1. Historic Background
- Historic Background
- Post-Contact Environmental Impact
The first European to view the Dandenong Ranges was Mathew Flinders in 1802 when he landed at Port Phillip Bay and surveyed the land from atop Arthur's Seat. During his short stay, Flinders encountered members of the Boon wurrung Tribe. The next European venture to the Dandenong hills was by Hovell in 1827. Hovell made several short trips into the hills assessing the quality of grazing land, during which time he also made several contacts with members of the Boon wurrung tribe. But it was Daniel Bunce, a Botanist in pursuit of flora specimens, who conducted the first significant exploration of the Dandenongs around 1840.
Due to information provided by surveyors such as Hovell and others, in 1835, members of the Port Phillip Association established by John Batman shipped a huge influx of sheep from Van Diemen's Land to the extensive grazing lands of Port Phillip and Western Port. Settlement of Victoria had begun. In 1836, Joseph Hawdon herded cattle to the grassy Dandenong plains. John Highett is thought to have been the first to take stock across the Dandenong Creek in that year, settling near Frankston. In 1837 the Reverend James Clow and his son made an excursion to the shores of Western Port Bay. They found the countryside unsuitable for sheep or cattle and decided to locate their run to the north of Dandenong, at the junction of Dandenong and Corhanwarrabul creeks. According to Clow, the next settlers to cross the Dandenong Creek were Terence O'Connor and the Ruffy brothers (Clow in Bride 1969: 106-107; Gunson 1974:19).
By the end of 1839, Thomas Napier had taken out the first license for the land on the west side of Dandenong Creek opposite James Clow's Corhanwarrabul Station (see Monash Region Contact History), building his hut somewhere in the present Jell's Park. After a year, Napier was dissatisfied with the available pasture and sold his lease to Alexander Scott. Alexander Scott died soon after taking over the lease, but his wife Madeline remained, and in partnership with others, farmed the land from 1840 and called it 'Bushy Park' (Priestly 1979: 13-14; Wilde 1996: 6; City of Waverley 1961: 4-5; Early Waverley nd: 5). Priestly's interpretation of the location of 'Bushy Park' contrasts with CPO and other historical research on the area (see Spreadborough and Anderson 1983) which places this run to the east of Dandenong Creek. This is possibly due to Mrs Scott using the 'Bushy Park' name for land she leased from Clow on the east side of Dandenong Creek (Parks Victoria 2001a) after she sold the original run to the Drew brothers (Priestly 1979: 15).
The other two main squatting runs in the area were Allen's Creek Run, in the vicinity of Gardiners and Damper creeks and Scotchmans Creek Run, which covered 5 square miles approximately bounded by the present day Dandenong, Springvale and Waverley roads (Priestly 1979: 8; Waverley Historical Society 1988: 7). Allen's Creek Run was named after Robert Allen, the squatter who de Villiers had evicted from the Narre Narre Warren Native Police Reserve in 1837 (Priestly 1979: 6; see Melbourne Region Contact History). In 1838, Allen briefly had a cattle camp in the northeast corner of the study area at Gardiners Creek. The upper section of the creek was for some time named Allen's Creek. Similarly, Damper Creek was named after timber miller J. Damper, who briefly camped along its banks in 1840. Henry Lemann owned the run from 1841 to 1843, and then it was probably leased in two sections (Priestly 1979: 6; Early Waverley nd: 5). Scotchmans Creek Run was taken up in 1840 by John McMillan and was centred on Scotchmans Creek, which is thought to have been named after McMillan's Scottish ancestry (Priestly 1979: 7-8; Wilde 1996: 7; Early Waverley nd: 5).
By the late 1840s, changes in land regulations meant licensees could buy part of their holding retaining rights over grassland on the rest, which encouraged people to settle permanently. The former Bushy Park Run was divided into smaller holdings that lined the west side of Dandenong Creek.
[The paragraph has been removed until verified]
This became the property of the Wheeler brothers, Bartholomew and John. Bartholomew had bought out Jones and John Wheeler married Reilly's widow after her husband fell from a horse and broke his neck during a property boundary dispute with his neighbours in 1849.
Joseph Jell and Joseph Ramsay took up the mid-section of the former run and it was Jell's complaints about his neighbours that led to the change to freehold.
[The paragraph has been removed until verified]
Another small holding of about 3 square miles to the north of High Street Road was owned by partners John Drummie and Patrick Brennan, who bought it in 1848 (Priestly 1979:16-17). The names of these early settlers in the Mulgrave area can still be seen at Jell's Park, Wheelers Hill and Drummies Bridge Reserve.
