Maryknoll - an early history and the buildings designed by Smith, Tracey, Lyon and Brock

Maryknoll, originally known as St Mary's, was established in 1949 by Father Wilfred Pooley (1912-1969) (1) as a Catholic community based on the principals of faith, family life and co-operative enterprise. This was part of a broader movement in the Catholic community, encouraged by the Melbourne Archbishop, Dr Daniel Mannix, for Catholics to move away from the distractions of the city to a rural environment and become closer to God. A National Catholic Rural Movement was established in 1939 to support Catholic farmers and Father Pooley was very keen to establish a 'City of God' in a rural area. In March 1949, 529 acres (2) of land in North Tynong off Snell Road, was sold by Reg Sykes to Father Pooley for this purpose. Father Pooley paid the deposit of 100 pounds on March 25th, 1949 and the rest of the purchase price of 4,400 pounds was lent by the Handley family of Dandenong. (3)

Father Wilfred Pooley. 

The Maryknoll settlers were encouraged to keep a few goats on

 their blocks to supply milk. (4)

Weekly Times November 5, 1952 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224873939

The Dandenong Journal reported in August 1949 that the Berwick Council had received a letter from Fr. Pooley, who had previously been the priest at St Mary's in Dandenong , but was now of St. John’s Presbytery, West Footscray - 

stating that St. Mary’s Co-operative Society Ltd. (Reg.) has been formed with the object of establishing a co-operative settlement. “The object of the Society, he wrote, is to bring about a form of decentralisation that has not been attempted hitherto. Approved city family share holders of the Society will be provided with well constructed homes, and their own homestead blocks of from 3 to 4 acres to enable them to provide the greater part of their food requirements. A number of secondary industries suggested by the Secondary Industries Board of the Commonwealth Government, will be established to provide permanent employment. These industries will be owned and operated by the members of the Society on a co-operative basis (5). 

Father Pooley, and a goat, at the bell tower at Maryknoll

Image:  In the Wake of the Pack Tracks:  a history of the Shire of Berwick 

(Berwick Pakenham Historical Society, 1982)

As Father Pooley stated in his letter, Catholic families would relocate to the community, own a few acres of land to build a house and work in the co-operative industries which were established including a housing co-operative, a joinery, hardware store, an aerated water factory and a dairy farm (6).  In April 1951  The Advocate reported that Two Dutchmen - Peter Keysers and Gerald Hermans - industriously maintain the farm and garden and are giving every satisfaction (7).  One of the interesting projects for community was the building of the Catholic Memorial Chapel at Puckapunyal. This report is from The Age in June 1953 - 

The names of Australian soldiers who passed through Puckapunyal and Seymour camps and who were killed in the two world and Korean wars will be inscribed in a roll of honor to be placed in the Roman Catholic memorial chapel at Puckapunyal.Most of the woodwork for the building is being obtained from St. Mary's rural settlement at Tynong North (8).

The first settlers lived in 'temps', very basic dwellings without running water, electricity, gas or other 'mod cons'.  Families then moved onto their block, where a modest three bedroom house was built. The size of the land eventually decided on - two to three acres - would enable the families to grow fruit and vegetables, run chickens and keep a cow and thus be able to supply most of their own food.  (9)

Ted Knox and son, Martin, in 1959 outside their Maryknoll home.

Image courtesy of Jen Rouse.

By March 1950, The Herald reported that seven families were living at Maryknoll and another forty were waiting to move but were prevented from doing so as there was still a post-War shortage of material for housing (10).  The 1950 Shire of Berwick Rate books (see below)  list these first seven families. The entry is under St Mary's Co-operative and the settlers are -  Benjamin Desmond O'Connell, Trevor and Iris Hunter, Henry and Rita Ward, Patrick and Nancy Clancy, Thomas McSweeney, Peter and Dorothy Corcoran, Vincent and Peggy Tyler. An Argus report noted the previous occupations of the men - among the pioneers at St. Mary's are factory hands, a transport driver, a delicatessen proprietor, and a mattress maker. Only one man, Peter Corcoran, is a builder by trade. (11). It was planned that eventually 150 families would settle at Maryknoll. (12).

1950 Shire of Berwick Rate books with a list of the seven original families at Maryknoll.

One interesting fact reported in The Herald article was this - St. Mary's is becoming known for the beautiful church vestments that the womenfolk are making their spare time. The vestments, made in St. Mary's kitchens, are adding to the color of the Mass in Catholic churches throughout Australia. (13) 

 Original caption: Miss May Woollard (left) and her sister, Mrs T. Hunter, fitting Father

Pooley with one of the Mass vestments they make in their spare time.

