Thomas and Ellen

The starting point in researching my previous post about 'Ingleby' was Thomas Armytage, the eldest son of George Armytage and Elizabeth Peters of Bagdad, Tasmania. Thomas was born at Hobart on 17th January, 1820 and baptised just over two months later on 20th March (Register of Baptisms in Tasmania). 

Baptismal record of Thomas Armytage taken from the Register of Baptisms in
Tasmania online

He spent his early years in Tasmania - or Van Diemen's Land as it was then known - but in May, 1836 he and his father were amongst the earliest settlers to land at Point Gellibrand (Williamstown) with sheep, intending to establish a squatting run in the Port Phillip District. Following the abandonment of an earlier settlement at Mt Cottrell the Armytage sheep were moved to the banks of the Barwon where they were put in the care of John Charles Darke who held land in the Barrabool Hills. As mentioned in my previous post, when the explorers Joseph Tice Gellibrand and George Hesse went missing somewhere along the upper reaches of the Barwon early in 1837, Thomas Armytage was one of a number of settlers to mount a search party to look for the men. It was during the course of their search that Thomas first saw the land - not far from the present day town of Winchelsea - which he would occupy as a squatting run on his father's behalf.
By 1838, Thomas was advertising for shepherds willing to travel to Port Phillip to tend his flock on the newly established run, giving his address as Bagdad (The Austral-Asiatic Review. Tasmanian and Australian Advertiser, 16th July, 1838). Two years later in mid-1840 Thomas was advertising once again, this time seeking general staff to work on his grazing run (The Hobart Town Courier and Van Diemen's Land Gazette, 10th April, 1840) and in July he was granted an official licence by the government to depasture his stock (Port Phillip Gazette, 29th July, 1840).
During this time as he established his base, Thomas travelled between the station and his father's property at Bagdad. It was presumably during one such visit that he made the acquaintance of a widow by the name of Ellen Richardson. Ellen was an English immigrant who had arrived in the colony on the 9th March, 1841 aboard the ship Laura. It was later stated that her late husband was a businessman who had died, leaving her impoverished and with no option but to take a post as a governess and it was in this role that she accompanied the merchant George Borrodaile and his family to Van Diemen's Land. (Note: whilst I have seen no suggestion of a relationship to the Borrodaile family, I did discover that this family were related to Richardsons through a maternal line.)
Soon after her arrival, Ellen was employed by George Armytage at Bagdad as governess to his younger children and it was during this time she met Thomas (Colonial Times, 19th June, 1844). By all accounts, Ellen was an attractive woman - a point which was mentioned many times in the media - and despite an age disparity of perhaps 10 years or more - Thomas being around 20 and she possibly in her 30s - the couple undertook a secret affair. It was later revealed that a number of "letters" passed between the pair, arranging assignations in the garden or for Thomas to slip up to Ellen's room ("mind the stairs do not creek"(sic)) whilst the rest of his family were still in bed.
Whilst it later transpired that some servants were aware of the liaison, it is not clear whether Thomas approached his father or the other way around, but he soon made it clear to his parents that he wanted to marry Ellen. Unsurprisingly perhaps, George Sr did not view the match favourably. Ellen was significantly older than his son and a widow of limited means; not an appropriate match for the son of a man who no doubt saw himself as a gentleman of note (his own convict ancestry notwithstanding). Eventually however, he agreed to the match, with several conditions.

George Armytage Sr. Image held by the University of
Melbourne Archives

Firstly, Thomas would to return to Port Phillip as planned and if upon his return to Van Diemen's Land, they still wished to marry, then they could do so. Even this stipulation however was conditional upon "satisfactory answers [being] returned to some letters which Mrs. Richardson had sent home to England" (Colonial Times, 19th June, 1844). Presumably the letters would confirm her widowed status and good character.
Lastly, George Sr stipulated that Thomas and Ellen were not to correspond whilst Thomas was away. This last condition, the couple ignored. And so after staying several months, Thomas returned to Port Phillip to tend his flocks. In the meantime, Ellen who had decided even prior to Thomas' arrival to leave George Sr's employment, branched out on her own and established a boarding school for young ladies.
Despite leaving his service, George Sr was impressed enough by Ellen's teaching skills, that he assisted her by providing a house from which she operated her school, known as 'Eleanora Cottage'. The syllabus included English and French, music, dancing, geography, history, writing, arithmetic, the use of globes and instruction in both plain and fancy needlework. Drawing, singing and Italian could be taken as extracurricular subjects. The cost per student was £50 per annum including washing (Colonial Times, 16th November, 1841).
At first, all was well and the school flourished. With George Sr's patronage and his glowing endorsements that she was "very clever, and fit to teach the Queen's children in the palace (The Port Phillip Patriot and Morning Advertiser, 21st April, 1846) a number of notable citizens sent their children to be educated.
Meanwhile at Port Phillip, Thomas continued to establish his property which included around 3,000 acres adjoined by a sheep run. His home station consisted of a fenced 5 acre garden with a further 50 acres under cultivation and his stock included 10,000 sheep, 100 cattle and 10 horses as well as working bullocks (Colonial Times, 22nd November, 1842).
Life however, was far from easy as Thomas had to battle not only the elements and the isolation, but also disease and by June, 1842 he was struggling to control an outbreak of "scab" in his flock.
Scab in sheep flocks was the scourge of the Australian wool industry during the 19th century. It occurs when the animals become infested with the sheep scab mite which feeds on dead skin cells, causing intense irritation of the skin - dermatitis - which results in loss of fleece and the appearance of yellow scabs on the skin. It can cause death if left untreated. Strict control measures were introduced to stop the spread of scab and infected animals were treated by dipping in a sulphur and lime solution or some other compound which killed the mites. A second dipping was then required to kill any eggs which subsequently hatched.

