State Primary Schools called Koo Wee Rup

There have been five State Primary Schools named Koo Wee Rup.

School No. 2629
In 1884, School No. 2629 was built on the corner of Bayles Road and Bethune’s Road. It was originally known as Yallock, but changed its name to Koo Wee Rup in 1903. The school officially opened on November 1, 1884 and the first Head teacher was Eva Hurst with an initial enrolment was 22 pupils. Miss Hurst was replaced by Mary Dodd, who was in turn replaced by Mrs Grace MacKenzie in 1888. There was agitation, from as early as 1891, to have the school location moved closer to the town of Koo Wee Rup, which was growing due partly to the arrival of the railway in 1890.

The school population moved into the Public Hall in Rossiter Road in 1909 and in the September of 1910 classes moved to the original school building, which had been shifted into town to the site where the Secondary College now stands. Mrs MacKenzie left the school in 1911 to take up a new appointment at Moolort. The original school building became redundant when a new building was opened in February 1915 and this old building eventually became the Island Road School. In 1953, the Higher Elementary School was completed. This school included both primary and secondary classes (Forms 1 to 3 or Years 7 to 9). The school became a High School in 1957 and shared the building with the primary school students until November 1960 when the Primary School opened in Moody Street.

 The Koo Wee Rup Higher Elementary School, 1954. 

Photograph taken by Mr H.L. (Len) Anderson, who was Head Teacher 

from May 1953 to September 1956. 

Image courtesy of Ian Anderson.

School No. 3198
On July 7, 1894, the Koo Wee Rup South School, No. 3198, opened at Five Mile, on the corner of Main Drain Road and Five Mile Road. The building was previously located at San Remo School. This school has the distinction of starting its life called Koo Wee Rup South and then having its name changed to Koo Wee Rup North. 

Detail from the Parish Plan of Koo Wee Rup, showing the location of the school on the corner of Main Drain Road and Five Mile Road. There was also land set aside for a Mechanics' Institute, Recreation Reserve and a Church of England.

  Koo Wee Rup, County of Mornington. State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/104366

Peter Norris was the first Head Teacher. At one time the school population was over 100 but in July 1954 when the school celebrated its 60th anniversary there were only 20 children enrolled. However, the anniversary celebrations were a great success with over 700 people attending, including three original scholars - W. Gilchrist, W.G. De Vries and Tilly Freeman (nee O’Shea). The school parents voted for the school to close in November 1959 and the children were sent to Pakenham Consolidated School. Five Mile was the last school to join or ‘consolidate’ with the Consolidated School which had officially opened in May 1951. Read more about the Koo Wee Rup North school, here.

Pakenham Consolidated School - In the 1940s and 1950s there was a movement to consolidate small rural schools into one larger school. This was partly a response to a shortage of teachers, due to many male teachers enlisting during the Second World War. The War also caused a shortage of materials and labour and many Schools fell into disrepair. The Education Department decided that Pakenham would be one of the first six Consolidated Schools to be established and that all schools within 8 kilometres or 5 miles would be closed and beyond that, the Schools would have an option.

The Pakenham Consolidated School was officially opened on May 29, 1951, on the site of the Pakenham State School, No.1359, in Main Street. The original Pakenham School had opened on a site near the Toomuc Creek in January 1875 and it moved to the Main Street site in 1891. The Pakenham Gazette of June 8, 1951 reported that on May 29th, four buses conveyed 130 children from surrounding districts to Pakenham Consolidated School. At present there are 258 pupils attending the School, and it is hoped that in September several other schools will be consolidated, raising the attendance to over 400 children.

The first Head Master was Charles Hicks. The School offered classes up to Year 10 (Form 4). The schools that formed the Consolidated School were Pakenham Upper No. 2155 (closed January 1952), Pakenham South No. 3755 (closed September 1951), Toomuc Valley No. 3034 (closed September 1951), Army Road No. 3847 (closed April 1947), Mount Burnett No. 4506 (closed October 1949), Tynong No. 2854 (closed April 1951), Tynong North No.4464 (closed December 1951), Nar Nar Goon North No. 2914 (closed October 1951), Nar Nar Goon South No. 4554 (closed May 1951), Rythdale No. 4231 (closed September 1951), Officedale No. 4242 (closed May 1951), Cora Lynn No. 3502 (closed May 1951) and Koo-Wee-Rup North (Five Mile) No. 3198 (closed November 1959).