The Herald, March 30, 1950 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244326628

In June 1950, The Argus reported that the community had already built  a temporary schoolroom, a cottage for the priest, and a large sanctuary, sacristy, and classroom, which will be extended into the permanent school...and were at work on one of the permanent five and six roomed homes into which they will move in a few months. (14) Some of these early buildings were designed by the Architectural firm of Smith, Tracey, Lyon and Brock, which I have written about below. 

Father Pooley (centre) talks over the plans for the settlement with some of the men 

who are doing the construction.

The Argus, June 9 1950 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22834306

One of the first buildings in Maryknoll was a small shelter shed, erected in 1949 and used for a Church and a School. On January 29, 1950, Father Pooley celebrated the first Parish Mass in the building. The school commenced on February 13, 1950 with five pupils taught by Sister Chanel, who came from Pakenham everyday. From 1954 until 1978, the building, located next to the current Church, was used as a Baby Health Centre. The site of this original building is marked by a plaque on a granite rock and an interpretive sign (see footnote 15 for images). 

The memorial plaque on the site of the building which served as the 

first Church and School.

Click on image to enlarge.  Image: Heather Arnold, April 2023

September 3, 1950 was red-letter day for the St Mary's settlement, when the cornerstones of community life, the Holy Family Church and the Holy Family School, were both blessed and opened by Archbishop Dr Daniel Mannix at an event attended by more than 3,000 people. This is part of the Archbishop's speech on the day, supporting Father Pooley's vision of a 'City of God' in the bush  - 

Australia needs a great many movements like that initiated by Father Pooley. We are tired of listening to people talk about the drift from the country to the cities and the necessity of decentralization. People and Governments talk much but little is done. Father Pooley, however, doesn't talk very much but he is certainly very active, and I am confident he will succeed in this great project. In all that has been done so far he has been successful, and I hope he will succeed in a greater measure in the future. When I came here today I was amazed to see this immense gathering. It shows that many people are greatly interested in the movement and are ready to give it financial help and to work and to pray for its success. I am confident that success will come.  I have unbounded confidence in Father Pooley. I hope to come here on other occasions and see all the hopes of Father Pooley justified. I thank all who have come here today. It is a great encouragement to Father Pooley, with whom, of course, I feel more or less identified in this undertaking. Without Father Pooley there would be no rural settlement here, and naturally he and I are interested in its success. The settlement has been placed under the protection of the Mother of God, and I hope that she will guide a project that will mean much for the welfare and prosperity of Australia. (16).

Holy Family Church, Maryknoll, 1980s. 

Photographer: Shire of Pakenham

The settlement was nearly destroyed by a bush fire in April 1951, as The Advocate reported -
More than 300 of the 600 [sic] acre settlement were destroyed by the fire, which got as close as 30 yards to the church, opened last year. Nearly all night the small working party at the settlement worked diligently to protect the homes which are in course of erection in different parts of the area. (17).  Perhaps Saint Mary herself did indeed protect her namesake settlement.

In 1955, the name of the settlement was changed from St Mary's to Maryknoll, to avoid confusion with other towns named St Mary's. The Pakenham Gazette of August 19, 1955,  published the following Berwick Shire report about the forthcoming opening of the Post Office, and the fact that they have put quotation marks around the word Maryknoll, suggests that the term was new and novel then.

Forthcoming opening of the 'Maryknoll' Post Office

Pakenham Gazette August 19, 1955, p. 2

The Maryknoll Post Office was officially opened on October 3, 1955, by the Berwick Shire President, Cr C.F. Greaves, and it was officially blessed by the Archbishop, Dr Daniel Mannix. Three hundred people attended the event. The Pakenham Gazette reported that the Archbishop pointed out that as far as he knew this was the first time in history a post office had ever been blessed. The report also noted that Mr Strange, Director of Post and Telegraphs, congratulated Father Pooley and said it was the first time he had attended the opening of  a non-official post office and he wished them great success and assured them of further co-operation from the Department. The Post Office building also housed the general store (18).  

As reflects a town established by people of the Christian faith, there were a number of statues around the town, including Jesus on the Cross. 

Photographer: Shire of Pakenham, taken in the 1980s.

Saint Mary and baby Jesus still look over the Maryknoll township today.

