'Lawrence Park'

The Learmonth family of squatting fame first arrived in Australia in the 1830s when Thomas Learmonth Senior established himself as a merchant in Hobart Town. In April, 1837 his sons Thomas and Somerville were amongst the first squatters to take up land in the newly-established Port Phillip District of New South Wales. As members of the Port Phillip Association (later the Derwent Company), they occupied land along the Barwon River up to its confluence with the Leigh River, beating out their competition in the form of the Clyde Company under the management of George Russell.
With their preferred land on the Barwon unavailable, the Clyde Company instead set up operations along the Moorabool River, north from Fyansford and west across to the Leigh River at Shelford. However, the Port Phillip Association once again got the jump on the Clyde Company when the first land sales were held for the parish of Gherineghap in February, 1839.
The Association disregarded the gentleman's agreement which prevented squatters from purchasing the land on which other land holders were squatting. Outbidding their rivals at the Sydney auction, they snapped up much of the land from Fyansford to the future site of Gheringhap along the Moorabool where George Russell was squatting and along the Barwon as far as Bruce's Creek.  Their success however, came at a cost. Philip Russell (half brother of George and shareholder in the Clyde Company) was able to force the sale price up to 28 shillings per acre. The Russells meanwhile, quickly stripped the land of the improvements they had made - huts, stockyards, tents, even a wool shed - and retreated to what had until then been their outpost on the Leigh River.

Google Earth map showing the boundaries of the 1839 land purchases of the
Port Phillip Association and the Learmonths as shown on the Gherineghap
Parish Survey Maps

Amongst the members of the Port Phillip Association was Thomas Learmonth Sr who is widely reported to have taken up the land after purchase before passing it to his youngest son Dr John Learmonth. In addition, the parish survey map shows that 611 acres west of Batesford was also purchased in John's own name. Meanwhile, his brothers Thomas and Somerville had headed north early in 1838, establishing first the Boninyong Estate, then the property known as Ercildoune.
In 1845 John began building a homestead on the property to replace an earlier building which according to the book The Stepping Stone: A History of the Shire of Bannockburn, Derek Beaurepaire (1995) had accidentally burnt down during an attempt to smoke out a swarm of bees.
By 1846 along with his wife - Alicia Macwhirter - John was living at the property which he called 'Laurence Park' (later 'Lawrence Park') after his father Thomas Learmonth's estate at Falkirk, Scotland. It was here that three of their ten children were born. In January that year, Alicia gave birth to a daughter who died two days later (Geelong Advertiser & Squatters' Advocate, 10th January, 1846). A second daughter followed in 1849 and a son in 1852.
In January 1854 however, John, his wife and their children (eight at that time) boarded the ship Kangaroo and headed back to Britain. 'Lawrence Park' was advertised to let as house and garden (Geelong Advertiser & Intelligencer, 7th March, 1854). It would seem perhaps that the lease was not taken up as the Australian Dictionary of Biography entry for the Learmonths indicates that after John's departure, his brother Andrew managed the property on his behalf from 1854-1855. By 1856 the property was once again up for lease, this time advertised "to be let for five years, with possession on the 1st April, the House, Garden, and Vineyard at Lawrence Park, Bates Ford, the property of Dr. Learmonth, together with about 200 Acres of fenced land" (The Argus, 30th January, 1856). John Learmonth and his family did not return.

'Lawrence Park' 19th September, 1971. Image from the J.T. Collins
Collection, La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria

Like John, all of the Learmonth brothers were essentially speculators who eventually returned to their native Scotland. By 1867, 'Lawrence Park' which had been tenanted for some time was in the hands of neighbouring land owner George Hope of 'Darriwill' who soon on-sold the property to settler George Hill who for a time had been a tenant of the Hope family (The Leader, 23rd February, 1867).
The Hills were Scottish immigrants who had arrived in Australia in April, 1853 as assisted immigrants aboard the ship Confiance. With George on the voyage was his wife Sarah, and their young children James, Philip and George Jr. In the following years to 1870 a further seven children were born to the couple.
At the time of the Hills' arrival, the house was described by the Melbourne Leader on 23rd February, 1867 as:

possess[ing] historical interest, on account of its comparative antiquity; the walls are as massive as those of many a castle; the stone, probably, was found hard to work, but whatever the reason, the building has a rough and rather primitive appearance, although roomy, extensive and lofty.

After purchasing the property however, the Hills undertook extensions, adding a south wing during the 1860s and today, the Victorian Heritage Database gives the following description:

an h-shaped colonial vernacular building with gabled roofs. The earliest part is brick, that is, the north wing and middle section of the H. The south wing constructed in the 1860s is of random rubble. There are verandahs on the north and east sides. The house has been altered over the years and little remains internally of the original features. The only section in original condition is the upper level of the stone wing. A steep, narrow timber stair leads up to it. The overall condition of the building could be described as good, although the soft early bricks are deteriorating at floor level.

George ran the farm until his retirement in 1889 when he held a clearing sale and let the property to tenants (Geelong Advertiser, 4th April, 1889), retaining ownership until his death in 1909 at which time it was purchased at auction by his son Phillip. George and Sarah (died 1901) are buried in the Church of England section of Geelong's Western Cemetery in adjacent plots.

