Just what the doctors ordered!

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Hope family of 'Darriwill' and 'Lynnburn' on the Moorabool River near Batesford. To recap, the brothers Robert, George and James travelled overland from Sydney, arriving in the district in 1839. During the mid 1840s as land along the Moorabool River and Sutherland's Creek was opened up for sale, the Hopes took the opportunity to purchase several thousand acres of land and took up leases for thousands more.
In addition to their acquisitions in the Moorabool Valley, the brothers looked further afield. In 1851 they took up the lease for the Native Creek No. 3 squatting run immediately to the east of the confluence of the Barwon and Leigh Rivers. The 4,000 acre property extended to the east of the Native Hut Creek and south across the Barwon. To distinguish it from the two similarly named runs to the north, it was also known as the Barwon Native Creek or Leigh's Native Creek Run and even Native Creek (Teesdale).

Native Creek No. 3 during Dr Robert C Hope's time, 1857. Image held by the
State Library of Victoria

The run was originally taken up by Thomas Learmonth on behalf of the Derwent Company in 1837, however within a few years the Learmonths moved on to Buninyong and the leasehold was transferred to Charles Lambert Swanston and his son-in-law Edward Willis who as the last remaining members of the Derwent Company, held it from 1842. In 1850 following the collapse of his Derwent Bank and with significant personal debt, Swanston died. within weeks of Swanston's death, Willis placed the Native Creek No. 3 leasehold with stock and various other properties on the market. By early February, 1851 the Hopes had taken up the lease.
On the opposite - west - bank of the Leigh River to the Hope's new station, a blacksmith named William Lawson had built an hotel in 1843. Lawson's Horseshoe Inn was located on the neighbouring Weatherboard Run - held by the Derwent Company - at a convenient fording point between Native Creek No. 3 and Weatherboard. Within years, others settled in the area and the township of Inverleigh soon sprang up, with the first land sales being held on 5th December, 1854. Robert Hope was amongst the first land purchasers in the newly formed town.
During 1855 and 1856 the Hopes also began to buy the land they had previously leased as part of their Native Creek No. 3 Run, with Robert's name appearing on the titles.  In the parishes of Murgheboluc and Carrah, north of the Barwon he purchased around 25 blocks of land, comprising almost 4,200 acres. The blocks ranged in size from the 640 acre pre-emptive selections in both parishes to several 14 acre blocks on the outskirts of Inverleigh. The land was divided roughly down the middle by Native Hut Creek and included over 1.6 miles (2.6km) of Barwon River frontage west of its confluence with Native Hut Creek.

Extent of land purchased by the Hopes at Inverleigh outlined
in red

South of the Barwon, an even greater expanse of land was purchased at around the same time. Thirty-six blocks, totalling almost 6,900 acres extended into the parishes of Carrung E Murnong and Gnarewarre and expanded the property well beyond the original 4,000 acres. By the 1870s the Hopes had chosen the name 'Barwonleigh' for their purchased estate, so-named for its position near the confluence of the Barwon and the Leigh Rivers.
At the same time as they purchased the land which comprised 'Barwonleigh', the family also invested in the local community. On the north bank of the Barwon, somewhere near the middle of the river frontage, Robert Hope built a flour mill. According to an article in the Geelong Advertiser of 10th December, 1856, it was a watermill which was fed from a channel almost one mile long, stretching back up the Barwon [to the edge of his property]. The article spoke in glowing terms of the benefits the mill would bestow on the surrounding districts and described it as one of the largest and most powerful in Victoria.

Carrah Flour Mill

The mill soon became known as the Carrah Flour Mill, named presumably for the civil parish which encompassed Hope's run. Robert however was a doctor, not a miller and by early 1859, tenants had been installed to run the mill. On 26th February, the following advertisement appeared in the Geelong Advertiser:

NOTICE--To the Farmers of the Colac Road, Mount Pollock, Gnarwarre, and Modewarre district--Wilson and Elliot, of the "Carrah Mills" (Dr Hope's station), Inverleigh, beg to inform the farmers of the above district that they have completed their bridge over the Barwon, close to the mills, and are buyers of good wheat at the highest market price.
Wheat stored for grinding free of charge.

