Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Quail Island - a history and its Koalas

Quail Island is situated at the northern end of Western Port Bay across Rutherford Inlet from Warneet. The Island was  surveyed by Francis Barrallier, a member of the crew on the Lady Nelson under Lieutenant James Grant. The Lady Nelson entered Western Port Bay on March 21, 1801. Barrallier originally named Quail Island,  Harris Island, after Surgeon John Harris who was a Magistrate and member of the New South Wales Corps. (1).  The following is a chronological history of settlement and events on Quail Island, based mainly on newspaper reports.


 Quail Island on the left;  Chinaman Island in the centre under the Warneet township. 
Quail and Chinaman Islands are separated by Rutherford Inlet or Creek.  
Cannons Creek is at the top of the photo. 
Aerial  dated October 19, 1986. Image: Casey Cardinia Libraries

At some time, Harris Island was re-named to Quail Island, named due to the number of quail on the island. This story about the quail, was published in The Australasian in May 1870. The writer had taken a hunting trip to Western Port Bay, and when they arrived at Quail Island, he was told that a certain employé of the lessees of the island, a shepherd or stock keeper probably, once took to rearing a vast number of quail there. They were his hobby, and at first he fed and petted them just like so many tame chickens, till their numbers grew beyond him. One fell day there landed couple of "sportsmen" upon this chosen spot, and when they left it no fewer than 150 brace of the petted and doubtless well-conditioned quail left with them. (2). 

Peggy Banks in her book Crouch's Beach, from camp to coastal village, Warneet explains the origin of the name of Chinaman Island -
We were told that many years ago some Chinese fishermen lived and fished there, fishing for the type of fish eaten by the Chinese. They dried them and sent them to China. were said to live on this island and they fished for the type of fish eaten by the Chinese, dried them and sent them to China. Whether this is true, I cannot say but the naming of the island seems to confirm the story. My brother thinks that it was once called Snake Island but I have not yet found any evidence (3). 

Quail Island was originally used as a pastoral run - one of the earlier lease holders appears to be James Wheatley, and possibly Henry Greer, as the following legal notice appeared in The Age of May 25, 1864.


Supreme Court case over Quail Island
The Age,  May 25, 1864 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155012013

I presume that in the end James Wheatley retained the lease, as in August 1864 it was reported that at a meeting of the Acclimatisation Society - a letter from Mr Wheatley was read, offering the use
of a portion of Quail Island, of which he is the lessee, but it was decided to take no steps with regard to this offer for the present. (4). The Acclimatisation  Society was established in Victoria on February 25, 1861. The object of this Society was the introduction, acclimatisation, and domestication of all innoxious animals, birds, fishes insects, and vegetables, whether useful or ornamental ; - the perfection, propagation and hybridisation of races newly introduced or already domesticated; - the spread of indigenous animals, &c. from parts of the colonies where they are already known, to other localities where they are not known. (5). Even though the Society did not accept James Wheatley's offer in 1864, they  had already made inroads into Western Port as by August 1861 they had already introduced at Philip Island, 5 pheasants, 6 skylarks, 4 thrushes, 4 blackbirds. At Sandstone and Churchill Islands, 4 pheasants, 4 skylarks, 4 thrushes. (6).

In November 1865, The Argus published this story about Quail Island, which fortunately for Mrs Fordham the lady involved, had a happy ending. She may have been the housekeeper for James Wheatley - 
Last Friday, about two o'clock in the afternoon, while Mr. M'Hugh was surveying the creeks in Western Port, at the back of Quail Island, he heard a faint noise, something like an effort at a "cooey!" Looking in the direction of the sound, he discovered a female form waving something as a signal of distress; he made directly for the spot, and sent a couple of men on shore to ascertain what was wrong, when a poor woman was discovered in a helpless state from hunger, exposure, and thirst, lying down in a swampy place, among the mangroves, cold and wet. After discovering the state she was in, and where she belonged to, Mr. M'Hugh had her brought on board at once and conveyed to Quail Island station, and handed over to the proprietors. She is housekeeper in the above establishment, and had occasion to go to Cranbourne on Monday last, when, on returning on Wednesday, after having reached the island, she lost the track, and, being short-sighted, could not find it again, so she wandered about as long as she was able, until she became exhausted, having neither food nor water. At last she laid herself down in the scrub, where she was discovered after being three nights in the open air. On hearing human voices and the splash of oars she made one desperate effort, and succeeded in making herself heard and seen, but from the exhausted state she was found in, she would probably not have survived another night, and she was saved by the will of Providence, for the place is quite unfrequented, being among lofty mangroves. The poor woman's name is Fordham; she is a widow, and is a very respectable and industrious person. (7).

The following notice appeared in the Victoria Government Gazette of April 24, 1866, that Quail Island was temporarily reserved for Acclimatization purposes.

Reservation of Quail Island 
Victoria Government Gazette, April 24, 1866, p. 896. 

The Acclimatisation Society this time made use of the Island and at a meeting in August 1867, the Secretary could report that nine black Indian partridges and seven Cape partridges had been sent down to Quail Island, for liberation. (8)

In September 1866, James Watson, who later became the President of the Royal Australian Historical Society, visited Quail Island to help with sheep dipping. Whilst he was there he released ten pairs of rabbits on the Island. The rabbits had been obtained from Thomas Austin, of Barwon Park, the man 'credited' with introducing the rabbit into Australia.  This is Watson's description of Quail Island - 
As the shores of the inlet at the crossing-place are low flats and treacherous to walk on, a thick track of tea-tree had been laid, so that the horses got safely to a sapling bridge that connected the island to the mainland. The total acreage was about 1,500 acres of flat open land on the south and timbered low hills on the north, with two good-sized water-holes or lagoons, which were the haunt of water-fowl and ducks. Mud flats lay all round the shore, covered with mangrove. On this most unsuitable place were about 800 or 900 ewes, with a fair percentage of lambs, and 300 wethers....that the island was a most unsuitable place; this was so, because the flat damp ground on the shores gave the sheep foot-rot, and great numbers of them had to be treated for that before being "dressed" and dipped. (9)  You can read Watson's  interesting account, here.

In July 1868, Quail Island was offered for sale. The size of the island was listed as 4,000 acres, more than double the size it was listed as in the 1864 legal notice, above.  The Island is described as -
It comprises about 4000 acres of good, sound, open country, well watered by three permanent lagoons, and is adapted for stock, sheep having thriven well there. The island is connected with the main land by a bridge, and is only 40 miles from town. There is a good three roomed house and sheep-yards. (10)


Sale of Quail Island

This advertisement (above) regarding the sale of Quail Island give us some idea of development on Quail Island - a three roomed house and connected to the main land by a bridge, as described by Watson, above.  You can see one of the 'permanent lagoons' or dams in the aerial photo at the top of the post. In January 1898,there were bushfires all throughout Victoria and the area between Tooradin, Frankston and Cranbourne was swept absolutely clean (11).  Thousands of pasture was destroyed and miles of fences and much livestock. (12) Quail Island was also burnt and whether the house on the Island survived this fire, I cannot say.