Whilst not on the Barwon, this sheep wash on the Goulburn River gives an idea
of what was involved (1857). Image held by the National Library of Australia

Other control methods involved restricting the movement of animals between properties and on 11th July, 1842 Thomas posted a notice in the Geelong Advertiser warning others against driving scab-infested sheep across his property.

Sadly, it may have been this attempt to rid his flock of disease which resulted in Thomas' untimely death at the age of only 22 on 12th September, 1842 from what was described as 'typhus fever'. His final illness was indicated as being about ten days duration and later newspaper reports indicate that Thomas "died from going into water from sheep-washing after taking Calomel" (Cornwall Chronical, 29th June, 1844). Thomas was buried at the Eastern Cemetery in Geelong on the following day, the first burial in the austere Armytage-Hopkins family mausoleum. Later events reveal that upon receiving the news of Thomas' death, Ellen accompanied the family to church the following Sunday to mourn their loss (The Port Phillip Patriot and Morning Advertiser, 21st April, 1846).

The Armytage-Hopkins mausoleum at the Eastern Cemetery, Geelong,
November, 2017

Following his son's death, George Sr travelled to the property which, under the name of 'Glenmore' (the name 'Ingleby' is not mentioned prior to 1848), was advertised for sale or lease in the Colonial Times on 22nd November, 1842. Despite this, history shows that the property remained in the Armytage family with Thomas' younger brother George Jr taking up the reins.
One consequence of Thomas' death was a flurry of correspondence between various parties in Van Diemen's Land and the Port Phillip District. Firstly, in the course of winding up his son's affairs, George Sr wrote to his overseer Edward Stockdale requesting that he forward Thomas' correspondence to him at Bagdad. Before Stockdale could do this however, he received a letter from George Jr instructing him to forward only those letters which were of a business nature, keeping aside personal correspondence which "might hurt his [George Jr's] father's mind" and specifically that from Ellen (Geelong Advertiser, 9th April, 1845). This Stockdale did and after reading portions of Ellen's letters, he put them in a box.
 Ellen, meantime was well aware that the letters she had written to Thomas may fall into the hands of her hitherto generous benefactor and former employer George Armytage Sr with whom she had had a falling out over upkeep of the cottage in which she ran her school (The Colonial Times, 19th June, 1844). Concerned no doubt for her reputation and that of her school, Ellen wrote a number of letters; one to Mr Harrison (presumably James Harrison, editor of the Geelong Advertiser), another to a Mr Lloyd, a third to Edward Stockdale and a fourth to Solomon Austin, whom she knew from her voyage to Australia.
She requested that Stockdale collect a letter from the Geelong Post Office which she had mailed on the very day news of Thomas' death arrived, however Stockdale discovered upon enquiry that Lloyd had already collected the letter. She also asked that Solomon write to his brother Josiah at Port Phillip where the Austins were neighbours of the Armytages and request that Josiah retrieve any correspondence Ellen had sent to Thomas from his personal effects.
And this presumably should have been an end to it, however whilst Stockdale passed most of the letters on to the servant of Josiah Austin, he held several back, placing them in a wooden box. Then, some 17 months after Thomas' death, whilst George Jr was in Port Phillip, Stockdale rediscovered the remaining letters whilst searching through boxes and handed them to George who in turn handed them, unread by him, to his parents (The Austral-Asiatic Review. Tasmanian and Australian Advertiser, 29th June, 1844). It was claimed by Stockdale that he retained the letters for his own amusement because he considered them "curious".
Reading between the lines however, the "missing" letters were just the beginning of Ellen's problems. By October, 1843 it seems that rumours were circulating about her character, many of them it was later alleged, traceable to George Armytage Sr. With the arrival of the letters carried by George Jr in February, 1844, his father perhaps felt justified in the claims he was making and spoke to a number of the parents whose children attended Ellen's school, which by this time she had moved to the town of Brighton. As a result of so much rumour swirling around the small community, unsurprisingly, Ellen's student numbers began to decline rapidly. George removed his own children during 1843 and by May 1844 the last of the students departed and what had been a thriving school closed finally in September, 1844 (The Port Phillip Patriot and Morning Advertiser, 21st April, 1846).
By this time however, Ellen had been pushed too far and felt the time had come to take measures to obtain compensation for her loss of income. To that end, she took George Armytage Sr to court, suing him on eight different counts. Amongst the statements attributed to Armytage were comments such as [he] "could tell [witness] something about Mrs. Richardson...which would make her cap rise from her head", that Ellen was a "vile woman", that he had in his possession letters written by Ellen which "would be a disgrace to any woman upon earth" and that "the commonest prostitute would never have written such letters". He was also alleged to have shown the letters to a school parent saying "I hope that (meaning the letter) will convince you of the character of the woman" whom he claimed was "diabolical".
Most damaging perhaps to Ellen's reputation was the allegation attributed to George's wife Elizabeth, that "we lost our son through her". During a conversation it was indicated that Thomas died "from going into water in sheep-washing after taking Calomel". "Yes" replied Mrs Armytage "but it was she caused him to take the medicine" (Cornwall Chronicle, 29th June, 1844). What is perhaps not clear now, but was common knowledge in the 19th century was that "Calomel" was a mercury-based compound used to treat syphilis.