Whilst Elliot sold out of his part of the business in 1863, his partner Wilson continued to run the mill for a further ten years until 1873 when he in turn sold to David Reid, an experienced miller who already operated a mill in Belmont who was to take over operations from 1st October.
It is probably worth remembering that at around the same time as the Carrah flour mill was under construction, a second mill on the banks of the Moorabool River opposite Robert's 'Lynnburn' property was also in the process of erection, serving a similar purpose for the people of that region.
Robert it seems, lived with his family on the Native Creek Run for several years. Shortly after his arrival, a son - James - was born at "Leigh" in October, 1851, however the child died only a few weeks later and was buried at the Eastern Cemetery; the earliest burial in what became the family plot.

Plaque on the Hope family grave, Eastern Cemetery, Geelong

Over the few years during which the family lived on the Native Creek Run, Robert also provided his medical services to the community when required, however he did not remain long in the district as by the mid 1850s, construction of his substantial homestead at 'Lynnburn' was complete and the family now divided their time between the property at Batesford and Robert's business interests in Melbourne. He did however retain ownership of 'Native Creek No. 3' and eventually, upon his death in 1878, the property passed to his son Dr Thomas Culbertson Hope.

Robert and Catherine Hope's plaque on the family grave

The Hope family grave, Eastern Cemetery, Geelong

Like his father, Thomas was a medical practitioner and divided his time between his medical practice and his property in addition to a number of community roles. In 1876 he was elected to the Bannockburn Shire Council, served as a justice of the peace and also as a manager of the Inverleigh and Teesdale United Farmers' Common.
I am unsure how much time the Hopes spent in residence at 'Barwonleigh' as opposed to their other residences, however the original homestead - a four-roomed bluestone structure - is believed to have been built around 1851 and extended over the years to include 15 rooms plus a ballroom built in 1919. In 1886 however the Barwonleigh Estate which had been in the family for almost 35 years was sold when Thomas moved to Geelong and then Melbourne to concentrate on his medical career. On Tuesday, 23rd March a gathering of local citizens was held at Warrington's Inverleigh Hotel to provide a fitting send off for the esteemed doctor.
Following the Hope's tenure at 'Barwonleigh', the property passed through a number of hands, beginning with Lewis Robertson who then sold the property within a few years to brothers WC and JR McCracken. By November, 1892, the property was again on the market but appears instead to have been leased to John Calvert whose lease expired in 1897 when the property sold to Dr Harry Leigh Atkinson, a practitioner from Bendigo. Harry - a Scottish immigrant - was an innovator in the use of plaster of Paris to treat broken bones and also contributed to other areas of medical practice.
In addition to his medical interests however, he was also an investor - in the local gold mining industry as well as in property. Despite extensive land purchases however, Harry - unlike the Hopes who tended to occupy their properties - remained living in Bendigo, preferring instead to install managers to run his vast estates.
At the time of purchase 'Barwonleigh' was said to include 8,200 acres of freehold land, however Atkinson significantly increased the size of the property, adding a further 16,000 acres of land - originally part of the Austins' holdings, stretching almost to the outskirts of Winchelsea. During his ownership, he left the day to day operation of the property in the capable hands of his son-in-law Alfred Featherstonhough Kelly who with his wife Amelia - Atkinson's eldest daughter - lived on and managed the property until Alfred's death on 9th December, 1915.

Shed near the riverbank at 'Barwonleigh', November, 2014

Dr Atkinson himself had died only a few months earlier on 14th July and as is often the case, a protracted legal challenge ensued between surviving family members over the distribution of his estate. In a legal stoush to rival the best of them, his children placed a caveat on their father's will when their step-mother (Harry's fifth wife) attempted to apply for probate. Finally, after proving that their father was not of sound mind when he changed the will in his wife's favour only a month before his death, his children won the day.
The end result - which would not have been too different for 'Barwonleigh' itself had probate been granted - was that the majority of the land was broken up into smaller farms by the Closer Settlement Board and sold off. The remaining 7,700 acres passed to Amelia Kelly - widow of Alfred - who once again expanded the property, this time by around 2,000 acres.
Amelia lived the remainder of her life at 'Barwonleigh' until hear death at the age of 88 in 1959 after which the property passed into the hands of her daughter Margaret and son-in-law Reginald Campbell.
On 1st March, 1965 disaster struck when the homestead was burnt to the ground. Only a small section of the original building including one room survived. The following year however, the Campbells opted to rebuild, adhering as closely as possible to the original plan.