Image: Heather Arnold, April 2023

The Architectural firm of Smith, Tracey, Lyon and Brock

I came across the following images of early buildings at Maryknoll designed by the architectural firm Smith, Tracey, Lyon and Brock. You can read about the firm on the website, Built Heritage in the Dictionary of Unsung Architects section, here. This is the introduction to the article - Smith & Tracey was formed in 1949 by recent graduates Des Smith (1918-2003) and Dan Tracey (1916-1992). Shortly afterwards, they were joined by Eric "Ric" Lyon (1918-2006) and Les Brock (1920-2006), and the firm re-branded as Smith, Tracey, Lyon & Brock. It operated as such until Lyon and Brock both left around 1960, whereupon it reverted to its original name. (19). The article on the website also has a list of the firm's works.

Smith, Tracey, Lyon and Brock worked on many projects for the Catholic Church including Christian Brothers College in Warnambool in 1950; St Joseph's School in Springvale in 1952; St Joseph's Benalla in 1953 and  St Vincent de Paul's Homeless Men's shelter on Flemington Road (Ozanam House) in 1954 (20).Their other projects are listed on the Built Heritage website, referred to above.

They also designed the Holy Family Church at Maryknoll.

Original Caption - This is Holy Family Church-School, opened by Archbishop Mannix of 

St. Marys Rural Settlement, Tynong North, on September 3. The building was erected from a design by Smith and Tracey, architects, Sydney-road, Brunswick, who also prepared the large-scale map of the settlement which appeared last week. The erection of the first seven permanent homes is now being undertaken and these will be occupied by settlers, at present housed in temporary quarters in the vicinity.

 The Advocate, September 14 1950 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article172514072

This is the large-scale map of the settlement prepared by Smith, Tracey, Lyon and Brock, referred to in the caption, above. 

The Advocate, September 7, 1950, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article172513827

Proposed Presentation Convent, St Mary's North Tynong Convent at Maryknoll designed by Smith, Tracey, Lyon and Brock. It was never built.

 The Advocate, March 20, 1952. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article172523794

Smith, Tracey, Lyon and Brock also designed houses for the Maryknoll settlement.  One of these designs was reported upon in The Argus in November, 1954.

House designed by Smith, Tracey, Lyon and Brock for Maryknoll

The Argus, November 1, 1954 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23459042

This is the transcription of the article about the Maryknoll house -

Home for County - by Harry Perrott,  Argus Property Writer

Until comparatively recent years, it was not unusual to see a house, originally planned for a suburban allotment, built on a farm or in a rural setting. Many country people evidently thought they could not have the convenience of "town" living without using a "town" house plan. This, of course, is not so, and the small house illustrated here has all the conveniences of modern planning, but is essentially rural in character.

The plan is a simple rectangle in shape and has a low pitched roof, covered with corrugated asbestos cement sheets. External walls are of 10in. Baltic weatherboards. Provision has been made for another bedroom and a verandah to be added. The door into the third bedroom will be in the space now used for a cupboard between the bathroom and bedroom. The two bedrooms are 11ft. x 10ft. and 13½ft. x 10ft. and both are fitted with built-in wardrobes.

The kitchen, 13½ x 10ft., is divided by a fitment so that one section can be used for meals or other purposes. For economy, the kitchen and living room fireplaces have been combined in a common chimney stack. The sun room, 10½ x 10ft., is another interesting and useful feature of this part of the house. The living room, 15 x 12ft., has deep windows and double doors opening on to a 6ft. wide verandah. There is a service hatch from this room into the kitchen.

The house is one of a series of low cost houses designed by Smith, Tracey, Lyon and Brock, architects, for a rural community at St. Mary's, via Nar Nar Goon, in Gippsland. (21). 

Plan of the house, described and shown above, designed by Smith, Tracey, Lyon and Brock for Maryknoll.

The Argus, November 1, 1954 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23459042

Trove list - I have created a short list of newspaper articles from Trove on the establishment of Maryknoll, access it here. I also have a list of articles which mention the firm of Smith, Tracey, Lyon and Brock, you can access it here.

Footnotes

(1) Wilfred Alexander Pooley was born in 1912 in Geraldton, Western Australia to William Horace Pooley and his wife, Amanda Josephine Anderson, who had married in Geraldton in 1905. William was born in Fitzroy in 1882 to Alfred and Ruth (nee Sparrow) Pooley. Amanda was also born in Victoria, in 1886 to Joseph and Mary (nee Kenny) Anderson. Why they both ended up in Geraldton, I cannot tell you. William and Amanda had four other children -

Doris - born in Geraldton in 1906, married Maurice Henry Wighton in 1928 and died in Malvern in 1982. 