Elizabeth Armytage, mother of Thomas and wife
of George Sr. Image held by the University of
Melbourne Archives

As mentioned earlier however, newspaper reports at the time of his death indicate that Thomas died of Typhus, a bacterial infection spread by the bite of some species of ticks, fleas, mites and lice, some of which may perhaps have been present on the sheep he was dipping/washing in the Barwon to treat the scab mite in his flock. Also unheard of now and perhaps not so well-known then is that Calomel was used in some cases to treat Typhus. Is it perhaps possible then that Thomas either contracted the typhus whilst dipping sheep, took Calomel and continued working, or (perhaps more likely) developed symptoms whilst working the sheep then went to Geelong where he was treated with Calomel for his typhus? I guess we'll never know, but after an illness of around ten days duration Thomas died at Geelong.

A bottle of Calomel

Finally on 17th June, 1844, over a year and a half after Thomas' death, the Court hearing got underway. It ran for three days, with multiple witnesses called for both sides and involved much convoluted legal argument, contradictory witness statements and much impassioned speech. In the lead up to the case however, things had turned nasty. On 5th June, notice of Ellen's death late the previous month, appeared in the Launceston Advertiser. It was of course false. At the same time, threatening letters were sent to some of the witnesses due to give evidence. The case attracted huge public interest and newspapers around the country were of course, keen to provide every sordid detail. It was the civil case of its time.
From their numerous accounts of proceedings it appears that Ellen's legal council - Mr Macdowell - gave a performance worthy of the best modern barristers, questioning motives, casting doubt upon defence testimony, inveigling information from witnesses and defending his client's reputation. It was suggested that Solomon Austin had been intimate with Mrs Richardson during the voyage from England, he later making offers of marriage which it was alleged Thomas had dismissed with a sneer saying that "he [Solomon] could not succeed while such a man as himself was in the way" (Cornwall Chronicle, 29th June, 1844).
Ultimately it was found that the infamous "creeking" letter (alluded to above) was not written by Ellen, but was rather a forgery perpetrated by George Armytage Jr. The jury found for the plaintiff (Ellen) on six of the eight counts and awarded her £1,250 damages. Armytage was ordered to pay costs.
Undeterred however, Armytage moved for a mistrial and a second hearing was set down for 19th March, 1845. Further evidence in the form of more letters (possibly those retained by Stockdale for "his own amusement") was presented and under cross-questioning by Macdowell, George Armytage Jr broke down on the witness stand and had to be taken from the court. Once again, the jury found in favour of the plaintiff, however damages were reduced to the much smaller total of £300 and it was found that the letter in question was not a forgery but was written by the plaintiff herself. By August, the matter remained unresolved and this time it was Ellen's council who moved for a third trial on the basis that the verdict was defective on several points. It was also alleged during the course of the trial that one of the jurors had expressed biased views prior to the case commencing (The Tasmanian and Austral-Asiatic Review, 22nd May, 1845).
The third hearing finally concluded on 20th March, 1846 with two counts found in favour of the defendant but a further three in favour of the plaintiff with Armytage required to pay damages of £500 and there, finally, the matter rested (The Observer, 24th March, 1846).
It would be tempting at this point to imagine that Ellen Richardson was able to salvage her reputation and her career, settling down to a life without further controversy, however this was far from reality. Whilst she did once again establish a seminary for young ladies in Hobart Town, in 1848 she was once again in the papers when she and an auctioneer by the name of John Charles Stracey (with whom she had stayed during her previous court appearances) absconded to Sydney under false names. Posing as man and wife they boarded a ship for London. They were apprehended at the last minute and Stracey was charged with attempting to abscond with £6,000 - the proceeds of sales. Ellen was also arrested and in true form, once released had the arresting officer charged with false imprisonment (The Britannia and Trades' Advocate, 16th March, 1848).
Whilst her companion was deported back to Hobart to face charges (and his deserted wife), Ellen appears to have remained in Sydney where she continued to pursue various legal matters before - as far a I can tell - disappearing from the record by 1849. Whilst there was no happy ending to this tale, it is tempting to wonder what might have ensued had Thomas lived to old age.

