World War One : The Shire of Eltham
Update: April 2021 The website mentioned is no longer active,. [admin]
Update: January, 2017
The related links below now include an index to Shire of Eltham casualties (currently 126 listed), plus an optional download of the full In Memoriam Roll (significantly larger file size)
The original scope of the project was to research the area covered by the Yarra Plenty Regional Library, i.e. the existing municipalities of Banyule, Nillumbik and Whittlesea.
This proved somewhat difficult in many cases in determining just where some of the outlying settlements would have fitted into today’s topology, hence a later decision was to instead take Dr. Who’s Tardus Time Machine back to 1914 and use the Shire boundaries of the time.
This had two major effects.
Firstly, it meant that Alphington and Fairfield returned to the Shire of Heidelberg (in 1914, Fairfield was a separate Riding in Heidelberg Shire and elected its own representatives, Alphington was part of the Ivanhoe Riding of the same shire.
In the Shire of Eltham, the difference was equally dramatic – whilst some of the boundaries (especially between Kinglake and Kinglake West) are difficult to identify. the Shire at that time included Yarra Glen
Nillimbuk (or Diamond Creek), now a Shire in its own right, was actually part of the Shire of Heidelberg, hence servicemen in our In Memoriam section that were linked to Diamond Creek are actually listed on the Heidelberg Roll.
The Shire of Eltham : 1914-18
Eltham was declared a District on 26 September, 1856, and a Shire on 6 April, 1871, with the boundaries adjusted on 31 May, 1912.
The Municipal Directory of 1914 places the area at 200 square miles, the population at 3,500, the number of dwellings at 810, the rateable value of the Shire being £27,752.
There were three Ridings, imaginatively named Southern, Northern and Eastern, and despite the nominal name of Eltham, the Shire offices were in Kangaroo Ground, ultimately also the site of the Shire Memorial Tower (kangaroo Ground was actually nominated as the site for the Shire Offices by a poll of ratepayers around the time war broke out.
In 1914, the main townships within the district where shown as Allwood (Hurstbridge), Christmas Hills, Eltham, Kangaroo Ground, Kinglake, Panton Hill, Nillimbuk (Diamond Creek), Research, Queenstown, Steele’s Creek and Tarrawarra.
The Directory of 1919 listed a number of additional towns (which may have been too small to be considered in 1914), the additional areas including Balee (now Wattle Glen), Chiselhurst, Cottle’s Bridge, Hurstbridge, Lower Plenty, Smith’s Gully, Strathewen, Tanck’s Corner (now Yarrambat), Toolangi and Yarra Glen (population 580).
Queenstown had changed to St. Andrew’s, although the local newspapers continued with the original name; some of the other new names seem to have been added as populations grew.
All of these districts have been included in our research, although some such as Kinglake and Yarra Glen would hardly be considered “Eltham” today.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Shire (1918)
(as per the Victorian Municipal Directory)
Balee : Station, 21 miles. Fares 1s.10d and 1s. 4d. (later Wattle Glen)
Chiselhurst : Rail to Eltham, coach Kangaroo Ground, hence three miles. A. B. Martin, pm (post master)
Christmas Hills : Dairying and agricultural district on Watson’s Creek with mechanic’s institute (library) and state school. Rail to Yarra Glen. Coach at 10.20 am, fare 1s.6d. T. J. Jeffrey, pm.
Cottle’s Bridge : Fruit-growing district. Rail to Heidelberg, coach two miles. Fare 6d.
Dixon’s Creek : Fruit-growing and grazing district. Rail to Yarra Glen, coach at 11 am, five miles. Fare 1s.6d. N. Ellis, pm.
Eltham : Horticultural, dairy and grazing district near the Yarra Ranges with telegraph station, post and money order office, state school, branch of bank, savings bank, four churches, two hotels, police station and recreational reserve. Rail, 16¼ miles, fares 1s,3½d, 11d. A. J. Hunneford, pm. Population : 400
Hurstbridge : Fruit-growing district with public hall, cool stores and saw mills. Rail, 22¾ miles. Fares 2s.6d and 1s.8d. F. Taylor, pm.
Kangaroo Ground : Agricultural township with post, telegraph and money-order office, state school, hotel, church, Shire offices, insurance agency and newspaper. Rail to Eltham, coach, five miles. Fare, 1s.6d. C, Wraight, pm.
