South Eastern Historical Association Inc.

Category: Local History

  • The Serendipitous Nature of Historical Research

    One of the things I love about history is the connections between people and places that just pop up when you least expect them. In my ‘work life’, I am the Local History Librarian at Casey Cardinia Library Corporation. Amongst my duties I maintain the local history blog http://caseycardinialinkstoourpast.blogspot.com/

    I did a blog post on Captain Robert Gardiner, an early Berwick landowner, and found out that he had met Burke and Wills and was the great grandfather of Sir Robert Helpmann (1909-1986), the ballet dancer. It is these sorts of connections that make history so interesting. In fact, when I found out the Helpmann connection I rushed in and told my husband, ‘Guess what, Captain Robert Gardiner is the great grandfather of Sir Robert Helpmann’ and he was so totally unenthusiastic that had he been a teenager he would have said, ‘Yeah, whatever’.

    But I had to share the news so I rang another librarian at home and told her all about it and she was impressed, as I knew she would have been. I know now that unless the historical information is about old trucks, I don’t bother sharing the news with my husband! I thought you might be interested in hearing about Captain Robert Gardiner and his connections. Gardiner was one of the earliest European settlers in the Berwick area. He took up a pastoral lease, in 1837, south of Berwick. By 1853, Gardiner is listed on the Parish Plan of Berwick as owning over 1350 hectares (3300 acres). His original run was called Berwick which gave the town of Berwick its name.

    And here’s another interesting connection. Gardiner owned Crown Allotment 17 and built a brick cottage and stone barn on the site, which are both still standing. This property was called Melville Park. Melville Park later became known as Edrington. Edrington was the home of Lord and Lady Casey. Lord Casey was the Governor General of Australia between 1965 and 1969. Gardiner was responsible for the name Berwick and 150 years later, in a neat parallel, another resident
    of Melville Park / Edrington was responsible for the name of the City of Casey, as Casey was named in honour of Lord Casey at its creation in 1994.

    Gardiner was born in Scotland in 1812. He, and his first wife Susan Foley (1818-1865), had five children. In 1854 he leased Bolinda Vale and Redrock estates (in the Sunbury/Romsey area) from William John Turner Clarke. Clarke had been a neighbour of Gardiner’s at Berwick. It was whilst he was at Bolinda Vale that Gardiner encountered the Burke and Wills expedition. Burke and Wills had left Royal Park on the 20th of August, 1860. The entourage consisted of 18 people, 24
    camels, 23 horses and seven wagons and it was anticipated that they would cover 32 kms (20 miles) a day. Their third camp was at Bolinda Vale on August 22nd and according to the diary of Ludwig Becker,  the Naturalist on the Expedition,
    Gardiner ‘provided hospitality for the party and fodder for the animals without charge’. I was amazed when I found this connection between Gardiner and Burke and Wills. The Burke and Wills story is familiar to most of us and I felt a bit chuffed to have a local connection. I found this connection just by ‘googling’ Gardiner’s name. The diary entries can be found by following this link http://calisto.slv.vic.gov.au/latrobejournal/issue/latrobe-22/t1-g-t1.html

    In January, 1868 Gardiner took up the lease of the Mount Schank Station in Mount Gambier at the cost of 10,000 pounds per annum. Mount Schank, as with Bolinda Vale, was owned W.J.T. Clarke. Lynne from the Narre Warren Family History Group had supplied the genealogical details on Gardiner and the Mount Gambier connection. When I read that, I rushed to my Mt Gambier history book (luckily for me I am an avid collector of local histories) and it mentions that Gardiner was ‘keenly interested in Mount Gambier and district affairs’. He donated a very fine pipe organ to the St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in 1884 and the same year donated the money for a fountain in the Cave Gardens. This fountain is said to be the first large marble fountain made in ‘the colonies’ and was made in Melbourne. The Helpmann connection comes from Captain Gardiner’s granddaughter Mary who married James Helpman in 1907 in Mount Gambier. Apparently, Sir Robert added another ‘n’ to his surname for appearances sake.

    It seems, from the date of the donations of the organ and fountain, that Captain Gardiner maintained his interest in Mount Gambier after he left the area as he built a very grand house, Mintaro, for himself near Lancefield in 1882. It was designed by James Gall and has been described as the ‘other Government House’. The National Trust says it is an ‘outstanding example of nineteenth century domestic architecture in the grand Italianate manner’. This house is still standing and can be found on the Melbourne-Lancefield Road at Monegeeta. Gardiner died in South Yarra in 1889.

    When I started looking into Captain Gardiner, a local pioneer, I had no idea that I would discover that he had as diverse connections as Burke and Wills the explorers and Robert Helpmann, a ballet dancer, but the unexpected and serendipitous connections and information that you might discover along the way are one of the joys of research.