I found another interesting article which mentioned Quail Island. In September 1890 a report into the drainage of Melbourne and disposal of sewerage was tabled in the Victorian Parliament. On the subject of sewerage disposal, the report looked at locations for an ocean outfall. I have reproduced the section in full, and we should all be grateful that Rutherford Creek (Inlet) proved to be unsuitable. 
Western Port Outfall - This spot was the upper part of Western Port, near Quail Island. It is only half the distance between Cape Schanck and the city, and it was clearly a point of outfall which I was bound to consider carefully. I have worked out the fact that mean low water of the cycle of tides at the head of Rutherford's Creek, in Western Port, was 1.29 feet lower than the Melbourne datum, and that mean high water was 5.28 feet above that datum, showing a mean rise of 6.57 fact as against only about 2.5 feet in Port Phillip Bay. With such rises and falls the tidal currents must be more rapid than those in Port Phillip Bay, and in order to test them I had a series of float experiments made. From these observations it is manifest that if crude sewerage were discharged at the head of Rutherford's Creek at all states of the tide the great bulk of the suspended solids would never get out to sea at all, but would be washed ashore and deposited on the mud flats north of French Island. Sewage put into the main channel a mile south of Quail Island, just after high water of a spring tide, would only travel less than 10 miles seawards before it would be met by the rising tide, and would then return on its tracks. It would seem as if the flood and ebb tide should practically balance each other, and, except as influenced by winds, that there should be but very slight seaward travel of floating matters. If the whole of the shores of Western Port and its islands were to be disappropriated, and for ever remain unsettled and unoccupied, there might be some justification for selecting Rutherford's Creek as the point of outfall for the untreated crude sewage of Melbourne, but under no other conditions could it, in my opinion, be utilised for this purpose. (13)

I have traced the leasehold holders of Quail Island, through the Cranbourne Shire Rate Books; it was part of the Parish of Sherwood. The first time I could see Quail island itemised separately in the Rate Books was in the 1874/75 year with Edward Blurton being the lease-holder; the next year John Halstead had taken over. I have no other information about Blurton or Halstead. After Halstead, in 1876/77 Alexander McLean Hunter was listed. Hunter also had the Balla Balla run, on Rutherford Inlet at the north end of Western Port from May 1872.  Alexander Hunter had Quail Island until 1884/85. The rights to the Island were advertised for sale in September 1878 (see advertisement below), but I don't understand how that fits with the fact that Hunter seemingly already had the rights.

\
Sale of Quail island
The Argus, September 19, 1878 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5949005

Alexander Hunter was also involved in other properties as his 1893 obituary notes - 
The name will invoke in many old colonists still living recollections of stirring days in early Melbourne. In the early Forties the five Hunters were well known both in connection with pastoral pursuits and as daring and successful gentleman riders, for in steeplechasing they had no rivals in their day; and the remarkable spectacle has at times been afforded of all five riders in the same race over the Flemington course, when the grand-stand was built close down by the river side. With the five brothers of whom Mr. Alexander Mclean Hunter was one, there came out also their two cousins, John and Campbell. The names of the five brothers were Aleck, James, John, Frank, and William, their father being a well-known writer to the Signet, in Edinburgh, and one of an old Scottish family with whom sport was a tradition. They came to Victoria in connection with the firm of Watson and Hunter, the latter being uncle of the five brothers and father of the other two already mentioned. Messrs. Watson and Hunter, came to Victoria as agents for a Scottish company, with which the Marquis of Ailsa and other noblemen were connected, to buy up squatting, agricultural, and city properties, and gradually acquired a wide extent of country in different parts of the city and country. (14)

After Alexander Hunter, the Rate books show that Donald Tolmie is listed as the leaseholder of Quail Island from  1885/86 until 1887/88. In May 1885, Tolmie purchased the 1876 acre Balla Balla property from Alexander Hunter. 


Sale of Balla Balla
The Argus, May 30 1885 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6081053

From 1888/89, Charles De Arth (also called De Ath) is in the Rate Books occupying Quail Island until 1899/1900, the next year his name is crossed out and in July 1901 this notice (see below) appeared in South Bourke and Mornington Journal, reporting on the proceeding of the Cranbourne Police Court. 
De Arth was a retired sea captain. (15).


Court case involving Charles DeArth
 South Bourke and Mornington Journal, July 3, 1901 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70047452

After De Arth, James Ridley had the Quail Island lease from 1901/02 until 1912/13; Ridley also had land at Pearcedale; he was the manager of the English, Scottish and Australian Bank at North Melbourne. (16). Then Francis Callanan took it over. By then it was listed as 2000 acres although it had been variously listed as being of 3,000 or 4,000 acres - perhaps by this time they could accurately measure the island. Callanan was at the island until 1915/16 when the Rate Books have the annotation 'Abandon' and 'Reverted to the Crown.' Frank Callanan was a Cranbourne Shire Councillor from 1905 until 1918. His grandfather, James Smith Adams had the Balla Balla property from 1854 until Alexander Hunter purchased it. His mother, Margaret Adams, had  married Michael Callanan, who was the Victorian Surveyor General; they also had the 1,200 acre Coolebah property at Pearcedale. (17).

In 1909, Quail Island was inspected by the Minister for Lands, Mr McKenzie. The Argus reported -
After visiting Quail Island, at Westernport Bay, this week, the Minister for Lands (Mr. M'Kenzie) is convinced that the place is suitable for the establishment of a labour colony, to replace the existing farm for unemployed which is conducted at Leongatha. The land occupied by the present farm at the latter place is considered to be too valuable for its present use, and Mr. M'Kenzie considers that the colony could be conducted satisfactorily upon the poorer land at Quail Island, leaving the Leongatha property available for more important purposes. There are 2,000 acres of land on Quail Island, and plenty of timber. The place can be reached along a narrow neck of land, which is partly submerged at high tide, and Mr. M'Kenzie says an embanked road could be constructed along this neck at a small cost. The climate is good, and there will be no difficulty in obtaining water. Quail Island is nine miles from Cranbourne railway station. (18)

The Labour Colony did not go ahead and after Francis Callanan abandoned the Quail Island lease I can find no other lease holders so I presume that it was unoccupied. In March 1928 it was proclaimed a 'Sanctuary for native game.' (19) 

Quail Island proclaimed a Sanctuary
Victoria Government Gazette, March 21, 1928, p. 1041
https://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1928/V/general/45.pdf 

The next time we hear of Quail Island is when koalas were transferred there from French Island. The Argus of January 15, 1930 reported that -
The transference of koalas, popularly known as "native bears," from French Island to the small Quail Island, in accordance with a promise made by the Fisheries and Game department to the residents of French Island has begun. In the weekend many families of koalas were captured also transferred in boats over the five-mile strait between the two islands. On their new sites there are large thickets of manna gums, which will provide them with their favourite food. The residents of French Island complained that the koalas were present in such numbers that they denuded every gum tree within their
reach, and they asked for permission to thin them out by shooting, or alternatively to have them removed from the island. As the koala is rigorously protected all the year round in Victoria, the second alternative was chosen, and on their new island where there is no settlement , they will remain unmolested. (20)

Two years later, The Herald in May 1932 also spoke about the koalas being removed, thus the process of removal to Quail Island and neighbouring Chinaman Island was still taking place. This article talks about Mr R.H. Bennetts, from the Department of Fisheries and Game as the welfare officer for the little migrants (21) so this must be the same R. Bennetts who took the two photographs, below.


Koalas being placed in boxes to be transported from French Island to Quail Island, 1930.
Photographer: R. Bennetts


Another photo taken at the same time by, Mr Bennetts, of the koalas and the boxes they were transported in from French to Quail Island.

