Trophies from the Crimean War

In January 1858, The Age reported that a communication was received from Lord Panmure, by the Right Worshipful the Mayor of the City of Melbourne, in which that nobleman, as Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Forces, offered to the City of Melbourne two Russian Guns, to be preserved in the City as Russian War Trophies. The offer was made in consequence of the manner the citizens of Melbourne displayed their loyalty to the Sovereign, and the handsome way in which they came forward with their subscriptions for the relief of the sufferers by the late Russian War (1). 

Russian Trophies, Botanical Gardens, 1862. 

Artist: George Stafford; Engraver: Samuel Calvert. 

State Library of Victoria Image H4205

The Russian War, also known as the Crimean War, was fought on the Crimean Peninsula between Russia and an alliance consisting of Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia. It began in October 1853 and ended on March 30, 1856.  For people like me, who are not military historians,  the Crimean War is remembered due to its connection to Florence Nightingale who was in charge of nursing the British and Allied soldiers and improved the standard of care, cleanliness and food provided to the wounded. On her return to England she established a school of Nursing to improve the training of nurses.  

The other interesting thing about the Crimean War is that many Victorian place and street names are connected to the battles and personalities of the War. A prime example can be seen in the suburb of St Kilda which has a Crimea, Odessa, Sebastapol, Raglan, Alma, Inkerman (2), Malakoff and Redan Street and is next to the suburb of Balaclava; the last five are named after battles; Odessa is a port on the Black Sea. Sebastapol is named for a city on the Crimean Peninsula, which was besieged for eleven months from October 1854. It is also the source of the name of the town of Sebastapol, near Ballarat. Raglan is named for Baron Raglan (1788-1855) a commander of the British troops during the War and  there is also a town called Raglan, near Beaufort.  

The town of St Arnaud, was named for Armand-Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud (1798-1854), the Commander of the French forces.  Napier Street in St Arnaud is named for Sir Charles Napier (1786-1860), commander of the British Baltic fleet in the War.  

In Cranbourne there are three streets with a Crimean War connection -
Codrington - Sir William John Codrington (1804 - 1884) was Commander in Chief of the British Forces in the War; Clarendon - George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon (1800 - 1870) was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1847 to 1852 and the British Foreign Secretary on three occasions from 1853 to 1870. He negotiated a favourable outcome for Britain at the end of the Crimean War in 1856 at the Congress of Paris Peace talks. The third Cranbourne street is Lyons Street - named for Admiral Sir Edmund Lyons (1790-1858), 1st Baronet Lyons, who commanded the Black Sea fleet during the War. 

I also believe that Pakenham was named after Lieutenant-Colonel Edward William Pakenham (1819 -1854) who was killed at Inkerman during the Crimean War. This has been disputed, but I stand by my research. You can read more about the naming of Pakenham, here.

The Russian cannons and the rotunda, Botanical Gardens, Melbourne, c. 1870.

State Library of Victoria Image H10788

Back to the cannons - the loyal citizens of Melbourne were indeed happy to accept the war trophies and a year later, they had arrived and The Age reported in January 5, 1859 -

A platform of stone work is now being erected in the Botanic Gardens, for the accommodation of the Russian guns presented to the colony, trophies of the late war, by the Home Government. The platform is in the immediate vicinity of the music pavilion (3). 

Two days later, The Argus had this detailed report - 

Trophies from the Crimea - Two of the Russian guns taken at the Redan fortification in the Crimea, and forwarded by the Imperial to the Victorian Government, have recently been placed in the Botanical Gardens, on an  elevated spot overlooking the southern and eastern portions of the city. The peculiar construction and formidable powers of these enormous engines of warfare render them well worthy of Inspection, not to take into consideration the ideas which they must naturally suggest of the sufferings and triumphs of the allied armies in the late war. 

The cannon weigh each three tons, and their comparatively light-looking carriages weigh a ton-and-a-half each. The carriages are of very peculiar form, being entirely of iron, and in some degree resembling that of the English field-gun, with the exception that the wheels are not more than 2½ feet in diameter, and are fitted with double-spokes of crossed iron bars. The sockets into which the elevating screws are turned project from the back part of the carriages, and when the screws are entirely removed form a rest for the breach, keeping the guns at point-blank range, beyond which range the muzzles cannot be elevated. The muzzles may, however, be so far depressed as to bear upon a force within a very short distance of an embrasure, in which they were no doubt placed. Each gun is 9 feet 4 inches in length, and about 2 feet in diameter at the breech. The calibres are 7¾ inches, and will receive balls weighing about 40 lb. When loaded with the full or distance charge (12¾ lb.) of powder, these imposing-looking iron magnates would propel their iron globes with much greater velocity than lighter guns of the same calibre to a distance of nearly 4,000 yards. 