Koo Wee Rup North State School, No. 3198.

Image: Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society

School No. 3201
When the Iona School, No. 3201, opened two days after the Five Mile School on July 9, 1894, on the corner of Thirteen Mile Road and Bunyip River Road, it was called Koo Wee Rup North; in 1899 it changed its name to Bunyip South and then in 1905 to Iona. This school closed in December 1993. Read more about the Iona State School, here.

School No. 3456
School No. 3456 was opened on April 1, 1903 in Modella in temporary premises in a room in a private house. At the time the area and the school was known as Koo Wee Rup East. The school moved to its permanent location, on the corner of Longwarry-Koo Wee Rup Road and Bridges Road in January 1904. On February 16, 1905, the school officially changed its name to Modella. The first teacher was Frederick Rumpff and he was there until 1907. There was then a series of short-term appointments including Dorothy Sillett, who was there in 1908. Her report in the Teacher Records file at the Public Records Office, says she was inexperienced, but anxious to do her best. Dorothy was 20 years old and had only been teaching since April 1907. Given that she was the sole teacher at the school, and that she would have been isolated by lack of transport coupled with the low pay of female teachers it is no surprise that her few months at Modella marked the end of her teaching career with the Education Department. The Modella school closed in December 1993.

School No. 3502
In January 1907 the Koo Wee Rup Central School (No. 3502) was built at Cora Lynn. The first Head Teacher was John McGibbon. On July 9, 1907, Mr McGibbon wrote to the Education Department…..on July 1st the Postal authorities granted the residents here a postal service and in compliance with a general request, named the district Cora Lynn. Hence, we should like the school to bear the name likewise. Again, great delay and inconvenience are caused by parcels and letters addressed to Koo Wee Rup Central S.S. first going to Koo Wee Rup S.S., or Koo Wee Rup South or Koo Wee Rup East before finally coming to hand. This annoyance would cease with the change of name. By September of the same year its name was changed to Cora Lynn. This school became part of Pakenham Consolidated School in May 1951.

Cora Lynn State School working bee, 1907.

Image courtesy of Des Dineen

 

Sources

• From Three to Ninety three: ninety years of education at Modella by Shirley Breese (The School, 1993)
• On the edge of the swamp: a history of the Iona Primary School No. 3201 1894-1994 by Denise M. Nest (Iona Primary School Back-To-Committee, 1994)
• Schooling on the Swamp: a history of Primary School No.2629 Koo Wee Rup 1884-2009 by Don Jewell (Koo Wee Rup Primary School, 2009)
• The tale of the Blackfish: a history of the Koo Wee Rup High School 1957-1977 by Fred Hooper (Koo Wee Rup High School, 1977)
• Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria edited by Les Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973)
• Notes on the history of Cora Lynn State School, compiled by Bryan Sim, Education History Services of the Education Department in 1984.

Baby Health Care Centres

The Baby Health Care movement began in Victoria in June 1917 when Dr Isabella Younger Ross (1) opened a centre in Richmond, with Sister Muriel Peck (2) as the Sister in charge.  Dr Younger Ross had studied medicine at Melbourne University and Glasgow University. She then worked at the Queen's Hospital for Children in London and this encouraged her interest in child welfare. This interest was reinforced by later study in Chicago.  The child health experts emphasised the importance of teaching women hygiene, nutrition etc with the ultimate aim of lowering the child mortality rates. 

Dr Younger Ross and Sister Peck were  helped in her endeavours by supporters such as Ethel Hemphill and Mrs W. Ramsay (3). Other centres were soon established in the Bouverie Street Clinic in Carlton and City Free Kindergarten in the City and they then spread throughout Victoria. The Victorian Baby Health Centres Association was established in 1918.  