In April 1933, The Age reported that -
Recommendations have been made by the Fisheries and Game department that a further 150 to 200 koalas should be transferred from French Island to Quail Island, in addition to the 200 transferred in the past two years. It was explained yesterday that the manna gums on the south and south-west portions of French Island were infested with blight, and insect pests, and the food supply for the koalas was proving inadequate. Quail Island, with an area of 3000 acres, offered a satisfactory area and sanctuary the animals. (22)

In June 1933,  Mr F. Lewis, the Chief Inspector of Fisheries and Game was confident that transferring the koalas to Quail Island had been fully justified. He had never seen koalas anywhere looking healthier than those on Quail Island. Mr Lewis added that the transfer had been made in pursuance of the department's policy of distributing the bears over the islands of Westernport Bay. He believed that ultimately through bush fires, shooting and general interference the koalas on the mainland would disappear, but it was hoped to preserve them on the islands. It was estimated that there were only 1,000 bears in Victoria. (23)

However, fast forward ten years to 1943 and there were various conflicting reports and letters in the papers about the health of the koalas on Quail Island - they were either starving due to lack of feed or else they were in a state of good health. (24)  

In March 1944, The Age reported the Chief inspector of Fisheries and Game (Mr. Lewis) has recommended the transfer of a number of koalas from Phillip, Quail and Chinaman islands in the coming months. (25).  The next month The Herald could announce that the transfer of 700 koalas without any casualty from Phillip, Quail and Chinaman Islands to safer areas on the mainland was completed last week after a three weeks rush job by a big staff of employes of the Fisheries and Game Department, the Chief Inspector (Mr F. Lewis) said today.... The bears new homes were at Daylesford, Mount Alexander, Creswick, Strathbogie, Rufly, Trentham, Kyneton, Coranderrk and Buchan, the last four being new reserves for the animals. The Kyneton site was part of the Black Hill reserve and that at Trentham part of the Wombat Forest. (26) 

There is an interesting film on YouTube, Koalas removed from Quail Island, filmed around 1944, about the removal of the koalas to a site near Trentham. You can view it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IEhbC6M7EA


Koala in crate which is being transferred from French Island to Quail Island
Argus newspaper collection of photographs, State Library of Victoria Image H2004.100/1011

It appears that there were still Koalas on Quail Island in the 1950s  (27) and in August 1960 the Regulations for the care, protection and management at the Chinaman Island and Quail Island Koala Reserves  was gazetted, so presumably there must have been some koalas to protect. (28)  Are there still Koalas on the Island?


Regulations for Quail and Chinaman Islands
Victoria Government Gazette, August 24, 1960, p. 2890

There was talk in the early 1960s of turning Quail Island into a jetport but, as we know, that never happened. 


Quail Island to be a  jetport
The Age,  July 6, 1962 p. 9 from Newspapers.som


This map shows Quail Island; Watson Inlet to the east of the island and Rutherford Inlet to the west. The towns of Hastings, Tyabb, Somerville, Pearcedale and Tooradin are shown clock-wise from bottom left. South of Quail island is French Island and just north of French Island is Barrillier Island, named for the surveyor from the Lady Nelson.
Image cropped from  - Australia 1:126,720. Sheet J55N, I & II. Victoria, Berwick prepared by Australian Section, Imperial General Staff; surveyed in 1920 by Survey Section, R.A.E.
State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/115229 

Quail Island is now a Nature Conservation Reserve and some of the waters around it are part of the Yaringa Marine National Park. Quail Island and Watson Inlet are also of State Geomorphological Significance - you can read about this, here on the Victorian Resources Online (VRO) website. The VRO is is no longer being updated and is now archived. This is what it says  -
Geology/Geomorphology: Watson inlet is funnel-shaped with a main central tidal drainage system and many small tributary tidal creeks. The entire inlet is mangrove fringed and landward of this is a wide salt marsh zone. There is a tidal watershed at the head of the tidal creeks linking Watson Inlet and Rutherford Inlet north of Quail Island. Quail Island preserves an undisturbed topography developed on Cranbourne Sands, with important examples of the associated inter-dune swamps and lakes. There are relict sandy spits and beaches behind a broad mangrove fringe. On the eastern shore of the island, opposite the Warneet jetty, erosion of the edge of the salt marsh exposes a former gravel beach resting on the eroded surface of the Warneet Beds.
Significance: State. This is the least disturbed mangrove and salt marsh area on the mainland shore of Westernport Bay. It is a major site in Victoria to study the nature of sedimentation in a mangrove environment and the role of the mangroves in prompting sediment accumulation. The area of Cranbourne Sands topography is one of the largest of these areas left undisturbed in the Westernport region. The relict sandy spits are of similar significance to that described at Bungower Point (Site 79) [near Hastings] (29)

I wonder how many Quail are still on the island and if they are the descendants of the ones that a shepherd or stock keeper probably, once took to rearing on the Island. (30)

Trove List - I have created a list of newspaper articles connected to Quail Island, on Trove, you can access the list, here.

Footnotes
(1) Cole, Valda Western Port Chronology 1798-1839: Exploration to Settlement (Shire of Hastings Historical Society, 1984)
(2) The Australasian, May 14, 1870, see here.
(3) Banks, Peggy Crouch's Beach , from camp to coastal village, Warneet (The Author, 1995) p. 36.
(4) The Age, August 11, 1864, see here.
(5) The Argus, February 26, 1861, see here.
(6) Victorian Farmers Journal, August 10, 1861, see here.
(7) The Argus, November 1, 1865, see here.
(8) The Age, August 14, 1867,  see here.
(9) Watson, James Personal Recollections of Melbourne in the 'Sixties. This was a look at various events and activities of the 1860s including this story - Dipping Sheep on Quail Island. The story was published in the Victorian Historical Magazine, v. 12, June 1928 available on-line at the State Library of Victoria. See more here.
(10) The Argus July 7, 1868, see here.  
(11) Gunson, Niel The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire (Shire of Cranbourne, 1968), p.171
(12) Reports of the fire - The Age, February 1, 1898, see here; The Argus, February 2, 1898,  see here.
(13) The Age, September 24, 1890, see here
(14) The Argus, January 6, 1893, see here.
(15) Gunson, op. cit., p. 121.
(16) The Age, February 1, 1898, see here
(17) Gunson, op. cit; Margaret Callanan's obituary - Mornington Standard, January 27, 1917, see here.
(18) The Argus, May 29, 1909,  see here.
(19) Victoria Government Gazette, March 21, 1928, p. 1041, see here.
(20) The Argus, January 15, 1930, see here.
(21) The Herald, May 26, 1932, see here.
(22) The Age, April 26, 1933,  see here.
(23) The Argus, June 10, 1933, see here.
(24) See articles in my Trove list, here.
(25) The Age, March 1, 1944, see here.
(26) The Herald, April 24, 1944,  see here.
(27) The Age, May 10, 1952, see here.
(28) Victoria Government Gazette, August 24, 1960, p. 2890, see here.
(30) The Australasian, May 14, 1870, see here.


This is an improved and expanded  version of a post, which I wrote and researched, which appears on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to our Past.

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Friday, September 8, 2023

Koalas at Yannathan and on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp

This post looks at references to koalas at Yannathan and more broadly on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp.   

In May 1891, Cyrus Mason wrote a letter to The Age newspaper, about a Surveying party who in the 1860s were forced to eat koalas to survive   - 
Surveyors are again at work where Mr. Surveyor W. S. Urquhart traversed 44 years since named the area south of his line "Koo-wee-rup " and wrote "deep water " upon his splendid plan (No. 2) of the traverse of the country between Melbourne and the Bunyip River. Some 30 years back Mr. (Sir Graham) Berry and others sent a surveyor and party to explore and report upon the Koo-wee-rup country with a view to their private use. They started from Lyall's, at Western Port, pushed their way on the south side, were reduced to starvation, only kept alive by eating native bears, until they reached the Bunyip River, when the strongest of the party managed to reach the hotel on the main road and obtained food, this investigation ending in some pencil markings upon the map in the Crown lands department.(1).
You can read more about Cyrus Mason, of  Woodyats, Tynong, here.

The South Bourke & Mornington Journal of June 8, 1887 published an article of a trip from Berwick to Yannathan. The route taken was the Berwick-Clyde Road, the South Gippsland Highway, through Cranbourne, then through Monomeith and to Yannathan. In the article, the unnamed writer said that Yannathan was 'swarming' with koalas or bears as they were called -
At Yannathan my business was completed and left me a day to look about the locality. The place swarms with "bears.'' In nearly every other tree they are to be seen. The name "bear" quite intimidates the "new chum," but no need of fear, for they are truly harmless beasts living on the gum leaves, and I am told are rapidly killing the gum trees as effectually as if they had been "rung" (2).