One of the guns is "spiked"-that is, a brittle steel rod has been driven into the vent, and then broken off, of course rendering the gun useless until the steel is drilled out again. This must have taken place at the storming of the Redan. The other gun has the vent so enlarged from constant firing, that the finger may be readily introduced. Besides these evidences of use, one of the cannon bears a singular mark, caused by the bursting of a shell upon it breach. The projectile must have been thrown from a howitzer from the English trenches, as it has evidently entered the narrow embrasure in which the gun was placed in a horizontal direction, and has scored a horizontal trace along one side of the metal, and finally burst at the breech. The mark made on the metal where the shell burst is a deep circular dent, from which radiate pretty equally and pretty thickly, in every direction, grooves cut into the solid iron, some of them an inch wide and a third of an inch deep. Of course, the Russian artillerymen on that side of the gun must have been killed, and the man stationed at the breech, who would occupy a position similar to that occupied by an artilleryman No. 4 in working an English gun, must have been blown to pieces. The guns are of excellent workmanship, and bear the date 1836 on the trunnions. The sight of them will well repay a visit to the spot where they are placed (4). There is more on the date of manufacture, below.

At this time, just after the end of the Crimean War, Victorians were happy to display these trophies and  on occasions the cannons were fired. The Geelong Advertiser reported in March 1859 that a Military Band performed at the Botanical Gardens, the highlight of which was -

a performance of a Battle Sinfonie, descriptive of British troops leaving their native shores for the seat of war, the composition of the band-master, Mr Johnston. During the performance, one of the Russian war trophies placed in the gardens, was called into requisition and fired, to represent the daybreak morning gun. Owing to some negligence in not warning the spectators, a man who was crossing within range of the gun, was struck to the ground with a piece of wadding, which caught him in the face, and carried away a portion of his nasal organ. When removed from the ground, he was bleeding most profusely, and it will be fortunate if he has not received any severer injury (5). 

However, the relationship between England and Russia thawed as the years went on. They thawed to such an extent that on January 23, 1874 Queen Victoria's second eldest son, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (6) married  the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, the daughter of the Russian Emperor, Alexander II, at the Winter Palace at St Petersburg (7). After this it was thought inappropriate to have such war trophies on display in such a prominent location so they were, as the Herald reported in February 1882, bundled into the barrack yard where they now lie (8).  By 1889, they were located either side of the central door at Victoria Barracks, St. Kilda road (9), where they are today.

The wedding of Prince Alfred to the the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, January 1874.

https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/exhibitions/russia-royalty-the-romanovs/the-queens-gallery-buckingham-palace/the-marriage-of-prince-alfred-and-grand-duchess-maria-alexandrovna

I don't have a specific date as to when they were moved from the Gardens to the Barracks, even though I do like to know these things - the best I can do is between 1874, when the Royal wedding took place and 1882. 

The Age report from 1859 said the guns bear the date 1836 on the trunnions. Major Bill Billett, in his book Victoria's Guns: a field guide (10) notes that the guns were restored  at the Ordnance Factory in Bendigo in 1989 and an attempt was made at translating the marks of  their origins. Major Billett, who was the curator of Arms and Armour at the Melbourne Museum, also says the guns were made in 1838, possibly at the Alexander Arsenal in Russia to a design  by Armstrong, or supervised by him,  for the Tsar of Russia.  He lists the guns as a Type 36-Pr SB with the numbers 26028 and 26046 (11).

The cannons at the Victoria Barracks, St Kilda Road, 1975.

Photographer: John T. Collins.