I came across, purely by chance, the digitised reports of the Victorian Baby Health Centres Association from 1918 onwards on the Queen Elizabeth Centre website   http://www.qec.org.au/professionals/corporate-documents

1917-1918 annual report

This is from the inaugural Annual report and shows the progress made in establishing the centres in the first year. It was written by Ethel M. Hemphill.

From the next report lists of the Centres appear along with their opening hours, and later the names of the Nursing Sisters in charge and the names of women on the local committees, so this gives us some indication as to when Centres were opened in each area. 

The Centres and their opening hours from the 1918-1919 annual report

The Shire of Berwick and Shire of Cranbourne were both relatively late in establishing Centres; later than many areas much further from Melbourne.  The first mention of  local towns I could find in the 1935-1936 Annual report (see here) when both Garfield and Bunyip are listed. Garfield was open Fridays 10.30am to 12 noon and 12.30pm to 1.30pm; Bunyip was open Fridays 2.00pm to 4.30pm. I presume that there must have been local agitation to have these Centres opened in what were by no means the biggest towns in the Shire.

Office bearers of the Bunyip and Garfield branches from the 1936-1937 annual report

In 1937-1938 Annual report the Lang Lang and Pakenham have Centres opened. The report has statistics for Pakenham (or Pakenham East as it was called) - 39 individual babies were treated, plus 13 children over 2 with a total visit of 300 babies and 48 children.  

The number of babies attended to at various Centres, including Pakenham, from the 1937-1938 annual report. 

It wasn't until the 1938-1939 Annual report that the Shire of Cranbourne presented a report - they had Centres at Lang Lang and Pearcedale. The statistics for Lang Lang were 29 individual babies were treated, plus 21 children over 2 with a total visit of 354 babies and 68 children.

The number of babies attended to at various Centres, including Lang Lang 

and Pearcedale from the 1938-1939 annual report.

 The Tynong Centre was operating according to the 1942-1943 report. 

Tynong Office bearers from the 1943-1944 annual  report

In the 1944-1945 report the Shire of Berwick could present statistics for seven towns - Berwick, Beaconsfield Upper, Bunyip, Garfield, Nar Nar Goon, Pakenham East and Tynong - as Berwick, Beaconsfield Upper and Nar Nar Goon had not been listed before we can assume that these Centres were established  during that time. 

The Shire of Berwick report in the 1944-1945 annual report.

Gembrook and Officer in the Shire of Berwick had Centres established in the 1945-1946 year and the Shire of Cranbourne established a third Centre, in the town of Cranbourne. In that year the Centre in the town of  Cranbourne saw 19 individual babies treated, plus 8 children over 2 with a total visit of 82 babies and 25 children. 

The opening of the Centre at Koo Wee Rup and other towns from the 1946-1947 annual report.

Koo Wee Rup was established in 1946-1947, I don't have an exact date.  It is interesting to look at the statistics for that year for Cranbourne and Koo Wee Rup - they both had about the same number of individual babies treated (40 for Cranbourne and 42 for Koo Wee Rup) and yet Cranbourne's total baby attendance was 586 and Koo Wee Rup's was 276 - so Cranbourne mothers had an average of 14 visits per baby compared to Koo Wee Rup's 6 per baby - it's hard to know why - were Cranbourne babies more sickly or  did more of the mothers live in the town and not on farms and it was easier to attend or did the Infant Welfare Centre Sister encourage more visits?

Cranboure Shire statistics from the 1946-1947 annual  report.

Tooradin was established in 1947-1948 and there were no other  local Centres established up to 1950,  which is where we will finish, but before we do here are the Committees from local towns from the 1949-1950 annual report

The offices bearers of the local  Baby Health Centres from the 1949-1950 annual report.