William Alfred - born in Geraldton 1909 - died aged 15 months in 1910.

Melva - born in Geraldton in 1918, married Cornelis McMahon in 1941 and died in 2005.

Reginald Victor - born in Fitzroy in 1922, married Doris May McIvor in 1945 and died in 1996.

William had a number of occupations over the years - whilst living in Geraldton, the Electoral Rolls list his occupations as a Railway employee and then a Fisherman.  Around 1920, the family moved to Victoria and in 1921 and 1924 the Electoral Rolls show the family lived at 343 Smith Street in Fitzroy and William was a Confectioner. In 1927, they were listed at 501 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy and William had changed occupation again - he was now a carrier. In the late 1920s they moved to 201 Plenty Road in Preston and William was still listed as a carrier. They were in Preston until around 1936 (last address there was 21 Jessie Street) and the next we know of William is that in 1943 he is living in Meeniyan in South Gippsland and working as a plumber. By 1949 he is back in Melbourne, living with his daughter Doris at 7 Park Road, Glen Iris, and still a plumber.

Perhaps Amanda wanted a more settled life because she did not move to Meeniyan with her husband; from the 1937 Electoral Rolls she is listed at 10 Holyrood Street in Hampton. Reginald lived with her until he enlisted in the Army in December 1938, he said he was 18 years and 8 months old. In reality, he was two years younger as he lied about his age. In April 1942, Reg was discharged from the Army and joined the Navy, where he served until  December 1945. Amanda died on Christmas Eve, 1949, aged 64; and William on December 20, 1952, aged 71. They are buried together at the Brighton Cemetery.

Death notice of Amanda Pooley

The Argus, December 26, 1949 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22800810

Obituary of William Pooley

The Advocate, January 8, 1953 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175357509

Father Pooley was ordained in 1941 and served at St Mary's Parish, Dandenong, from August 1942 until December 1948. He then served at St John's West Footscray until the establishment of Maryknoll. He was at Maryknoll until 1968, when the Maryknoll Parish combined with the Iona Parish and Father Pooley went to Iona and Father Herman Hengel took over the Maryknoll Presbytery. Father Pooley died on April 13, 1969, aged only 57 years old, and is buried at Maryknoll Lawn Cemetery. 

(Sources: Maryknoll: history of a Catholic Rural Settlement by Gael White (The Author, 1982 and republished in and updated and expanded edition by Artistic Wombat in 2002); A Parish carved from the Bush - The Centenary history of the Dandenong Parish, St Mary's, 1883-1893 compiled by Greg Dickson (St Mary's Centenary Committee, 1983); birth and death notices and Indexes to Victorian and Western Australian Births, Deaths and Marriages; Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com and WW2 Nominal Rolls, see here.)

Father Pooley's modest plaque on his grave at the Maryknoll Lawn Cemetery.

Image: Heather Arnold, April 2023

(2) The land had  been listed in some sources as 540 acres but the Shire of Berwick Rate books list the acreage as 529, part Crown Allotment 135, Parish of Nar Nar Goon. 

Shire of Berwick Rate book entry from 1949, in the name of St Mary's Co-operative Society Ltd, c/o 76 Eleanor Street, West Footscray. 

Click on image to enlarge.

The Rate Books from 1950 have this list under St Mary's Co-operative - the original settlers, but still part of 529 acres, Crown Allotment 135.

(3) White, Gael Maryknoll: history of a Catholic Rural Settlement (The Author, 1982 and republished in and updated and expanded edition by Artistic Wombat in 2002)

(4) The Advocate, April 27, 1950, see here - Goats supply a higher nutriment content in their milk - are less difficult to feed and they live mainly on surplus food and scraps usually found about any area. A special breed of goats - the Saanen - will be reared, three being already at the settlement. These supply milk and butter for some of the children.

(5) Dandenong Journal, August 17, 1949, see here.

(6) White, op, cit

(7) The Advocate, April 5, 1951, see here.

(8) The Age, June 20, 1953, see here.

(9) White, op, cit.; and various articles on the settlement in my Trove list, see here. 

(10) The Herald, March 30, 1950, see here.

(11) The Argus, June 9, 1950, see here.

(12) Various articles on the settlement in my Trove list, see here. .

(13) The Herald, March 30, 1950, see here. 

(14) The Argus, June 9 1950, see here. 

(15) Interpretive sign, installed next to the existing Church by the Maryknoll Historical Society.

The Maryknoll Historical Society Interpretive sign.

Click on image to enlarge.