Six years later there was another account of koalas at Yannathan, this one painting a far bleaker picture of their numbers. This was a letter published in the Weekly Times on July 1, 1893, addressed to Uncle Ben the editor of the children's section.
A Bear. — Yannathan.
Dear Uncle Ben,
This is my first letter to you. I am going to tell you a story about a bear. One morning early about three o'clock when my sisters were in bed they heard something scratching. They thought at first that it was the rats, but soon they knew that it was too loud for them. They looked down towards the window where the noise came from. Seeing a shadow like a man's hand, they got out of bed, went to the window and looked out. Then they saw a bear which had climbed up the wall and was trying to hold onto the window, but could not. Mother, who was in another room, heard them laughing. She asked what was the matter, and they told her, so she got up and went outside, and took the bear off the window and put him on the ground. In the morning when we got up it was in a pear tree in the garden. The bears that are about here are quite harmless. They are very scarce, but when we first came into Yannathan there was a great number.
I remain, your affectionate niece, Sarah Aitken, aged eleven years and eight months (3).


The Koala or 'Australian Bear'
Australian Bear, c. 1880-1890. State Library of Victoria Image H29682/3


The cause of the decline in koala numbers in Yannathan can be attributed, mainly, to habitat loss due to the clearing of land for farming. Dr Niel Gunson in his book The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire writes that early settlement in the Yannathan district started on the western boundary in 1875 and by 1878 all the dense forest country had been selected (4). Clearing at Yannathan began as soon as the settlers could undertake the work, it has been said of this thick bush country (paperbark, tea tree, blackwood, silver wattle, musk tree and clematis) that 'when cleared it proved to be the best land in Gippsland' (5).

This interesting article about fauna on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp in 1894/1895 comes from a column in The Argus of September 12, 1934 called Nature Notes and Queries by Alec H. Chisholm. Mr Chisholm also notes land clearing as the reason koalas and lyre birds disappeared from the Koo Wee Rup Swamp.
Koalas at Koo-wee-rup
Stating that he has been very interested in the discussion on koalas' food trees, E.A.B. (St. Kilda) recalls that in the years 1894-95 he was camped at the Koo-wee-rup swamp and saw many koalas in swamp gums there. The trees were on a narrow ridge parallel with and about 20 chains east of the main drain, and the ridge was entirely surrounded by real swamp and tea-tree. A young koala taken to camp would climb tea-trees and black-woods, but would not feed there, although he throve on leaves from the swamp gums. That young bear was kept for about three months, and was never seen to drink. The writer wonders, therefore, if the moisture in leaves is sufficient for them. It is added that the swamp gum ridge was cleared for cultivation and the koalas disappeared. In the clearing of the eastern end of Koo-wee-rup many lyrebirds must have been destroyed. (6).

The koala was also killed for 'sport'. There was a report in March 1882 about a fishing and hunting trip to the Bass [River] district which mentioned the amount of sport they were going to have! Ducks, swan, hare, native bears, 'possoms and fish were to be got without the least exertion (7). Given that the koala was also called the 'Australian sloth' it is no wonder that they could be got without the least exertion.

Koalas did however, sometimes fight back. This report is from May 1904 -
A boy, aged 10, named Stanley Anderson, living at Lang Lang, noticed a native bear in a tree, and climbing up to it attempted to catch it by the ears. The bear made an attack on young Anderson, tearing his left arm very badly, and also making its teeth meet in his thumb. (8) 

The koala was also a component of the fur trade, not, however, the high-end garment segment of the market. This is part of a report from 1880 - Another numerous marsupial is the native bear, or Australian sloth, possessing a short matted wool, and a thick pelt unamenable to softening influences. These inoffensive creatures are most tenacious of life, and when they are killed, sorely test the patience of the skinner. The best of the skins are made into carriage rugs, but the majority are only fit for mats (9).


The 'Australian Native Bear' was considered cute enough to feature in this postcard from c. 1908, even if some people still thought they were only fit to become a mat.
Australian Native Bear. Study by Muir. State Library of Victoria Image H42748/12

In Victoria, koalas gained some protection in December 1898, when they were deemed to be native game and thus protected (10). This gave them year round protection, though this was objected to by the Fur Buyers' Association who thought koalas should only have protection for part of the year. As a matter of interest in 1899 the Fur Buyers' Association spokesman, Mr Coles said that last year on the London market a total of 176,000 skins were offered. New South Wales sent 134,000 and Victoria and Queensland 51, 600. This showed that there was not such a slaughter going on here as there was in New South Wales (11). The Government did not alter the year round protection for koalas and in 1938 strengthened their protection by including injuring and molesting the animals as well as destroying them within the scope of the bill (12).

Of course protection from slaughter did not protect the koala from habitat loss, and one solution for this was to re-locate koalas from one area to another such as in the 1930s from French Island to Quail Island. You can read about this here. Quail Island is at the northern end of Western Port Bay. It also appears from the following two reports from the Dandenong Journal in the 1940s  that some koalas were moved to Tooradin 
Tooradin - The ever-popular teddy bears (koalas) are now on view about the foreshore and surrounding gums. Apparently they are enjoying a brief sojourn at “the Port” preliminary to their retirement for the tourist season and from the small boy menace which by regrettable past experience they have learnt to avoid. (13)

Native Bears in the Manna gums at Tooradin are a popular feature to tourist bus passengers making a stop over for teas. When fires and disease affected the feeding trees at Chinamen [sic] Island in Westernport, the Fisheries and Game Dept, released a fair number of bears on this locality, hence their numbers. (14)

To finish off - it appears that boys were often blamed for the decline in koala numbers. In a 1931 report about transferring koalas from Phillip Island and  French Island to Quail Island and Chinaman Island -
It was considered useless to attempt to form colonies on the mainland until boys with pea-rifles learned to leave the koalas alone and other persons learned not to take them as pets. (15).

Footnotes
(1) The Age, May 23 1891, see here.
(2) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, June 8, 1887, see here.
(3) Weekly Times July 1, 1893, see here.
(4) Gunson, Niel The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire (Cheshire, 1968), p. 112.
(5) Gunson, op. cit., p. 114
(6) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, March 15 1882, see here.
(7) The Argus, September 21, 1934, see here.
(8) Great Southern Advocate, May 12 1904, see here. 
(9) The Argus, December 9 1880, see here.
(10) Victoria Government Gazette, December 9, 1898, p. 4238, http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1898/V/general/109.pdf
(11) The Herald, July 11 1899, see here. The Fur Buyers' Association was also referred to as the Furred Skin Buyers' Association (The Herald, July 3, 1899, see here) I am not sure which is correct, and it doesn't really matter now, 120 years later, however I do like to be historically accurate.
(12) The Argus, December 14, 1938, see here.
(13) Dandenong Journal, November 10, 1943, see here.
(14) Dandenong Journal, November 24, 1948, see here.
(15) The Argus, May 9, 1931, see here.

A version of this post, which I wrote and researched first appeared on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to our Past.
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Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Application for a Hotel in Bayles

The Age of December 12, 1930 published the following advertisement of a notice of application for a victualler's licence at Bayles, from Edward Parnell Buckley -


Application for a victualler's licence at Bayles 
The Age, December 12, 1930  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203271532


The licensing Court hearing of the application was held on February 10, 1931 and The Argus reported on this hearing - 
Liquour Licence for Bayles. Application Withdrawn.
Application was made to the Licensing Court yesterday by Mr Luke Murphy on behalf of Edward Parnell Buckley for the issue of a victualler's licence at Bayles, a township in the Koo-Wee-Rup district. The Court consisted of Messrs R. Barr (chairman), J. Lock and V. Tanner. Mr Gamble (instructed by Messrs W.B. and O. McCutcheon) opposed the application on behalf of certain residents and ratepayers of the neighbourhood, and Mr. L.J. Murphy opposed on behalf of other residents of the district. Mr. Gamble said that he had a petition opposing the issue, signed by a majority of the ratepayers within a radius of three miles.

