Italian Prisoner of War Camp at Koo Wee Rup

The Koo Wee  Rup Swamp Historical Society has copies of Commonwealth Government Hirings Service documents relating to the World War Two Italian Prisoner of War Camp at Koo Wee Rup or Bayles - the documents use both names to describe the location of the Camp. Hirings Service was located at Askew House, 364 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. The official  name of the Department appears to be Department of the Interior, Hirings Section Central Office and the documents are part of the Commonwealth Record Series B985.

The Society has had a few enquiries about this Camp, mostly relating to the names of prisoners, however no names are included in the documents and as you might expect from a War bureaucracy much of the material relates to administration and officialdom. The Society does not have any photographs of the Camp, though would be keen to see some.

The Prisoner of War Camp was located on 7¼ acres on part of Lots 6 & 7, Section S Parish of Koo Wee Rup, which is the south side of the Main Drain Road, between Backhouses Road and Ballarto Road. There is a small sketch map with the documents (below) showing the location. 

A plan of the location of the Camp in a letter sent to Mr L. Einsiedel, who was leasing the land, on August 8, 1944 from Major C.W. Hutton, Assistant Director of Hirings. The writing at the top says - Main Canal, catch drain, Roadway.

This is my map showing the location of the camp, overlaid on a copy of a

Koo Wee Rup Parish Plan. 

Ballarto Road now extends through directly to Five Mile Road.

The Commonwealth took possession of the land on August 7, 1944. The entire block of land (consisting of Parts, 6, 7 & 8) was just over 58 acres and was owned by the Estate of Ardolph Edward Mosig and Frederick Leonard Smith who were leasing it to Leslie Einsiedel. The land was being used for grazing and was described on the inspection report dated July 27, 1944 as “Flat Swamp land, all cleared.” There were no buildings on the block but there was a dam, which would be used by the Camp and so a trough was provided for Mr Einsiedel’s cattle. Mr Einsiedel was to get 30 shillings per acre per annum, which is £10/17/6 per annum. 

The letter, dated August 8, 1944 to Mr Einsiedel from Major Hutton confirming that they 

will take over some of his land.

The Camp was scheduled to open October 21, 1944. There would be one officer and ten ‘other ranks’ and 88 POWs, including one who was a medical orderly. The camp would consist of ‘P’ type huts from the Rowville Camp, and there was a one ton van and two 30cwt trucks to transport prisoners to and from work. The Prisoners were employed by the Department of Commerce and Agriculture and they were paid 1/3d per day, plus they were provided with all equipment, blankets, clothing, food etc. The prisoners came from the Murchison Camp and had a medical and dental before they were ‘allotted’ to local farmers to provide labour. Local contractors would provide perishable foodstuffs and appropriate arrangements were made with the local church authorities for the spiritual welfare of prisoners. Most other arrangements e.g. financial appear to have been carried out at Murchison.

The next lot of material we have comes from February 1946 when the camp was being dismantled; the hire of land was terminated on February 22, 1946. There is a list of buildings that were sold which gives us some idea as to what the Camp would have looked like. All buildings were made of CGI, which I assume is corrugated galvanised iron, though some were made from, at the time, the popular asbestos cement.

Buildings No.1, No. 2, and No. 3 all described as Sleeping Huts and all were 60 feet 8 inches by 18 feet 8 inches in size. They were sold to Melbourne University for £370.00.

Building No.4 - Kitchen and Mess 93 ft 4 inches by 18 feet 8 inches – sold to Toora R.S.L for £250.00.

Building No.5 - Kitchen, Mess, Recreation and Sleeping – 78 feet 8 inches by 18 feet 8 inches – sold to the Athlone Presbyterian Church for £210.00.

Buildings 8 & 9 - Latrines, each 12 feet by 12 feet. Sold to Frankston Fire Brigade for £51.00.

Building No.12 - Kitchen Store ,60 feet 8 inches by 18 feet 8 inches, and the Drying Room, 23 feet 4 inches by 18 feet. Sold to Loreto Convent, Toorak for £175.00

Mess and a Provision Hut - 57 feet by 18 feet, sold for £144.00 through Melgaard & Co.

It appears that all buildings were removed by April 1947 and the army then paid the owners just over £53.00 for damage, removal of concrete foundations etc.

Letter about the sale of building 4 to the Toora RSL.

This is a scan of  a copy of a copy of the original, so it's bit hard to read.

So that’s what we know from the official documents. I asked my father, Frank Rouse,  many years ago if he knew anything about the Camp (he would have been eleven at the time the camp was operating) and he also spoke to two other local identities, Bill Giles and Ian Clark. Bill and Ian agree there was no strong security at the Camp and there was no security at weekends, but the prisoners had to wear orange overalls. Bill remembers seeing prisoners walking along the road at night when he was riding his bike home, and they could walk along the drain bank into Koo Wee Rup and to the Bay.

The POWs worked at selected farms including the AJC Asparagus farm (also known as Roxburghs) at Vervale. This was on the south side of Fallon Road, from Dessent Road, through to Simpson Road. Dad remembers truckloads of the prisoners driving down Dessent Road to the AJC farm in the morning, one guard on each truck. At lunch time a food van with a portable cooker would go the farm to feed them. Another truck load of prisoners would go to Dalmore.

Bill said they also worked on the Kinsella Brothers farm (Dan, Norman and Arthur) that grew a lot of potatoes and asparagus during the War. The Kinsellas were on the north side of the Main Drain, around Eight Mile Road. Dad said his brother Jim (who would have been thirteen at the time) remembers three Italian POWs digging potatoes with forks on the Rouse farm (Joe & Eva Rouse). Jim also remembered, as did Bill and Ian, that the prisoners had their own especially printed money and coins, but we are unsure how this was used.

This is Mario and Silvio, two of the prisoners with Jack, Patsy and Gerard Cunningham. It was taken on the Cunningham farm on Eight mile Road, Nar Nar Goon South.

 I wonder what happened to Mario and Silvio after the War?

This wonderful image is courtesy of Gerry Cunningham.

I wrote this piece originally in 2011 and since then an interesting book called No Regard for the Truth: Friendship and Kindness. Tragedy and Injustice. Rowvilles's Italian Prisoners of War by Darren Arnott was published in 2019. In December 1944, a camp was opened in Rowville to house Italian Prisoners of War. It was under the supervision of the Murchison camp and initially housed 100 inmates. The camp was located on the south west corner of Stud and Wellington Road, when Rowville was still very much a country town. It was very low security and the men worked on the neighbouring farms, the engineers depot at the Oakleigh rail yards or the salvage depot at Fisherman's Bend. In June 1945, Rowville became a relocation camp for prisoners who were to be relocated to other areas. A prisoner, Rodolfo Bartoli, was shot dead by the camp commandant, Captain Waterston, allegedly because he was trying to escape. Rodolfo and another prisoner, Eduardo Pizzi, had spent a short time at Koo Wee Rup, so now we know two of the inmates. It's a great book by Darren and you can buy it through his website https://darrenarnott.com/

A version of this story, which I wrote and researched, appears on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to our Past and it has also been published in the Koo Wee Rup Blackfish and other places. This post is revised and updated.

Tooradin - a short history

This is  a short history of  Tooradin and the Sherwood Hotel,  which was located near the corner of the South Gippsland Highway and Tooradin Tyabb Road.

Some of the earliest Europeans who passed through Tooradin were Samuel Rawson and Robert Jamieson. They took up the Yallock Run, at the northern end of Western Port, in November 1839. They over-landed their cattle and goods to Tooradin from Melbourne and were then blocked by the undrained Koo Wee Rup Swamp, so used Sawtell’s Inlet at Tooradin as their port and continued on by boat (1). For the same reason, other land owners from further around Western Port Bay at Red Bluff, Grantville, Queensferry and Corinella also used Tooradin until the Western Port Road (South Gippsland Highway) was built around 1860 (2).  

The Tooradin area was part of the Toorodan Run of 16,000 acres (6,475 hectares) taken up by Frederick and Charles Manton in 1840. Edwin Sawtell, a Melbourne merchant, had an interest in this run, before the Manton Brothers took it over (3). He is the source of the name of Sawtell’s Inlet. Sawtell died at the age of 95 in 1892 (4). The town took its name from Manton’s Toorodan run  and is an Aboriginal word for  “swamp monster” or “bunyip”

The Squatting Runs, Western Port showing Toorodun, Mantons, Yallock runs etc. 

Click on image to enlarge it.

Squatting Runs, Western Port

Image: The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson (Cheshire, 1968), p.50.

1851 saw the arrival of Mickle, Bakewell and Lyall in the area. John Mickle (1814-1885) and John Bakewell (1807-1888) were business partners in Melbourne from 1847 and they were soon joined by William Lyall (1821-1888) whose sister Margaret was married to John Mickle. They had numerous runs in the Western district and in 1851, they acquired the leases of the Yallock and Tobin Yallock and Red Bluff Stations; in 1852 Manton’s Toorodan run and in 1854 they acquired the Great Swamp run,  all in all about 27,000 acres, which they collectively called their Western Port runs (5). I have written about Mickle, Bakewell and Lyall, here.