Image: Heather Arnold, April 2023

The plaque on the granite rock, marking the site of the first Church/School.

Image: Heather Arnold, April 2023

(16) The Advocate, September 7, 1950, see here.

(17) The Advocate, April 5, 1951, see here.

(18) White, op, cit.; '300 at blessing of Maryknoll Post Office', Pakenham Gazette, October 7, 1955, p. 6

(19) Built Heritage P/L https://www.builtheritage.com.au/dua_smithtracey.html

(20) Ibid

(21) The Argus, November 1, 1954, see here.

This is an updated and expanded version of two posts, which I wrote and researched, which appear on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to Our Past.

Tynong - a short history

Tynong is a town on the edge of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp in West Gippsland. The area was opened up in the 1870s for farming and timber, which was used for sleepers for the construction of the Gippsland Railway line. The line, from Melbourne to Sale,  was opened in stages - Morwell to Sale - June 1, 1877; Oakleigh to Bunyip - October 8, 1877; Moe to Morwell - December 1, 1877; Bunyip to Moe - March 1, 1878 and the last stretch from South Yarra to Oakleigh on April 2, 1879 (1).  In this area the original railway stations were Dandenong, Berwick, Pakenham and Bunyip.

The first reference I can find in the newspapers to Tynong was a  May 1876 marriage notice between John M'Keone, of Tynong and Ellen Bourke of Pakenham.  Michael and Kitty Bourke, the parents of Ellen, had taken up Minton's Run,  a property of 12, 800 acres on the Toomuc Creek in Pakenham in 1843. Around 1850, they established the La Trobe Inn, more commonly known as Bourke's Hotel, on the Gippsland Road (now called the  Princes Highway) and Toomuc Creek.

Marriage notice - the first reference I can find to Tynong in the newspapers

The Argus, May 28, 1876 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article7440234

The next reference I can find to Tynong also relates to the M'Keone family - in October 1876 their farm was advertised for sale. The Shire of Berwick Rate books lists William McKeone as the 'person rated.'  John and William were the sons of Dudley and Eliza (nee Nesbit) McKeone. John died in Narrandera, N.S.W., in 1895 and William had died in 1877, aged 31. (2) Whether William was ill and this prompted the sale of the land or the McKeones just made the decision to  move on from the Swamp, the property was put up for sale in October 1876.

The M'Keone farm for sale at Tynong

The Argus, October 26, 1876 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5907125

M'Keone's farm was re-advertised in December 1876.

The Age, December 11, 1876 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article200238552

As we can see by the advertisement above the farm was near the main Gippsland Road and adjoining the Koo Wee Rup Swamp - it was one of the nicest little farms within many miles around and and was located south-east of Tynong and south-west of Garfield.  The farm was purchased by Melbourne engraver and artist, Cyrus Mason (1829 - 1925).  I have written about Cyrus  here. 

The early residents in the area were actually mainly at North Tynong and the 1962 publication From Bullock Tracks to Bitumen (3),  lists these settlers as Rogerson, Brew, Jolly, Pharoah, Lamb, Ingwerson, Middleditch, Robertson, Kerr, Lungrum, Mazenti, Mentiplay, Davis, Parkes, Ewart, Doomsday, Highton, Rutledge, Kersey, Cunningham, Rowlerson, Orack, Linborg, Noble, Brockway, Burke, Weatherhead. The book notes that Sleeper cutting, eucalyptus distillery, milling and grazing were the main activities. 

There was agitation from the settlers for a railway station at Tynong after the line opened up. It was reported that in August 1880-
On Wednesday last, a deputation introduced by Mr Mason, M.L.A., and Mr. Buchanan, M.L.C., waited upon the Commissioner of Railways, and asking that a siding should be constructed at the intersection of Kelly-road with the Gippsland line, near Tynong. It was represented that the convenience  of the settlers who lived in the direction of the neighbouring mountains would be greatly served by the stoppage of the trains at that point, and it was stated also that the traffic on the line would be much increased if accommodation such as that requested was provided. Mr Patterson replied  that he would issue instructions that the siding should be made (4).  I do not know where Kelly Road was. 

Mr Patterson, the Railways Commissioner was a man of his word and a stop was opened at some time in early 1881 (5). 

After the station opened tramways were constructed from the mills. Mike McCarthy, in his book Settlers and Sawmillers: a history of West Gippsland Tramways and the Industries they served (6), lists the early mills and their establishment -  Maffey and Sons, c. 1882; William Fraser, 1884,  who sold to David Smythe in 1886. And as noted by McCarthy - From 1895 the firewood industry at Tynong declined rapidly. It wasn't until Horatio Weatherhead and his sons arrived from Lyonville (near Daylesford) late in 1908  that timber again became an important  commodity in the economy on this part of Gippsland (7). 