Superintendent Ashton submitted a report, in which he said that he did not approve of the issue of the licence. The site was away from the main road, and there were other hotels four miles and a half distant. There were fewer than 100 residents of the township of Bayles. Evidence on behalf of those opposing the application was that there were only 271 adult residents in the area served by the proposed hotel, and that there were only three mixed trains a week to the Bayles railway station.

Mr Luke Murphy and that it was proposed to erect an hotel costing £3,500. There were 3,000 to 4,000 acres under potatoes in the area, and many sportsmen visited the district in the quail season. The chairman said that the amount of trade at the proposed hotel would apparently be microscopical. There had never been a time at which the Court had to be more careful not to encourage purely speculative ventures. Mr Tanner said that no evidence had been submitted to show that a hotel was required. Mr. Luke Murphy withdrew the application. (The Argus, February 11, 1931, see here) 

So that was the end of a Hotel for Bayles.

Edward Parnell Buckley was born in 1889 in Balnarring to John and Catherine (nee Dore) Buckley. He was the second youngest of their eleven children -  his siblings were David, Elizabeth, Nellie, Mary, Michael, Patrick, John, Thomas, Catherine and Annie, who were born between 1867 to 1892. His father John, died on January 14,  1920 and his obituary in The Advocate notes some interesting facts about his life -
Mr. John Buckley - One of the oldest pioneers of the Mornington Peninsula passed away on Wednesday week in the person of Mr John Buckley, of "Erinslea," Balnarring. The deceased was born in Tipperary, Ireland, 82 years ago, and came to Victoria in the year 1856, settling in Balnarring. A few years after he married a daughter of the late John Dore, "Mt. Ararat,'' Pakenham. Deceased took an active part in all matters relating to the Church. Mass used to be celebrated for a number of years in the deceased's house till St. John's Church was erected.....Deceased took an active part in all public matters. He was a member of the first Roads Board and, of the shire council. The funeral, which took place on Thursday week, was largely attended, the cortege being a mile long. A widow, six sons, and five daughters are left to mourn their loss. (The Advocate, January 31, 1920,  read the full obituary here)


Informative death notice of John Buckley. Interesting for those times that all the 
eleven children survived until adulthood.
The Herald, January 14, 1920 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242160095

Edward was listed in the 1914 to 1931 Electoral Rolls as a farmer at Balnarring. He died on October 20, 1932, aged only 42 and is buried at the Crib Point Cemetery. It would be interesting to know why he applied  for a victualler's licence at Bayles in 1930, after many years of farming at Balnarring. 


Edward Buckley's death notice
The Age October 22, 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205487531

Catherine Buckley  died in 1937 - this is her obituary -
Nonegenarian Passes - Mrs. Catherine Agnes Buckley died at her residence at Balnarring on October 11, aged 92 years. She was an Australian native, having been born at Pakenham. She was one of the pioneers of the Balnarring district, where she settled with her husband, the late Mr. John Buckley, 70 years ago. In spite of her great age, Mrs. Buckley's memory was remarkably retentive and she could relate happenings of many years ago quite clearly. She had a family of 11 children-six sons and five daughters. One son and one daughter predeceased her. One of her sons is Cr. David Buckley, a member of the Flinders Shire Council. Another son, Mr Thomas Buckley, is a stationmaster and is now stationed at Camperdown. The funeral took place in the Crib Point Cemetery on October 13. There was a large gathering of mourners at the grave, many old friends travelling long distances to be present. Many beautiful wreaths were placed on the coffin. Requiem Mass was celebrated at the Balnarring R.C. Church by the Rev. Fr. Fitzpatrick, who also read the burial service. (Frankston and Somerville Standard, October 22, 1937, read the full obituary, here)

The Dore family - John (c.1808 - 1895) his wife Betty (nee Elizabeth O'Connor, c. 1808 - 1876) and their children Edward, Thomas, Patrick and Ellen had arrived in Melbourne in September 1841; six more children were born after their arrival.  In 1844, John Dore and Michael Hennessey took up the Mount Ararat Run at Nar Nar Goon of 1,900 acres. The partnership existed until 1855. Hennessey then moved to Dandenong and built the Bridge Hotel and later took over the Eumemmerring Hotel. In the 1860s, Dore purchased the 640 acre Mt Ararat pre-emptive right. He later purchased another 387 acres and his son Thomas 300 acres so they held a total of 1,300 acres. The property was later bisected by the railway line when it was built in 1877. ( Source - From Bullock Tracks to Bitumen: a brief history of the Shire of Berwick  published by the Historical Society of the Berwick Shire, 1962)

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Sunday, August 13, 2023

Tooradin Mechanics' Institute and Free Library

The Tooradin Mechanics' Institute was opened on Boxing Day in 1882. Local Historian, David Mickle (1), recorded the establishment of the building -
Tooradin had been in need of a meeting place for some time. It was on the 21st June, 1882 that a public meeting was held to form a committee and raise funds. Mr J.F. Rutter had offered a good site for the hall free of charge. Mr Jobson chaired the meeting and the following Trustees were appointed: J. F. Rutter, A. Dunlop, M. Evans, C. Moody, with J. Sill (Secretary) (2).  A vote of thanks was passed to Mr Rutter for his gift. The site is on part of William Lyall's Lot 9, Parish of Sherwood. (3) Mr Sill's request to the Council for a donation was refused, but undaunted, the committee had their Mechanics' Institute Hall and Free Library erected and ready for the Grand Opening on Boxing Day 1882. (4)

John Francis Rutter (1842-1906) was a local land owner, he had married Elizabeth Hemphill in 1877 and they had three sons Joseph Edward, John Hemphill and Hubert. The donation of land for the Mechanics' Institute, was not the only gift the Rutter family gave to the Tooradin township, In 1928, it was reported that Messrs. Rutter, of Tooradin, recently presented the Committee of the Tooradin Mechanics’ Institute with some blocks of land adjoining the hall. Later, the estate of John Hemphill  Rutter (who died 1944) donated land to the people of Tooradin for a park, known as the Rutter Memorial Park. (5)

Tenders were invited for the construction of the building in August 1882. 

Tender advertisement
South Bourke and Mornington Journal August 30, 1882 
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/70053283 

The South Bourke and Mornington Journal reported on the opening of the Institute -
Tooradin Mechanics' Institute and Free Library
The opening of this new building took place on Boxing-day with a bazaar and concert. The attendance was far greater than the most sanguine anticipated, upwards of five hundred people being present. Mr Lyall had kindly consented to open the Hall, and much regret was expressed that owing to ill health he was unable to be present. A letter, however, expressing his interest in and good wishes for the success of the Institute was read and the Hall declared opened. Mr Gibb, M.L.A., was present, taking a lively interest in the proceedings. Too much praise cannot be given to the ladies for their exertions, both in sending fancy goods to and selling them at the bazaar the proceeds from which and from other sources amounted to nearly one hundred and twenty pounds.

A ball terminated the proceedings, and was so well attended that the building was quite crowded. The Hall was prettily decorated with evergreens and the stalls containing the fancy goods presented a most attractive appearance. The building, designed by Mr Crook, architect, of South Yarra, is an excellent and handsome wooden structure prettily situated in a slight rise by the side of the Inlet, overlooking the Bay and French Island. (6)


Advertisement for the opening
South Bourke and Mornington Journal December 20, 1882 
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70054012

We will turn again to David Mickle to tell us of the early days of the Mechanics' Institute -
Mr Lyall was President and Mr Sill Secretary, there were Vice Presidents Messrs Moody and Timms, Mr Rutter, Treasurer and Messrs Dunlop, Evans and Lyne, Committee. (7) A small booklet printed by the Dandenong Advertiser outlined the 49 rules and regulations of the Institute and its objects which were for the moral and mental improvement and rational recreation of members. The means to be employed were: a Library of Reference and Circulation, the delivery of Lectures, Discussions, the formation of classes, but no political or religious controversy would be allowed. Membership was 2/6 per quarter. (8).  An old business partner of William Lyall, John Bakewell, then living in London, had donated 100 pounds to the building fund. (9).