State Library of Victoria Image H98.251/183

Finally, even before the 1874 Royal Wedding, some Victorians were tiring of the glorification of the Allied victory over the Russians on the Crimea Peninsula - this is from the St Kilda Telegraph of August 1869, written by the journalist 'Figaro' - 

Why Redan and the Crimea? I ask the question in connexion with the naming of two new streets about to be formed in St. Kilda. I am sorry to see the council have sanctioned this ill-advised nomenclature. I do not approve of thus to perpetuating names that were brought into prominence by events which, if they cannot be forgotten, need not at least be thus ever-lastingly obtrusively forced on our notice. Have we not already Inkermann-street and Balaclava-road to keep the Russian campaign green in our memories, to say nothing of the trophy-guns in the Botanical gardens? Where, then, is the good of adding to these souvenirs of a miserable epoch in the national history? Why should we Australians in particular - who had nothing to do with the war, excepting as a matter of sympathy - thus perpetuate its sad memories? Besides, what might be justifiable when the Russians were at war with the mother-country, is, now they are at peace with her, very like an insult (12). 

I understand what 'Figaro' is saying, but I have a real interest in the origin of place and street names and find this pocket of Crimean War names in St Kilda an interesting part of our Colonial history.  There were , of course, Crimean War veterans who migrated to Australia and I have written about some of them, here. 

Footnotes

(1) The Age, January 12, 1858, see here.

(2) Inkerman Street was originally spelt as Inkermann, which was how the town on the Crimean Peninsula was actually spelt. I don't know when the last n was dropped. (Cooper, John Butler The History of St Kilda from its first settlement to a City and after, 1840 - 1930, v. 1 (City of St Kilda, 1931), p. 93)

(3) The Age, January 5, 1859, see here. 

(4) The Argus, January 7, 1859, see here.

(5) Geelong Advertiser, March 15, 1859, see here. 

(6) I have written about Prince Alfred in this blog before, read it here. 

(7) https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/exhibitions/russia-royalty-the-romanovs/the-queens-gallery-buckingham-palace/the-marriage-of-prince-alfred-and-grand-duchess-maria-alexandrovna

(8) The Herald, February 3, 1882, see here.

(9) The Herald, March 18, 1889, see here. 

(10) Billett, Bill Victoria's Guns: a field guide (Scienceworks, Museum of Victoria, 1994)

(11) Billett, op.cit, p. 39.

(12) St Kilda Telegraph, August 7, 1869, see here. 

Crimean War, Indian Mutiny and Boxer Rebellion veterans in West Gippsland and surrounds

This post looks at veterans of the Crimean War,  the Indian Mutiny and the Boxer Rebellion who had a connection to West Gippsland, and the old Shires of Berwick, Cranbourne and Dandenong.  

The veterans I have found have written about are Tom Drummond and a Mr Adams of Berwick; William Fist of Lyndhurst; Alfred West of Darnum; Edward Mills of Warragul; Charles James Jago of Springvale;  William John Ward of Hastings and  Joseph Edward Hughes of  the Koo Wee Rup Swamp, most likely Iona. As you can see it is a flexible geographical area and I would be interested in hearing about any others. At the end of the post are a list of Crimean War related street names in the area. 

We will start of with a short history of  the conflicts from the Australian War Memorial website.

The Crimean War (1853 - 1856) was fought between Imperial Russia on one side and an alliance of France, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire on the other. Most of the conflict took place on the Crimean Peninsula, with additional actions occurring in western Turkey, and the Baltic Sea region (1).

The Indian Mutiny - The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of British East India Company's army on the 10th of May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to the region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, northern Madhya Pradesh or Saugor and Nerbudda Territories, Delhi, and Gurgaon. The rebellion posed a considerable threat to British power in that region, and it was contained only with the fall of Gwalior on 20 June 1858. The rebellion is also known as India's First War of Independence, the Great Rebellion, the Indian Mutiny, the Revolt of 1857, and the Sepoy Mutiny (2).

What was the Boxer Uprising? Western Countries, especially France, Germany, Britain and the United States controlled most of the trade between China and the West at the end of the nineteenth century. Merchants from these countries also demanded land, the right to build railways and ‘extra territorial rights’ where they were subject only to the laws of their own country and not Chinese law. As a result, many Chinese joined anti European Secret Societies, including the violent I-ho-ch'uan (the Righteous and Harmonious Fists) who were named the Boxers by Western media. In 1899, the Boxers and other militant societies combined in a campaign against the Westerners, including merchants, Missionaries and westernised Chinese. In 1900 this uprising became more wide spread and nine Western nations responded by sending in warships and armed forces. Though Australian troops were largely involved in the Boer War in South Africa, the Australian Colonies sent Naval Contingents to China to support Britain. One hundred and ninety seven men came from Victoria, two hundred and sixty three from New South Wales and one hundred and three from South Australia. The first Australian contingents left at the end of July 1900. Many of the Australians were too late to take part in battle and instead had a role in restoring civil order, and they left China in March 1901 to return to Australia. No Australian was killed by enemy hand, although six died of illness or injury (3).