Grave of George and Sarah Hill, Western General Cemetery, Church of England
Section, Row 1, Graves 1249 and 1250

Philip in turn ran the property with his own family before retiring to Geelong in his later years. Philip died in 1931 and was buried next to his wife Mary Jane, not far from his parents. Newspaper notices suggest that his son George continued to,manage the property after his father's death until 1933 when the property was auctioned by the estate trustees (Geelong Advertiser, 14th October, 1933).  In August the following year, a clearing sale was held on the property (The Argus, 11th August, 1834) however presumably a sale was not negotiated as the lease of 'Lawrence Park', Gheringhap was listed in The Age, 18th April, 1934 and by 1940 Garry George Hill, son of Albert Alexander - Philip's younger brother - was running the property. Along with his wife Ella, Garry made a number of appearances in The Weekly Times during the 1940s and 1950s, promoting the benefits of the district and showcasing the prosperity of 'Lawrence Park'.

Photograph of members of the Hill family at the Geelong Sheepdog Trials,
Geelong Advertiser, 31st August, 1949, captioned " Mr. J. Pettitt (right),
Chairman of the Sheep Dog Trials committee, with Mr. and Mrs. G. G.
Hill, Mr. M. Hill and Miss D. Hill from Batesford"

 The couple had four children but it was their younger son Ian James Hill who was noted as still being in residence in 1995 (The Stepping Stone: A History of the Shire of Bannockburn, Derek Beaurepaire (1995). Ian had married Sheila Pilkington in 1953 in Melbourne but I imagine that it was on the property at Batesford that the family made their home.
Today, the property remains in the Hill family, with the current addressee listed as G M Hill and the house built by John Learmonth in 1845, then extended by the Hill family still stands as a reminder of the earliest days of European settlement in the Port Phillip District.

The Clyde Hotel

My previous posts looked at the Railway Hotel at Bannockburn and the Separation Inn which stood on the road from Geelong to the Ballarat diggings during the gold rush. The picture would not be complete however, without also taking a look at the Clyde Hotel.
According to early survey maps from 1856 and 1865, the Clyde was located on the south east corner of what is today the Midland Hwy and Maude Rd leading to Russell's Bridge. Some more recent sources place the hotel diagonally opposite on the north west corner. As far as I can tell, this is incorrect.
The hotel of course derives its name from the Clyde Company, whose representatives - chiefly George Russell - were amongst earliest settlers on the Moorabool River.

George Russell, c1852. Image held by he State Library of Victoria

Initially the company leased vast amounts of land between the Moorabool and Leigh Rivers from the government and then from 1839 onward began purchasing sections of that land in the names of various shareholders. In 1853 (title deed dated 15th August, 1853, Victorian Government Gazette, 12th October, 1853), George Russell purchased section 15 B in the parish of Wabdallah. This 522 acre block was adjacent to a further three blocks (allotments A, B and C of section 16) which he had purchased the previous year and made a substantial addition to several thousand more acres in the Parish of Gherineghap, purchased mostly in the 1840s and including the site upon which the Separation Inn was built.
Russell's interest in these land purchases was to a large extent speculative. Within a year of having purchased section 15 B, Parish of Wabdallah he hired a surveyor - Matthew Biddle - who subdivided much of the land and laid out two "new townships", one in either parish. Each town was to be named after the parish in which it was situated and both were arranged as a series of one acre allotments along the Geelong-Ballarat Rd, with increasingly larger blocks stretching away to the banks of the Moorabool River.
The site of Wabdallah Township had been carved out of the southernmost portion of section 15 B and included the future site of the Clyde Hotel. As per my last post, late in 1853, George Williamson had taken on the license of the Separation Inn, a little over 3.5 miles closer to Geelong, however I suspect this was never intended to be a long term arrangement. A message from Williamson to George Russell, penned on 15th May, 1854 and reproduced in the Clyde Company Papers states the following:

I may mention that the House I was expecting from Germany, & which I spoke to you of, has now arrived and lies piled up on the Beach at Geelong. I should wish to see you about it, as you will recollect promising me a site for it; and if you will be good enough to let me know what day you are likely to be at home I shall make a point of meeting you.
[Endorsed by G.R.: 'G. Williamson, Separation Inn, May 15th/54….answd; no wethers at present; site can be bought by auction']

Clearly it had been Williamson's intention to build his own hotel for some time, although perhaps he had not envisaged having to purchase the land to do so, however, buy the land he did.

In a series of advertisements, the Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer first promoted the sale of what it termed "that well-known lovely spot Russell's Rich Flat", noting that there would be no private sale before auction (25th March, 1854). This it seems however, was merely media hype as was the declaration by the same newspaper on 29th May, that some blocks had already been sold at the exorbitant price of £230 per acre.

An insert on the survey map produced by Surveyor Matthew Biddle c1854 for
George Russell (Clyde Company Papers), with the blocks purchased by
Williamson highlighted in yellow.

The rest of the allotments would definitely have to go to auction the following day it claimed, however the records of sale in the Clyde Company Papers show that only purchases at auction were made (no private sales) and the record shows that the largest single purchaser of town allotments at Wabdallah was George Williamson who paid £372 for his 11 allotments - a figure closer to £34 per acre! With his land now purchased, Williamson wasted no time in erecting his new hotel (although whether this was the pre-fabricated building referred to in his letter to Russell is not clear). By 7th November, 1854, the Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer proudly announced the opening of Williamson's new premises with the following advertisement:

CLYDE HOTEL–CLYDE HOTEL–To Travellers on the Ballarat Road – GEORGE WILLIAMSON, late of the Separation Inn, begs to inform all persons visiting Ballarat, that he has opened that commodious and elegant Hotel, known as the Clyde Hotel. It is situate on the Government Road, at a more convenient distance from Geelong, being five miles from the old Separation Inn, and about half way between that place and the Muddy Water Holes.The long experience of Mr Williamson on this road, enables him to guarantee all the comforts of a first-class English Hotel. No expense has or will be spared in making the culinary department second to none in the colony. The proprietor flatters himself that one trial of the wines, spirits and other liquors will induce the traveller to remember the Clyde Hotel with satisfaction..The Stabling is large and commodious and being under the immediate superintendence of the proprietor will be found to combine perfect safety coupled with the most reasonable charges.