'Barwonleigh' 1977 after rebuilding. Image courtesy of the John T. Collins
Collection, State Library of Victoria

Today, 'Barwonleigh' remains in the Campbell family, with the present incumbent - Duncan Campbell - being the 7th generation of the family to own the now 2330 ha (5760 acre) property which he runs as a mixed farm, with his wife Maxi, breeding sheep, cattle and pigs as well as cropping canola, wheat, barley and faba beans.
And it would seem likely that the future of the estate may be secure for some time yet with a further two generations of the family already assured and who - if they choose to take over the reins - will become the 8th and possibly 9th generations to take the helm.
One final consideration is of course the fate of the Carrah Mill. There is no mention of it in the newspapers past 1874 when David Reid took up the lease and it seems likely that it suffered the same fate as many small mills across the country as cropping trends changed and technology moved on.
Today, the remains of the mill building constructed by Robert Hope on the north bank of the Barwon, stand as a striking ruin against the skyline, but are no longer a part of 'Barwonleigh'

Ruins of the Carrah Flour Mill built in 1856 by Dr Robert Culbertson Hope.
24th April, 2016. Click to enlarge

Branching out - Chinaman's Lagoon

The little town of Teesdale is situated on Native Hut Creek - a tributary of the Barwon - and was mentioned in one of my previous posts. The history of the area dates back 40,000 years to a time when the progenitors of the Wathaurong clan lived along the creek, harvesting root vegetables and catching fish from the creek.
In 1837, things changed forever when European settlement in the form of Thomas and Somerville Learmonth arrived in the district. Under the auspices of the Derwent company, they established three squatting runs along Native Hut Creek, each named for the creek and numbered 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Rough maps showing modern roads overlaid with the extent of the various squatting runs indicate that what became the town of Teesdale was located on Native Hut Creek No. 2 run which later became known as the Woolbrook Estate.


The gate to Woolbrook today

The Learmonths did not remain long in the district and the estate soon passed to Joseph Tolson. He was followed by Francis Ormond in 1848, Jeremiah Ware in that same year and then only a few years later in 1851, Peter Sharp took up the lease and the following year applied for the pre-emptive right to 640 acres of the property, paying 20 shillings per acre.
By 1854, the property was in the hands of a consortium of three squatters but by 1856 John Bell was the sole owner of the freehold. The following year, he built a three-roomed bluestone house on the property for his brother James, who lived there with his family until 1900.

Woolbrook homestead, early 1900s. Photo held by the State Library of Victoria

As the squatters opened up the land in the district to grazing, other settlers followed in their wake and townships began to spring up. One such on the Native Hut Creek No. 2 run was surveyed in September, 1851 and given the name Teesdale.
Of course, one of the primary concerns for any new establishment is a water supply and Teesdale was no different in this respect. Initially settlers took water directly from the creek which is fed by a series of natural springs. Water was also taken from a small lagoon just to the west of what is now Turtle Bend. Today, this is a small dam which is currently empty, however at that time, it was more extensive than today, extending across where the road now runs and towards Turtle Bend. It was also fed by an underground spring.

The currently dry lagoon near Turtle Bend

 

In those early days, a pump and a standpipe were placed at the lagoon to provide water for the residents and the local women would do their weekly washing in the freshwater springs nearby. During dry periods however the water would become brackish and eventually, by the 1870s salinity was a permanent problem. A new water supply was required.
Initially, it was envisaged that Teesdale would take its water from a dam built at Black Gully in 1874, located between Teesdale and Inverleigh and would share supply with that town. (It should be noted that the shire engineer for that project was one C.A.C. Wilson of Leigh Grand Junction Bridge fame.) However, significant flooding in 1880 - the largest recorded in the state at that time - damaged the dam wall and it was deemed too expensive to repair. In the meantime, a second dam was being built at Todd's Gully, closer to town. The land had been reserved for the purpose of supplying water in June, 1878 and construction was soon underway.


Building Chinaman's Lagoon c1878-1879. Image held by the State Library of Victoria

However, whilst the land was suitable, the site of the dam was somewhat removed from the township and access was via a council road which had been fenced in by a settler (Alex Munro) as part of his selection. In the end, it was decided that the easiest solution was to lay a pipe from the dam to the Mechanic's Institute in town where a standpipe would provide water to the town's population as well as servicing passing travellers - many of whom were headed to the Ballarat Goldfields.