The original Tooradin Mechanics' Institute
Image -  Mickle, David Tooradin: a history of a Sportsman's Paradise, 1875-1975  
(Tooradin 'Back to' Committee, 1975),

In the early days Mechanics' Institutes had to send in a return to the Government and these returns were published in the annual  Statistical Register for the Colony of Victoria compiled from official records in the office of the Government Statist. (10) Tooradin appears in the years 1884 until 1894, and here are some of the statistics - 


Source: Statistical Register for the Colony of Victoria compiled from official records in the office of the Government Statist

The Mechanics' Institute hosted the usual range of activities - meetings, dances, concerts as these few newspaper reports tell us -
From 1891 - A plain and fancy dress ball was hold on Friday last, June 26, at Tooradin, when the residents and their friends met at the local Mechanics' Institute, at the invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Basan. The hall was most tastefully decorated, and the dancing, which commenced shortly after 9 o'clock and continued until an early hour in the morning, was very enjoyable. (11) The Basans  owned the Tooradin Hotel.

From 1896 - On Wednesday, 4th March, the pretty seaside township of Tooradin was all excitement over a wedding solemnised in the Mechanics' Institute, which does duty as a church. The hall was very prettily decorated by friends of the bride. Over the bridal party was suspended a floral bicycle, from which hung a white floral bell. The interested parties were Miss Elizabeth Lyne, eldest daughter of Mr. Thomas Lyne, Westbourne, Tooradin, and Mr. Cole, third son of the late Rev. T. C. Cole, of St. George's Church Malvern. The ceremony look place at eleven o'clock, the officiating clergyman being the Rev. Alfred Cole, Drouin, Gippsland, a cousin of the bridegroom. (12)

From 1916 - A highly successful concert was given in the Mechanics' Institute on Friday, 14th July, by the Tooradin Minstrel Troupe, the proceeds of which want to aid the local Red Cross and Hall funds. Long before the performance was timed to commence, every available space was filled with patrons from the town and surrounding districts. The programme, which was a lengthy one, consisted of humorous songs, dialogues and step-dancing. All were rendered in a splendid manner by the company, and drew forth thunders of applause from the audience. The whole of the programme reflects great credit on the management and artists, which consisted entirely of local talent. The concert raised, after expenses, £9 17s 6d. (13)

Then disaster struck on June 17, 1937 - the hall burnt to the ground. The Age reported - 
Fire at Tooradin. Mechanics' Hall Destroyed.
The mechanics' institute hall and library were completely destroyed by fire early this morning. Erected in 1882, they were in splendid condition. It is understood the Royal Insurance Co. have the building and library covered for approximately £1150. Approximately 1500 books were lost in the fire. (14)

The Weekly Times also reported on the disaster -
Tooradin Library Destroyed.
Three thousand books, forming one of the most comprehensive country libraries in Victoria, were burnt in a fire which destroyed the 75-year-old Tooradin Mechanics' Institute building. Blazing fiercely when first discovered at 4.30 am., the fire quickly gutted the building, while townspeople looked on helplessly without any water supply, with which to combat it. Insured for £1000, the building contained the library, a hall and supper room. All the furniture, including a piano, was destroyed. At midnight, when members of the local table tennis club left the hall, everything appeared to be safe.

Koo-Wee-Rup police are investigating the fire, the cause of which is unknown. As the institute was 50 yards from the nearest building, other premises were not endangered. (15)

It is interesting that the two reports of the fire have such a large  discrepancy  in the number of  books - three thousand in one, 1500 in the other and both figures still much larger than the number reported in 1894, which was 622.

The locals acted quickly to have a new hall built and less than a year after it was destroyed the replacement building was opened on March 16, 1938.


Advertisement for the opening of new hall
Koo Wee Rup Sun, March 3, 1938 p. 1

The Koo Wee Rup Sun had a comprehensive report of the opening -
New Tooradin Hall. Opened by Mr. A.J. Kirton, M.L.A.
Wednesday, 16th inst., proved to be quite a gala night at Tooradin, when the opening of a new public hall to replace the old edifice destroyed by fire in June last year was the principal attraction. Mr A.J. Kirton, M.L.A., for Mornington, had the honor of performing the opening ceremony, and with the interior brightly lit by powerful electric light globes and enhanced by varied colored and pretty dresses of the ladies the scene was one of beauty and one long to be remembered by justly proud residents, who are now the custodians of the largest public hall in the shire. Dance music was rendered by the Rhythm Swingers’ Orchestra of four players, and things were kept merrily going until close on milking or, should we say, fishing time. Close on 300 persons sat down to a much appreciated supper, catered for by Mr J.H. Scott of Kooweerup.

The builder was Mr. L.C. Williams, of Balwyn, the outside walls being of wood and fibro plaster with iron roof, and the interior white plaster sheets with a six foot three-ply dado round walls. The dimensions of the various rooms are as follows: - Dance hall, 36 ft. x 56ft.; stage 20ft. x 9ft.; passage, 5ft. wide, 23 ft. long; entrance hall, 12 ft. x 12 ft.; gents room, 10 ft. x 8 ft.; ladies’ room, 14 ft. by 8ft.; library, 12 ft. by 8ft.; supper room, 22 ft. by 28 ft.; kitchen, 12 ft. x 8 ft.

On behalf of the Trustees, committee and residents of Tooradin, Mr. D. Henderson, president of the committee, extended a hearty welcome to Mr A.J. Kirton, M.L.A., and thanked all those who had assisted in connection with the erection of the hall.

Mr Kirton said he felt highly honored on being asked to perform the opening ceremony, and he heartily congratulated the committee and management on the success achieved, the building being a credit to Tooradin. Such works showed the progress of a district. The new hall had been erected on the old hall site, which had cherished memories dating back 56 years. This site had been presented to residents by the late Mr J.F. Rutter. The old hall had cost £280 to erect and when completed with a free library £540. In the June fire of last year many valuable books had been destroyed. The Royal Insurance Company had held the fire insurance policy for 55 years. Mr G. Egerton was the oldest trustee alive. The present building had cost a little over £1000, and he congratulated the committee and residents on their enterprise, adding that same was fitting to such an ideal holiday resort as Tooradin, and if developed further, would become a tourist resort. He was confident that Tooradin had a future, and he had pleasure in dedicating the hall to the public for future use.

On the motion of President Henderson, a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Kirton for his attendance was carried by acclamation. (16).

The report tells us that the building had  a room for  a Library. It does not appear that a library was installed as in 1943 the Dandenong Journal reported -
Tooradin - Prior to the destruction by fire of the old Mechanics’ Hall, local folk enjoyed the benefit of a circulating library of 1300 books. Owing to the dearth of funds at the erection of present hall, no provision was made to recover some semblance of a nucleus of a library. Some action should be taken by the hall management committee to bridge this disability, by application to the Government and the Carnegie Institute. (17) Notice this article states that the amount of books held by the old Mechanics' Institute is now 1300.

Two years later in November 1945, the Dandenong Journal reported on an update on the Library issue - 
£100 Grant For Tooradin Library - Mr. J. D. Singleton, J.P., (18) has been advised by Mr. A. J. Kirton, M.L.A., that his application for a grant for the erection of a library at the Mechanics’ Hall, Tooradin, has been acceded to. A cheque for £l00 will be sent on in a few days, and handed to the Hall Committee. Good work! (19) Was this mis-reporting that a new library would be built, or was the grant actually for book stock? 