    Sources

    • Mount Gambier : the city around the cave – a regional history by Les R. Hill. Published by the author in 1972.
    • The information from theLudwig Becker diary camefrom the La Trobe Journal, No.22 1978 published by the StateLibrary of Victoria.
    • The Information on Gardiner’sconnection to Bolinda Vale andRedrock comes from the Cityof Hume Heritage Study,available on their website www.hume.vic.gov.au

    *Originally published in South Eastern Heritage Issue 8 May 2008 and written by Heather Arnold.

  • Fisherman’s Cottage Museum Complex, Tooradin

    Fisherman's Cottage, TooradinThe February meeting of the SEHA was held at the Fisherman’s Cottage Museum on the Foreshore at Tooradin. The Museum is operated by the Cranbourne Shire Historical Society. The curator and caretaker, Rosemary Mynard, gave guided tours of the Museum throughout the day. The Museum is housed in an old cottage, built c.1873. The builder was most likely Matthew Evans who was an early landowner in Tooradin.
    Evans owned most of the early town lots in Tooradin and donated land for the Anglican Church in 1890.The cottage is one of the earliest houses built in Tooradin and one of the few remaining examples of the fishermen’s houses that originally dotted both sides of Sawtell’s Inlet at Tooradin in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century.

    Amongst the owners of the Cottage was Isabella Poole (nee Kernot) who owned it from 1910 until 1949. Isabella’s father, Henry Foreman Kernot, was a fisherman who had arrived in Tooradin from Hastings in about 1876. Isabella’s father-inlaw, George Poole, and his two brothers Fred and Thomas were early Cranbourne Shire settlers and some of their descendents were involved in the fishing industry at Tooradin.

    The Cottage was saved from demolition in 1968 by the action of the foundation members of the Cranbourne Shire Historical Society. Mrs Kath Metherall (the winner of the Garryowen trophy at the Royal Melbourne Show on two occasions),
    Mrs Peggy Banks and Mrs Jess Ayres were concerned about the possible demolition of the Cottage so they approached the Cranbourne Shire to purchase it. The Shire did so on the proviso that the group raise half the purchase price of
    $6000 and payback the council, which they did eventually. This battle to preserve the Cottage sparked the formation of the Cranbourne Shire Historical Society in August 1968. Many local families donated furnishings and household items to the Museum and the Cottage still receives donations from early families of material of local historical significance.

    The School building behind the Museum was originally erected at Monomeith in 1925. After it closed in 1933 it was shifted to the Tooradin North site where it was opened in 1935. The building served the Tooradin North community until it was closed in 1971. The owners of the School site donated the building to the Historical Society and with the generous support of the City of Casey the School was re-opened as a Heritage Education Centre in October 2005.

    The Museum is open week-ends from 10.30am until 4.30pm and for group visits, at other times, by appointment. Ring Rosemary on 03 5998 3643.

    Further Reading

    The Good Country : Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson (Published by the Shire of Cranbourne, 1968)

    • The Good Country – into the dawn of a new day,1968-1988 by Fred Hooper (Published by theShire of Cranbourne, 1988)
    • Tooradin : 125 years of Coastal History, 1875-2000(Published by the “Tooradin celebrates together125 years of Education Committee”, 2001)

    *Originally published in South Eastern Heritage Issue 5 June 2007 and written by Heather Arnold.

  • Mornington Park

    The November SEHA meeting was held at Mornington. After the meeting Val Wilson and Frank Green from the Mornington Historical Society gave us a very informative tour of Mornington Park.
    Mornington Park was temporarily reserved as a park on November 24th, 1863 and permanently reserved as a ‘place for promenade and recreation’ on May 1st, 1874. It shows the foresight of the citizens of the town that they worked to have the Esplanade frontage permanently reserved for recreation.

    In her history of Mornington (see details below) Leslie Moorhead has written an interesting account of Mornington Park, which is worth quoting in full.

    The Mornington Park has been truly a place of recreation throughout the past century. Picnic parties have come from the city and suburbs by horse-drawn drag, by steam boat, by steam train, by “charabanc” and by motor bus to the park to enjoy a day by the seaside under the spreading cypresses, trees which seem designed for easy climbing by small adventurers. Sports Clubs have exercised on the cleared grass, the Fire Brigade has practiced with hose and wheel on an asphalted area ; until the late 1920s cyclists trained on a circular track, and earlier residents enjoyed the delights of a Rotunda in the park with a dancing floor below and a bandstand above.

    Statue of Matthew FlindersThere is a statue of Matthew Flinders, unveiled in 1888, in the Park. Flinders had made a survey from Schnapper Point on April 29th, 1802 when he was exploring in the area in the Investigator. The distinctive stone archway at the entrance was erected in 1932 as part of an employment scheme during the Depression. On an opposite corner to the Park is a very poignant monument to the 1892 Football disaster. Fifteen members of the Mornington Football Club were returning, on Saturday May 21st, from the match at Mordialloc in the fishing boat Process. It sunk and all lives were lost. Only one body was recovered, that of Alfred Lawrence, aged 19. The deceased were Charles Hooper, aged 35, the owner of the Process and his 14 year old son also called Charles ; John Coomber, aged 31 ; three sons of the Presbyterian Minister at Mornington , the Reverend James Caldwell. They were James aged 21, William aged 19 and Hugh aged 17 ; Charles Allchin , aged 19 ; William Grover aged 25 and his nephew also called William Grover, aged 17 ; James Firth ; Charles Williams and John Kenna, aged 18.