Wormbete Creek - powering Victoria's industry

Last week I took a look at The Powerhouse in North Geelong. Originally this was the Geelong B Power Station, built in 1954 from a package plant shipped from the USA and which operated until 1970 when it was decommissioned.

Construction of the Geelong B Power Station, image held by Museum Victoria

In its day, the station featured the largest steam-driven plant outside Yallourn, capable of generating 30,000 kilowatts of power which was then fed into the state grid. The plant was fuelled by brown coal and in its earliest years of operation, it burnt coal mined from the Wensley Brae Coal Mine, located on the west branch of Wormbete Creek in the Winchelsea South area of Western Victoria. It is this mine which provides the link I was seeking between the power station and the Barwon River.
The east and west branches of Wormbete Creek flow down from the Otway Ranges, meeting at a point about 9km south of Winchelsea and about 4km south of the creek's confluence with the Barwon. Today, the Wurdale Landcare group are working to preserve the Wormbete Creek catchment area through revegetation, salinity and erosion control measures and the establishment of riparian zones.

Wormbete Creek west branch from Coal Mine Road, below the site of the
Wensley Brae coal mine

In the early days of European settlement however priorities were different and the district was surveyed to establish the presence of mineral resources. Some information suggests that coal deposits along the west branch of Wormbete Creek were mined on a small scale as early as the 1850s, however this is uncertain. What is known is that during a drought period in 1914, coal was discovered along the west branch of Wormbete Creek by Bert Armistead and Ken Strickland who were sinking wells.
With plentiful timber available as a fuel source and the difficulties inherent in transporting coal from a relatively remote area, mining activity in the region was minimal and so it was not until 1921 that the Wensley Brae Coal Mine - also known as the Wensleybrae, Wensley Bray, Wensleydale, Winchelsea South or Bambra Coal Mine - first opened. The initial owners were the Western District Coal Mines Pty Ltd who initially drilled small exploratory tunnels to access the coal seams, however operations were soon taken over by the Otway Coal Company Ltd and the venture switched to open cut mining which continued until 1934.

View of the "Wensleydale" Mine taken c1949-1951, image taken from
http://www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/219254/COAL_pp_158_207.pdf

Coal from the mine was sold to local industries in the Geelong area including the Fyansford Cement Works which were previously dependent on an unreliable supply of coal from New South Wales. The Ford Motor Company also purchased coal from Wensley Brae as did most of Geelong's woollen mills. With the completion of the Geelong B Power Station in 1954, this facility also used coal sourced from Wensley Brae.
The coal was initially transported to Geelong by road using trucks, however in 1925 a ropeway was opened which carried the coal from the mine to a purpose-built siding at Wensleydale railway station. This was the head of a short branch line running from Moriac Station on the Geelong-Port Fairy (now Warrnambool) line. The branch had opened in 1890 to carry gravel and timber.

Map showing the site of Wensley Brae mine in relation to the Wensleydale
branch line. Crosses mark the ropeway running between the mine and the station.
Image taken from
http://www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/219254/COAL_pp_158_207.pdf

During its first phase of operation, only about 16,000 tons of coal was mined from the site before operations ceased in 1934. The following year due to continued pressure from mining interests in New South Wales, the company went into liquidation and the mine sat idle for eight years until 1943.
When the mine reopened in 1943 under the ownership of Wensley Bray Coal Mine Pty Ltd, operations ramped up considerably, but the ropeway - which was damaged in the 1939 Black Friday bushfires - was never used again. By 1947 production stood at 1,400 tons per week and it was anticipated that the purchase of two new excavators from the Philippines by the State Electricity Commission (SEC) would increase production to 8-10,000 tons per week. Numerous newspaper reports in late 1947 indicated that the equipment was destined for use removing overburden at Wensley Brae.
 In June, 1948 however, a political stoush developed when then Victorian state opposition leader John Cain claimed that the government of the day was withholding the equipment purchased by the SEC. The government responded that at no time had it or the SEC guaranteed that the machinery would be made available specifically to the Wensley Brae mine and that it would deploy the equipment where it saw fit. It also indicated that servicing the equipment was problematical as there were not enough spare parts to keep this and other large machinery in the state operational at the same time.
Production it claimed was now at 70 tons per week but that this would increase to 4,000-5,000 tons per week using proper equipment. It also indicated that if the privately-owned mine could not increase its output then the government would probably buy the site. The same month, the mine proprietors entered into a deal with Melbourne company Roche Bros Pty Ltd to ramp up production which they claimed stood at 1,500 tons per week at that time - more than double the amount claimed by the Minister for Mines. Under this new operator, the coal was transported to Winchelsea where special coal trains carried the coal to Geelong, parts of the western district, Melbourne, Ballarat and Bendigo.

A coal seam running down the wall of the quarry looking from Coal Mine Rd

By August, 1948 the government was keen to show its support for the local coal industry and floated a raft of measures aimed at supporting the industry in the face of competition from New South Wales. These measures included providing housing for workers, subsidies for Victorian coal which was in any case selling much cheaper than NSW coal, money to purchase earthmoving equipment from the USA and the provision of the promised equipment to Wensley Brae.