Tom Drummond and Mr Adams of Berwick
I knew we had some Crimean veterans who had migrated to Australia from England and lived locally as there is this paragraph in the book Early Days of Berwick (4) - Two Crimean War Veterans, Mr Drummond and Mr Adams, resided in High Street, Berwick. These two old gentlemen wearing their Crimean War medals, could often be observed sitting in the Boulevard, enjoying the sunshine. It was said that Mrs Drummond was contemporary with and associated with Florence Nightingale, nursing at the Crimea. (5).

I can find no information on Mr Adams, but a report in the South Bourke and Mornington Journal of August 10, 1911 noted that Tom Drummond celebrated his golden wedding anniversary on Friday evening and Private Tom wears a couple of Crimean medals of which he is justly proud  (6).  So, now we know Mr Drummond's first name and according to the Electoral Roll, his wife was called Mary.  The Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages Index tells us that Tom died in 1915 at Berwick, that he was aged 86 and his mother's name was Mary and his father's name was Thomas. His obituary in the Berwick Shire News of  June 23, 1915 said that he came to Adelaide in 1875 and eight years later moved to Victoria where he lived at Toora and Mirboo North and he came to Berwick about four years ago.  Tom was attached to the Coldstream Guards and was in the trenches at the taking of Sebastapool and the battle of Alma. He was also in other minor engagements, and was awarded the Crimean war medals issued by the English and Turkish Governments, which he greatly treasured (7).  I am not sure when Mary passed away - there is a Mary Anne Drummond who died in 1927 in Cheltenham, aged 89 (parents listed as Michael Seabright and Elizabeth Tobin). This is possibly her. It is quite interesting that Mrs Drummond nursed with Florence Nightingale, I will do some more research on her (Mrs  Drummond) one day.

Tom Drummond's obituary

Berwick Shire News June 23, 1915 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92089405

I found this in Punch of May 14, 1914 and I believe the article must be about Tom and Mary Drummond - An interesting presentation was made to Lady Stanley during her visit to Beaconsfield last week. This was an old Crimean veteran, as far as is known, the only surviving one in this part of the world. His wife, an elderly lady, who was also present the same afternoon, came in for much attention. She was one of Florence Nightingale's nurses, and pursued her work of healing through the horrors of the Crimean War also. The old gentleman is eighty-five, and his wife is seventy-five. The old lady was very worried because her husband had been presented to Lady Stanley whilst she had not, and "e'll be crowing over me, too, and I've got something interesting to tell Her Ladyship." Later in the afternoon the second presentation was duly made, and Lady Stanley was very interested to hear that her grandmother was also one of the volunteer nurses who went out with Florence Nightingale. When the guests departed the old couple were left happily hand in hand comparing notes over the events of the afternoon, both looking well and happy, in spite of the fact that the old lady had been operated on only six weeks ago (8).

William Fist of Lyndhurst
Another Crimean veteran, who also served in the Indian Mutiny, who lived in the area was Color-Sergeant (9) William Fist who died February 14, 1921 at the age of 80. He was also a veteran of the Indian Mutiny. William Frederick Fist is listed in the 1919 Electoral roll at 4 Grattan Street, Prahran, with his wife Fanny Maria Fist (nee Croxford) whom he married in 1912, and at Cranbourne Road, Lyndhurst, in the death notice and the short obituary which appeared in the Frankston and Somerville Standard (see below) refers to him as an old Lyndhurst identity, and who had taken part in the Siege of Lucknow.

Death notice of William Fist, Crimean War veteran

The Argus February 16, 1921 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1736766

Obituary of William Fist

Frankston and Somerville Standard, February 25, 1921 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75948196

From various newspaper reports we can build  a picture of some of William's life. In April 1875, William was brought before the Emerald Hill Court by his wife Elizabeth for maintenance. The report said that the marriage of the pair took place in India in 1860, and in consequence of the insobriety of Mrs. Fist, a separation took place some time since. The defendant, who held a commission in the 16th Lancers in India, and was now filling the occupation of coachman at Toorak (10).  The result of the court case was that Mrs Fist was granted 7 shillings and six pence per week. Mrs Fist was back in Court in August 1889, claiming the William had not paid maintenance since October 1886 and that she was thus owed £52 (11). 