Once again however, it is necessary to untangle a little truth from advertising fiction. Whilst the Clyde Hotel was certainly more commodious than the Separation Inn, to say that it was 5 miles further up the road is somewhat of a stretch as my measurements put its distance closer to 3.5 miles beyond the Separation Inn and some 5 miles distant from the Muddy Water Holes (aka Lethbridge).

Despite the claims of "perfect safety", the Clyde was not immune to some of those problems which routinely plagued public houses - especially those houses frequented by travellers.

Barely a month after the above advertisement, it was reported that William Buckley, a passing traveller had arrived at the Clyde and, under the influence of alcohol had retired to bed after complaining of being ill. The following morning he was found dead. In September, 1855 a horse was advertised as stolen from the hotel, with a £2 reward offered for its return. So much for safety!
The Clyde also hosted its share of inquests. In April, 1858 John Stacy, a teamster left the Clyde perfectly sober - after only three small glasses of liquor - but was fatally injured after falling from his dray and being run over. His fellow teamster took him to the Clyde where he died the next morning (The Age, 10th April, 1858). In November, 1867 a similar incident occurred when Walter Bolger, who had stopped at the Clyde was run over by his dray which was loaded with flour from the nearby Clyde Mill.

Regardless of such unpleasant events, the Clyde Hotel does seem to have been considered the hotel of choice in the region for public events. On New Years Day, 1856, Williamson was responsible for hosting a race meeting, with a variety of events to suit most horses. Meetings in relation to the Wabdallah Farmers' Common were held at the hotel along with public rallies at which political candidates for the region put their case. On 27th June, 1857 according to the Ballarat Star, the hotel was even favoured with the presence of Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of the Colony of Victoria, who stayed two nights whilst on his way to and from a visit to the goldfields at Creswick.

By the beginning of 1858 however, Williamson had had enough and he put the Clyde on the market with the following extensive advertisement appearing in both the Ballarat Star and The Argus on 25th February:

There is no doubt that by comparison with the Separation Inn, the Clyde Hotel was a cut above. In addition to the high-profile patronage, it had taken less than four years for the Clyde to have cornered the coaching market if its bold claim can be believed. Certainly, the famous Cobb & Co. service changed its horses at the Clyde, although whether other carriers such as Estaffette, Criterion or the Washington Express (aka Little Go) did likewise is less clear.
Regardless of which line of coaches was chosen, travelling to the goldfields could be a risky prospect. Accidents were common and not even Cobb & Co. were immune. On 3rd March, 1858, The Argus reported on a coaching accident in which a Cobb & Co. coach leaving the Clyde Hotel, tipped down an awkward embankment after the horses were spooked by a bullock dray. A woman was injured, requiring treatment in Geelong and the driver hurt his wrist. The coach's arrival in Ballarat was delayed until 10pm.
Whilst the flow of traffic to the goldfields continued unabated throughout the 1850s, by the end of the decade, things were about to change. Perhaps it was the anticipated arrival of the Geelong-Ballarat Railway which encouraged George Williamson to put his property on the market. From 1862 onward, the line would pass less than 3/4 of a mile to the west of his hotel with a station built at Leigh Road the following year; a circumstance which would significantly affect the level of traffic on the road passing his hotel.

Bannockburn Station (originally the Leigh Road Station), built in 1863 after
the opening of Geelong-Ballarat Railway in April, 1862. Photo taken April,
2012 at the 150th anniversary celebrations of the line's opening

A quick sale however, was not forthcoming for Williamson and by March, 1859 a tenant - Benjamin Hall - was found to run the hotel. A mere two months later however, the Clyde was once again advertised for sale, this time for sale by private contract (Geelong Advertiser, 13th May, 1859). Eventually, a purchaser was found and by September, Williamson was holding a clearing sale.
Despite the change of proprietors, Hall remained as the publican for several more years before finally moving to Ballarat to run the Farmer's Hotel in September, 1862 (The Ballarat Star, 6th September, 1862). From this point, until April, 1864, I could find no mention of a licensee for the Clyde, however there were various references to James Thomas Bushell of the Clyde Hotel throughout 1863, before a publican's license was granted to Thomas Howe in April, 1864.
On 11th September, 1865 however a sale of all the goods, stock, furniture and livestock associated with the Clyde was announced in the Geelong Advertiser, the entire inventory itemised room by room, item by item. The reason given was the insolvency of James Bushell. (Who incidentally had made a number of land purchases in the parish the previous year.) Then, on 7th December 1865, Thomas Howe published his intention to transfer his publican's license for the hotel to John Henry Jones. From this, I am led to suspect that whilst I found no mention of the sale of the hotel itself, Bushell was the property owner and Howe his tenant. Consequently, when Bushell became insolvent, Howe had to go.
From 1865 onward, John Henry Jones - familiar to those who read my post about the Railway Hotel in Bannockburn - became the licensee and at some point, the owner of the Clyde. In December of the same year, he also purchased two blocks of land from the government. The blocks were allotments 5 and 7 of section D, Parish of Wabdallah. Both were situated on the Ballarat Rd with allotment 7 located on the south west corner of the Ballarat Rd-Clyde Rd intersection - the site said by some recent sources to be the location of the hotel. Could this land purchase by Jones be the reason for the apparent confusion as to the location of the hotel?