Horatio Weatherhead's Mill in North Tynong in 1910.

Horatio Weatherhead (my great-grandfather) was granted a license by the State Forests and Nursery Branch of the Department of Lands and Survey,  to mill 2,000 acres of forest in North Tynong. He shifted his operations from Lyonville and his first mill commenced around December 1909 at Wild Dog Creek.  From that date,  Horatio and his sons Fred, Arthur, George, Frank and Alf all operated various mills in North Tynong, either together or separately. From 1947 Arthur's sons Roy, Max and Cyril had a mill on Cannibal Creek until it finally closed in 1979 (8).

Original sub-division of the town of Tynong, 1883, as you can see the original allotments were south of the railway line. 

Village lots at the Tynong railway station, Parish of Bunyip, County of Mornington / surveyed by J. Lardner, Assistant Surveyor, 11.6.83 ; lithographed at the Department of Lands and Survey, Melbourne by F. Kelly, 12.9.83.

State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/107835

During this time the town of Tynong, based around the railway station, was growing. In November 1882, a Post Office was opened at the Railway Station (9). A school opened part-time with Garfield, in the Mechanics' Institute in August 1887, but closed in 1892. The Mechanics' Institute opened in 1885 and I have written about this and the other Tynong Hall (or was it Halls?) here. 

The next school (No. 2854) opened on May 1, 1905 in the Tynong Hall and in 1908, the Cardinia school was shifted to a newly acquired site on the west side of the road that went from the railway line to the  Highway (where St Thomas Aquinas School is now located).  This building soon proved to be too small and new school was built, opening in April 1915. The Tynong School closed in April 1951 and the school population moved to Pakenham Consolidated School.  A school at Tynong North (No. 4464) operated from June 1930 until December 1951, when both the building and the students were transferred to Pakenham Consolidated (10).

Tynong, possibly 1920s

Image: North of the Line:  a pictorial record (Berwick Pakenham Historical Society,  1996)

In July 1917, a Memorial Grove, to honour the local men who had served in the War was planted at the Tynong State School, you can read about this here. 

Aerial of Tynong, 1985 - the treed site is the old school site.

Shire of Pakenham photographer

In July 1903, it was reported that - 

the land for the first shop opened in Tynong was surveyed on Friday last, so we shall have a store at last. I am in formed that it is for Mr. Harcourt of Bunyip and Garfield (11). This was Edwin Harcourt. Other Tynong shopkeepers include Alfred Watson from around 1906/1907 until 1917/1918; he then entered a partnership with Henry Coombs to become a Land and Estate Agent.  Harriet Snell, in the 1920s and from 1927 until 1931 she leased the store to  Francis Ryan (more of whom below). Harriet died in March 1932, aged only 47 and Ernest Oram then took over the Store (12) Ernest Oram was also a foundation member of the Tynong Plumpton Club also called the Tynong and District Coursing Club, formed in 1941. I have written about this here. 

Around 1908 John Mappin had a blacksmith and coach-building operation on the corner of North Tynong Road and the Highway and George Rowlerson also had a blacksmith business at Tynong.  In 1920, George Cousins opened a butchers shop, on the south side of the railway line in 1920. The old Feed Store was built in the 1940s (13).  The town  really didn't get much bigger than this. 

Sadly, Tynong never rose to become the Queen City of the East

Bunyip Free Press, July 15, 1915 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/129630666

Tynong also supplied the granite for the Shrine of Remembrance which was built between June 1928 and November 1934 to honour the soldiers who served in the First World War. There was a competition to design this memorial to the soldiers of the Great war and it was won by Philip B. Hudson and James H. Wardrop. It was built by the Company, Vaughan and Lodge and was officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester on November 11, 1934 (14).

Granite for an everlasting Shrine

The Argus, November 14, 1928 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3968930

This is a not very clear photograph (above) of the Tynong Quarry - transcription follows - 

Granite for an everlasting Shrine - 

Certain that the people of the State will approve fully, the National War Memorial Committee has now decided that the Shrine of Remembrance shall be built, not of freestone, which is subject to weathering, but of granite, the most lasting of structural materials. Beautiful silver-grey granite of an eminently suitable kind is available at Tynong, in Gippsland, and workmen are shown in the photograph hewing the blocks of granite from the hillside. Inset:-A fine heap of granite blocks ready for dressing. They measure from six cubic foot upwards.