Chinaman's Lagoon today

In February, 1883, three contracts were entered into. A quote of £99 was accepted from one Quin Yung for 7.5 chains (approximately 150m) of tunnel, a second for £79.10.0 from D. Munro for digging trenches and laying 32 chains (approximately 640m) of pipe and the final was for John Danks to supply 2112 feet (about 640m) of galvanised iron pipe at a cost of £96.15.0. The work was completed in a matter of weeks and by April, 1883 water from the dam was flowing through the newly-installed pipe to the town.
That same month, it was moved at a council meeting that a trough should be installed at the standpipe, however I am unsure whether this plan came to pass.

Original well built by Quin Yung beside Chinaman's Lagoon


Whilst the names of the contractors may have been forgotten over the years, the fact that one was Chinese was not and today the dam is known as Chinaman's Lagoon. Whilst no longer providing Teesdale's water, the lagoon still provides a habitat for native flora and fauna and is accessible to the public via walking tracks in the area.
The dam did however continue to served the population of Teesdale until 1974. At this time, the She Oaks Diversion Weir and the Moorabool Water Treatment Plant were completed - as described in my post Branching out - a diverting lesson, bringing to fruition a project begun two years earlier in 1972, with the completion of the Bungal Dam on the Moorabool River at Lal Lal. During construction of the dam, the Bannockburn and District Waterworks Trust contributed financially to its building and as a result was entitled to a  91Ml share of water annually for the towns of Bannockburn, Inverleigh, Shelford, Teesdale, Lethbridge and Meredith. It is this allocation of water which today flows via the She Oaks Diversion Weir before being piped to Teesdale and the other towns mentioned, providing mains water for the community.
More details of Teesdale's water supply across the years can be found in Dianne Hughes' 2011 publication "From Native Creek to Teesdale: 1837-1900" (ISBN: 9780980715989) as well as "Living By Water: a history of Barwon Water and its predecessors" (Leigh Edmonds, 2005; ISBN: 0959491953).

Branching out - Moranghurk

As mentioned in a recent post, I attended a book launch and plaque-unveiling at Moranghurk near Lethbridge a couple of weeks ago. I subsequently posted a little about the history of soldier settlement in the area through which the Barwon and its tributaries run. Because the two topics are so intertwined in local history, this then got me thinking about the squatters who were the first Europeans to live in the area. That then resulted in yesterday's rather lengthy post on the subject of the local "squattocracy".
Now, I intend to have a look at some of the estates mentioned in yesterday's post and hopefully over time this will build up a handy picture of the historic properties along the banks of the three rivers and beyond, showing what they were and what they have become today. Some are already the subject of previous posts so for the moment I will concentrate on some of the others.
First:

Moranghurk

The front gate

Whilst the history of Moranghurk as a squatting run and then as an estate only dates back to 1840, the name itself is much older. The property name was originally spelt Moranghourke but both spellings are believed to be derivatives of the Wathaurong word Murrangurk. One meaning given for the word is to describe someone returned from the grave and was the name given to the escaped convict William Buckley who was discovered by the Barrabool tribe. A slightly different version tells that Buckley was found at the grave of a famous warrior of that name and, not having seen a white man before, he was thought by the Wathaurong to be the reincarnation their hero. Why the name was chosen for the property is not clear.
Unlike many of the estates in the area, Moranghurk has always been in the hands of a partnership or a family. The first selection of 18,00 acres was taken up in 1840 by the Scottish settlers William Taylor and Dugald McPherson who held it until 1846. The property included land along both sides of the Moorabool River. To the west it was bounded by the Native Creek No 1 Estate, at that time occupied by Robert Sutherland for the Clyde Company, to the north by John McLeod's Bohoneyghurk and to the south by the Clyde Company's Tall Tree Estate . East of the Moorabool, Moranghurk shared a boundary with Durdiwarrah belonging to the Steiglitz family and a small section of its south eastern perimeter with the Anakie Estate of Frederick Griffin.

View south down the Moorabool Valley from Moranghurk.

The next to takes up the lease was Peter Sharp in 1846 who transferred it to his brother William in 1848. By 1849 the Squatters' Directory of that year showed the estate as 18,333 acres held by William Sharp.
In the earliest days, Taylor and McPherson built a small cottage on the property made of mud and stone. At some point in the 1840s the present house was constructed, possibly to a design by Thomas Albin Nuttal. Whether it was Taylor and McPherson who had the house built or the Sharps is unclear.

Moranghurk homestead

In 1853 Andrew Love (son of the Presbyterian minister) took over the leasehold before mortgaging the estate to one William Ross in 1854, however Love's subsequent insolvency saw the property once again return to William Sharp in 1856 who then sold the lease to John Matheson in 1857. This period saw a significant amount of legal wrangling with Ross mounting actions against various people including Love.