A section of an 1865 survey map of the Parish of Wabdallah, showing the
location of the Clyde Hotel and the blocks of land (not marked) purchased by
John Henry Jones. Image held by the State Library of Victoria

Over the next several years, Jones' name appeared in the newspapers in relation to the usual array of thefts, untimely deaths and community events hosted by Jones and his wife. I am led to suspect however, that Bushell may not actually have left the Clyde. On 23rd April, 1870 the Geelong Advertiser published a death notice, stating that James Bushel(sic) had died on 21st of the month of pleurisy at the Clyde Hotel. He was 37 years of age.
Another issue of note, concerns a legal wrangle between Jones and the Bannockburn Shire Council over the erection of a tollgate on the Geelong-Ballarat Rd in 1868. Whilst he appears to have had no issue with the erection of the gate, Jones took exception to a proposed fence which his lawyers claimed risked debarring him from parts of his property. His proposed solution was a gate, which he felt the council should pay for. The council for their part decided he should have his gate, but that they would not be paying for it, and that it seems was the end of the matter.
By 1871, as I described previously, Jones was in the process of renovating the Eureka Hotel at Bannockburn which he re-branded the Railway Hotel. After some issues sorting the transfer of licenses, he then became the licensee of the Railway Hotel. Whether he also retained a separate license for the Clyde I am unsure, however in June, 1871 the hotel was the venue for the meeting of the Moorabool Ploughing Match Committee. The following year at the April licensing meeting, a new license was issued for the Clyde. This time the licensee was Charlotte Upjohn - John's mother-in-law, the mother of his wife Emma.

Sketch of an 1875 ploughing match near Kyneton, similar to those held in
the Moorabool Valley and other locations across the district. Image held
by the State Library of Victoria

This arrangement lasted only a year or so and by May, 1873, the Clyde was advertised to let. I found no further mention of a license, however Jones was indicated as the landlord during 1874 when Emma and Charlotte were witnesses in court to a case of concealing the birth of a child. The case was dismissed based on medical evidence, but reading between the lines could perhaps have been a miscarriage or an abortion.
On a somewhat lighter note, in July, 1875, Jones and his wife hosted a sumptuous dinner for about 70 locals at the Clyde, following a staging of the Moorabool Ploughing Match. The repast, which by all accounts exceeded the excellence of previous years, was served in the "spacious dining-room", with guests treated to a meal of "viands, fowl, vegetables, and pastries". Many toasts were drunk, speeches made and the festivities concluded with a ball which saw the guests dancing until daybreak (Geelong Advertiser, 22nd July, 1875).
It is at this point however, that the trail goes cold. I found no further licenses for the Clyde nor mention of it trading beyond 1875. Whilst no longer in business, the building did remain standing and was occupied by the Jones family as a farmhouse. Disaster struck however some time before 9am on 19th July, 1883 when the timber hotel building caught fire. By the time it was discovered, the building was so well alight that no attempt could be made to save it and it was completely destroyed. Fortunately perhaps for the family, they were away at the time - Mrs Jones in Queenscliff and Henry and their son in Melbourne (Geelong Advertiser, 21st July, 1883).

The site of the former Clyde Hotel, October, 2016

The building was insured and by early August, the claim had been settled, however this was the beginning of a difficult period for John Henry Jones. By 1885 he was insolvent and by the end of the year, his wife Emma had died. Consequently, as described in my post on the Railway Hotel (see link above), he was unable to obtain a license for that hotel.
Despite these trials, by April, 1887 he had been cleared of his insolvency and was again the licensee of the Railway Hotel. According to his will, at the time of his death on 11th May, 1891, John was a gentleman, living with his son Willie Herbert at Leigh Road. William Flahive - by then the proprietor of the Railway Hotel - had mortgaged the property to Jones who had little in the way of assets having sold most of his goods and chattels after selling the hotel. There was no mention of the land on which the Clyde had stood, from which I presume it had passed from Jones' ownership some time after his declared insolvency in 1885.
Today, the site is an empty field, overgrown with weeds and grass. There is no sign that one of the most popular hotels on the Geelong-Ballarat Rd was built there at the height of the gold rush. The township of Wabdallah, drawn up by surveyor Biddle never eventuated. Its proximity to Leigh Road (Bannockburn) and the arrival of the railway taking travellers off the road, coupled with the fact that the largest source of fresh water was the Moorabool River over a mile away, probably helped to seal its fate.

Google Earth image showing the site of the intended town of Wabdallah. Faint
lines still denote the boundaries of some of the surveyed blocks.

For the sake of clarity, it is worth mentioning that a second attempt was made to establish a township named Wabdallah. In 1863, only a year after the opening of the railway line, changes began to occur at Bannockburn. The original town had been gazetted and built on the west bank of Bruce's Creek, in the Parish of Murgheboluc. From 1862 the train line passed a little less than a mile to the east, across the creek - in the Parish of Wabdallah. Naturally, settlement began to drift towards the train line. New land adjoining the line and directly opposite the station was surveyed. The name given to this "new" township was Wabdallah. The original settlement on Bruce's Creek became known South Bannockburn. Today the blocks surveyed as Wabdallah form part of central Bannockburn, including the site of the Railway Hotel.  In 1872, more town blocks were surveyed on the opposite side of the line, close to the station at Leigh Road. There was no mention of Wabdallah, instead the township took on the name of the station around which it now clustered, a moniker which was used until the beginning of the 20th century when the town took on the name always used by the shire: Bannockburn.