Two years later William was back in Court on a perjury charge. William had given evidence at an Inquest at the City Morgue that the deceased woman, Mary Anne Keilly, who was the subject of the Inquest,  was his wife, when in fact they were not married but had been living together for years and she was known by the neighbours as Mrs Fist. His Honor said that in committing the crime of perjury the accused did not appear to have been actuated by any sordid motive. But the circumstance did not justify the prisoner in perjuring himself. His Honor believed that he swore what was untrue to save the character of the woman with whom he had been living, and for the sake of the character of her children (12). 

In 1909 the Weekly Times had some photographs of Naval and Military Veterans taken at the Victoria Barracks, and William Fist was in one of them.

Veterans of the Crimean and Indian Mutiny Wars - William Fist is seated on the right.

Weekly Times November 20, 1909. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221824966

 

Alfred West of Darnum

In 1907 The Argus reported on a Crimean War veteran from Darnum, Mr Alfred West -
One of the Crimean veterans Mr Alfred West, is a resident of this district. He is nearly 80 years of age. A movement is being initiated in Warragul for the purpose of enabling him to attend the dinner given by the Minister of Defence (Mr Ewing) on Saturday next. Mr West was a private in the Coldstream Guards, and fought in the trenches before Inkerman, Balaclava and Sebastapol. He was on the ground, and has a vivid recollection of the charge of the Light Brigade. 

"Oh, that was a mad charge," said the old veteran, in the course of conversation with a representative of 'The Argus" this afternoon "The men and horses were mown down like wheat before the sickle. But Lord Raglan was a grand warrior, for all that," and as the old man spoke he pointed with pride to a picture of his regiment hanging on the wall. He enjoys an Imperial pension of 1/- per day, but is in very feeble health. He and his wife, who is over 80 years of age, live in a little hut near the township of Darnum, about three miles from Warragul. West served in the Turkish war as well as the Crimea. The day (Saturday) fixed for the dinner is inconvenient, as the old men living in the country think they will have to remain in Melbourne over Sunday, to which they manifest a decided objection. (13)

Alfred died the next year, 1908, aged  78

Alfred West of Darnum - a  Crimean War veteran

The Argus November 19, 1907 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10133927

Edward Mills of Warragul

In 1924, Edward Mills, a Crimean War veteran passed away, at Warragul, which is two stops west of Darnum along the railway line. This is his short obituary from The Argus of February 7, 1924 -
A Crimea veteran, Mr. Edward Mills, of Warragul, has just died at the age of 89 years. He was one of the few remaining veterans of the Crimean war. He used to say that he was a blue-jacket on the man-o'-war on which Florence Nightingale was conveyed to her nursing work in the Black Sea. A service was held in St. Paul's Church, Warragul. Representatives of the Returned Soldiers' Association were present to do honour to their fellow-warrior of other days and other battles, and the boy scouts formed a guard of honour. The rector, the Rev. P. W. Robinson, conducted the service, and the coffin, covered  with the Union Jack, was conveyed between lines of choristers, scouts, and soldiers from the church to the cemetery. The Dead March was played by the organist, Mr. C. Lander (14). 

Obituary of Edward Mills, Crimean War veteran

The Argus, February 7, 1924 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1939117

Charles James Jago of Springvale

Crimean War veteran, Charles James Jago, died February 1, 1914 at the age of 77. He had been Mayor of Richmond on three occasions and then left Richmond and retired to his handsome country residence at Springvale (15). His property was called Richmond Grange. Mr Jago was the Shire President of Dandenong 1895/96 and 1901/02 (16) His obituary in the Dandenong Advertiser of February 5, 1914 mentioned his life in Richmond and his time on the Richmond Council and had this to say about his experience in the Crimean War -
At the age of 16 he was engaged as a bugler in the Crimean war, and was engaged right through the campaign, with all its hardships and privations, and later took a prominent part in the siege of Sebastopol (17).

Death notice of Charles Jago

The Leader February 7, 1914 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/89316164

Charles Jago's death notice mentions his daughters, Letitia, Clavinia and Millie. When he was  the Mayor of Richmond  he was presented with a silver cradle to celebrate the birth of one of his children (18). 