After the partnership split, the land was divided between the three partners with  Lyall receiving part of Yallock Station. Lyall and his wife, Annabella, built Harewood house, just out of Tooradin, on this property.  The construction of Harewood started around 1857 and the property remained in the Lyall family until the 1960s. Harewood is of State significance and is on the Victorian Heritage Database (6).  Mickle, Bakewell and Lyall and their descendants are remembered in Tooradin, Cranbourne and Koo Wee Rup where streets are named in their honour.

Tooradin - Looking across Sawtell's Inlet from 

to the Fishermans Cottage and other houses on the foreshore c. 1900

Image: Cranbourne Shire Historical Society (I think)

Early land sales in the township of Tooradin took place in 1869, but it wasn’t until the 1870s that the township took off. In January 1870, John Steer applied for a Beer Licence for his Bridge Inn. John Steer died in May 1876 and the Hotel was taken over by Matthew Evans in 1877. Later publicans included Larry Basan who took over the licence in 1888 and rebuilt the hotel in 1895 (7). The hotel was demolished in 2016.  The other Tooradin Hotel, the Sherwood Hotel, which was closer towards Cranbourne, had opened in 1869 - more on the Sherwood later. Most of the Tooradin township lots were sold in the 1880s.

Advertisement for land sales in Tooradin, December 1889

Source: State Library of Victoria - click here to see a high-res version http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/157740

A tender to construct the Tooradin State School was accepted in October 1874 and the School officially opened on April 12, 1875 with Mrs Adelaide Dredge as the teacher. John Woodfield Thrupp opened a store around 1875. The Post Office and a store  operated by Mr F.M  Woolley opened in August 1877. He only lasted a year and the Store was taken over by Mr G. Walker, and in 1898 by Frederick Atyeo. Two years later, his son George, took over and added a coffee palace.  To meet the spiritual needs of the residents, Anglican Church services were held from 1875, most likely in the School, and from 1883 in the Hall until the Christ Church was built in 1900. The Catholic Church, St Peters, was built in 1922, services also having been previously held in the Mechanics’ Institute (8). The Church is now part of St Peters College at Cranbourne.

The original Tooradin Mechanics' Institute

Image -  Mickle, David (complier)  Tooradin: a history of a Sportsman's Paradise, 1875-1975  

(Tooradin 'Back to' Committee, 1975),

The Tooradin Mechanics’ Institute (pictured above) had officially opened on Boxing Day, 1882. The current Hall was built in 1938, having replaced the original hall, which burnt down the previous year (9). Another boost to Tooradin was the construction of the Great Southern Railway, which reached Tooradin in October 1888. It was extended from Tooradin to Loch in November 1890. The Station was a few kilometres north of the town and the source of the road name Tooradin Station Road (10).

As the town developed community groups were established – in the 1920s a Country Women's Association; the Fire Brigade started in 1945;  the Infant Welfare Centre opened in 1949 and ten years later the Kindergarten; the Scout Group was established in 1964. The Tooradin Dalmore Football Club started in  in 1919 and the  Netball Club in 1954.  The Avenue of Honour to commemorate the World War One soldiers was planted in 1922, unusually it consists of flowering gums (11).

A map of an early land subdivision at Tooradin. Evans owned all of Allotment 5 and subdivided these fifteen blocks in 1887 or 1888. You can see Steer's property where the Bridge Hotel was located. 

The '1 chain road' is now Mickle Street.

Source: Casey Cardinia Libraries Archive

Matthew Evans (1836-1909) was an early resident of Tooradin. He had purchased land in 1869 and built Bay View house in the early 1870s. He also purchased other blocks in Tooradin, some of which he sub-divided and sold around 1887 or 1888, see map above. Evans, as we saw before, was the owner of  the Bridge Inn for  a time and was a Cranbourne Shire Councillor from 1879 to 1881, a trustee of the Mechanics' Institute and donated the land for the Anglican Church. Evans built Isles View,  c. 1898 and it is thought that Bay View house was shifted to form part of this new house. The Isle to which the name refers to is French Island (12).

Isles View - this photograph shows the weatherboard section which is believed to be Matthew Evan's original 1869 house, Bay View.

Image: Heritage of the City of Casey: Historic sites in the former City of Casey, by Graeme Butler and Associates, 1996. Casey Cardinia Libraries Archive

Mr Evans is the source of the name of Evans Road. Matthew married Harriet Swalling in 1860 and she sadly died at the age of 21 in 1862. He then married Fanny Sweetnam in 1865 and they had ten children - Arthur Ernest (b. 1865), Herbert Hill (1868), Lance Hill (1870), Frank Austin (1871), Walter Matthew (1875), Florence Fanny (1877), Nellie Banks (1879), Lena Bessie (1880), Rose Alice (1884) Leslie Rubin (1887). Fanny died in 1931, aged 87 (13). 

A fleet of fishing boats were also based at the Tooradin and some of the earliest settlers were fishermen. David Mickle  writes that George Casey was the first fisherman and settler, followed by Jimmy Miles and  then in 1876 Henry Forman Kernot and his wife, Elizabeth (nee McNaughton)  came over from Hastings (14). Henry and Elizabeth had married in 1861 and their children were Charles Edward (b. 1861, married Annie Collins), Henry William (1863, married Sarah Winchester), Clara Johanna (1865, married Gilbert Kerr), Amelia Eliza (1867, married Henry Alexander Mundy),  Caroline Jessie (1869, married Peter Peterson), Charlotte (1871, married William Mentiplay), Georgina Alice (1873, married Alexander Greive), Isabella Lucretia (1874, married Frederick George Seymour Poole), Thomas James (1876, married Elsie May Lee), Maria Martha (1877, married Frederick Rawlings), Mary Adeline (1880, married Thomas Henderson) and George Robert (1881, married Mabel Robertson) (15).  Amelia and Henry Mundy's son served in World War One and he is listed on the Tooradin State Honour Board, see here. 

Isabella Kernot Poole owned the Fishermans Cottage, on the Foreshore, from 1910 to 1949. It is now the home of the Cranbourne Shire Historical Society. The Cottage is one of the few remaining examples of the fishermen’s houses that originally dotted both sides of Sawtell’s Inlet in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. This house is thought to have been built by Matthews Evans and some sources date it's construction to c. 1873 even though the land was part of the 1887 subdivision (16).

The last of the professional fishermen, Henry Kernot and Arthur Johnstone (son of Ted Johnstone and Hilda Kernot (the daughter of Henry and Sarah (nee Winchester) Kernot listed above), surrendered their licence in 1999 (17).

Fisherman's Cottage. This house is thought to have been built by Matthews Evans and some sources date it's construction to c. 1873 even though the land was part of the 1887 subdivision as shown in the map above.

Image: Heather Arnold

Tooradin attracted not only the professional fisherman but the sports fisherman as well. The fishing, plus quail shooting on Quail Island, deer shooting, cycling club and other typical pursuits of the time gave Tooradin a reputation as a 'Sportsman’s Paradise'. This reputation was fostered by the publication of the booklet Around Tooradin : the Sportsman's Paradise by Hawkeye. It was published, in serial form, in late 1888 and early 1889 to promote the sale of land in the area (18).  Today Tooradin is still a haven for recreational fishing, is the service centre for the coastal towns of Cannons Creek, Warneet and Blind Bight. It’s natural landscape of tidal flats and mangroves are a haven for bird and marine life. When I was growing up at Cora Lynn (in the 1960s and 70s)  we always went to Tooradin to the beach - my parents used to water ski and we’ll have a swim or just go over and get fish and chips and eat them on the beach. In fact, Tooradin fish and chips seem to be fondly remembered by many people.

Interesting fact - Tooradin was the birthplace of the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria in 1903.  Susan Priestley, in her book The Crown of the road: the story of the RACV (19), tells us of the formation of the RACV - On  a fine weekend late in September 1903, a dozen of Melbourne's more prominent wheelmen, who were also proud owners of the new motorized cycles, took their machines on a very pleasant outing to the flat reaches of Tooradin on Westernport Bay...The outing was reported in the Australian Cyclist... and the next issue of the journal featured a prominent article on the very singular lack of a motor club in Melbourne. The writer of the article was probably Sydney Day  described by Mrs Priestley as a printer by trade but  a cyclist and cycling writer at heart . Mrs Priestley says that he was one of the three like-minded friends who claimed to have hatched plans for  a motoring club while on that trip to Tooradin.  The other members of the trio were James Coleman (manager of a Cycle business) and Henry (Harry) Barton James, advertising manager of Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company.

Just north of Tooradin was the Sherwood Hotel, in Tooradin, near the corner of the South Gippsland Highway and Tooradin Tyabb Road. It was also known as the Robin Hood Hotel. It was built around 1869 on land owned by Matthew Stevens, who is listed in the Shire of Cranbourne Ratebooks from 1867. An early publican was John Wilson from 1873-1874 (20). The Sherwood Hotel and 258 acres were put up for a mortgagee auction on March 14, 1878. The advertisement (reproduced below) lists the auction on behalf of the late John Strudwick, and it is thought that the Poole family purchased the hotel at this time. George Poole became publican at the Sherwood in December 1888 (21).