The old Separation Inn

While I was already in the district - so to speak - I thought I would stop by another couple of inns along the way. Both located close to the Moorabool River on the route to the goldfields, and both interwoven with the Eureka Hotel, Leigh Road; subject of my last blog post. First: the Separation Inn.
As I alluded to previously, the hospitality industry of the 19th century, was a volatile scene. Hotel owners often came and went within a few years, licensees even more frequently. Depending on the behaviour of the clientele, the number of hotels in the district, the state of the buildings, the financial situation or reputation of the licensee and a host of other reasons, publicans' licenses could be granted or denied on an annual basis. This was also the case for the less expensive beer, and colonial wine licenses which restricted what the licensee could serve (usually a cheaper product) and often attracted a less than salubrious class of patron.

An example of a publican's license from the 19th century. Image taken from
Victorian Collections

The end result it seems, was that insolvencies were relatively common and that licensees switched venues on a regular basis, often holding more than one license at a time. This was certainly the case for the Separation and the Clyde Inns on the road to Buninyong and Ballarat.
The older of the two, the Separation Inn was amongst the few public houses to be found between Geelong and Buninyong prior to the beginning of the gold rush in 1851. As I have found with other hotels, there seems to be some uncertainty as to when the hotel first opened. The publication Hotels, Pubs & Inns of the Geelong Country Districts (Jennings, 2009) indicates that the hotel was first mentioned in the Port Phillip Herald on 27th March, 1843 and was owned by George Russell of the Clyde Company. At this time, I am uncertain exactly where Russell's hotel was located and my (admittedly somewhat cursory) examination of the Clyde Company papers for 1843 showed no correspondence regarding the hotel.
Another reference to the hotel was made by Henry Mundy who passed that way with his family in October, 1844. Writing many years later in the early 20th century, he recalled that they "reached a swamp, near where the old Separation Inn used to be on the road to Ballarat" however, whether this refers to the hotel owned by George Russell, or to a later structure is debatable as Mundy passed that way many times over the following years and may have been referring to a newer building.
Regardless, it seems any original hotel owned by Russell, was not around for long. On 28th October, 1850, the Geelong Advertiser published the following notice:

What is clear, is that towards the end of 1850, Michael O'Meara (previously the landlord of the Shamrock Inn, Geelong) erected the building which by 1851 was known as the Separation Inn. It was located on Clyde Company land near the intersection of what was then the road to The Leigh (Shelford) and the Buninyong Track. Today, the intersection of Russell's Rd with the Midland Hwy lies about 350m north west of where the hotel stood.
Surprisingly perhaps, having gone to the effort of building his own hotel and with the gold rush by now in full swing, O'Meara remained as landlord only until about June, 1852. Some time between that date and October the same year, Thomas Dunlop became the new license holder for the Separation Inn, although  O'Meara retained ownership until at least July, 1854 when he advertised the property for sale. During the intervening time, the license passed briefly from Dunlop to William Rae who in turn transferred it to George Williamson in December, 1853.
Whilst O'Meara may have owned the hotel, he did not own the land surrounding it which, by 1854, formed part of the Clyde Company's purchased holdings. Section 23 of the Parish of Gherineghap on which the hotel was situated was originally sold to John Hosking and John Terry Hughes - land speculators from Sydney - in 1837. The pair borrowed heavily to finance their purchases across the country however, and in 1843 with recession beginning to bite, the company of Hughes and Hosking as well as the men themselves were forced into insolvency bringing down the Bank of Australia with them. Their fall from grace was one of the biggest financial scandals the colony of New South Wales had seen.
The fallout from their financial collapse however, proved a boon for the Clyde Company who in 1847 were able to purchase sections 12, 23 and 27 in the parish of Gherineghap which of course, included the land on which the Separation Inn stood. By May, 1854 however, George Russell had made the decision to subdivide and sell some 2,000 acres of land along the Moorabool River, including much of sections 23, 26 and 27. As part of the survey and subdivision carried out by surveyor Matthew Biddle, and in addition to an array of blocks ranging in size from 10 to 60 acres, a further 63 allotments of one acre in size were also laid out in a grid format fronting the Ballarat Rd. This new township was to be known as Gheringhap and the Separation Inn was located on allotment number 1.

Part of the survey map produced for the Clyde Company's subdivision of
sections 23, 25 and 27 of the Parish of Gherineghap. Showing the intended
township of Gheringhap. Image taken from the Clyde Company Papers
1854-1858

History shows that the township of Gheringhap, did not develop where or when George Russell's surveyor planned. Instead, settlement occurred later at the railway crossing about a mile closer to Geelong and a mere half a mile from the Eureka Hotel, situated at the turn off to Fyansford.
The post office opened at Gheringhap in 1869, however the railway station was not opened until December, 1877, nearly 16 years after the opening of the Geelong-Ballarat Railway. It was the settlement around the railway crossing which eventually became the little town of Gheringhap.