William John Ward of Hastings

William John Ward of Hastings died at the Austin Hospital on September 13, 1912 (19). This obituary appeared in the Border Morning Mail, an Albury newspaper, showing the interest that the broader community had in these veterans - 

A Crimean veteran, Mr. William Ward, died on Saturday, at the Austin Hospital, Melbourne, at the age of 75 years. Deceased was born in Surrey, England, and served right through the Crimean war in the British Navy, on board H.M.S. Albion, and took part in the shore attacks with the naval brigades, under Lord Edward Russell, at the Crimea, and Lord Charles Napier in the Baltic, and was wounded at the siege of Helsingfors. Settling in Victoria in the fifties, he resided at Hastings for 44 years, and served as quartermaster sergeant in the Hastings battery for fourteen years (20). 

Obituary of William Ward

Border Morning Mail, September 20, 1912 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/111406726

Joseph Edward Hughes of Iona

I have found one local connection to the Boxer Rebellion.  Joseph Edward Hughes, who was born in 1861, was part of the Victorian Naval Contingent (21).  Joseph had married Elizabeth Anna McDonald in 1887 in Sydney. His occupation on his marriage certificate was ship's mate (22). The couple moved to Victoria where their children were born - Edward Dominick, 1889 and registered at Collingwood; Emma Augusta, 1890, Collingwood; Elizabeth Anna, 1892, Carlton; Joseph Edward, 1894, Koo Wee Rup;  Neil Alexander, 1896, Bunyip South (later called Iona) and George, 1900 in Surrey Hills, Melbourne (23). 

Given the years his children were born in Koo Wee Rup and Iona it is likely that Joseph was  part of the Village Settlement scheme (24) where unemployed men from the city were given a small allotment of land (up to 8 hectares) and were to work for wages clearing the drains for two weeks and and undertake improvements on their block and hopefully become self-sufficient small farmers  on the alternate two weeks.  By 1899 the Village Settlement Scheme was abandoned, and at least one third of the settlers had left the area, including the Hughes family. The most common reasons for leaving were the fact that blocks were not a sufficient size of land to support a family, there was no alternative employment and many settlers had no previous farming experience, such as Joseph Hughes, whose occupation is listed in The Australian Illustrated Encyclopaedia of the Boxer Uprising, 1899-1901 (25) as a painter. 

The family had moved from the Swamp and were living in Surrey Hills in Melbourne in 1900 when Joseph enlisted. He embarked for China on July 30, 1900 on the SS Salamis, his rank was Able Seaman,  and returned to Australia on the SS Chingtu on April 25, 1901 (26).  It then appears the family moved back to New South Wales and lived in another Surry Hills, this time in Sydney.  Joseph died at the age of 64 in 1925 and Elizabeth died  in 1921, aged 57. They are buried at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney (27). 

Joseph and Elizabeth’s sons Joseph and Neil enlisted in the First World War. Joseph was 23 when he enlisted in April 1918, but he was rejected on medical grounds due to acute rheumatism. His next of kin was his father, Joseph, of 565 Crown Street, Surry Hills, Sydney (28). His birthplace was listed as Bunyip, but as we saw before the birth was registered at Koo Wee Rup, because the first Registrar of Births and Deaths at the eastern end of the Swamp was not appointed until January 1, 1895 when James Pincott was appointed for Bunyip South (29). 

Neil (service number 3322) enlisted in August 1915 at the age of 19, his birth place is listed as Bunyip and his next of kin was his father of the Crown Street address. In July 1916, Neil suffered a gunshot wound to the back and abdomen and  later returned to Australia and was medically discharged in November 1917 (30). I do a lot of research and sometimes you are fortunate that you find a document that ties everything together, so I was pleased to find this letter written by Joseph senior in Neil's A.I.F file at the National Archives of Australia. The letter gives 19 year old Neil, permission to enlist and is signed by his father, Joseph Hughes and underneath he has written Late of the Naval brigade and China Naval Cont [Contingent].

Joseph Hughes' letter, giving his son permission to enlist, from Neil's A.I.F. file.

National Archives of Australia www.naa.gov.au

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920

Street and Place names

The other interesting thing about the Crimean War is that many Victorian place and street names are connected to the war. The battles and personalities of the Crimean War were a source of place and street names - a prime example can be seen in the suburb of St Kilda which has a Crimea, Odessa, Sebastapol, Raglan, Alma, Inkerman (31), Malakoff, Redan Street and is next to the suburb of Balaclava; the last five are named after battles; Odessa is a port on the Black Sea. Sebastapol is named for a city on the Crimean Peninsula, which was besieged for eleven months from October 1854. It is also the source of the name of the town of Sebastapol, near Ballarat. Raglan is named for Baron Raglan (1788-1855) a commander of the British troops during the War. There is also a town called Raglan, near Beaufort.  