Remains of mining activities? Near Coal Mine Rd

The support was ongoing and in July, 1950 the government indicated that it would provide additional prefabricated housing for miners working at Wensley Brae amongst other measured designed to treble the 4,000 ton per week capacity at which it was operating. The increased demand for brown coal at this time was in response to a state-wide move to brown coal from black.
At the same time, the government backed away from plans to buy the mine outright, despite an offer of sale in August by the owners who indicated they would sell to the government for £135,000 under a deal which would see Roche Bros Pty Ltd continue to operate the mine for a royalty of 2/ per ton.
By April, 1951 however, Victoria was facing a fuel shortage and the government had another change of heart and purchased the mine for £150,000 with the intention of having the contractors pay a royalty as suggested. It was estimated that the mine would produce a minimum of 400,000 tons of coal per year.
In late March, 1952, the mine nearly met with disaster when it was threatened by a 500 acre bushfire which came within a few hundred metres of the open cut. It was turned back at the last minute by a wind change and fire breaks which had been ploughed by five bulldozers from the mine which also had its floor covered with water to prevent embers from setting the valuable coal alight.
The mine continued to operate until 1959 when it was decided that coal deposits at Anglesea could be more easily mined than those at Wesley Brae which was then closed down. At its peak, production reached 10,000 tons per week and the mine employed 200 men. In total, there were estimated to be about 4 million tons of coal in the deposit. By the time the mine finally closed, up to 2.5 million tons (some estimates say 3 million tons) of coal had been extracted. Further details of the mine can be found here.

Views of the lake from the direction of Coal Mine Rd

Following its closure, the mine was flooded to a depth of 60m, forming a lake. I am unsure who currently owns the site but it would seem that the lake is still used for water sports today.


Views of the lake from the direction of Coal Mine Rd

Glimpses of the lake can be seen from Coal Mine Road.



Backing the Black Line

...and so...back to trains...
After the successful construction of both the Melbourne-Geelong and Geelong-Ballarat railway lines, the push was on for a line which would service the south west of the state and it was with this in mind that the line from Geelong to Winchelsea opened in 1876. In following years the line was extended as far as Port Fairy, although the section beyond Dennington is now closed and forms the newly-opened (May, 2012) Port Fairy-Warnambool Rail Trail.
First however, like the Ballarat line, a route had to be chosen. One rejected suggestion was to extend the line via an existing branch to the waterfront on to Limeburners Point, from there heading inland to cross the Barwon River at Breakwater. History shows that this option was not taken up, but in the 1850s, this was by no means certain. Letters to the local media pointed out the benefits of a rail link to Point Henry, enabling the unloading of cargo from vessels unable to cross the sandbar and enter Geelong's inner harbour, prior to the dredging of the Hopetoun Channel which was not completed until 1893.

Corio Bay from Western Beach, 1880 showing the Railway Pier (Cunningham
Pier)

This was considered a matter of some importance as both Geelong and Melbourne competed for incoming trade. Routing the line to the south west via Limeburners Point - with a train or tram connection to Point Henry - made economic sense. An extension to Queenscliff where cargo for Geelong could be unloaded directly rather than via Melbourne was also discussed. In 1867 a select committee recommended that a rail line to Colac follow "Corio Terrace" (presumably branching off the existing line to the Railway Pier) as far as "Sydney Place", turn to cross the Barwon at Breakwater and continue on to Germantown (Grovedale), passing 5 miles south of Winchelsea and through Birregurra before terminating on the southern shore of Lake Colac.
By 1873, engineers' reports were being tabled in the Victorian parliament, considering three different options: known as the black line, the red line or the green line. The green line which it seems was favoured by the Commissioner of Railways did not include Geelong at all, but saw a line branch off the existing Geelong-Ballarat line at Leigh Road (now Bannockburn). Requiring only 40 miles of track to be laid but resulting in a total route which was 5 miles longer than the black, it was considered cheaper to construct.

Bannockburn (Leigh Road) Station

From the reports of the day, it seems there was fierce lobbying from all quarters, with allegations of lies, distorted estimates and vested interests claimed all round, however the proponents of the black line won out in the end. This more direct route it was argued, would bring more benefit to more people, opening up vast new landholdings in the process - exactly the claim made by advocates of the green line. The third or red line, deviated somewhat to the north of the black line but does not seem to have been seriously considered by any party.
Having chosen the black line, the major stumbling block was how the new track should leave Geelong. The idea of a rail link to Point Henry seems to have disappeared from the agenda by this stage but a report in The Argus of 9th April, 1873 spells out the various options considered:

With regard to the question of the tunnel for getting out of Geelong the first estimate of its cost was £95,000, but recent surveys showed that a line could be adopted by Fenwick-street, whereby the cost of the tunnel might be reduced to £59,000. Two other lines had also been surveyed - one by the Botanical gardens, in which the tunnel would only cost £64,000, and another by Sydney-place, crossing near the hospital, in which a tunnel would cost £74,000.