Auction of the Sherwood Hotel in March 1878

The Argus Thursday March 7 1878  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5924137

The Poole brothers, Frederic (1826-1894), George (1827-1909), and Thomas (1837-1906) were early settlers in the Cranbourne area. Frederick was elected to the Cranbourne Road District Board, which became the Shire of Cranbourne in 1868, from 1865 to 1872, 1873 to 1874 and 1885 to 1893. He was Shire President in 1887-88. Frederick lived at Triuna, Lyndhurst. Thomas lived at Lang Lang. George Poole was bootmaker in Cranbourne, in the 1860s. He was elected to the Cranbourne Road District Board in 1866, and remained a Councillor until 1893. He was Shire President on three occasions. George Poole was described as one of the most forceful personalities in the district (22).

We have a first hand report of George and the Sherwood Hotel from a booklet we mentioned before Around Tooradin : the Sportsman's Paradise by Hawkeye. Hawkeye described the journey to Tooradin by train, the fishing, local hospitality. He described the Sherwood Hotel as like an old farm house, with a big dash of liberality and kindliness about it. The front portion is brick, and new weatherboard rooms have just been added. It is built just on the crest of a hill, and is in every respect a most comfortable house to stop at. Hawkeye describes George Poole as a fine specimen of a true Saxon. Big of limb, deep of chest, clear eyed, strong and powerful throughout, he reminds you more of the days when there were giants in the land than of a prosperous publican….. In his early days he visited America and became imbued with a touch of American smartness – with a knowledge of how to be cute and make money. On his return to England he was the first to start a real American bar where the thirsty Britain could obtain any drink from a mint julep to a cocktail. George then decided to try his luck in Australia. Hawkeye goes on to say that in Australia George had settled down quietly and his heart appears to be centered in his farming. George does not like the public house life, he hates drinking and talks of going into the coffee line. "Coffee is the thing", he says, "nothing like coffee, I think I’ll build a coffee palace" (23). 

The ground of the Sherwood Hotel had a large stable, a diary and milking shed. The Pooles milked forty cows. George also constructed a race course and bred horses. When the Melbourne Coach refused to stop at his hotel, he built himself a Coach, which met the Cranbourne train and travelled on to Grantville (24).

We do not know much about Mrs Poole, Hawkeye says she is a most obliging and attentive hostess and that she makes beautiful butter. I had assumed that the obliging Mrs Poole was George's wife, Ann (nee Seymour) whom he married in 1864. They had three children Ann, born 1865, who married William Hardy; Maria, born 1867, who married James Facey and Frederick, born 1870 who married Isabella Kernot. Ann died in 1916, aged 85. Ann had previously been married to Magnus Peterson, who had been born in Sweden. There were two children from this marriage Thomas, b. 1854 and Peter, born 1860. Peter was married to Caroline Kernot, Isabella's sister. Magnus died in 1861 (25).

As I said, I had initially assumed that George Poole's  obliging and attentive hostess  was his wife Ann, however, George had an on-going relationship with Mary Catherine (nee George) the widow of John Legge Strudwicke. Mary had married John Legge Strudwicke in 1871 and had two children Albert (b. 1871) and Louisa (b. 1875) and then John died in 1877.  John had been the owner of the Sherwood Hotel until his death, when the Poole family took it over. Mary's relationship with George Poole produced four children - Kate Poole Strudwicke (b. c. 1881), Richard Poole (b.c. 1882), George Poole Strudwicke (b. 1887) and Amy Poole Strudwicke (b. 1895) (so George was 54 when the first one was born and 68 when the last one was born). I can't find Kate and Richard's birth registration and George and Amy are registered twice, under both Strudwicke and George,  but have no father listed. However, both Kate and Amy have George Poole listed as their father in the Victorian Death Indexes (26). So the most obliging Mrs Poole referred to by Hawkeye is actually Mary, not Ann. I wonder what Ann thought of this - was she humiliated by George living openly with and having a family with another woman or was she glad to be rid of him and happy to live her own life or was it an amicable split that suited both of them?  George and Mary's son, young George, served in World War One and is listed on the Tooradin State School Honour Board, see here. 

The Sherwood Hotel, 1907. The Licensee, whose name is listed over the door, is John Lambell.

Image: Cranbourne Shire Historical Society

George Poole had left the Hotel around 1906 and there were a series of Licensees from 1906 - John Lambell, Robert Porter, James Donohue, David McDonald, Mary Clapperton, Frank Gibbons, Florence Johnson and finally John Hopkins.  The Sherwood Hotel was deprived of its licence on December 31 1917, after a Deprivation Sitting of the Licenses Reduction Board (27). A amendment to the Liquor Licenses Act of 1906 allowed the Board to systematically reduce the number of Victualler's licences in Victoria, taking into account public convenience and number of other Hotels in the area. I do not know when it was demolished.

Footnotes

(1) Gunson, Niel The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire (Cheshire, 1968), p. 21
(2) See my history of the Western Port Road (South Gippsland Highway), here.
(3) Mickle, David (complier) Tooradin: a history of a Sportsman's Paradise, 1875-1975 ( Tooradin 'Back to' Committee, 1975), pp. 9-11.
(4) Edwin Sawtell died April 29, 1892. His death notice in The Argus of May 14, 1892 (see here) said he was a Colonist of 56 years.
(5) Read about Mickle, Bakewell and Lyall in Niel Gunson's book - Chapter V - Victorian Lairds.
(6) Harewood property - https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/1157 and https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/30287
(7) Mickle, op. cit., 11-12; and
Tooradin: 125 years of coastal history - Blind Bight, Cannon's Creek, Sherwood, Tooradin North, Warneet 1875-2000 State school No. 1503 compiled by John Wells and the 'Tooradin Celebrates Together 125 Years of Education Committee' (The Committee, 2001) has a list of publicans of the Bridge Hotel, p. 27.
(8) Tooradin: 125 years of coastal history, op. cit., passim.
(9) https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2023/08/tooradin-mechanics-institute-and-free.html
(10) I have written about the railway line, here.
(11) Tooradin: 125 years of coastal history, op. cit., passim.
(12) Mickle, op. cit., 11-12; Gunson, op. cit., has a list of Cranbourne Shire Councillors to 1968. Information on Bay View and Isles View is from Heritage of the City of Casey: Historic sites in the former Cranbourne Shire by Graeme Butler & Associates (City of Casey, 1996)
(13) Indexes to Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages.
(14) Mickle, op. cit., pp17-18.
(15) Indexes to Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages.
(16) Heritage of the City of Casey: Historic sites in the former Cranbourne Shire, op. cit.
(17) Tooradin: 125 years of coastal history, op. cit., p. 25.
(18) It has been republished in Tooradin: 125 years of coastal history.
(19) Priestley, Susan The Crown of the Road: the story of the RACV (McMillan, 1983).
(20) Mickle, op. cit., p.22. and Cranbourne Shire Rate Books
(21) Information in this paragraph - Mickle, op. cit., p.22
(22) Information in this paragraph - Gunson, op. cit., passim. It was Dr Gunson who described George Poole as one of the most forceful personalities (p. 92).
(23) Tooradin: 125 years of coastal history, op. cit., p. 105
(24) Tooradin: 125 years of coastal history, op. cit., p. 105 and Gunson, op, cit., p. 161.
(25) Indexes to Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages.
(26) Indexes to Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages.
(27) Mickle, op. cit., p.27


Parts of this post, all of which I wrote and researched, originally appeared on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to our Past.  This is a revised version.

Tooradin State School Honour Roll

The Tooradin State School Honor Board is displayed at the Fishermans Cottage Museum, on the foreshore at Tooradin. The Museum is operated by the Cranbourne Shire Historical Society. They also have the Cranbourne Presbyterian Church Honour Board, I have written about this here.  

Tooradin State School Honour Board.

The Tooradin State School, No. 1503, was opened in 1875. The Honor Board was unveiled on April 27, 1922 by Inspector Henderson of the Education Department.

Advert in the public notices of the The Age

The Age April 25, 1922 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/18786623

Report of the unveiling of the Honor Board.

Koo Wee Rup Sun May 4, 1922

The Honor Board lists the names of men from Tooradin who served in the Great War who had an association with the Tooradin State School. Here are the soldiers, who are listed on the Board.  I have listed their Service Numbers (SN) so you can look up their full record on the National Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au  

I have used the book Tooradin: 125 years of coastal history - Blind Bight, Cannon's Creek, Sherwood, Tooradin North, Warneet 1875-2000 State school No. 1503 (1) which has  a list of students who attended the school, for some of the family information.

Alford, J   There was a  Joe Alford was at the Tooradin school around 1908 - 1910, so you would have to assume that this is J. Alford listed on the Honour Board. The 1908, 1909 Electoral Roll has a William Alford listed at Tooradin, so that fits in with Joe's commencement date at the School. There is a funeral notice in The Argus on March 23, 1909 for Annie Alford, 'late of Tooradin' this was most likely Ann Eliza Alford (nee Rogers) whose death was registered at Cranbourne - she was 72 years old. She was married to a William Alford, but at that age clearly was not the mother of a school age Joe, but possibly the grandmother. There are a number of Joseph Alfords who enlisted but none that I can find with a connection to Tooradin. Even allowing for the fact that the Joe Alford listed as a pupil in the book is a red herring, I still cannot find a J. Alford with a local connection.

