This three –bay bluestone Gothic Church was built in 1861. It is believed to have been designed by Patrick Scanlon. The Advertiser described it as “a fine model of a country church” when it opened. The community were mainly Scottish settlers in a rural pastoral area. On the west end, there is a gabled porch […]
Category: Whittlesea
Mill Park Farm
Mill Park dates back to 1841 when George Coulstock named his farm Mill Park after a water driven mill he had begun to build on the Plenty River. George grew wheat, winning a prize in the first Agricultural Show in 1842. Coulstock died that same year, leaving the mill unfinished. The business was sold to […]
Whittlesea Courthouse
Built in 1864, the Whittlesea Courthouse is one of the oldest functional buildings in the City of Whittlesea. It is a brick building with a slate roof and was constructed on bluestone footings. The Courthouse played an important role in the daily life and development of the district. Apart from court proceedings, meetings of the Whittlesea Roads Board were held here, and […]
Fellows of Oakland Mickleham
John Fellows, when he died in 1876, was described as being “late of Oakland, Mickleham”. This was distinct from the property “Oaklands” north of the Old Broadmeadows township. In this sense the name was used as a locality name, and described a large area from Oaklands Junction in the south as far north as Mickleham. […]
Lochaber Farm
Lochaber cottage was home to two generations of the Smith Family, located at the present address of 45 Harvest Home Road, Epping. Two of the twelve Smith children are pictured here with their father in front of their bluestone farmhouse in c.1918. “Mr Robert Smith (pictured at right) spent his lifetime in this and surrounding […]
James and John Mann: a brief history
James Mann was born on 25 October 1831 at “Bensil Farm,” in the Parish of Carseburn, near Forfar, Scotland, the oldest child of John Mann and Christina née Constable. John was a tenant farmer on 25 acres (part of the Bensil Estate)[i]. In 1857 James, aged 26, and his brother, John (jnr), 21—born 25 January […]
William Sweetingham – The Epping shoemaker
Tucked away on the northern fringe of the Aurora development at Epping is Sweetingham Lane. I found it on Google Maps from my desk here in England whilst researching my family history. I was sure the lane was named after my ancestor but could I prove it? William Sweetingham was born in Southampton in 1811 […]
History of Mernda Bakery Cafe, Mernda
This unique and small bakery with its Scotch oven was built in the early 1890’s by Charles and Stephenson Turner, two brothers who moved from Preston to Mernda Vic. to bake and supply bread to the Little Plenty River Flour Mills and the surrounding district for approximately sixty years. Their brother- in- law and others […]
Emms family of Bundoora
William Emms was the second child and eldest son of James Emms and Hannah Beadell. James was an excise – man and at the time of William’s birth in 1825 the family were living in Gravesend, Kent, UK. Hannah Beadell had been born in Kent in 1800 and James Emms b 1791 was the son […]
Yan Yean Reservoir
Yan Yean Reservoir: Celebrating its birth 150 Years on by Lindsay Mann ‘Of the first importance to a community is the plentiful supply of good water. In the formation of towns all other desiderata are subordinated to this …’. So wrote George Slater, in The News Letter of Australasia (March 1857, p. 3), in commenting […]