Rail tunnel from Geelong Station to McKillop Street

Another point in favour of the black line was that a branch to Queenscliff would be a simple matter if the route through Geelong was chosen. Despite debate over the need for such a line at the time, the coming of the military to Queenscliff, saw the line built only a few years later, opening in 1879
 (see previous post). In addition, a short branch line to the old Geelong racecourse from Marshall opened in 1878 (see this previous post). This would not have been possible had the green line been chosen.
History of course shows which tunnel was eventually built. Then as now, the politicians making the decision were subject to the influence of lobbyists and money but had these forces been otherwise, the landscape of the Barwon  may be very different today.
The decisions made then determined the two points at which rail bridges still cross the Barwon today: Breakwater and Winchelsea, not, as the proponent of the "single great trunk line of railway for Victoria" would have had it (see this post)  at Melville's Quarry near what is today the west end of Noble Street, or at Buckley Falls.
One detail however is not so dissimilar to that suggested in his letter of 1857 where he indicated that the line should run "50 chains" (a little over a kilometre) due south from Geelong Station. The decision to choose the Fenwick Street option saw the line travel due south for exactly that distance, however rather than a sweeping curve to the west "between Newtown Hill and the Barwon" (presumably in the vicinity of West Fyans Street) as proposed, the line as we know headed south east before making a sweeping curve to cross the Barwon at Breakwater.


Vintage Rail steam engine R707 entering the tunnel May, 2013

When all the debate was done and dusted, the first sod on the new Geelong and Colac Railway line was turned by the Mayor of Geelong at a site near Johnstone Park on 24th October, 1874. A holiday was declared, military and civil displays were held for the populace - of whom 5,000-6,000 turned out to witness the event - flags and bunting flew from ships and buildings across town and three cheers were given for the "Black Line".
At a subsequent banquet held for the dignitaries, the expected speeches were made and toasts proposed. It was clearly stated that this was only the beginning and that extension of the line to Queenscliff and Camperdown should be urgently promoted. The mayor it was noted, apologised for the absence of "the members of the ministry and a number of other gentlemen." With the whole event having the distinct air of a victory party for the Black Line, one can't help but wonder whether some of those absent gentlemen were proponents of the green line.

The original timber rail bridge over the Barwon River at Breakwater, 1937,
reproduction rights held by the State Library of Victoria

From this point, building continued apace with the complex and expensive construction of the tunnel and bridge at Breakwater being a priority which took about 12 months to complete, thereby allowing the line itself (thus connected to the existing line) to be used for the transport of materials for further construction.
The original rail bridge over the Barwon at Breakwater was a timber construction some 186m in length and only a short distance further down the line a similar but smaller bridge spanned Waurn Ponds Creek. From this point onwards, the track works were considerably simpler, but no less controversial.

Current Breakwater rail bridge built in the 1960s to replace the original

The second rail bridge across the Barwon was built at Winchelsea, however the original route surveyed for the "Black Line" saw it pass some miles south of Winchelsea, instead favouring selectors on the edge of the Cape Otway forest in the vicinity of Deans Marsh. Once again, the lobbyists were out in force with one scathing critic of the  "Winchelsea Deviation" reported thus in The Argus of 26th January, 1876:

One gentleman wanted to know what Winchelsea had done

"That the claims of the forest should be sacrificed for its aggrandisement. As a township it claimed to be a centre of population, and the father of the shire. He regretted to say it was the centre of a vast area of arid plains, only fit for a few sheep-walks, and scarcely suitable for that; that the few farmers in the neighbourhood had deserted their holdings, and the land for miles around was held in the hands of two or three individuals; and that as a township it had fallen into decay, and only existed in the form of a couple of publichouses(sic), one or two stores, and a few shingle shanties."

In spite of such opinions and perhaps even despite the original route providing a greater boost to the economy, the Winchelsea Deviation was confirmed as the passage of choice. This second section of the track past Freshwater Creek included some 40 bridges and culverts, one being the second crossing of the Barwon at Winchelsea. Like the first at Breakwater, this bridge was a timber construction, but at only 146m in length, shorter than its downstream counterpart.

VLine train from Warnambool crossing the Barwon on the present-day
Winchelsea rail bridge. The first timber bridge was replaced at some point
 by this concrete and steel girder construction

 Finally, after all the debate, significant engineering hurdles and several years of hard work, on 24th November, 1876, the much awaited first stage of the Geelong and Colac Railway was opened to Winchelsea.
A train carrying dignitaries including the Commissioner of Railways who conducted the formalities was dispatched from Melbourne and further notables were collected in Geelong before proceeding to Winchelsea where the residents of the district greeted them with the expected pageantry, speeches and of course, a banquet. The worthies then took a turn around the town before piling back onto the train and heading for home, leaving the good residents of Winchelsea to hold a ball to further mark the occasion.
The following year, the section of track to Colac was completed and - as hoped from its inception - subsequent decades saw the extension of the line to Camperdown (1883), Terang (1887), Warnambool (1890) and Port Fairy (1890). In all, one would have to say, a resounding victory for the supporters of the Black Line.
And now, almost 137 years later as I write this post, I can hear the trains still travelling along the route envisioned by such illustrious names as Levien, Johnstone, Lang, Thomson, Armitage, Sladen, Austin and many more...