Amos, Victor Anthony (SN 2868) Victor and his siblings, Cyril and Daisy enrolled at the school in 1893. Their brother, Eric,  started in 1900. Victor enlisted on June 13, 1916 at the age of 32. He was  a farmer and his next of kin was his wife, Margaret, and they were living at Leongatha. Victor Returned to Australia May 6, 1919. Victor was granted a Soldier Settlement farm, you can read his file, here, on the Battle to farm website.

Cole, William Preston (SN 3629)   William, a clerk,  enlisted on July 19, 1915 at the age of 25. William Returned to Australia May 8, 1919. William was the son of William and Charlotte Catherine Cole. His father was a Police Constable. Constable Cole was stationed at Tooradin from 1890 until 1910, when he was transferred to the  newly established Police Station at Lang Lang (2).  William was granted a Soldier Settlement farm, you can read his file, here, on the Battle to Farm website.

George Denham's Royal Navy enlistment paper

Australian War Memorial awm.gov.au/collection/R1427719

Denham, George Dunlop. George was a stoker in the Royal Navy, he enlisted on April 1, 1908 at the age of 20.
Denham, Robert Alexander (SN 392) Robert was born in Koo Wee Rup and was living in Carlton and he was a fireman when he enlisted at the age of 28 on February 17, 1915 (that's the date according to the Embarkation roll and July 17, 1915 is the date according to the Enlistment papers). His next of kin was his friend Annie Ritchie. Robert Returned to Australia July 10 1916 and was discharged on medical grounds due to a form of rheumatism.
George and Robert were the sons of John and Janet Denham. John Denham was the Cranbourne Shire Secretary from 1909 to 1911 and the Rate collector for nine years, he also had a store at Yallock and a dairy farm at Koo Wee Rup. Janet's father, Alexander Dunlop, had the Harewood Mains property at Tooradin and had a successful cheese making business (3).

Duff, Charles Alexander (SN 859 and 237) Charles enlisted on May 31, 1915 at the age of 19, then returned to Australia because of illness and the enlisted again May 16, 1916 when he was 20. Charles was Killed in Action in Belgium June 8, 1917. Charles was the son of William Tucker Duff and the grandly named, Alice Laura Constance Beauchamp Hobart. He was also the grandson of the Reverend Alexander Duff. 
Duff, T - I can't find a T. Duff with a connection to Tooradin. Charles' brother, William Vere Hobart Duff (SN 860) enlisted on January 6, 1916 aged 23. His next of kin was his wife, Brenda, of East Malvern. William Returned to Australia on January 10, 1918.
Cardinia State School established a tree plantation in honour of local soldiers in July 1917 and both Charles and William were honoured with a tree, so he is a likely candidate to also be on the Tooradin Honor Roll. You can read about the Cardinia plantation and the Reverend Duff, here.

Evans, Matthew Lance (SN 7006) Matthew was 21 when he enlisted on October 27, 1916. He was a picture framer and his next of kin was his father, Lance, of South Melbourne. Matthew was Killed in Action in France on September 18, 1918. Matthew was the son of Lance and Mary (nee Petch) Evans and the grandson of Matthew Evans. Matthew Evans (1836-1909) was an early resident of Tooradin.  You can read more about Matthew Evans, here. 

Hardy,  Horace Robert (SN 19995)   Horace enlisted on June 20, 1917 at the age of 21. He was born at Clyde and was a farmer. He Returned to Australia July 13, 1919. Horace was the son of William John Hardy (c. 1855 - 1940) and  Sophia Wells Cadd (1856 - 1919) of Dalmore. His paternal grandparents, Emling and Emily (nee Gregory) Hardy took up land at Clyde North in 1856 - Hardy Road is named after the family. His maternal grandparents were Thomas and Sarah (nee Wells) Cadd who took up land at Clyde in 1862 (4). Horace also has a tree planted in his honour in the Memorial Grove at Cardinia State School, see here.

Henderson, Leslie Rupert (SN 369) I presume that as this man is listed as R. L Henderson that he was known as Rupert, so I will call him that. Rupert enlisted on September 15, 1914. He was a 27 year old tram conductor. His was born in Tooradin and his next of kin was his mother, Mrs D.M Henderson (Mrs David Metcalf Henderson, nee Christina McKay) of Tooradin.  Rupert Returned to Australia November 15, 1918.   

Irvine, H.R You would think this would be easy to find but I cannot find  a H.R Irvine or H.R Irving who enlisted; there are no Irvines/Irvings listed in Tooradin: 125 years of Coastal History and I can't find an Irvine/Irving in the Electoral Rolls, so I am not sure who this is.

Lewitzka, Herbert John (SN  28415) Herbert was 18, a student,  when he enlisted on May 11, 1916. He was born in Beulah and his mother, Mary Schneider of Murrayville,  was his next of kin. Herbert Returned to Australia July 1, 1919. What was his connection to Tooradin? There are only two Lewitzkas who enlisted in the War, the other is his brother, Frederick James (SN 32297) who was a 24 year old farmer when he enlisted in September 1916. Mary Schneider was born Mary Jane Jeffrey and married Frederick Lewitzka in 1891, they were divorced in 1903 on the grounds of his 'habitual drunkedness' and she then married Johann August Schneider also in 1903.  Mary and Johann (or John as he was listed) are in the 1909 Electoral Roll at Tooradin, with his occupation as storekeeper (5).

McCulloch, David Stuart (SN 2107) David, who was born in Melbourne, was a 22 year old farmer from Parkes in New South Wales when he enlisted on June 26, 1917. His next of kin was his father, David, of Tralee, Parkes. David Returned to Australia May 11, 1919.  David McCulloch senior purchased the Tooradin Estate in 1880 and built the existing brick house, he was married to Janet Margaret McDonald Craik, the daughter of  Mr George Craik, owner of Kincraik in Beaconsfield Upper. Kincraik, opened in 1888, was a 32 room guest house, which had views to Western Port and the Morningon Peninsula.  The name was changed to Salisbury House in 1896 and after various changes of ownership it became a nursing home in 1989 (6). You can read an account of their wedding in the South Bourke and Mornington Journal of August 13, 1890, here. 

The obituary of David McCulloch senior, which lists his extensive land holdings including

Tooradin Estate and Tralee, Parkes.

The Argus October 2, 1944 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11363628

Milburn, John (SN 966) John was born in Tooradin and his next of kin was his mother, Emily, whose address was State School, Tooradin.  John's father, William, was the Head Teacher at Tooradin from 1886 to 1917.  John enlisted on May 6, 1915. He was a 23 year old sleeper hewer. John suffered a severe bullet wound to the right arm in September 1918, recuperated in hospital in England and Returned to Australia March 31, 1919.

Moore, C Not sure who this is. There was a Cornelius and a Richard Moore at the school in 1893, but I cannot find a Cornelius who enlisted. There is a Thomas and Mary Moore listed in the Electoral Rolls at Sherwood (which is in the region of where the Tooradin-Baxter Road intersects with the South Gippsland Highway and along to Fisheries Road) in 1905 and 1906, so this person may be connected to them.

Mundy, William James  (SN 1637)  William was a 21 year old carpenter when he enlisted on May 8, 1916. His next of kin was his wife, Jessie, of Dandenong.  William was wounded in action - gun shot wound to the neck -  in September 1918 and after a period of time in hospital in England he Returned to Australia April 19, 1919. William was born in Hastings and he was the son of Henry and Amelia (nee Kernot) Mundy. Henry Mundy was a professional fisherman at Tooradin as were members of the Kernot family. You can read more about the Kernot family, here.

Porter, J.C.  Another mystery - I cannot find a J.C Porter who enlisted with any local connections, they are not in Tooradin: 125 years of Coastal History and no local Porters on the Electoral Roll.

Robins, Arthur Welsley Underwood (SN 35 and 2271) Arthur was a 19 year old sawmiller when he enlisted on October 5, 1914. He fought at Gallipoli, was shot in the left arm and sent back to Australia and was discharged on medical grounds on April 28, 1916. Arthur then enlisted again on May 31, 1917, serving with the Flying Corps and Returned to Australia January 24, 1919.
Robins, Rufus Roy (SN 64558) Roy, is what he seems to have been known as, enlisted on June 25, 1918. He was 20 years old and an orchardist. He was sent overseas in September 1918 and Returned to Australia July 10, 1919.
Arthur and Roy were the sons of Edwin and Alice (nee Underwood) Robins. Edwin was the licensee of the Bridge Hotel at Tooradin from 1909 to 1917. When Roy enlisted in 1918 the family were living in Glen Waverley. The Robins' had another son who went to war, Henry Albert (SN 5185), he was 28, an engine driver, when he enlisted in January 1916, so too old to have attended the Tooradin State School in the time frame the family was there. Henry was wounded in action - gun shot wounds to left arm and left thigh and Returned to Australia August 1917 and was medically discharged. Bit of family history: Edwin and Alice had sixteen children between 1879 and 1905. Arthur and Roy were born in Barramunga, in the Otway Ranges, south of Forrest, and Henry was born in Sale, so the family shifted around a fair bit. Another son, Charles, married Molly Milburn in 1912, the sister of John Milburn, listed above (7).

