 1920s just for Victoria ...

Saturday, July 5, 2025

Iona Brass Band

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This is a chronological history of the Iona Brass Band, taken from reports in the newspapers, mainly the Bunyip and Garfield Express , which...

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About Me

Heather: I am a local history enthusiast, the President of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society and the Secretary of the South Eastern Historical Association. I was the Local History Librarian at Casey Cardinia Libraries from 2005 until 2021.

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