Tynong Granite Quarry, 1929

Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/768350

The Quarry ended up supplying 100,000 cubic feet of granite for the Shrine of Remembrance, which was valued at from £50,000 to £60,000 (15).   Not only was important to the economy of the town, but it  had the added benefit of bringing electric light to both Tynong and Garfield at the end of August 1929. On September 6,  1929, The Age reported -

Messrs. Vaughan and Lodge's granite quarry, which has been opened to supply stone for the Shrine of Remembrance, has commenced operations under power supplied by the Yallourn Electricity Commission. The whole of the machinery is driven by electricity, and when the undertaking is fully developed 32,000 volts will be used. The firm has installed a large steel saw 12 ft. in diameter, which cuts the stone into blocks from four to ten Ions in weight. It is said to be the only implement of its kind in Australia, and works with eight "teeth" on chilled steel revolving shot, cutting through a block of stone six feet by three feet deep in thirty minutes. Six compressed air drills, technically known as "hammer jacks," capable of drilling holes twenty feet deep, are used in the breaking-down process, and three electrically-driven cranes are employed in carrying the blocks to the saw benches. Up to the present blocks of flawless granite containing up to 40,000 square feet have been unearthed. The stone is said to be equal for building and monumental purposes to anything of its kind in the world. This discovery was made some years ago, when the stone was in demand for additions to the Melbourne Town Hall. The quarry is expected to keep eighty men permanently employed (16). 

The book, From Bullock Tracks to Bitumen, referred to previously, says Mrs Mary Ryan, who lived at Black Rock, first noticed the granite stone when a war memorial was being discussed, and through her it came to the notice of those responsible  for the memorial (17).  A plaque that was unveiled  at the Tynong State School on Remembrance Day in 1934 to commemorate the contribution of the Tynong Granite to the building of the Shrine. It was removed in 2005 to Railway Avenue, near the War Memorial, and re-dedicated (18).  

The plaque commemorating Mrs Ryan's role in the use of Tynong Granite for the Shrine of Remembrance.

Image: Heather Arnold, 2023

The plaque describes Mrs Ryan as a local amateur geologist. It is possible Mrs Ryan was living at Black Rock in 1962 when the book was published, but between 1927 and c. 1931 Mary Ann Ryan and Francis Michael Ryan were listed at Main Street, Tynong, his occupation being storekeeper (19). In fact, in December 1930, Mary Ryan applied for a Victualler's Licence for premises at Tynong. If successful she was going to build a brick hotel with ten bedrooms for the use of the public, three bathrooms, diningroom, &., at a cost of £4000. The application was refused on the grounds that there were only 200 people in the locality and other hotels near by (20). 

In 1931, The Age had a short report on fossils found at Tynong by Mrs Ryan - 

Tynong.....has of recent years come into prominence as n place where vast supplies of flawless granite have been found..... It is, of course, nothing more than a slender coincidence that another kind of stone has been found there which may prove to have considerable scientific interest, namely, a number of fossils, including the skull of a native bear, and various bones, the property of Mrs. M Ryan. If, as is thought, one of the stones is fossilised whale bone, the fact should be of exceptional interest to geologists. The fossils have not yet been subjected to the discerning scrutiny of the scientific eye, fortified with a microscope, but a photograph has been sent to the Australian Institute of Anatomy at Canberra, the director of which (Sir. Colin Mackenzie) has expressed his interest in them. (21).  I wonder of it was actually a fossilised whale  bone? 

The 1940s in Tynong saw the Fire Brigade established  in 1942 and  the  Infant Welfare Centre opened in the Hall, in September 1943, with Mrs Ritchies as President and Mrs D. Jolly as Honorary Secretary. (22).

The opening of the Tynong Infant Welfare Centre. 

You can read about Dr Vera Scantlebury Brown, Director of Infant Welfare, here.

Dandenong Journal, September 22, 1943 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article214309754

Tynong Office bearers of the Infant Welfare Centre from the 1943-1944 Annual Report 

of the Victorian Baby Health Centres Association, see here.