Report on the Robins Brothers

Dandenong Advertiser June 13, 1918 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88816834

Stredwick, Ralph Edmund (SN 35910) Ralph was 22 when he enlisted on September 25, 1916. He was a labourer. Ralph Returned to Australia February 28, 1919. You can read a letter that Ralph sent back to his parents in 1918, published in the Benalla Independent on March 29, 1918, here.
Stredwick, Roger Charles (SN 218) Roger was a 21 year old dentist when he enlisted on August 19, 1914. Roger Returned to Australia July 7, 1916 and was discharged on medical grounds in February 1917 (Malaria). It appears that becoming a dentist at that time was done as an apprenticeship as Roger was listed as an apprentice to Dr Vandenberg of Benalla.
Roger and Ralph, both born at Beechworth, were the sons of William Stredwick and Ada Mary Walter, who operated the Tooradin Store from 1906 to 1909, but were living in Benalla when the boys enlisted. Roger was born in 1893 so was his stated age of 21 when he enlisted, however Ralph was born in 1898, so was actually only 18 when he enlisted, not 22 like he claimed. 

Strudwicke, George Poole (SN 7305) Surname is listed as Stredwick on the Honor Board. George was a 29 year old farmer when he enlisted on October 7, 1916. He was born in Tooradin and his next of kin was his mother, Catherine Strudwicke, of Lang Lang. George was wounded in action and had his left leg amputated and was in hospital in England for over a year before he Returned to Australia December 13, 1918. George was the son of Mary Catherine Strudwicke (nee George) and her 'partner' George Poole. George Poole was the licensee of the Sherwood Hotel, just north of Tooradin, until 1906. You can read more about the Pooles and the Sherwood Hotel, here.

Is there a connection between the Stredwick boys and George Strudwicke? They are both unusual surnames and perhaps one branch of the family changed the spelling. 

Warnes, William Edward (SN 505) William enlisted at the age of 24 on September 14, 1914. His next of kin was his mother, Elizabeth, of Cranbourne. William enrolled at Tooradin State School in 1900.  William Died of Wounds, whilst a Prisoner of War, on the Gallipoli Peninsula on August 8, 1915. 

Letter from William Warnes' kind mother, who adopted him

National Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au   

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920

William Warnes was the adopted son of Elizabeth Warnes. She wrote this letter to the Army in August 1920 and she said, in part,  the Neglected Childrens Department at Royal Park handed him to my care at the age of about sight months and when he was seven years old I adopted him and he lived me with me and my family until he enlisted and went to the War.

A touching letter written by William's friend James Pasmore to Mrs Warnes about William's death. James Pasmore (SN 486) enlisted on September 14, 1914 and Returned to Australia in February 1919.

National Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920

Footnotes

(1) Tooradin: 125 years of coastal history - Blind Bight, Cannon's Creek, Sherwood, Tooradin North, Warneet 1875-2000 State school No. 1503 compiled by John Wells and the 'Tooradin Celebrates Together 125 Years of Education Committee', published by the Committee in 2001. The book has a list of students who attended Dalmore, Tooradin and Tooradin North State Schools.

(2) Tooradin: 125 years of coastal history, op. cit., says he was transferred in 1909, as the Tooradin Police Station was closed. Protector's Plains: history of Lang Lang Primary School No.2899, 1888-1988 and district compiled by Barbara Coghlan (C.B.C. Publishing, 1988) says the Lang Lang Police Station opened in 191o. It moved because Lang Lang was closer to the McLeod Prison Farm on French Island.

(3) Gunson, Niel The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire (Cheshire, 1968)

(4) Campbell John A Clyde History: Public Hall and Mechanics'   Institute Jubilee (Back to Clyde Committee, 1978)

(5) Report of Divorce hearing - The Herald, May 15 1903, see here. 

(6) https://www.upperbeaconsfieldhistory.org.au/  and     https://upperbeaconsfield.org.au/

(7) Victorian Indexes to Births, Deaths and Marriages.

A version of this post, which I wrote and researched, has appeared on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Commemorates: Our War Years.

Dipping sheep on Quail Island, Western Port in 1866 by James H. Watson

On June 20, 1927, James H. Watson (1), the President of the Royal Australian Historical Society, Sydney presented a paper to the Historical Society of Victoria - Personal Recollections of Melbourne in the 'Sixties. It 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 (2). It transcribed below.

The trip to Quail Island took place in 1866 (3). Of interest is a description of Cranbourne at that time and a confession that he was actually responsible for the first release of rabbits onto the Island. 

Dipping sheep on Quail Island by James H. Watson. 

The writer starts the story that he was offered a plantation on a small island in Fiji, but he turned the offer down due to his lack of experience. He then continues the story -
Another island, however, came into view a little later, and one that was nearer home. On it I put in some hard work for six months, and all I got out of it was experience. The fellow passenger that I came ashore with (who has been dead for fifty years and left neither kith nor kin) some little while after our arrival leased Quail Island in Western Port, and put some sheep on it. He had had no experience of stock, and on a visit to me, explained that, if he had a mate, he thought he could make a good thing of it for both of us, my stock-in-trade being youth, strength, and willingness. I agreed to go. I well remember the day, for it was the day the news of the loss of the London (4) reached Melbourne in March, 1866.

We took coach at an hotel in Queen-street, the route being along the St. Kilda-road, turning into the Dandenong-road, passing through Dandenong to the termination of the journey at Cranbourne. I do not know whether the township, as it was called, has grown since the railway went to it, but, when I last saw it, 60 years ago, it consisted of the hotel (a long low weatherboard house, the host being named Duff (5)), the central point of the district. The next was the store, where anything that was wanted could be purchased. Then there was the Presbyterian Church, the minister of which was a brother of the landlord of the hotel (6). Two or three small cottages, and the ruins of another with a big stone bush chimney still standing, completed the town of Cranbourne. The ruined cottage is mentioned because in it lived, or rather existed, the local doctor - a clever man, but one who had the habit that many an otherwise good man has fallen a victim to. The minister kept his books and instruments, and, for special cases, he was sobered up for a couple of days, the hotel being tabooed to him till he had completed the case in hand.

The Grantville coach at the Cranbourne Hotel established by Robert and Margaret Duff. This was the hotel which James Watson visited on his way to Quail Island in 1866.

Image: The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson (Cheshire, 1968)

Having arrived at the hotel, where horses to take us on had been left in the paddock, they were rounded up, and we set off to do the 11 miles which lay between the town and Quail Island, passing the fences of Mr Cameron's run (7), skirting the town, and following a track through the thick scrub over low hills down to the bight of Western Port. This island is directly behind, or north of, French Island, which stood up about 2 miles away. 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. There were no fences, as there was no necessity for them. I soon learned that the wethers, which had been bought "stores," had brought the squatters' curse - scab - with them, and the whole flock was infected, and it was to help to eradicate this that my services were required. Preparations had been made by having a dip dug out, about 25 feet x 15 feet x 3 feet, on the margin of which several 400-gallon iron tanks were placed on stone foundations, and under which fires were made to boil the water. For several days water was carted in hogsheads on drays and sledges, till the dip was partly filled and the tanks were filled. This was very hard work, as the water had to be hand-loaded by bucket and the tanks filled from the drays in the same way. The dip was easily supplied direct from the hogsheads by pulling out the plug. The water was procured from the water-holes by backing the drays to a sapling jetty and filling the casks by a bucket and funnel. All this was most laborious work, and occupied half a dozen of us from morning till night, but the weather was fine and bright.

Before the dipping commenced, every sheep and lamb on the place had to be "dressed." We rounded them up from all parts of the island where they would be hidden away in the scrub. Our dogs had unfortunately been poisoned by the bait that had been set for eaglehawks which took the lambs, so we had to keep shouting to get them on the run and into a race at the stockyard, when, one by one, they were passed through our hands and dressed with spirits of tar.

The Swan, which transported the wool from Quail Island to Melbourne.

Image: Western Port Wrecks and Maritime Mishaps by Arthur E. Woodley (Lock Haven books, 1992)

I may here say, as I remarked previously, 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. I have overlooked the fact that all these had been shorn previous to the dip, the wool baled and sent by the regular Western Port trading cutter Swan, owned and sailed by a man named Lock (8), to Melbourne. The fires were made up and burning for the two days the dressing was being done. When that was over, the boiling water was run into the dip, with the result that there was a tepid bath, knee-deep, ready for the sheep, which were put through the race and seized by us who were standing in the water and thoroughly soused and rubbed and placed in a draining race at the opposite end to which they had entered. This took two days, the fires going to keep up the tepid heat. After this was completed and some weeks passed to allow the shear-marks to grow out of the wool and the colour of the dip to disappear (as the American Essence of Tobacco, which was the scab cure used in the dip, had discoloured it), a permit to travel was issued by the inspector (which was necessary before they could go on the roads), they were all sent to the Melbourne yards and sold. Then my days as an embryo squatter (as all kinds of graziers in those days were misnamed) came to an end, and I returned to town to take up again a business life.