This land across the Moorabool Valley would originally have been part of the
Moranghurk Estate

Over the ensuing decades, Matheson consolidated his holdings. In 1870, the squatting licence for the estate was cancelled. Matheson took up the pre-emptive right to about 5,000 acres of the original run, but had to relinquish the land east of the Moorabool as pressure from disenchanted gold diggers on the Stieglitz side of the river pushed for farmland of their own. At some point he acquired the Native Hut No 1 Estate to the west as well as 3,000 acres of the Woodbourne No 2 Estate to the north (including the homestead - the subject of a subsequent post). Presumably prior to 1870 - his holdings totalled 26,000 acres, however ultimately he held around 19,000 acres of land, possibly including some reclaimed portions of the original estate west of the river.

The Moorabool Valley and Moranghurk land from the front lawn

During his time Matheson increased the stock on the run and made significant improvements. In 1862 he was running 8,943 head of sheep but by the time of his death in 1882 this had increased to 19,945.
In the early squatting days, property boundaries were often determined by natural features such as creeks and rivers, or by dirt ditches, dug to mark the line. By 1879 he had fenced the run and divided it into paddocks with a combination of stone, brush and post and rail fences.


Several of the Cyprus and a small bridge along the Moranghurk driveway

Between 1873 and 1875, Matheson turned his attention to the house and buildings, extending the former and building a number of outbuildings including shearers' quarters, woolshed, stables and dairy. Other buildings were also constructed during the 1860s. Ninety-seven of the Cyprus trees which line lengthy driveway were planted in 1879.

The house and gardens

Following his death in 1882, Matheson was succeeded by his son John Matheson Jnr. The younger John however died in 1893 at the age of 37, leaving two young sons. So for the next 18 years, the estate was run by his trustees who continued to make improvements including several further outbuildings until, in 1912 - having completed his education at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge - John Lee Matheson and his younger brother Norman McDonald Matheson returned to the property to live along with John L's wife Lynette. They were the first generation of the family to live permanently on the estate.
They suffered a setback not long after taking control of the property however, when a grassfire which was believed to have started when a man at the Larundel Estate near Elaine threw out a pan of hot ashes, burnt through several miles of their fencing, consumed a significant amount of pasture and killed a large number of sheep. None the less, they were able to make a success of the estate and their tenure saw a number of further improvements with a focus on fine quality Merino production. This youngest generation of Mathesons were also responsible for building the gate lodge, the garage, the men's quarters and also an ornate pump house on the river. All this activity was interrupted by a period of English service during the First World War for John during which Norman managed the estate.

The gate lodge at Moranghurk

They were however, the last generation of the family to own it. John died childless in 1953 and the property passed to his brother Norman. By this time however, it was much reduced as the Soldier Settlement Commission had resumed around 12,000 acres of Moranghurk land in 1952 - the distribution of which is the topic of the recent publication Moranghurk, soldier settlement at Meredith: this is their story compiled by Margaret Cooper.

The garage

Like his contemporary Janet Biddlecombe at Golf Hill, John L is believed to have been unhappy with the break up of the estate. Following John's death, Norman had hoped to run a model stud farm on much of the remaining land. The government however, were not prepared to cede more than the  homestead block of 2,183 acres, having already claimed the remaining acreage.
Norman felt he needed at least 5,000 acres to make the project work, so as a result he sold the last of the land along with the house to the Commission who then auctioned it to George "Dudley" Erwin and Jack East, mates from the air force.
Erwin and East were not however, long term occupants and changed little on the property. Erwin went into politics and the property was once again sold, this time in 1957 to Isaac Peter Ralton Scott. Like the Mathesons before him, Scott was keen to improve the property. In addition to another round of alterations to the house - including the demolition of a stone section of the building - land usage began to change. Paddocks were cleared, crops sewn and pastures improved. From being exclusively a grazing run, it now moved towards mixed farming producing not only sheep but cattle, grain and a variety of other crops.

The garden today with glimpses of the valley beyond

Isaac was helped on the property by his son Roger, however upon Isaac's death, the property once again changed hands. This time in about 1988 it was sold to the current owners Ross and Liz Wilkie who have done much to restore the garden and who now operate the former "men's quarters" (styled the shearer's quarters) as a group accommodation facility.
Additional details concerning the history of the property can also be found in Eric A. McGillivray's book The heritage of Lethbridge.