These reports are a fabulous resource tracing the history of the Infant Welfare Centres in Victoria. They are also a great resource for local and family historians as they include lots of names of the local Committee members, mainly women, so they may help you discover the role your female relatives played in the town where they lived.  You can find the reports at  http://www.qec.org.au/professionals/corporate-documents

Acknowledgement - the information in the first two paragraphs comes from All the little children: the story of Victoria's Baby Health Centres 1917-2017 by Heather Sheard (MCHN Vic Inc., 2017) and this website http://www.qec.org.au/history/history-gallery

Footnotes
(1) Dr Isabella Younger Ross (1887-1956), read her Australian Dictionary of Biography here.
(2) Sister Muriel Peck (1882-1947), read her obituary in The Herald of May 21, 1947, here and a tribute to her in the Gippsland Times of June 5, 1947, here. Sister Peck also visited many country towns on the Better Farming Train and gave valuable advice to many rural mothers. I have written about the Better Farming Train, here. I have also written about her in connection to the Lady Talbot Milk Institute, here. Here obituary form the 1946-1947 report is below. 

The obituary of Sister Peck from the 1946-1947 annual report.

(3) Ethel Hemphill - Ethel Mary Hemphill, nee Scott, married James Johnson Hemphill in 1907 and died in 1939, aged 64. Mrs W. Ramsay, I have no other information about her.

A version of this post, which I wrote and researched, has appeared on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to our Past. 

The Circus comes to Koo Wee Rup - October 1952

Two different circus shows came to Koo Wee Rup in October 1952 - Bullen Bros & Hagens on Friday, October 3 and Wirth's on Saturday, October 4. 

Bullen Bros & Hagens Circus advertisement

Koo Wee Rup Sun October 1, 1952, p. 4

Wirth's Circus advertisement

Koo Wee Rup Sun October 1, 1952, p. 4

The Koo Wee Rup Sun reported that Bullen Bros Circus, came almost direct from 14 weeks in Sydney.

Bullen Bros Circus

Koo Wee Rup Sun October 1, 1952, p. 4

The next week the Koo Wee Rup Sun reported on the visit of the Circuses -
Last week-end Koo Wee Rup and district had the unusual experience of being able to attend two of the largest circuses operating in Australia on consecutive nights. Difficulty was experienced by both shows in finding a suitable location owing to recent rains inundating low-lying land, but with thanks to the Railway Department they were granted permission to show on the Railway Reserve embankment. On Friday night Bullen Bros and Hagen showed on the eastern end of the railway yards and on Saturday night Wirth's opposite the railway station. Both shows were largely attended and greatly enjoyed.

Report of the Circus visits

Koo Wee Rup Sun October 8, 1952, p. 2

Wattles on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp

It is wattle time on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp.  I believe the local species is the Black Wattle (acacia mearnsii). It grows anywhere, it lines the Swamp roads and also the Main Drain from Bunyip to Koo Wee Rup and if you dig up any soil and leave it for a few weeks you will soon have black wattles growing. The trees are neat enough when they are young, but after a few years they get messy, branches break off and they begin to look a bit ugly. 

They are a bit slower coming out this year, but I took these photos on July 31, 2011, and they show how lovely they are. 

Looking west along Main Drain Road from the Eleven Mile bridge

Taken  July 31, 2011

Same wattles along Main Drain Road, as in the image above, looking west

 from the Eleven Mile bridge, showing the Main Drain

Taken  July 31, 2011

Clump of wattles on Main Drain Road near the Eleven Mile bridge

Taken  July 31, 2011

Looking east along Main Drain Road from the Eleven Mile bridge

Taken  July 31, 2011

Looking south down Eleven Mile Road, from the Eleven Mile bridge

Taken  July 31, 2011

The Main Drain - looking east from the Eleven Mile bridge

Taken  July 31, 2011

The blooms of the Black Wattle 

Taken July 31, 2011

The flowers of the Black Wattle are a pale yellow, not nearly as pretty as the Cootamundra wattle (acacia baileyana) or Australia's floral emblem, the Golden Wattle (acacia pycnantha benth) but from late July to the first few weeks of August the Black Wattle is glorious - they line the roads and the drain banks and you can look across the paddocks and see glimpses of yellow everywhere. It really is a magnificent sight.

Swamp paperbark (melaleuca ericifolia)

Taken July 31, 2011

You can also see other remnant Swamp vegetation, including the Swamp Paperbark (melaleuca ericifolia). The photograph, above, was taken in Dessent Road at Vervale, but you can see this everywhere on the Swamp.