I should have stated earlier that an incident occurred shortly after my arrival on the island which at the time was considered most laudable, but, if perpetrated now, would bring the strong arm of the law down on any who did it. It was the receipt of several cases of pairs of rabbits. They were purchased in Melbourne and came from Barwon Park, the station near Geelong of Mr. Thomas Austin (9), and were the offspring of some he had had sent to him in 1859 by the ship Lightning, his importation by that vessel consisting of 56 partridges, 4 hares, and 26 rabbits. As I knocked the lids off the cases, the rabbits scampered off into the scrub. I cannot remember how many there were, but I think about ten pairs. The result of the experiment I do not know.

I may add that Messrs. Herbert Power (10) and Reginald Bright (11) took up the island and had placed a big Highland Scot in charge before we left, as gamekeeper, the intention being to stock it with pheasants, partridges, &c. What success attended it I am unable to say.

Footnotes
(1) James Henry Watson (1841-1934). Read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here.
(2) State Library of Victoria https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/search-discover/popular-digitised-collections
(3) Mr Watson wrote a letter to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald of February 20, 1926 on the subject of rabbits and said they released the rabbits on Quail Island in September 1866. Read letter here. See also Footnote 8.
(4) The London foundered in the Bay of Biscay with 220 drowned and 19 saved. Most of the passengers were Australians returning from England. Read accounts in The Argus of March 16, 1866, here and the Sydney Morning Herald of the same date, here.
(5) Robert Duff (1827 - 1861). Robert and his wife Margaret (c.1832 - 1902) established the Cranbourne Hotel, around 1860. It was in High Street, where Greg Clydesdale Square is now and was demolished around the 1970s. Read more, here (scroll to bottom of the post).
(6) Reverend Alexander Duff (1824-1890), read more here (scroll to bottom of the post).
(7) Alexander Cameron (1815 - 1881) took over the Mayune lease in 1851. At later land sales he purchased 592 acres, the Pre-emptive Right, on the corner of what is now Cameron Street and the South Gippsland Highway and renamed renamed the property Mayfield, read more in The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson (Cheshire, 1968)
(8) The cutter Swan and Captain Lock. The following information comes from Western Port Wrecks and Maritime Mishaps by Arthur E. Woodley (Lock Haven books, 1992) Captain John Lock was one of Phillip Island's pioneer settlers, who for a good many years contributed greatly to the early development of the Western Port area. In 1897 Captain Lock was presented with a bravery medal from the Royal Humane Society for rescuing the sole survivor of a boat upset, off Mornington. The Swan, built about 1815 as a French cutter, arrived in Tasmania about 1837 and traded between Tasmania and Victoria until Captain Lock purchased it in Hobart and converted it into a ketch. It was run down by the steamer Queenscliffe, off Cape Schanck in October 1906, fortunately with no loss of life. Interestingly, Arthur Woodley says that Captain John Lock did not commence trading to and from Western Port with the Swan until late 1868 or early 1869 which does not tally with Mr Watson's date of 1866. John Bamara Lock died August 8, 1908 aged 75 (death notice in The Leader August 15, 1908, see here).
(9) Thomas Austin (1815-1871), of Barwon Park, Winchelsea is 'credited' with introducing the rabbit into Australia. His wife Elizabeth (nee Harding, 1821-1910) was a philanthropist, who established the Austin Hospital in 1882. Read Thomas' Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here, and Elizabeth's here.
(10) Herbert Power - The son of Thomas Herbert Power (1801-1873) who took up the Eumemmerring Run in 1864 - the run went from around the Dandenong Creek all the way to Berwick. Power Road, Doveton is named after him. Herbert Power died in 1919, aged 83. You can read his obituary in the Australasian of June 7, 1919, here. You can read about the Eumemmerring run, here.
(11) Reginald Bright - a partner in the firm of Gibbs, Bright & Co. He arrived in Victoria in 1852 and died in London in 1920. There is a short obituary in the Darling Downs Gazette of September 17, 1920, see here.

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

Shires of Berwick and Cranbourne - a timeline of their history

This is a time line of local government in this area -

1842 - The Town of Melbourne created - the first local government body in Victoria.

1860 - Cranbourne Road Board proclaimed June 19. The first members of the Cranbourne Road Board were Dr James Smith Adams, Chairman, who owned Balla Balla Estate; James Bruce, owner of Sherwood Park; Richard Burgh Chomley, owner of Tongola at Lyndhurst; James Lecky, Cranbourne land-owner who also owned the Cardinia Creek property; Edward Malloy, owner of Mayune property; Alexander Patterson, owner of St Germains Estate; Christopher Bond Peed, owner of Springmount; Patrick Thompson, owner of Oaklands, Lyndhurst and John Wedge, owner of Johnswood at Lyndhurst. Population of the Road Board area was 857.

1861 - The town of Berwick and the town of Cranbourne proclaimed on February 25.

1862 - Berwick Road Board proclaimed September 29. The first members of the Berwick Road Board were John Brisbane (Chairman), early Berwick landowner; Robert Bain, the owner of the Border Hotel (Berwick Inn) in Berwick; Francis Barr, a Berwick land owner; Michael Bourke, owner of the La Trobe Inn, later known as Bourke’s Hotel, at Pakenham; James Buchanan, owner of Ardblair, who later went on to be a Member of the Legislative Council; David Connor, licensee of the New Bunyip Hotel on the Bunyip River; John Pitman, Pakenham landowner; John Startup of Mount Ararat Station; John Troup, land owner at Narre Warren North and Gotlieb Wanke, a land owner at Harkaway. The Road Board met at the Border Hotel (Berwick Inn)

1865 - Shire of Berwick Council chambers built in High Street.

1868 - Shire of Cranbourne proclaimed February 24. The Road Board members then became the first Councillors. They were James Lecky - Shire President; Edward Malloy, Alexander Patterson, William Norquay, Frederick Poole of Triuna, Lyndhurst; Edward John Tucker, owner of the Cranbourne Hotel; Thomas Keys, George Poole and Herbert Foley who owned Sherwood Park.

1868 - Shire of Berwick proclaimed, May 5. The Road Board members then became the first Councillors. They were James Wilson, Shire President; John Brisbane, David Connor, Joseph Smith, H. Smith, John T. Dobson (who later became a member of the Ferntree Gully Council when the Scoresby Ward was annexed to the new Shire in 1889), Francis Barr, Thomas Henty, owner of Pakenham Park at Pakenham and James Buchanan.

1873 - The 'agricultural area of Lang Lang' was annexed to the Shire of Cranbourne on July 4

1875 - Cranbourne Shire Offices opened March 6

1889 - The Scoresby Ward of the Shire of Berwick, including Scoresby, Fern Tree Gully, Clematis, parts of Emerald and Avonsleigh was severed from Berwick and became the Shire of Fern Tree Gully on May 23.

1893 - Yannathan and Lang Lang East annexed from the Shire of Buln Buln to the Shire of Cranbourne on January 23.

1902 - Shire of Berwick Offices move to Pakenham Mechanics’ Institute.

1912 - Shire of Berwick Offices open in Main Street Pakenham, corner of John Street.

1963 - Shire of Fern Tree Gully split and the Shire of Knox was formed on November 16 (it became a City on July 4, 1969) The remains of the Shire of Fern Tree Gully were renamed Shire of Sherbrooke and this was announced in the Victorian Government Gazette of December 23, 1964.

1973 - The City of Berwick and the Shire of Pakenham were formed on October 1, when the Shire of Berwick split. The Shire of Pakenham continued to use the Main Street Offices and the City of Berwick used temporary buildings in Kays Avenue, Hallam until the Civic Centre opened in 1978.

1978 - Cranbourne Shire Offices officially opened in Sladen Street, April 22

1978 - Civic Centre at Narre Warren opened December 8. Demolished in 2018.

1979 - Cr Jeune Matthews first female Shire President of the Shire of Pakenham.

1980 - Cr Jan Bateman, City of Berwick’s first female Mayor of the City of Berwick

1983 - Shire of Pakenham Offices opened July 28 in Henty Way

1988 - Cr Judy Elso, first female Shire President of the Shire of Cranbourne

1994 - City of Cranbourne created on April 22

1994 - The City of Casey and the Cardinia Shire officially came into being on the December 15 at 4.00pm.
The City of Casey was created from the western section of the short-lived City of Cranbourne (Cranbourne, Tooradin, Pearcedale, Devon Meadows, Hampton Park etc) and the entire City of Berwick.
The Cardinia Shire was created from the Shire of Pakenham, the eastern end of the City of Cranbourne (Koo-Wee-Rup, Lang Lang, Yannathan, Bayles, Catani etc) plus Emerald, Clematis and Avonsleigh which were annexed from the Shire of Sherbrooke. Langwarrin and Carrum Downs went to the City of Frankston from the City of Cranbourne.
The City of Cranbourne, Shire of Pakenham and City of Berwick ceased to exist on December 15.

2014 - Cardinia Shire Offices opened on November 17 in Officer.

2014 - Cardinia and Casey both turn 20 on December 15.