A Right Royal River

In view of all the attention given to the recent Diamond Jubilee celebrations marking the 60th year of Queen Elizabeth's reign, I thought it might be interesting to see what - if any - connection the British royal family might have had to the Barwon River since the advent of white settlement.

In keeping with the prevalent attitudes of the 19th century, several structures built along the river through Geelong at that time were named for members of the royal family.  My Building Bridges post looked at some of them, such as Princes Bridge (originally the Prince Albert Bridge) which was built in 1861 and named for the the consort of that other English monarch to reach her Diamond Jubilee - Queen Victoria.

The original Prince Albert Bridge built in 1861, reproduction rights held by
the State Library of Victoria

Second Prince Albert Bridge built 1889. This photo taken 1937, reproduction
rights owned by the State Library of Victoria

The current Princes Bridge built in 1965. The second bridge would have been
located in the foreground of the picture

Likewise, Queen's Park and the bridge across the river at that point were named for Queen Victoria. Perhaps not surprisingly, the naming of both bridges caused local controversy, as a new breed of colonials took on the royalists of the day. Again, this was the topic of a previous post: What's in a Name.
Okay, so Geelong's monarchists liked to honour the royals by naming public structures after them, but until 1867 none of them had actually set foot on Australian soil, let alone seen the Barwon River. This changed on 3rd December, 1867 when Queen Victoria's second son Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh  arrived in Winchelsea where he laid the final stone in the newly built bridge across the river.

Commemorative stone in the Barwon River Bridge at Winchelsea

Ironically, whilst other bridges along the river pay tribute to English royalty, this one bridge which had the distinction of being opened by a member of the royal family is known simply as the Barwon River Bridge.

Barwon River Bridge, Winchelsea

Barwon River Bridge, Winchelsea

As part of his visit to the district, the prince also visited Thomas Austin at Barwon Park where he participated in rabbit shoots on the banks of the Barwon. So successful were they that the hundreds of rabbits bagged were distributed amongst the local populace who referred to the bounty as "rabbit royale".
Two years later on a return trip in 1869, the prince once again visited the Austins. It was as a result of these royal visits that the present day Barwon Park mansion was built in 1871, as the Austins felt that the structure which existed previously was not suitably grand enough for such esteemed company as princes.

 A photograph of HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of
Edinburgh, c1868 held by the National Library
of Australia

Although there have been other royal visits to Geelong - the Duke and Duchess of York visited Geelong in 1927 and Queen Elizabeth II passed through during her 1954 tour of the country - I can see little indication that a member of the British royal family has graced the banks of the Barwon with their presence since that visit by the Duke of Edinburgh 145 years ago.
One possible exception however, was the visit of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (uncle of Queen Elizabeth II) who was pictured with a group standing in front of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Woollen Mill at the bottom end of Pakington Street (current photos shown here) during a visit in 1934.
Another royal connection to the Barwon - albeit a tenuous one - occurred during the Queen's 1988 visit to Australia. On this occasion, Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia was escorted in Australian waters by the frigate HMAS Canberra. The Canberra was decommissioned in 2005 and then in October, 2009, watched by several hundred interested locals (myself included), she was towed to a point off Barwon Heads and - after several hour's delay - scuttled. She is now used as a dive wreck.

The HMAS Canberra being towed to waters off Barwon Heads prior to its
being scuttled

So much for English monarchs! On  a final note, as I researched this post, I discovered that the Barwon has its own royalty. Each year, the Ocean Grove Angling Club bestows upon its best angler the title of King or Queen of the Barwon. According to the club website, the current reigning monarch has achieved this elevated status on at least three other occasions.

Onward and upwards

For some time I have intended to head to parts of the Barwon as yet unknown to me. Being school holidays and the weather reasonably fine, we decided to round up the kids and head upstream. Our first stop was morning tea at Winchelsea. We sat in the park overlooking the river, sipped our coffee and nibbled on biscuits and slices. The weather was cool but fine, well suited to snapping a few pictures.

Barwon River at Winchelsea

This wasn't my first visit to "Winch" and I'd taken quite a number of photos on my previous visit, so after a short walk along this part of the river towards the rail bridge, we decided to leave further investigation of both the town and this section of the river and head off. We dragged the kids off the play equipment, packed up the cups and headed for the car.Our next stop was the little township of Birregurra which has the good fortune to nestle on the banks of the Barwon. We parked near the nondescript bridge over the river and had a look around. We found ourselves in a wide, grassy area where the kids took the opportunity to have a run and in the distance we glimpsed what looked to be the sculpted lines of a golf course. Further investigation proved us correct, although, as with Winchelsea, further exploration of the township of Birregurra and its surrounds will have to wait.
The river itself was actually quite difficult to approach at this point as it is thickly lined on both banks with silver poplars. As is the case with these trees, they had no doubt been introduced at some point and then, as poplars are want to do, they'd taken hold, throwing up countless saplings along the banks, taking full advantage of a ready source of water. In the process, they had created a sizable thicket which made photography difficult and access all but impossible in most places.