Although a few squatters were occupying the Dandenong Valley in the late 1830s, the first substantial occupation of the region occurred when a large area to the east of Dandenong Creek at Dandenong was reserved for the headquarters of the Native Police Corps. It was the Aboriginal men of the Corps that selected the site and Captain Lonsdale who reported the decision to the Governor in Sydney. The subsequent history of European land use of this area saw the function and size of the Police Paddocks change on a number of occasions. The Aboriginal and European history has been extensively documented in other studies (Fels 1990a, 1990b; Rhodes 1989, 1993; Snoek 1987; see also Section 3.3). Briefly, the European use of the Police Paddocks were as follows (Rhodes 1989: 11):
- The headquarters of the first Native Police Corps commanded by Christian de Villiers, between October 1837 and January 1838.
- The Westernport Aboriginal Protectorate Station, between 1840 and 1843.
- The headquarters of the second Native Police Corps, commanded by Henry Pultney Dana between 1843 and 1853.
- The Victoria Police Horse Stud Depot between 1853 and 1930.
- Farming and grazing lease between 1930 and 1957.
Examination of these studies relating to the occupation of the Police Paddocks reveals little specific reference to Dandenong Creek in terms of either Aboriginal use or construction of buildings. All of the recorded historic and Aboriginal sites and features associated with the Police Paddocks are located on top of the ridgeline east of Dandenong Creek.
In 1853, just prior to the first land sales, the Parish of Mulgrave was surveyed by Eugene Bellairs (Waverley Historical Society 1988: 7; Wilde 1996: 8). Bellairs surveyed the roads at one mile apart in a north south and east-west grid pattern, and the eastern boundary along Dandenong Creek. The blocks were divided into quarters or eighths for sale. Many of the buyers of land in the parish Government sales were speculators interested in the resale value rather than living in the parish. At this time, Dandenong Creek was largely a grazing area and the land along the creek was not sold off until the 1860s and 1880s (Wilde 1996:8-9).
Land south of High Street Road and west of Dandenong Creek was subject to the Common Act of 1860, giving local farmers the right of common pasture. Of the three blocks proclaimed as a common, one of the largest was west of Dandenong Creek between High Street and Waverley roads. But the use of this land as a common was short-lived, as the area was not large or productive enough to support any great number of animals. By the end of the 1870s, Thomas Minogue and his son-in-law Charles Delaney had bought the two allotments that had comprised the common. The only income to be had from the block for more than the next 10 years was wood carting (Priestly 1979: 48). By 1885, the Mulgrave common, saving two small water reserves on the creek, was abolished.
Land adjacent to Dandenong Creek at this time is described as being 'flat with rank swamp grass', with the adjacent hills covered by Stringybark Forest. Although a road reserve later to become High Street Road had been surveyed prior to the first land sales, no substantial construction of this road was to occur until the late-1800s. Until this time, the nearest crossing points of Dandenong Creek were just south of Burwood Highway and south of Waverly Road within Jell's pre-emptive right selection. Before 1860, the more frequented route through the area was past Drummie's Bridge across country to the main route to the Dandenong Mountains (now the Burwood Highway) (Priestly 1979: 17). It is interesting to note that although High Street Road was initially known as Drummie's Bridge Track, there is no historical evidence to suggest that any type of bridge existed at the current crossing point. But, given this name for the road, it is highly likely that some sort of bridge existed at this point.
By 1850, the first towns in the district of Oakleigh, Dandenong, and a small village of Black Flat near the junction of Springvale and Waverly roads were established. The Gippsland Railway opened between Melbourne and Oakleigh in March 1879, establishing Oakleigh as an important regional centre and setting the scene for the future land boom in the district. The borough of Oakleigh was proclaimed on 13 March 1891 (Wilde 1996: 17, 21).
The first economic activities in the region were pastoral (including dairying) and growing produce for self sufficiency (for example, wheat and hay). This dominated land use until the early 1900s. Pasture was generally poor on the hills, with dairying limited to the better-quality pasture along the creek valley. Other crops such as onions and potatoes were also grown with success during the 1860s to 1880s. Other economic pursuits of the mid-1800s included brick manufacture from local clay pits, a brief gold mining period along Dandenong Creek near Black Flat, and paint manufacturing from deposits of high quality of ochre (see Section 3.5; Priestly 1979; Wilde 1996).
By the early 1900s, the entire nature of land use in the City of Monash had dramatically changed from large-scale pastoralism to small landowners and intensive horticulture. By this time, orchards, market gardens and some grazing dominated the study area region and remained so until the 1960s when high-density, residential subdivision enveloped the area within 10 to 20 years (see Section 3.5; Wilde 1996). Glen Waverley and Mount Waverley, more than most eastern suburbs, were a direct response of the population pressures placed on Melbourne by the 1950s 'baby-boomers'. Although the region recently contained expansive areas under orchard, very few of these now remain. One of the early orchard families in the district were the Nortons, who cultivated a large tract of land south of High Street Road. The Norton land eventually became part of Park's Victoria Norton's Park.