Reeds 

Taken July 31, 2011

Another common plant are the reeds (phragmites australia), they grow everywhere on the Swamp, where there is a bit of water. This photograph, above, was taken also taken in Dessent Road. 

You can also see the reeds in the photograph, above.  It is part of a series of post cards produced for Koo Wee Rup in the late 1940s or early 1950s. I think that's a blackwood wattle (acacia melanoxylon) behind the bridge.

William Wordsworth may well have been inspired by a host of golden daffodils, but to me there is nothing better that a host of golden wattles, brief though their time of glory may be. 

Back-to Garfield June 1962

It is sixty years since Back-to Garfield celebrations took place. This Back-to was held from June 1 to June 4 in 1962 and all the proceeds from the weekend were to go to the Garfield Swimming Pool Fund.

The head-line to the Pakenham Gazette report

Pakenham Gazette, June 8 1962 p, 1

 There was an extensive list of activities commencing on the Friday when a Cabaret Ball was held in the Picture Theatre, from 8.30pm to 1.30am. This was attended by 250 people. On the Saturday morning Jack Payne, the President of the Back-to committee, performed the official welcome. At 11.00am an Old Scouts reunion was held in the Scout Hall, where there was also a popular display of historic photographs.

Later that afternoon a big crowd attended the football match with Garfield convincingly defeating Nar Nar Goon, 17.16 to 4.21. According to a report in the Pakenham Gazette, Nar Nar Goon had no answer to the dashing play of the Garfield forwards and ruckmen. The best on the field for Garfield were Jim and Tom Miller, Keith Looby, Eric Preston, Wayne Gibson and Tony McMahon. Other players in the team included Pat Looby, Brenchley, T. Christie, Pumphrey and the goal kickers were Jim Miller with five, Tom Miller and Pat Looby, three goals and A. McMahon and T. Christie two goals.

On the Saturday evening 350 people attended the official dinner, in the Garfield Theatre, where the Guests of Honour were the Shire President, Cr Dan Cunningham and the local MLA, Les Cochrane. A teenage dance was held at the same time in the Garfield Hall. Church services were held the next morning, with the service at the Anglican Church being conducted by the Bishop of Gippsland, Dr Garnsey. On Sunday afternoon a large crowd attended the T.Q midget car racing at Cannibal Creek Reserve. More activities were to come with 240 people attending the community singing in the evening. The singing was led by Mr ‘Tiny’ Snell and ex-resident Mr Bumper Gee who enlivened proceedings with his racey stories of pioneering days on the Swamp.

300 ex-students returned to the school on the Monday to chat about old times. On the Monday afternoon a reunion was held for the Garfield R.S.L. The Branch President, Keith Clay gave the welcome speech, a wreath was placed on the memorial by Hector Wikman and an address was delivered by Bert Thomson. Later that afternoon the first sod of the swimming pool was turned in the presence of Mr Hunt, M.L.C. The honour of turning the first sod was given to Mr J.J. Kavanagh, a pioneer of the district.

 
The Pakenham Gazette reported that - Tours had been arranged for the back-to people and many who had been away for years could hardly believe their eyes as they noticed the transformation of the countryside since the pioneering days. The festivities ended with a Celebration Ball, once again at the Picture Theatre, which was scheduled to run from 8.30pm until 2.00am, on the Monday night. The Theatre was packed to the doors. The highlight of this event was the cutting of a 75 pound cake (about 34 kg) made in the form of a swimming pool.

A souvenir booklet produced for the occasion included a history of the township by Bill Parish and a list of Office bearers of the organizing Committee. The Committee consisted of President Jack Payne, who had a timber yard on the corner of the Fourteen Mile Road and Main Street (a house is now there); Vice presidents were Cornelius Hurley, the licensee of the Hotel and Ian Taylor, the Chemist. Secretary was George Fischer, who was the head teacher at the school and the Treasurer was Alan Wallace, the Bank Manager. The Social Secretary was Lorna Walters.