Barwon River at Birregurra

Despite this, we did find a little track which allowed us to reach the water's edge where it appeared that a local angler had dropped in a line. Of the owner of the line, we saw no trace. Whilst the others crunched their way through the substantial drifts of leaves under the poplars, I made my way up to the bridge and attempted to snap a few photos looking both up and down river.I have to say however, that there wasn't much to see. Firstly, the bridge is located near a bend which precludes any significant view upriver, secondly it should also be said at this point that the Barwon as it flows through Birregurra is barely recognisable as the same sizable stream which flows through Geelong with enough depth and breadth for rowing, water-skiing, kayaking and a variety of other activities. I guess the weirs and the breakwaters either side of Geelong are doing their job. Here, the river is more like a small creek and were it not for the stranglehold of the poplars, it would probably be possible to jump from one bank to the other with a short run up. Certainly it would not be navigable by kayak - or other any other type of vessel for that matter.
And so we continued on our pilgrimage. From Birregurra we headed over the bridge and turned off on to the Forrest-Birregurra Road. Clearly were were approaching our objective. The only other town we passed along the way was the pertinently named Barwon Downs which is set in the rolling grasslands found at the foot of the Otways. As we travelled, we noticed that the mild season had allowed for a significant amount of back burning, resulting in regular plumes of smoke rising into the air from neighbouring farms.

Restored rail bridge on the "Birregurra-Forrest Tiger Rail
Trail" crossing the Barwon River

Although we couldn't always see it, we were in fact paralleling the course of the river and at one point, just outside Barwon Downs, we came upon another small, nondescript bridge crossing the river. At this point, whilst the riverbed was reasonably wide, it was choked with what was possibly Water Ribbon or Cumbungi and there was barely a trickle of water to be seen.More interestingly, the modern road bridge was flanked by what we discovered was a disused rail bridge. This quaint little red bridge, now restored, forms part of a much grander plan. As is almost de rigueur for disused lines these days, there are moves afoot to make use of the 30km or so of disused line as a riding/walking trail connecting Birregurra to Forrest. The following website indicates that about 5 or 6km of track has so far been laid between Forrest and Barwon Downs, with the rest to be developed along the course of the line to Birregurra.
http://www.railtrails.org.au/states/trails.php3?action=trail&trail=143
Naturally, having discovered a new (to me) trail, I had to investigate its history. This one - now known as the Tiger Birregurra-Forrest Rail Trail - was once used to transport timber from where it was cut in the surrounding bushland, processed in the sawmills at Forrest and then transported to Birregurra. In 1889 the line was opened as far as Deans Marsh and whilst originally surveyed as far as the township of Baramunga, financial limitations instead saw it terminate at what was to develop as the township of Forrest (which incidentally was named for a politician who fought to have the railway extended to that point). Extended to Forrest and opened in 1891, this branch line not only carried timber out of the region, but was also used to transport farming produce out and other needed supplies inwards. Tourists heading to Apollo Bay and Lorne also made use of the line.
Other towns serviced by the line included Pennyroyal, Yaugher and Gerangamete, however with the increasing use of road transport, the line closed in 1957 and was allowed to fall into disrepair. Today, all sidings have been removed and it is not always possible to see where the line once ran, however I gather that it is still possible to see some remains at certain points. The Birregurra Station still stands and is in use on the Melbourne-Warnambool line.

The West Barwon River at Forrest

Returning to our travels, it was only a short drive into the town of Forrest. Rather than stop here, we passed through, by now, following signs pointing us towards Lake Elizabeth and the West Barwon Dam.
Just a little out of town, we once again crossed the river and found ourselves in a picnic area by what had now become the west branch of the river. It was an appropriate point at which to stop for lunch, park the car and go for a wander. At this point, the river had widened a little and was not so overgrown. In some scrub near the opposite bank I came across a section of one of the many mountain bike trails which now form the basis of Forrest's tourist industry. At the edge of the track was a sign post informing me about the many miles of tramways which used to run in the area, all connecting to the rail terminus at Forrest, carrying in the logs, cut by the sawyers.
These days, there is no sign of the rail network which once served the area, however the effects of white settlement were none-the-less evident.

The Barwon River at Forrest

From our picnic table the view across the bridge and into the surrounding gum trees looked like nothing so much as a 19th century Hans Heysen painting, wanting only a drover herding cattle to wander down the unsealed road. However, turning barely 180 degrees and looking a little past the opposite bank of the river where non-indigenous plantings prevail, you would swear you had been transplanted to the England of a similar era.
Pretty as all this was, we had more exploring to do, so once again, we packed up the coffee cups, brushed off the crumbs and headed upriver - but that is a story for another day...