2017 - City of Casey Offices - Bunjil Place - opened October 28/29

Sources
Victoria Government Gazettes  http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/

Shire of Berwick

Early days of Berwick and its surrounding districts - Beaconsfield, Upper Beaconsfield, Harkaway, Narre Warren and Narre Warren North complied by Norman Beaumont, James Curran and R.H Hughes. It was first published in 1948, revised in 1959 and 1979 and finally republished with an index in 2005.
From Bullock Tracks to Bitumen: a brief history of the Shire of Berwick (Historical Society of Berwick Shire, 1962)

In the Wake of the Pack Tracks: a history of the Shire of Berwick, now the City of Berwick and the Shire of Pakenham (Berwick Pakenham Historical Society, 1982)

Shire of Cranbourne
The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson (Cheshire, 1968)
The Good Country: Into the dawn of a new day (1968-1988) by Fred Hooper (Shire of Cranbourne, 1988)

Shire of Fern Tree Gully

The story of the Dandenongs 1838-1958 by Helen Coulson (Cheshire, 1959)

Other information came from resources we have in the Casey Cardinia Libraries Archive, where I used to work and where I first compiled this list for my then work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to Our Past and because I use it frequently, I decided to put it on here as well.

World War One Soldiers and a Nurse with connections to French Island

French Island is not part of any Local Government area, nor is it part of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp, but you can see it from the Swamp, so that is reason enough to write about it. I have written a history of French Island, here. 

French Island Honour Board, in the War Memorial Hall

Image: Heather Arnold

This post looks at World War soldiers and a Nurse with connections to French Island. I have included  their Service Number (SN) so you can look up their full service record at the National Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au

Most of these  people are listed on the French Island Honour Board, located at the French Island War Memorial Hall. There may be more who should be in this list, feel free to let me know. The main towns on French Island are Tankerton and Fairhaven.

This article from the Powlett Express said that there were 19 men 

who had enlisted by 1916

Powlett Express February 25 1916   http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130662774

Bayford, Hugh Staynes (SN 1878) Hugh was 25 years old when he enlisted on February 7 1916. His next of kin was his mother, Sarah Bayford, who lived in Moreland. According to the Electoral Rolls Hugh had been  a farmer on French Island since 1909. Hugh was Wounded in Action on three occasions, including sustaining a gun shot wound to his right eye and Returned to Australia on November 8, 1918.

Bennetts, Albert Edward (SN 7029)  Albert enlisted on January 25, 1916 at the age of 34. He was a farmer from Fairhaven, had been born in Aldinga in South Australia and his next of kin was his brother, Ernest, who also lived at Fairhaven.  Albert Returned to Australia on June 2, 1919 and according to the Electoral Rolls returned to living on French Island.

Bond, Frederick William (SN 585)  Frederick was a 28 year old miner when he enlisted on September 5, 1914 at Rosebery Park in New South Wales. His next of kin was his father, James Bond, of French Island and after he passed way his mother Emma of North Fitzroy became the next of kin. Corporal Bond was Killed in Action at Gallipoli on April 27, 1915. His Roll of Honour Circular at the Australian War Memorial says that Frederick attended Perseverance School No. 3261 on French Island. His will left everything to his sister, Kathleen Sisson, of Tankerton. 

Report of the death of Corporal Bond

The Argus June 8, 1915   http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1522685

Chapman, Albert Claude (SN 2790) A.C Chapman is listed on the Honour Board and there is an Albert Claude Chapman on the Electoral Roll at Fairhaven in 1918, occupation farmer so I presume they are the same people, however I cannot actually link Albert to French Island through any information in his service record. Albert enlisted on November 30, 1916 aged 32, his occupation was warehouseman, his address on enlistment was Hawthorn. Albert was born in England and his next of kin was his father who lived in London. Albert Returned to Australia January 25, 1919.

Chilcott, Frank William Leslie  (SN 5673) Frank enlisted on February 7, 1916 aged 24, he was a farmer. His next of kin was his mother, Margaret Chilcott, of French Island. Frank Returned to Australia on June 12, 1919.

Collinson, John Henry (SN Depot)   J. Henry Collinson is listed on the Honour Board and  the Electoral Roll lists a John Henry Collinson at Fairhaven from 1918 until 1927. I presume this is the same John Henry Collinson who enlisted on May 22 1915 at the age of 21. He was an electrician and his next of kin was his mother, Harriet, of  Hull in Yorkshire. John was discharged as unfit for military service on July 5, 1915 due to overlapping toes, the first toe on both feet overlap the big toe was the note on his record.

Collinson, Wilfred (SN 2210)  Wilfred was born in Hull, in Yorkshire in England, as was John, above, so I believe they were brothers. Wilfred enlisted at age of 19 on November 16, 1914. He was an Engineer and his father was his next of kin and he also lived in Hull. Wilfred Returned to Australia on April, 10 1919.There are two letters in Wilfred's file from Mrs Jean Harrop, Long View,  Tankerton  one dated May 26, 1919 and the other dated June 5 1919 (see below) asking for information about Wilfred. In one letter she writes I am intensely interested and would like correct information. The response was that they didn't have an official report on Collinson but if they did they would communicate with his next of kin, his father. I wonder who Mrs Harrop was? She was also connected to Alfred Pocock, below.

Letter from Mrs Jean Harrop enquiring about the well being of Wilfred Collinson.

National Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920

Cremin, J  The Honour Roll lists a J. Cremin and according to the National Archives there were only two Cremins who enlisted - John Francis Cremin (SN 593) and a Samuel Cremin (SN 369). There was however, a James Stuart Cremen (SN 838) who also enlisted. So if we eliminate Samuel then we are left with John and James. I think we can eliminate James Stuart Cremen as he was born, worked (as a crockery packer) and enlisted in Sydney, the surname spelling is irrelevant as I have seen lots of incorrect surnames on Honour Boards. That leaves us with John Francis Cremin (SN 593) John  was born in Scotland, his next of kin was his mother who lived in London. He enlisted on April 16, 1915 at Broadmeadows at the age of 21 and he was a Clerk. John married Ada May Lambourne in May 1917 when he was in England. John Returned to Australia on June 16, 1919 and the couple are listed in the Electoral Rolls in the 1920s as living in Prahran. Is John the J. Cremin listed on the Honour Roll? I can find nothing that connects him to French Island, but I feel that he's the most likely candidate,  but happy to be proven wrong.

Cuttriss, John  (SN 1135)  John was a 27 year old motor boatman of Fairhaven when he enlisted at the age of 27 on March 6, 1916. His next of kin was his father, Alfred, of Inverloch.  John Returned to Australia January 10, 1918 and was discharged on medical  grounds in August 1918, due to a gun shot wound to the right elbow. John was granted a Soldier Settlement farm, you can read his file on the Battle to farm website, here.

Edhouse, Charles Edward (SN 333a)  Charles was a 21 year old farm hand when he enlisted on April 24, 1916. His next of kin was his mother, who lived in England.  His address on the Embarkation Roll was care of R. De La Haye, Fairhaven, French Island. Charles Returned to Australia July 9, 1919.

Gillings, Robert (SN 19847)  Robert was a 22 year old labourer, from French Island,  and he enlisted on November 23, 1915. Robert's next of kin was his father who lived in England. Robert married 19 year old Clare Maude Baxter in England on April 29, 1917. He Returned to Australia on February 19, 1919.

Griffiths, Ivor (SN 5377) Ivor was born in Wales and he enlisted on January 15, 1916 aged 24. He was a farmer from Tankerton and his next of kin was his sister, who lived in Cardiff. Ivor Returned to Australia December 12, 1918.

Haward, Martin Francis (SN 17859) Martin  enlisted on April 3, 1917, he was a 24 year old telephone mechanic. His next of kin was his father, Herbert Robertson Haward, of Tankerton. Martin Returned to Australia June 16, 1919. Martin had some connection to Footscray as he is listed in the Footscray Independent in the list of local recruits. Martin was born in Collingwood, his parents Herbert and Annie are in the Electoral Roll at French Island from 1909 and he gave his address as Tankerton on enlistment, but he did enlist in Footscray, so I presume he was working and living in the area, which would make sense as he was telephone mechanic and there was probably not much call for that on French Island. His next of kin later changed to his wife, Helena, and she lived in Paisley Street in Footscray. They married in 1917, obviously after his enlistment.

Martin listed as a local recruit in Footscray

Footscray Independent February 10, 1917 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/74256014

Hill, James (SN 2782) - see below under Charles Williams.

Iliff, George Robert (SN 1734) George enlisted on May 20, 1915, he was a 22 year old labourer. He served overseas but suffered a number of bouts of disease and Returned to Australia on October 17, 1916 and was medically discharged in April 1917.
Iliff, Joseph Ludwig (SN 6334) Joseph was a 29 year old farm labourer when he enlisted on October 25, 1916. He Returned to Australia August 8, 1919.
Iliff, William Charles (SN 1137) William enlisted at the age of 24 on July 28 1915. He Returned to Australia April 8, 1919. William was granted a Soldier Settlement farm after his return on Eight Mile Road at Nar Nar Goon - you can read about this on the Battle to Farm website here.
George, Joseph and William were brothers and their next of kin was their mother, Bertha, of Tankerton. Their father, Joseph, had died in 1905.