The Garfield and District Memorial Swimming Pool was officially opened by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Rohan Delacombe on February 11, 1967. 

Sources: Souvenir booklet for the Back to Garfield celebrations, June 1962; Back-to program in the Pakenham Gazette April 10, 1962; Report of the Back-to in the Pakenham Gazette June 8, 1962.

Grosby Slipper Factory at Koo Wee Rup

The Grosby Shoe Company purchase the old flax mill at Koo Wee Rup. 

Koo Wee Rup Sun December 3, 1947 p. 1

In December 1947, the Koo Wee Rup Sun announced that the Grosby Shoe Co., P/L had purchased the Flax Mill buildings in Koo Wee Rup. They planned to specialize in the manufacture of slippers and open operations in early 1948. The Flax Mill had operated from December 1940 until November 1946, you can read about it here. As the article from the Koo Wee Rup Sun notes, Grosby also operated a factory at Beaconsfield, which had opened in May 1945 and operated until around 1953 (1).   

There were various advertisements in the newspapers over the next few years for staff at the factory - 

Advertisement for experienced clickers.

 A clicker cuts the leather required for making shoes, into pieces (2). 

Koo Wee Rup Sun December 10, 1947 p. 4

An article in the same issue of the Koo Wee Rup Sun informed the locals that applications for employment at the Koo Wee Rup factory should be sent to Grosby in North Melbourne.

Koo Wee Rup Sun December 10, 1947 p. 1

Advertisement for Sewing machine mechanic in 1949

Dandenong Journal, June 22 1949 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222211108

Excellent salary for the right man at the Grosby decentralised slipper factory 

at Koo Wee Rup. 

The Argus, April 15, 1950 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22822601

The Staff at the Grosby factory were featured in a Weekly Times special on Koo Wee Rup in July 1952.

Staff at the Koo Wee Rup Grosby factory

Weekly Times July 23, 1952 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224880245/24104981

Less than a  month after the photo appeared in the Weekly Times, the Koo Wee Rup Sun on Wednesday, August 20, 1952 announced that the Grosby factory would be closing that day.  The employees were redeployed to the North Melbourne factory. The building was auctioned on December 13, 1952. What happened to the building after Grosby left? As I wrote in my post on the Flax Mill, here, one building, an army hut, was erected on land adjoining St John's Catholic School in Koo Wee Rup, I don't know the date;  and in 1964 the old amenities building was purchased and used as the Scout Hall.  That's all I can tell you at the moment.

The closure of the Grosby factory at Koo Wee Rup.

Koo Wee Rup Sun August 20, 1952 p. 4

Auction of Koo Wee Rup Grosby factory.

Dandenong Journal, December 10 1952  https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222363424

Trove list - I have created a short of articles  relating to Grosby at Koo Wee Rup,  access it here.

Footnotes
(1) Grosby factory at Beaconsfield - the building was owned by Herman Roberts and later Katherine Lucy Roberts, who both leased it to Grosby. The Shire of Berwick Rate books list Grosby as the tenant until 1953/1954. See Marianne Rocke's entries on these people here and here on her Residents of Upper Beaconsfield website.

(2) A clicker - this explains the process https://www.rushdenheritage.co.uk/shoetrade/shoemakingclicking.html

The Rossiter family of Koo Wee Rup

Rossiter Road is named after Charles Rossiter. Charles and Ellen Rossiter took up 317 acres of land at Yallock in 1873 (1) and named the property Hawkesdale. It was located at Lot 10b, Parish of Yallock and situated between Koo Wee Rup and Bayles, near Bethune's Road.  Before this Charles and Ellen lived at Ravenhurst (later called Gladys Park and  Tulliallan) on Clyde Road, south of Grices Road in Cranbourne North. 

Charles and Ellen Rossiter, early 1890s. 

Photographer: Yeoman & Co.