It does appear that it was for both the collection and a building as the aforementioned Mr Singleton wrote the following letter to the Dandenong Journal  in April 1946 -
Library Wanted at Tooradin - The Government is ready to assist Tooradin on a basis of £2 for £1 to re-establish the burnt out library lost some years ago with the destruction of the old hall. The present Hall Committee are anxious to facilitate the earliest completion of a Public Library and help with £50 donation. I suggest the public will generously respond if appealed to, when the proposed library is made one of a memorial character as a first objective (a very practical form to remember the great deeds of our gallant lads); and as a No. 2 objective, a Youth Movement, to provide physical and mental
uplift, occupation, and entertainment in pleasant surroundings, instead of allowing the drift of wasted leisure, so soul-destroying in most small country centres, now enforced on youth - a neglect, that has tragedy stamped in every link for some unfortunate lads in later life. A fresh committee will be elected by public meeting on May 6th. At that meeting the public could be invited to co-operate with the Hall Committee and endorse a Memorial Library and Youth Movement, and launch an organising committee and plan accordingly. J.D. Singleton, J.P. (Tooradin) (20)

The Memorial Library was never established, however the Hall remains and is well-used by the community.

Footnotes
(1) David Mickle  (1904-1997). The author of  Mickle Memories of Koo Wee Rup: for young and old - to 1927 (The Author, 1983) and More Mickle memories of Koo Wee Rup: chronicles of a prosperous district once known as the Great Swamp, 1928-1940  (The Author, 1987), and Tooradin: a history of a sportsman's paradise and the first 100 years of State School No. 1503 compiled by D.J. Mickle and the Tooradin "Back to" Committee (Tooradin 'Back to' Committee, 1975).  His great-grandfather, Alexander Mickle had come to Australia to manage the Yallock and Monomeith properties for Alexander's brother, John Mickle. John Mickle had a partnership with William Lyall and John Bakewell - read more here   https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2017/08/mickle-bakewell-and-lyall.html
(2) Henry Jobson - The Reader at the Cranbourne Anglican Parish (The Church of England Messenger, May 2 1881, see here)
John Francis  Rutter (1842-1906) local land owner.
 Alexander Dunlop - of Harewood Mains, Tooradin - dairy farmer and cheese maker; died 1902, aged 74.
John Sill -  possibly the John Sill who died in Heidelberg in 1903, aged 49. See short obituary in The Argus of June 2, 1903, here; and father's death notice in The Argus, November 7, 1885, here, linking John to Koo Wee Rup.
(4) Tooradin: a history of a sportsman's paradise and the first 100 years of State School No. 1503 compiled by D.J. Mickle and the Tooradin "Back to" Committee (Tooradin 'Back to' Committee, 1975), pp 32-33. Meeting also reported in the South Bourke & Mornington Journal of June 21, 1882, see here.
(5) Tooradin: a history of a sportsman's paradise and the first 100 years of State School No. 1503, op. cit, p. 50.; Donation of land - Dandenong Journal, August 2, 1928, see here.
(6) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, January 3, 1883, see here.
(7) William Lyall - see footnote 3; John Sill,  Christopher Moody, Alexander Dunlop, Matthew Evans - see footnote 2; John Rutter - see above.
Robert Oliphant Timms - married William Lyall's daughter, Margaret on March 29, 1876, see report in The Argus, April 1, 1876  here; died in 1915, aged 68.
Thomas Charles Lyne - local landowner, source of the name Lynes Road in Tooradin. Died in 1908, aged 76, read a short obituary in The Age, January 8, 1908, see here.
(8) Tooradin: a history of a sportsman's paradise and the first 100 years of State School No. 1503, op. cit, pp. 32-33.
(10) Statistical Registers - available here on the Victorian Government Library Service website
(11) Table Talk, July 3, 1891, see here.
(12) Punch, March 19, 1896, see here; Cole family - more information here - https://victoriaspast.blogspot.com/2023/05/william-bailey-orchardist-of-malvern.html
(13) Dandenong Advertiser, July 27, 1916, see here.
(14) The Age, June 15, 1937, see here. 
(15) Weekly Times, June 19, 1937, see here.
(16) Koo Wee Rup Sun, March 24, 1938 p. 1
(17) Dandenong Journal, September 1, 1943, see here.
(18) John Dudley Singleton, died in 1951, aged 68. Built the Stella Maris guesthouse in 1925, The Advocate, February 5, 1925, see here; Obituary Dandenong Journal, September 19, 1951,  see here.
(19) Dandenong Journal, April 7, 1945, see here.
(20) Dandenong Journal, April 24, 1946, see here.
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Sunday, July 23, 2023

Royal Hotel Koo Wee Rup - the McNamara, the O'Brien and the Daniher families

The Royal Hotel in Koo Wee Rup was built by Denis McNamara, who had been issued a victualler’s licence at a hearing at the Wonthaggi Licensing Court  held on December 18, 1914. This gave him the right to build a hotel in the town (1). Tenders were invited for the construction of the hotel in February, 1915 and Mr A. Oliver, of Oakleigh, won the tender for the contract price of £3,305. The Hotel was officially opened on Thursday, September 9, 1915. (2). The Lang Lang Guardian reported on the hotel in glowing terms -
Mr D. McNamara's handsome ornate, and commodious new hotel on the main street, Kooweerup is now completed. It is a two storied brick building, and one of the finest edifices of the kind in Gippsland, being greatly admired by all visitors to the town. It is a monument to the enterprise of the proprietor. (3) It also reported that the hotel has been furnished throughout by Mr McKee, of Royal Arcade, Melbourne, the rooms are fitted up in the most up-to-date and luxurious manner. Visitors to the place state that they have seen no hotel outside Melbourne furnished and equipped in such a finished and elaborate style. (4).


Royal Hotel advertisement
Koo Wee Rup Sun, November 27, 1918

In November 1918, Denis McNamara sold the Hotel for £7,000 to John O’Brien of Trafalgar. (5). John O’Brien was an experienced hotel-keeper, but more importantly as the Koo Wee Rup Sun reported -
Mrs O'Brien is a smart and keen business woman, and this combined with a personality that has already won golden opinions, is sure to make a success of the Royal. (6). The smart Mrs O’Brien was born Julia Teresa Moloney and she married John in 1892.

Royal Hotel advertisement
Koo Wee Rup Sun, December 4, 1918

 After leaving Koo Wee Rup, Denis and his family moved to Hawksburn and he took up the license of the Bush Inn Hotel in Williams Road, Toorak. (7).  John O’Brien operated the Royal Hotel until April 1921 when the licence was transferred back to Denis McNamara, although Mr O’Brien retained ownership of the building. (8).

Denis died July 27, 1925, aged 60 years old. The Advocate of August 20, 1925, published this obituary of Denis McNamara (they have his birth date wrong, it was actually c. 1864)  -
Born in County Clare, Ireland in 1846 [sic], Mr. McNamara was a young man when he came to Victoria. He engaged in business in Melbourne before coming to Koo Wee Rup in 1891, where he opened a store. In 1901 he returned to Melbourne, and was in turn the licensee of the Carlton Club Hotel, the United States, the Albury hotels. In 1902 he married a Miss Mary Ann Manney, from his home country, and had as family May and Frank. He suffered an early bereavement in the loss of his young wife. Returning to Koo Wee Rup in 1904, he bought O'Riordan's store, which he successfully conducted. In 1908 he married Miss Alice Morris, his bereaved wife, and later took out the first licence in Koo Wee Rup, building the substantial Royal Hotel. He was esteemed by all who knew him. His kindly smile, his cheerful word, and his open-handed generosity were enjoyed by many. (9).

Denis’ first wife, Mary Ann, had died on October 15, 1905 aged 29. She left behind two little children - Mary Bridget, born 1902, also called May. Mary became a Nun, Sister Denise of Presentation College in Windsor and she died in 1989; Francis Michael, born 1904, also called Frank. Francis, married Elizabeth Reynolds in 1935 and died in March 1983. (10)

After the death of Mr McNamara, the Hotel continued to be operated by the McNamara family until 1927, with Alice McNamara (Denis’ widow) as the licensee and Frank McNamara (Denis’ son) as the manager. For some time, around 1930 - 1932,  after they left Koo Wee Rup, Alice was the licensee of the London Tavern, 58 Moray Street (corner Grant Street), South Melbourne. (11).