    As a matter of interest Mornington was known as Schnapper Point until 1864 when if officially became known as Mornington. Mornington was already the name of the County. Mornington was the seat of the Earl of Mornington in County Meath, Ireland. The Earl was the father of the Duke of Wellington. As Val mentioned at the February meeting a history of the Mornington Fire Brigade has been published and was launched on Australia Day, 2007. It is called Ready and Willing we strive to save : the story of the Mornington Urban Fire Brigade 1917-2007 by Colin Fisher. It is available for $10.00 from the Mornington Historical Society.

    Further Reading

    • Mornington in the wake of Flinders by Leslie Moorhead. Published by the Shire of Mornington, 1971.

    *Originally published in South Eastern Heritage Issue 5 June 2007 and written by Heather Arnold.

  • The Methodist Church in Wonthaggi

    This is an interesting account of the Methodist Church in Wonthaggi. I have taken it from A Century of Victorian Methodism by The Rev. C. Irving Benson. Published by Spectator Publishing in 1935.

    Wonthaggi – Here we were the first Church on the coalfields. On the arrival of the first batch of miners, thirty-five in all, they were met by the Rev. Courtenay Thomas, who sensing the possibilities of the place, promptly secured a tent, which would accommodate 200 men and obtaining meanwhile a supply of red-gum planks for seats, was ready to begin operations. A Sunday School was opened under the guidance of Mrs. Gardiner, and before long its success became an embarrassment, the number of children in attendance passing the 400 mark. Later, Mr. M.D. Cock provided an iron building, which was placed on the site secured for the Methodist Church and after this had been in use for a while, in 1911 a wooden structure, 66 feet by 34 feet, was built.

    According to the Rev. Benson the Methodist Church was also the first Church to have a resident Minister and erect a place of worship on the goal fields in the 1850s as there “were many Cornish miners and Irish Methodists aflame with the fire of Methodism, and by their frank and fearless piety they won a singular respect among the wild and reckless men who abounded at the Diggings.”

    It appears that the Methodist Church was very pro-active, as we would say now, from the beginning of Victoria’s European settlement. The first Methodist to settle in Melbourne soon after 1835 was said to be Thomas Watson, a veteran of Waterloo, known as “Waterloo Watson.”

    *Originally published in South Eastern Heritage Issue 6 October 2007 and written by Heather Arnold.

  • The Wreck of the Speke

    The guest speaker at the August meeting of the SEHA was Julie Box (nee Harris). The Harris family have lived on Phillip Island for over 100 years. Julie spoke on the wreck of the Speke at Phillip Island.

    The Speke was an all steel ship of 310 feet, beam of 35 feet and weight of 2,712 tons and triple masted. She was built in 1891 at Carnarvon in Wales for a cost of 22,000 pounds. The wreck of the Speke was purchased for a mere 12 pounds after it went aground in 1906.

    The Speke had come from Peru to Sydney. She was then on her way to load wheat in Geelong when she ran aground on the 22 February 1906. Captain Tiltson confused a bushfire, near Cowes, for navigation lights. The ship drifted close to shore in Kitty Miller Bay and was eventually holed at 3 pm on the rocks. Life boats were immediately lowered and the ship’s crew all made it to shore except Seaman Frank Henderson, who lost his life.

    The news did not reach Cowes until 8 pm that night. Most of the locals were attending the horse races at Ventnor that day and so there were not many people around. Some of the crew ended up at the Harris house, where they were looked after by Julie’s grandmother, Sarah Harris. Julie’s father who was a young boy at the time can still remember the event. The family were given the Compass box by the Captain and this is now in the Heritage Centre.

    Local people soon salvaged parts of the wreck, timber was used for houses and sheds, brass lamps inside houses and the ship’s bell is at the Presbyterian Church. The figure head of the Speke was in the shape of woman, wearing a flowing shite dress with blue cuffs and collar and carrying a large bunch of daffodils. It was originally nine feet four inches long. This sculpture went missing after the event and decades later the head only was re-discovered in Mr Thompson’s garage. It was then restored, and this and other items from the ship are on display at the Heritage Centre, Thompson Avenue, Cowes.

    Further Reading

    • Phillip Island in picture and story compiled by Joshua Wickett Gliddon. Published by the Cowes Bush Nursing Hospital, 1958.
    • Phillip Island and Western Port by Jean Edgcombe. Published by the author, 1989.
    • Wrecks on Phillip Island by Jack Loney. Published by Marine History Publications.

    *Originally published in South Eastern Heritage Issue 4 September 2006 and written by Heather Arnold.