State Library of Victoria Image H82.96/39

Dr Niel Gunson, in The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire (2) explains the complicated ownership of the Ravenhurst property - Ravenhurst was part of the Garem Gam Run of 3,200 acres (1300 hectares) taken up by James Bathe and T.J Perry in 1837. In 1845, Garem Gam was subdivided and the eastern part was called Ravenhurst.  Ravenhurst was held by John Crewe until his death in 1850 and was then taken up by Benjamin Rossiter (Charles’ father) and Maurice Feehan. In 1851 it appears that the property (Garem Gam) was leased as a whole by Benjamin Rossiter, Maurice Feehan and Sarah O’Shea.  By 1854, Benjamin Rossiter had the entire property  Sarah O'Shea had been leasing the other section of the Garem Gam property with John Crewe (3). Crewe had also acquired the  Mayune from Frederick Ruffy in 1850 just before he (Crewe) died in 1850 at the age of 31.  Crewe’s widow Eliza then took over the lease of  Mayune until the property which was then acquired by Alexander Cameron in 1851 (4). I have written about Mayune and John  Crewe, here. 

Benjamin Rossiter (1786 - 1858) and his wife Zillah Baynton (1789 - 1871) had arrived in the Western Port area in 1842, having come out from Somersetshire in 1842 (5).  Benjamin Rossiter died in 1858 and his sons Charles and Thomas, took over the property. As well as the two boys Benjamin and Zillah had two daughters - Ann who died as a teenager and Mercy who married Henry Wedge. Henry Wedge and his bothers Charles and John had the Bangam and Ballymarang Stations (6). Bangam was located between the Dandenong and Eumemmerring Creeks (modern day Doveton) and Ballamarang, which is around modern day Carrum Downs and across to Seaford and Port Phillip Bay. Wedge Road in Carrum Downs is named for the family. Mercy Wedge died in 1903 aged 80. Thomas James Rossiter, who died in Molong, New South Wales in 1908, married Mary Ann O’Shea in 1854, the same year his brother, Charles, married Ellen O’Shea.  Mary Ann and Ellen were sisters, the daughters of  John O’Shea (died 1852 aged 51) and his first wife, Mary Josephine Ryan. The Sarah O'Shea mentioned before is believed to be John O'Shea's second wife. O’Shea’s Road is named for the family (7). 

The aforementioned Eliza Crewe died in 1868 at the age of 44. She was the daughter of Thomas Baynton and Eliza Arabella Smith. Thomas Baynton was the brother of Zillah Baynton who was married to Benjamin Rossiter, who took over the Ravenhurst property from Crewe after his death. You may wonder was this to help out their niece, Eliza Crewe, or they just knew the area and wanted to settle here. A bit more on Thomas Baynton - he had the Darlington Run near Kyneton in 1841. Baynton the town near Kyneton is named after him (8). Totally irrelevant to this story but an interesting fact is that the Bourke and Wills Exhibition passed by the Baynton property on its way north - Ludwig Becker sketched the occasion (see below).

Crossing an ancient crater from near Dr. Baynton's 25 August 1860. Artist: Ludwig Becker. 

State Library of Victoria Image H16486

Charles and Ellen Rossiter had eight children -  Edwin Augustus (1856 - 1939, married Ellen Louisa Craig in 1890), Emily Baynton (1857 - 1883), Helena Ellen Teresa (1859 - 1902), Charles Benjamin (1865 - 1942, married his first cousin Zillah Rossiter in 1899), Hubert (1869 - 1870), Ellen Teresa (known as Nellie, 1871- 1926 married William Brierley in 1906), Norton Baynton (c. 1875 - 1947, married Hilda Hodgson in 1906) and Claude Cecil (c. 1878 - 1947, married Stella Mary Paragreen in 1907). Charles died on February 6, 1895 aged 74 and Ellen died June 3, 1909 aged 73. They are both buried at the Cranbourne Cemetery (9). 

Death notice of Charles Rossiter.

The Age February 7, 1895 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193458166

Claude, Nellie and Norton Rossiter at Hawkesdale, early 1880s

State Library of Victoria Image H82.96/17

What do we know about their life in Koo Wee Rup? Once again we turn to Dr Gunson's book, The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire - Rossiter’s property Hawkesdale was regarded as a show place in the district and the homestead was set off by a profusion of flowers – geraniums, dahlias, rhododendrons, roses, broom and cactus. Besides bloodstock and a shorthorn dairy herd, Rossiter applied intense cultivation -  'in a paddock on the east side of the homestead seventeen successive crops have been grown and for the last fourteen years without manure - the present crop will yield 2 ½ tons of hay to the acre'. 