Another interesting fact about the area is that in March 1949, 540 acres of land in North Tynong off Snell Road, was sold by Reg Sykes to Father Wilfred Pooley, to establish a 'City of God' in the bush. This was part of a broader movement in the Catholic community, encouraged by the Melbourne Archbishop, Dr Daniel Mannix, for Catholics to move away from the distractions of the city to a rural environment and become closer to God. The  North Tynong rural settlement, St Mary's, was based on the principals of faith, family life and co-operative enterprise. To that end, Catholic families would move to the community, own a few acres of land to build a house and work in  the co-operative industries which were established including a housing co-operative, a joinery, hardware store and an aerated water factory. The cornerstones of community life, the Holy Family Church and the Holy Family School, were both opened by Archbishop Mannix on September 3, 1950 attended by more than 3000 people. With the arrival of a Post Office in 1955 the name of the settlement changed from St Mary's to Maryknoll, to avoid confusion with other towns named St Mary's (23).

A trestle bridge in North Tynong, 1912, Eva Weatherhead is standing on the bridge. 

Before we leave Tynong - When Horatio and his sons left Lyonville in 1908 for North Tynong, his wife Eleanor (nee Hunt) and their youngest child, Eva, remained in Lyonville until she finished Grade 8 at the end of 1913. When she was 16,  Eva travelled by train to Melbourne to attend Stott's Business College and then worked in town, boarding in South Melbourne. Eva returned home in early 1919, to look after her elderly mother and became the Post Mistress in Tynong, renting her office  from Mrs Julia Hollingsworth, who operated a coffee palace for 17/6 per month. At the time the Post Office was on the south side of the railway.  Eva held this position until she married Joe Rouse, a farmer from Cora Lynn, in November 1922.  They had seven children, including my Dad. Grandma was always very proud of the fact that the Shrine was made of Tynong Granite and used to tell us about this when we were young. 

Trove list - I have created a list of articles on Tynong, which I have used for the research for this post. access it here.

Footnotes 

(1) These dates are from Victorian Railways to '62 by Leo J. Harrigan (Victorian Railways, 1962)

(2) McKeone family information from the Victorian and New South Wales Indexes to Births, Deaths and Marriages; Family trees on Ancestry.com

Death notice of William McKeone, late of Western Port, a term used at the tome to describe much of West Gippsland, including Tynong.

The Argus, October 13, 1877 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5940970

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

(4) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, August 18, 1880, see here.

(5) It was there in April 1881 - The Argus, April 13, 1881, see here.

(6) McCarthy, Mike Settler and Sawmillers: a history of West Gippsland Tramways and the Industries they served (Light Railway Research Society of Australia, 1993)

(7) McCarthy, Mike, op. cit, p. 18

(8) McCarthy, Mike, op. cit, pp. 18-22

(9) Victoria Government Gazette, November 17, 1882, p. 2705   https://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1882/V/general/122.pdf

Opening of the Tynong Post Office

(10) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake. (Education Department of Victoria, 1973)

(11) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, July 22, 1903, see here.

(12) Shire of Berwick Rate Books, Electoral Rolls, newspaper articles and advertisements. Francis Ryan is not listed in the Shire of Berwick Rate books as owning the store, Harriet Snell is listed as the owner  in the years the Ryans were in Tynong.

(13) The 1908 Electoral Rolls list John James Mappin, Coachbuilder at Tynong and George Walter Rowlerson, Blacksmith at Tynong; neither are listed in the 1906 Rolls. Mappin's address -  corner of North Tynong Road and the Highway - comes from From Bullock Tracks to Bitumen, see footnote 2. The butchershop information is from Cardinia Shire Heritage Study, volume 3: Heritage Places by Graeme Butler & Associates (Cardinia Shire, 1996). The Feed Store information is from Cardinia Local Heritage Study Review 2008 - Volume 5: Stage B Individual places, Draft June 2008, Context P/L.

(14) History of the Shrine of Remembrance https://www.shrine.org.au/history-shrine-remembrance

(15) The Herald, January 25, 1932, see here. 

(16) The Age, September 6, 1929, see here.

(17) From Bullock Tracks to Bitumen, op. cit. p.44.

(18) https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/technology/industry/display/103748-tynong-granite

(19) Electoral Rolls on Ancestry - the Ryan's weren't in the 1926 Rolls at Tynong, but they were listed there from 1927 to 1931 and not listed at Tynong in the 1934 Rolls. They are not listed in the Shire of Berwick Rate Books as owning the shop.

(20) The Age, December 23, 1930, see here. 

(21) The Age, August 19, 1931, see here. 

(22) Dandenong Journal, December 23, 1942, see here;   https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2022/10/baby-health-care-centres.html 

(23) White, Gael Maryknoll: history of a Catholic Rural Settlement (The Author, 1982, republished in an updated and expanded version by Artistic Wombat in 2002). I have written about Maryknoll, here,   https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2023/04/maryknoll-early-history-and-buildings.html