The Gheringhap post office, 1967. Image taken from the National Archives
of Australia, Image number B5919, 745

The Clyde Company Papers show that of the 63 one acre blocks surveyed by Biddle and laid out in a township grid, only 20 were sold, to four separate purchasers. The block on which the Separation Inn stood, was not amongst the land sold. Perhaps sensing that development of the surveyed township might not prove successful, O'Meara put the hotel on the market in July of that year. I could find no record of a purchaser, however by June, 1854 Henry Edward Hunter was behind the bar at the Separation Inn with George Russell as his landlord (Clyde Company Papers). Williamson meanwhile had moved up the road a short distance to open his own public house: the Clyde Hotel (more of which in my next post). Hunter and his business partner Lillie, signed a three year lease for the inn to commence from 1st July, 1855 at a rate of £125 per annum, however by January, 1856 he had already moved on, leaving behind their effects which were under distraint to be sold by the Bailiff to recoup costs on behalf of Russell.
The Williamson family however, were not quite finished with the Separation Inn and the departure of Hunter and Lillie, cleared the way on 1st March, 1856, for John R Williamson - brother of George - to take over the license from Hunter.
By February, 1857 however, Russell was looking for a purchaser for the inn.  His agent John Carr informed him by letter on 26th February, that whilst he had not been able to procure a purchaser, he had found a tenant willing to take on a five year lease at a rate of £150 per annum - Patrick Hawkins. Upon looking at the property however, Hawkins realised that a substantial amount of work needed to be done and reduced his offer of £150 rent to £100. This was accepted at the lower rate - for the first year (Clyde Company Papers).
Despite having a new tenant for the hotel, Russell continued to look for purchasers for the hotel and the land surrounding. After the underwhelming response to his initial attempts to subdivide and sell the land around the Separation Inn, he once again made an attempt to sell, early in 1858 (Ballarat Star, 23rd January, 1858). This time, the blocks for sale were larger, with no suggestion of a township subdivision, and a four acre block, including the inn itself was on offer to the public. This time, the Clyde Company Papers show that the Separation Inn and the 4 acres on which it stood were sold in June, 1858 to Frederick Locke.
Despite this, the April, 1859 sitting of the licensing court, shows Patrick Hawkins renewing his license and by the following year, the hotel was once again beginning to show its age. At the 1860 licensing day, Hawkins' renewal was postponed pending repairs, but was granted in May. The following month, Hawkins was implicated in a case of embezzlement when he is said to have purchased alcohol destined for someone else, however no blame appears to have been attributed to him directly when the case came to trial (Geelong Advertiser, 9th June, 1860). He was however, in trouble with the law himself later that year when he was convicted of breaching the publicans' act by repeatedly serving alcohol to an intoxicated patron over the course of several days, leaving him in what was colloquially known as the "dead room" to recover his wits before continuing his bender, allowing Hawkins to pocket the profit. Hawkins was fined 40s and ordered to pay costs (Geelong Advertiser, 12th December, 1860). Nor did Hawkins' business practises improve. By December, 1861 he was insolvent and no longer the licensee at the Separation Inn.
The new licensee was Frederick Locke who, after a delay in his application lodged in April, pending more repairs on the property, had himself taken up the license of what was by that time described as the "Old Separation Inn". Despite various financial and legal difficulties - as described in my previous post - Locke retained the license for the inn until July, 1870, however by December, 1865 and with financial pressure mounting, he downgraded his "spirit license" for the inn to a cheaper "beer license" (Geelong Advertiser, 10th May, 1865), a fact which was noted the following year when a correspondent to the Advertiser wrote on 22nd March that "the old Separation Inn, where so much money was made in the golden days, is in a sad state of repair, and is merely a beer shop."
By the end of 1869, Locke had moved to his new premises - the Eureka Hotel - at Leigh Road (Bannockburn) having earlier installed a tenant - John Johnstone - at the Separation Inn. In July, 1869 however, Johnstone in turn transferred his beer and colonial wine licenses to David Ross, an absentee tenant whose agent Frederick Stanley, ran the business for several months before applying for a beer license in his own name. It was to take effect as of the 1st January, 1870. Locke's financial failings however, meant that by July, 1870 the hotel was on the market and from this time on I found no further license applications.

Site of the Separation Inn, October, 2016

The last direct mention of the Separation Inn appeared in March, 1875 when it was announced that "the well known and old-established hotel, known as the Separation Inn, together with about 4 acres land" was for sale (Geelong Advertiser, 15th March, 1875). What became of the hotel buildings I have not discovered and despite its popularity during the early days of the gold rush, at no point in its 24 year history did I find a description of the inn or its outbuildings. Nor do I know of an image of the hotel.
Like most public houses however, the Separation Inn had a chequered career. Originally established to serve those travelling between Geelong and the grazing properties of the Western District, it later did a roaring trade in the early days of the gold rush as one of the few public houses on the road from Geelong to Ballarat. As the years passed however, increasing competition from the many new hotels which sprang up along the road and the arrival in 1862 of the Geelong-Ballarat Railway, saw business begin to decline, the hotel began to show its age and the clientele likewise may also have changed.
Unsurprisingly perhaps, the inn and its proprietors began to appear more regularly in the pages of the local papers. From suicides in the vicinity to thefts, assaults, accidental deaths, murders and even one charge of bestiality, the road to the diggings could be a dangerous one.
One such example was the accidental death in April, 1854 of John Sansom, a 40 year old digger returning from the goldfields who was brought to the inn critically injured after accidentally shooting himself as he and his travelling companions passed Lethbridge, then known as the Muddy Water Holes (Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer, 5th April, 1854). Sansom died and an inquest was held at the inn.
A second inquest was held, in June, 1868 on the body of David Corbett, a drayman on his way to Ballarat. Having stopped for a pint at Batesford and then another at the Eureka, he fell asleep on the shafts of his wagon after crossing the railway line at Gheringhap, toppled off and fell beneath his dray which was loaded with three tons of goods. The wheel of the dray passed over his lower chest causing severe injuries. By the time the other teamster travelling with him realised his friend was missing and returned to find him, Corbett was dead. As the law directed, his body was taken to the nearest public house - the Separation Inn - where an inquest was held two days later (The Argus, 11th June, 1868). Following the inquest, Corbett's remains were taken to Geelong where he was buried at the Western Cemetery.
An interesting if somewhat macabre consequence of holding a publican's license in the 19th century was the requirement that any person holding such a license must make their premises available for the purpose of holding a coronial inquest if required to do so as outlined in an "Act to consolidate and amend the Laws relating to the Licensing of Public Houses and the Sale of Fermented and Spirituous Liquors. [2nd June, 1864]". The act stated that:

Every holder of a publican's license shall at the request of any officer or constable of police receive into the house mentioned in such license or upon the premises occupied therewith any dead body that may be brought to such house for the purpose of an inquest being held thereon and for every dead body so received he shall be paid the sum of one pound out of any money which may be appropriated for such purpose and if he shall refuse to receive such dead body for the purpose aforesaid he shall on conviction thereof before any justice forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding five pounds.

Today, this requirement is no doubt obsolete and any sign of the Separation Inn is also long gone. The land on which the inn stood is now occupied by a farmhouse which fronts onto the Midland Highway and which is the home of a local fencing company. The old road to the Leigh has been realigned to meet the highway almost 2km to the north west and travellers no longer stop for a drink or a meal at the Separation Inn.

Looking along the line of the the old Leigh Road towards Bannockburn, October, 2016

Squattocracy - life on the run!

The first Europeans to settle on the plains surrounding the Barwon River and its tributaries were squatters and many of their names would still be familiar to us today: names such as Armytage, Roadknight, Russell, Swanston, Austin, Learmonth, Fisher, Bell, Mercer and Morrison to name a few.

And they are with us still! Street signs from the
suburbs of Geelong, Geelong West, Manifold
Heights, Belmont  Newtown and Corio.

They can be found in the names of our streets, parks and suburbs and towns. In addition to the above street names (and a few besides such as Highett Road, Highton and Clyde Road Bannockburn, McLeod and Read Streets, Meredith), the suburbs of Manifold Heights, Newcomb, Thomson, Highton, and the towns of Drysdale, Batesford, Bells Beach, Bellbrae, Stieglitz, Pollocksford and Sutherlands Creek are all named for original squatters in the district as are Point Roadknight near Anglesea, Cowies Creek, Austin Park, Stead Park and then of course, Fyansford - named for Captain Foster Fyans who arrived in the district as police magistrate at the request of these squatters and himself tried his hand as a squatter in the coming years.
These first settlers arrived in the region in 1836 following John Batman, keen to find pasturage for their stock. With this in mind, various groups set out to investigate the area - in particular the explorer and surveyor John Helder Wedge and the ill-fated Hesse and Gellibrand. From early 1836, stock was landed at Williamstown, Point Henry and Indented Head and left in the care of shepherds, whilst the squatters made their own explorative journeys in search of suitable runs. At the same time, some travelled overland with their flocks from New South Wales.
Amongst the very earliest settlers were representatives of the Derwent Company. Formed from the remains of John Batman's Port Phillip Association they were a group of Tasmanian settlers who had set out in 1835 to acquire land in the Port Phillip district from the indigenous occupants. Despite the government in New South Wales declaring Batman's transaction with the Wurundjeri people invalid, they came anyway.
By the late 1830s the Derwent Co. held 26,000 acres of land extending across the "Portland Bay" region including the Barwon, Moorabool and Leigh Rivers. Its members included Captain Charles Swanston, Major William Drumond Mercer and his son George Duncan Mercer, Thomas Learmonth, George Armytage and David Fisher.

"Barwon Falls" 1848 as painted by Charles Norton, artist, civil servant and
squatter on the Barwon River. Image held by the State Library of Victoria

Another group of investors formed the Clyde Co. which was established in 1838 by seven Scottish investors. They selected land along the Leigh and Moorabool Rivers, which was managed first by Philip Russell and then by his half brother George who eventually settled at Golf Hill near The Leigh (later Shelford).

George Russell, 1852. Pioneer, settler and manager of the Clyde
Company. Image held by the Victorian State Library

In addition to the big companies, individual families such as the Austins of Barwon Park, established large holdings on the Barwon whilst properties such as Moranghurk and Borhoneyghurk on the Moorabool and Narmbool on the Leigh were established by individuals or partnerships.
By 1842 however, the Derwent Co. was being wound up, with various founding members purchasing leases in their own right. The Clyde Co. survived until 1857/1858 at which time George Russell bought the freehold of Golf Hill, an area of 8,500 acres which he eventually expanded to 28,000 acres.
Today, through the foresight of Victoria's first Lieutenant-Governor, Charles Joseph La Trobe, a record remains which details many of these early settlers and their holdings. During his governorship on 29th July, 1853, La Trobe wrote to Victoria's pioneering settlers asking them if they could in turn reply to him, describing what they remembered of the dates and places in which they and their contemporaries had settled in the 1830s. His request generated some 58 replies from across the newly-declared colony - several of them dealing with settlement along the Barwon, Moorabool and Leigh Rivers - they were eventually compiled by Thomas Francis Bride and published in 1898 titled: Letters from Victorian pioneers: being a series of papers on the early occupation of the colony, the aborigines etc.

Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe. Photo held by
Ballarat Heritage Services

From this and other sources, including the various newspapers of the day and government gazettes it is possible to build a fairly good picture of who these pioneering settlers were and where they held their various squatting runs.
The following table - whilst no doubt incomplete - shows who many of the initial landholders were and when they took up their runs. In each case I have attempted to identify the original occupant, however in some cases there may have been an earlier squatter on the land whom I can't identify through online records. If I find further information I will update accordingly.
As time has progressed, it has seemed appropriate to add some early properties to the list below which were not original squatting runs, but were rather the next generation of estates, established once land was opened up for sale. Examples include the Hope brothers at 'Darriwill' and 'Lynnburn' as well as Dr John Learmonth at 'Lawrence Park' all on the lower reaches of the Moorabool River.

Barwon River
Borongoop	Caroline Newcombe and Anne Drysdale	1841
Geelong	Derwent Co. (David Fisher)	1837
Kardinia	Dr Alexander Thomson	1837
Highton	John Highett	1837
Barrabool Hills	John Charles Darke	c1837
Berramongo	Roadknights	1836
Pollocksford	Captain Pollock	1836
Murgheboluc Flat	Yuilles	1836
Weatherboard	Derwent Co (David Fisher)	1837
Barwon Park (Toolun, St Leonards & Waterloo Plains)	Thomas Austin and Brothers	1837
Wormbete	Henry Hopkins	1837
Ingleby	Derwent Co (Thomas Armytage)	1836
Yan Yan Gurt*	Roadknights	1838
Deans Marsh*	Roadknights	1848
Wesleyan Church (Rev Francis Tuckfield)	Buntingdale Mission Station	August 1839
Paraparap	Frederick Dewing	1838
Gerangemete	Roadknights	1839
Ricketts	Thomas Rickett	<September 1837
River Station	Roadknights	1840
Mt Hesse (Incuding Eurack, Mountside & Mt Hesse)*	William Harding (with John Highett)	1837
Murdeduke (originally part of Mt Hesse)	John Highett (with William Harding)	1837
St Stephen	John Stephens	<1841
Long Water Hole/Barrunah Plains*	Derwent Co. (James Austin)	1837
Warrambine*	Derwent Co. (Prentice)	<1842
Moorabool River
Bell Post Hill	John Anthony Cowie & David Stead	March 1836
Lynburnn	George & Robert Hope	1846
Batesford	Alfred & John Bates	1837
Manifold’s Ford (aka Dog Rocks/Batesford)	Thomas & Peter Manifold	1836
Lawrence Park	Thomas and John Learmonth	1839
Sutherland’s Creek*	Joseph Sutherland	1836
Darriwill	George, James & Robert Hope	1846
Russell's Bridge	Clyde Co. (George Russell)	1836
Moranghurk	William Taylor & Dugald McPherson	1840
Durdiwarrah	Robert von Stieglitz	March/April 1838
Borhoneyghurk	John Norman McLeod	1837
Lal Lal	Blakeney & George Airey	1840
Moreep	John Norman McLeod	October 1837
Ballark	John Wallace	1838
Bungal	George Egerton	1838?
Bungeeltap	John Anthony Cowie & David Stead	1838
Bungletap East/Emly Park	David Stead	1838
Hunterston	William Patterson?	1840s
Peerewerrh	Fairbairn & Gardner	<1849
Borambeta	Charles & Joseph Bradshaw?	<1849
Bolwarra	James Clarke?	1837?
Ballan	Robert William Stieglitz	1838
Leigh/Yarrowee River
Weatherboard	Derwent Co. (Thomas & Somerville Learmonth)	April 1837
(Native Creek No. 1)*	Derwent Co. (Thomas & Somerville Learmonth)	April 1837
(Native Creek No. 2) (later Woolbrook)*	Derwent Co. (Thomas & Somerville Learmonth)	1837
Golf Hill (including Upper Leigh & Tall Tree Creek Stations)	Clyde Co (George Russell)	1839
Native Creek No. 3 (later Barwonleigh)	Derwent Co. (Thomas & Somerville Learmonth)	April 1837
Woodbourne  No. 2	Alexander, Charles & John Wilson	1844
Cargerie	George Frederick Read Jnr	January 1838
Mount Mercer	Derwent Co. (David Fisher)	March 1838
Mount Mercer Cattle Station	Derwent Co. (Major William Drummond Mercer)	1838?
Narmbool (including Larundel)	Hugh Niven	January 1839
Warraneep	Levitt brothers and one other	1840
Waverley Park (later Bonshaw)	Henry Anderson	1838
Boninyong	Thomas & Sommerville Learmonth	1838
Ballarat	Archibald B & WC Yuille	February 1838

*These properties whilst not lying directly on any of the three rivers, were an integral part of the district and each did have at least one creek which flowed to either the Barwon or the Moorabool.
It is worth remembering also that runs often changed hands repeatedly (sometimes within a matter of months) and areas of land could be transferred in part or wholly between settlers meaning that the boundaries of properties shifted over time as squatters expanded or consolidated their holdings, forming and dissolving partnerships on a regular basis.
During the 1850s and 60s, following the dispersal of the Clyde and Derwent Companies, leases changed hands and the pre-emptive rights to various properties were purchased. The era of the squatter had well and truly reached the three rivers.