The Rossiters at Hawkesdale, early 1890s. Photographer: Sydney Herbert Edwards.

The photo shows Charles on the left, seated are Ellen and one of the daughters, possibly Nellie. Son Charles is at the back and Norton is lying on the ground.

State Library of Victoria Image H82.96/88

Charles was an original Committee member of the Mornington Farmers Society from 1856, a Cranbourne Shire Councillor from 1869 to 1884 and Shire President on four occasions.  Charles and his brother, Thomas, bred horses, amongst their other agricultural pursuits. As he had many children, Charles was interested in having a school established in the area and was one of the local land owners to sign a petition for its establishment. Subsequently, Yallock State School No. 2629 (later called Koo Wee Rup State School) was opened on November 1, 1884 at Bethune's Road (10).  

Hawkesdale, Koo Wee Rup, 1890s.

Photo shows Norton, Claude, Nellie, Charles and their cousin, Zillah. Charles and Zillah married in 1899.

I presume this is the building described as 'the dairy, meat room and buggy rooms' in the sale advertisement, below.

State Library of Victoria Image H82.96/45

The Hawkesdale property was put up for auction in November 1898, by Charles’ executors. It was described at the time as being only two miles from the Koo Wee Rup Railway Station. There was a good four roomed brick house, kitchen and kitchen bedroom, two pantries, a large building 70 x 30, comprising dairy, meat room and 2 buggy rooms, storeroom, man's rooms, stable, tool-house, &c; large 10 stalled cow-shed, and calf-room. with hay-room in front; refrigeration room, pig-houses, &c. Good orchard. There was a State School and creamery adjoining the property and it was one of the finest dairy farms in the district.

The sale of Hawkesdale.

The Australasian November 12, 1898 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138667979

Acknowledgment
We are fortunate that a member of the Rossiter family donated some family photos to the State Library, so we can get a snap shot of their life at Hawkesdale and other properties. The photos were given by Mrs Leila Trickey (1908 - 1985) the daughter of Claude Rossiter.

Footnotes
(1) Gunson, Niel The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire (Cheshire, 1968) p. 52 Cranbourne Shire Rate Books.
(2) Gunson, Niel The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire (Cheshire, 1968)
(3) Gunson, op.cit., p. 36
(4) Gunson, op.cit., p. 52
(5) Ibid

(6) Gunson, op. cit., p. 34

(7) Family information - Gunson, op. cit., p. 52; Indexes to Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages; Obituary of Thomas Rossiter in the Molong Express, of January 4, 1908, see here; Personal notices in the newspapers. I had some trouble confirming the relationship between Mary and Ellen O'Shea and John O'Shea, but  a comment left on my original post about the Rossiters on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to our Past, by G. Sibbald explains it - I am a descendant of Charles and Ellen Rossiter. Mary Ann Josephine O'Shea and and Ellen Teressa O'Shea are indeed sisters. Sarah O'Shea was not their mother. Their mother's name was Mary Josephine Ryan. I believe that Sarah O'Shea nee Fitzgerald was John O'Shea's second wife. Mary Ann and Ellen's brothers John and George died in Victoria in 1848 and 1852 respectively. John and Sarah had sons David and Edward, half brothers of the above, who were born in Victoria. 

(8) Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages; Personal notices in the newspapers; Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip by R. V. Billis and A.S. Kenyon (Stockland Press, 1974)

(9) Early Settlers of the Casey Cardinia Region (Narre Warren & District Family History Group, 2010) Indexes to Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages

(10) Gunson, op. cit., p. 111, p. 242 footnote 36. Dr Gunson is quoting the Mornington County Herald, December 4, 1891

(11) Gunson, op. cit., pp 180, 260, 162. 

A version of this post, which I wrote and researched, first appeared on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to our Past.