Royal Hotel advertisement
Koo Wee Rup Sun, January 6, 1927

Alice McNamara died on June 28, 1937, and as her obituary in the Koo Wee Rup Sun relates, her sister died the same day -
It is with the deepest regret that we record the death of an old and highly respected resident of Kooweerup, in the person of Mrs Alice McNamara, wife of the late Mr Denis McNamara, at the age of 57 years. When word reached Kooweerup on Monday morning of her sudden death in the city quite a gloom was cast over the township, for through her ever-ready aid in the past in all cases of distress she was honored throughout the whole district, and owing to her unbounded hospitality when with her late husband they were in charge of the Royal Hotel, Kooweerup, her generosity will long live among many throughout the whole State. She was a daughter of the late Mr and Mrs J. Morris, of Kilmore..... On Friday last the deceased received word of the illness of her sister and only relative, Mrs Jane Scott, wife of the late Mr G. Scott (late A.I.F.), of South Melbourne, and she hurried to the city to render what aid she could on her behalf. Leaving her son Frank's suburban residence for the railway station on Monday morning to visit the hospital where her sister was an inmate, the deceased suddenly collapsed in the railway yards and passed to the Great Beyond. Strange to relate, within three hours her sister had joined her in the Great Adventure. (12).


The McNamara Family, c. 1921. 
Standing at back - Alice and May
Seated - Denis with Colleen, Alice (nee Morris) John and Frank. Margaret is at the front.
Photographer:Yeoman & Co. Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society collection.

Alice had four children with Denis, whom she married on August 9, 1909 - Alice, born 1909, who married Daniel Parks in 1929, they had three children and she died in August 1951; John Patrick, born 1910. He was ordained as a Priest in 1935, was an RAAF Chaplain during the Second World War, and died in 1986. His obituary noted that the year of his birth and the year of his death coincided with the appearance of Halley’s Comet; Margaret Frances, born 1914, nicknamed ‘Blue’. Married Cecil Ernest Murray, in 1941, and died October 2004; Colleen Josephine, born 1917, did not marry, and died February 2004. Denis and Alice are buried at the Pakenham Cemetery. (13)

Royal Hotel advertisement
Koo Wee Rup Sun, September 8, 1927

It was in  August 1927, that John Patrick Daniher took over the licence from Alice McNamara (14).  He was the son-in-law of John O'Brien. However before we look at the Danihers, we will look further at the life and business interests of Mr O’Brien with this August 1925 article from the Korumburra newspaper the Great Southern Advocate –
Mr. J. O'Brien is now the proprietor of the Korumburra Hotel, which has been entirely renovated throughout. The much-needed painting of the outside has completely transformed the appearance of the hotel. Mr. O'Brien owns the freehold of the Royal Hotel at Kooweerup, where he spent many years. He was recognised as a good sport, and always worked hard to forward the interests of the district. He took a great interest in the Kooweerup football team, so much so that the members before his departure elected him a life member of their club. The team was premiers two years while Mr. O'Brien was there. He also gave valuable assistance in raising £1000 by a queen carnival and fete for the purpose of building a cottage hospital for the Bush Nursing Association, the Kooweerup branch of which he was vice-president. He was a good supporter of the band, race club or anything that tendered to advance the town and district. He is also the owner of the freehold of the Criterion Hotel, Trafalgar, of which his son-in-law (Mr. J. Daniher) is licensee. (15)


The wedding of Marie O'Brien to John Daniher. 
The best man, J.J. Daniher; the bridesmaid , Veronica (Fairy) O'Brien; the groom John Daniher and the bride, Marie (Doll) O'Brien.

John Patrick Daniher had married Marie O’Brien on August 25, 1920. Their wedding was written-up in Table Talk, a newspaper which covered many weddings, the Theatre, the races and other social activities –
The marriage of Miss Marie (Doll) O'Brien, second (twin) daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. O'Brien, of the Royal Hotel, Koo-wee-rup, to Mr. John Patrick Daniher, younger son of late Mr. J. Daniher, of Euroa, and Mrs. Daniher, of Wyalong, N.S.W., was celebrated on Wednesday, August 25, at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. Father Keenan (Koo-wee-rup), assisted by Rev. Father Kett. In the unavoidable absence of the bride's father, she was given away by her brother, Mr. James O'Brien, and looked charming in her bridal gown of ivory charmeuse, with over-dress of georgette, trimmed with beads and filet lace; veil of Limerick lace, sumounted by a wreath of orange blossom. A gold wristlet watch was the gift of the bridegroom, while her gift to him was a pair of silver military hair brushes. She was attended by her twin sister, Miss Veronica (Fairy) O'Brien, whose dainty frock of white taffeta was made with a three-tiered skirt and trimmed with filet lace, while her hat of black tulle was adorned with a posy of pink flowers and streamers of black ribbon.  The bridegroom's gift to her was a pearl brooch. Mr. J. J. Daniher supported his brother as best man. (16).


The Royal Hotel in the December 1934 flood
Image: Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society

The Danihers had purchased the freehold of the Royal Hotel in 1927, as well as holding the license. In September 1934, the licence was transferred to Edith Leahy. This turned out to be a short-term arrangement as in January 1935, the licence was transferred to Marie Daniher. The Danihers operated the Hotel until June 1939, when they left Koo Wee Rup; the licensees in the next three years were H.T. Baker and M.J.Haig. In June 1942, the Dandenong Journal would announce that the Danihers have returned after an absence of 3 years and have resumed control. (17).

The Daniher family owned the Royal Hotel building until the 1960s, maybe longer. Marie Daniher died July 27, 1989, aged 89 and John had died June 15, 1972, aged 80. John’s death notice list their children as Julie, Margaret, Pat, John and Lorraine. Marie and John are buried at the Cheltenham Memorial Park. Marie’s father, John O'Brien, died in 1946, aged 82 and her mother, Julia, died in 1959, aged 92. They are buried at Boroondara Cemetery. (18).

Trove List - I have created a list of articles relating to the McNamara, O'Brien and Daniher families at the Koo Wee Rup Hotel, access it here.

Footnotes
(2) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, March 11, 1915, see here.
(3) Lang Lang Guardian, September 8, 1915, see here.
(4) Lang Lang Guardian, September 15, 1915, see here.
(5) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, November 7, 1918, see here.
(6) Koo Wee Rup Sun, December 4, 1918, see here.
(7) The Argus, April 5, 1921, see here.
(8) Ibid
(9) The Advocate, August 20, 1925, see here.
(10) The Argus, October 17, 1905, see here; Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages.
(11) The Age, November 4, 1930, see here; The Age, January 21, 1932, see here. the London Tavern was demolished in 1980 for the Westgate Freeway - http://www.skhs.org.au/SKHShotels/
(12) Koo Wee Rup Sun, July 1, 1937.
(13) Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages; family notices from the newspapers; Father McNamara's obituary The Advocate, May 22, 1986 (copy at the Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society). I have written more about Alice McNamara (nee Morris) here - https://victoriaspast.blogspot.com/2024/09/alice-morris-1852-1912-and-sarah.html
(14) Koo Wee Rup Sun, August 11, 1927
(15) Great Southern Advocate, August 13, 1925, see here.
(16) Table Talk, September 16, 1920, see here.
(17) Koo Wee Rup Sun, August 11, 1927; various Licensing Court hearings in the newspapers, see my Trove list, here; Dandenong Journal, June 10, 1942, see here.
(18) Various family notices in the newspapers.


John Daniher's death notice 
The Age June 17, 1972, p. 104 newspapers.com

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