Leppke, William. William Leppke is listed on Discovering Anzacs website as having enlisted in 1915 when he was living on French Island. His official record has not been digitised and is part of the National Archives Series 'Applications to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force' which covers 'records for those individuals who applied to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force, and were either rejected, discharged while still in training, or went on to serve within Australia only [usually as depot troops or camp guards]. The most common reason for rejection is on medical grounds'. So apart from the fact that he was 28 years old and born in East Prussia, that's all I know about him. 

Lovie, William Wallace (SN 14077) William enlisted on February 1, 1916 at the age of 21. He was from Fairhaven, a farmer,  and his next of kin was his father John Francis Taylor Lovie, also of Fairhaven. He Returned to Australia on June 2, 1919.

William returned to French Island after the War, he wrote this letter from his property Bonnie Doon, in 1923.

National Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920

Maddaford, Alfred (SN 2035) Alfred enlisted on July 28, 1915 at the age of 26, he was a farmer. He was discharged on medical grounds in June 1916 as he had 'chronic epilepsy'
Maddaford, Richard James (SN 2949) Richard enlisted at the age of 28 on February 18, 1916 and his occupation was farm labourer. He was Killed in Action in France on April 24 1918. There was an article about his death in the Powlett Express, see below.
Richard and Alfred both had their sister Lily (sometimes spelt Lillie) as their next of kin. When Alfred enlisted her address was Ballarat (where they were born) but when Richard enlisted her address was Tankerton. However according to the Electoral Roll, in 1909 Richard and Lily were both on French Island and in 1912 Richard and Alfred were both living on French Island and Lily had moved back to Ballarat, but was obviously back on the Island by 1916.

Report on the death of Private Richard Maddaford

Powlett Express June 7 1918    http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130665657

Meade, Frederick John (SN 4730) Frederick was born in Cranbourne and was a 36 year old labourer and a widower and he enlisted on February 23, 1916. His address on the Embarkation roll is French Island and his next of kin was a friend, Miss Maggie D'Arth of Stony Point.  He was discharged on medical grounds in May 1916 due to multiple fistulas which caused an abscess. Frederick married Maggie and they had three children, Charles, Frederick and Vera and are listed on the Electoral Rolls at French Island, until at least 1936.

Nicholls, Richard Wilfred (SN 4154) Richard was only 18 when he enlisted on October 26, 1915. He was a farm labourer and had been born in Swansea in England.  His next of kin was his father, who lived in England and his address was c/o his friend, Miss Nellie Bond, of  Sproxton, Tankerton. Nellie was the sister of Frederick Bond, listed above, who was killed at Gallipoli and the sister-in-law to Ernest Sisson (see below). Richard was awarded the Military Medal and Returned to Australia on January 18, 1919. Richard married Violet Laura Cooper on July 10, 1917 when he was in England. 

Pocock, Alfred James William (SN 6883)  Alfred  enlisted at the age of  18 on February 12, 1917. He was born in England, occupation was farming labourer and his next of kin was his father of The Grange in Dandenong (although his Embarkation record says his father lived in View Street, Mont Albert) Alfred went overseas and was wounded in action in May 1918 (gun shot wound arm and left thigh) and he Returned to Australia on January 22, 1920. We can connect Albert to French Island as his enlistment paper  has his address as c/o Mrs Harrop, Tankerton, French Island, the  same Mrs Harrop who wrote two letters enquiring after the well being of Wilfred Collinson (see above) - in fact it's the same writing so she must have filled out Alfred's application form.

From Alfred Pocock's enlistment papers

National Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au   

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920

Ratford, John (SN 2982) John enlisted on February 5, 1916. He was a 22 year old labourer. John Returned to Australia on March 5, 1919. John was granted as Soldier Settlement on French Island, you can read his file on the Battle to Farm website, here.
Ratford, William John (SN 1493) William enlisted on August 24, 1914 at the age of 23. He was a farmer. On August 2, 1915 William received a gun shot wound to his femur and he Returned to Australia on December 4, 1915 and was medically discharged on April 11, 1916. William was also granted a Soldier Settlement farm, read his file here.
John and William are the sons of John and Mary Eliza (nee Roberts) Ratford of Tankerton.

There is an interesting account of  a cricket match between French Island and Tooradin in the Mornington Standard of May 17, 1919, which mentions the return of John Ratford to the team after an absence of three years at a more strenuous game. You can read the full article here.

Report on John Ratford's return to the French Island Cricket team

Mornington Standard May 17, 1919    http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65852539

Ross, Clara Louisa.  Matron Ross was born on French Island and she enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service on November 4, 1914. She was 40 years old and had over 21 years of nursing experience. She had trained at the Melbourne Hospital and had also worked at the Women's and Infectious Diseases Hospitals, as well as being the Matron at the Ararat Hospital.  Matron Ross served in Egypt and France and was awarded the Order of the British Empire medal (O.B.E) on June 3, 1919 in recognition of valuable services rendered in connection with the War. Clara also received the Royal Red Cross Decoration, 1st Class 'in recognition of her valuable services in connection with the War' on June 21, 1918. Clara Returned to Australia on August 22, 1919. Clara was the daughter of Alexander and Margaret (nee Ashenden) Ross and she died in Melbourne in 1953, aged 78.

Report on Matron Ross' award

The Sydney Sun September 15, 1918  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221419852

Sisson, Ernest William  (SN 6641) Ernest enlisted on February 17, 1916 at the age of 31. He was a farmer and a widower. Ernest had married Kathleen Bond in 1914 and she passed away in  April 1915 at the age of 26. Kathleen was the daughter of James and Emma (nee Witts) Bond and the sister of Frederick Bond, listed above. Ernest remarried when he was in England to Evaline Gillins and he Returned to Australia on May 12, 1918. Ernest was Medically Discharged on August 14, 1918, suffering from 'Myelogenenus Leukaemia.'  Ernest and Evaline are listed in the Electoral Rolls at Tankerton until at least 1954.

Thompson, William (SN 61937) William was 23 when he enlisted on December 17, 1917. He was a 23 year old farmer and his next of kin was his father, Joseph, of Tankerton. He embarked from Melbourne on October 5, 1918, arrived at Cape Town in South Africa in early November, where he was in hospital with the measles and then Returned to Australia on December 4, 1918.

Toebelmann, Arnold (SN 613) Arnold was born on French Island and he enlisted on March 25, 1916 at the age of 19. He was a nursery hand. He was the son of  Johann and Amelia Toebelmann of Moorooduc. Because Arnold's father was born in Germany,  but was naturalised, it appears he had to get a reference from the local Council, to prove he was a fit and loyal subject. Arnold was Killed in Action in Belgium on October 4, 1917

Arnold's reference from the Shire of Frankston and Hastings.

National Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920

Walden, Charles William (SN 20362) Charles was a 23 years farm labourer when he enlisted on September 1, 1915. Charles got married when he was overseas in April 1919 and Returned to Australia on July 23, 1919. His wife's name was listed as Minnie Maria Walden, so did he marry a cousin or was it just a coincidence that they had the same surname?
Walden, Henry (SN 6137) Henry enlisted on March 8, 1916 at the age of 21, he was also a farm labourer. He served overseas and sustained a gun shot wound to his right thigh on August 23, 1918 and Returned to Australia December 12, 1918.
Charles was born in Cheshire in England and Henry in Barry Island in Wales and they were the sons of Charles William and Caroline Florence Walden of Tankerton. 

Williams, Charles (SN 5782) Charles enlisted on February 17, 1916, he was a 24 year old farmhand from Tankerton. He was born in London and his next of kin was his mother, Mary, who lived in London. Charles was Wounded in Action (gun shot wound, right thigh) on December 22, 1916, which required his leg to amputated and he passed away on January 12, 1917. There is a Statuary Declaration in his military file signed on September 11, 1916, where Charles states that his real name is James Hill, not Charles Williams. His Roll of Honour Circular at the Australian War Memorial, completed by his mother,  is under his real name and it says he came to Australia when he was 21 years old and that he was 28 when he died, which doesn't tally with his age on enlistment. It would be interesting to know why he enlisted under  a false name.

Yeomans, J The French Island Honour Board lists a J. Yeomans, not sure who this is. Possibilities are - 

Joseph Yeomans (SN 332)

John William Yeomans (SN Depot)

Lieutenant Julian Clyde Yeoman

James Yeoman (SN Depot)

James Yeoman (SN 1696) 

Captain John Stanhope Yeoman. 

I cannot connect any of them to French Island.

This memorial is outside the War Memorial Hall at Tankerton. It lists the Great War Soldiers on the left and the World War Two soldiers and one Boer War soldier, J. Christopherson, on the right. 

Image: Heather Arnold

The Boer War soldier - J. Christopherson is John Arnold Christopherson ( 1835-1927). He was a French Island resident - from, I believe around 1893, and had previously been a school teacher in Collingwood and Richmond. John was an officer in the Victorian Volunteer Force and the Second Battalion of Militia Rifles and retired from his commission (he attained the rank of Major) in December 1888. He was also in the Victorian Rifle Association, involved with the School Cadet Force, but he never served in the Boer War in South Africa. He was always referred to as Major Christopherson, so perhaps that's why it was assumed he served there. I will write about him one day, in the meanwhile, I have created  a short list of articles on him on Trove, here. 

A version of this story, which I wrote and researched,  appears on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Commemorates: Our War Years