Kinglake : On Great Dividing Range with saw mills and hotel. Great depth of soil, enormous trees and magnificent scenery. Potato growing and orchard district. Gold reefs. Rail to Yarra Glen, coach at 11 am, 12 miles, Fare 3s.6d. F. Thompson, pm. WEST : state school. A W Campbell, pm.
Lower Plenty : Rail to Heidelberg, 8 miles. Fares 7d. 6d. Coach Tue, Thu, Sat at 8 am, 3 miles, fare 2s. Hotel.
Panton Hill : Mining and fruit growing district with two churches and hotel. Rail to Heidelberg, coach three miles, fare 1s. M. C. Adams, pm. Population : 230
Research ; Fruit-growing and grazing. Rail to Eltham, coach, 2½ miles, fare 9d. State school and hotel. W. West, pm.
Smith’s Gully Road : Fruit-growing. Rail to Hurstbridge, coach 5 miles. Fare, 1s.6d.
St. Andrew’s : Fruit-growing and mining township on Diamond Creek with state school, church, mechanic’s institute, police station and hotel. Rail to Hurstbridge, coach six miles. Fare 1s.6d. W. Knell, pm. Population 250
Steele’s Creek : Grazing and mining. Rail to Yarra Glen, coach at 11 am, five miles, fare 1s.6d. E. Morris, pm.
Strathewen : Fruit-growing. Rail to Hurstbridge, coach Tue, Thu, Sat at 9.15 am, 12 miles, fare 2s.
Tarrawarra : Grazing. Rail 34 miles. Fares, 5s., 3s.4d. A O’Keefe, pm.
Toolangi : Noted tourist reserve on Great Dividing Range near Mt. St. Leonard. Magnificent scenery. State school and saw mill. Rail to Yarra Glen, coach 11 a.m, 14 miles, fare S. A. Bassett, pm.
Yarra Glen : Agricultural, pastoral and dairying district on the Yarra River with savings bank, post and money-order office, state school, branch of bank, three churches, free library, police station, race course, cemetery, Victoria Hall and three hotels. Horticultural and fruit-growing associations, Recreation reserve and show pavilion. Rail, 30¾ miles, fares 4s.6d., 3s. M. Petty, pm. Population : 580
Those familiar with the district today may wonder at the omission of Montmorency – while it was mentioned in one of two servicemen’s archives, “Montmorency” then referred to a large private land holding and did not come into common use for the district until the Railways Department opened a new station bearing the name in 1923. In fact, when established, it was within the Shire of Heidelberg.
Family names included in the Index :
ABASSIE, ADAMS, ARMSTRONG, ATKINS, AYRES, BAIN aka HENSHAW), BARBER, BARRETT, BARTROP, BECK, BELL, BIRD, BLOOMFIELD, BOND, BOURCHIER, BROMFIELD, BROWN, BRUCE, BRYAN, BUTLER, CALLAN, CAMERON,
CARPENTER, CASSELL, CHANDLER, CLARK, CLIFF, CLOSE, CONWAY, COOK, CREED, CRELLIN, CROSSLEY, DAVIES, DINSDALE, DONALDSON, ELLISON, FARLOW, FARNSWORTH, FORD, GAMMON, GEDYE, GILES, GILLOW, GRANT, GRIMSHAW, HARPER, HARRIS, HARRISON, HAWKES, HERBERT, HOLDING, HORN, HUBBARD, HUNT, HUTCHISON, INGHAM, IRISH, IRVINE, JARVIS, JELL, JENNINGS, KING, KIRWAN, LAITY, LAWREY, LAYBURN,
MACDONALD, MADDISON, MARSHALL, MCALARY, MCDONALD, MCDONALD, MCKINLEY, MCLEOD, MEADOWS, MILLS, MOORE, MORRIS, MOSELEY, NICHOLSON, NORMAN, NORTH, O’DAY, OLNEY, PATERSON, PHILLIPS, PICKERING, PLUNKETT, PRIOR, PRYOR, RAMSEYER, ROSS, SHARPE, SHILLITO, SIMS, SMEDLEY, SMITH, SNODGRASS,SOMMERVILLE, SPICER, STEVENS, STOCKFELD, STONE, SUNDERLAND, THOMSON, WAIGHT, WALLACE,
WEIR, WILLIAMS, WILSON, YATES, YOUNG