The town of St Arnaud, was named for Armand-Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud (1798-1854), the Commander of the French forces.  Napier Street in St Arnaud is named for Sir Charles Napier (1786-1860), commander of the British Baltic fleet in the War.

There are three streets in Cranbourne with a Crimean War connection (32) -

Codrington - Sir William John Codrington (1804-1884) was Commander in Chief of the British Forces in the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856.

Clarendon - George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon (1800-1870) was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1847 to 1852 and the British Foreign Secretary on three occasions from 1853 to 1870. He negotiated a favourable outcome for Britain at the end of the Crimean War in 1856 at the Congress of Paris Peace talks. The Crimean War, which was a war between Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia against Russia took place largely on the Crimean Peninsula in Russia.
Lyons - Admiral Sir Edmund Lyons (1790-1858), Ist Baronet Lyons, commanded the Black Sea fleet during the Crimean War.

I also believe that Pakenham was named after Lieutenant-Colonel Edward William Pakenham (1819 -1854) who was killed at Inkerman during the Crimean War. This has been disputed, but I stand by my research. You can read more about the naming of Pakenham, here.

Trove list - I have created a list of articles on Trove on these war veterans, you can access it here.

Footnotes

(1) Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/CN500047

(2) Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/CN500048

(3) Corfield, Justin The Australian Illustrated Encyclopaedia of the Boxer Uprising, 1899-1901(Slouch Hat Publications, 2001) and Australian War Memorial    https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/atwar/boxer

(4) Early Days of Berwick and its surrounding districts, compiled by Norman E. Beaumont, James F. Curran and R.H. Hughes (3rd edition published by Rotary, 1979). The book was originally published in 1948.

(5) Early Days of Berwick, op. cit., p. 32.

(6) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, August 10, 1911 see here. 

(7) Berwick Shire News, June 23, 1915, see here.

(8) Punch, May 14, 1914, see here.

(9) Listed as a Color-Sergeant in his funeral notice in the Herald, February 15, 1921, see here.

(10)The Age, April 15, 1875, see here.

(11) The Herald, August 1, 1889, see here.

(12) The Herald, July 27 1891, see here.

(13) The Argus, November 19, 1907, see here.

(14) The Argus of February 7, 1924, see here.

(15) Dandenong Advertiser, February 5, 1914, see here.

(16) https://seha.org.au/shire-presidents-mayors-and-councillors-of-the-shire-city-of-dandneong-the-shire-of-springvale-and-noble-park-and-the-city-of-springvale

(17) Dandenong Advertiser, February 5, 1914, see here.

(18) Ibid

(19) Death notice - Leader,  September 21, 1912, see here.

(20) Border Morning Mail, September 20, 1912, see here.

(21) Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1443019

(22) His marriage certificate is on-line on a family tree on Ancestry. They were married August 8, 1887. Joseph, who was 26,  was born in Monmouthshire, England (According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica on-line - see here - From the 16th to the early 20th century Monmouthshire was sometimes considered administratively a part of England and sometimes a part of Wales). His parents are George Hughes and Emily Maddox. Elizabeth, who was 24,  was born in Pyrmont, NSW to Neil McDonald and Annie Rebecca Baker. 

(23) I believe I have all the children correct - the information comes from the Index to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/

(24) Village Settlement Scheme - I have written about it here - http://carlocatani.blogspot.com/2018/10/koo-wee-rup-swamp.html

(25) Corfield, Justin The Australian Illustrated Encyclopaedia of the Boxer Uprising, 1899-1901, op. cit.

(26) Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1443019

(27) Ancestry Cemetery Headstone Transcriptions, 1837-2003

(28) National Archives of Australia, read Joseph's file, here.

(29) Victoria Government Gazette January 4, 1895. p. 1, see here.

(30) National Archives of Australia, read Neil's file, here.

(31) Inkerman Street was originally spelt as Inkermann, which was how the town on the Crimean Peninsula was actually spelt. I don't know when the last n was dropped. (Cooper, John Butler The History of St Kilda from its first settlement to a City and after, 1840 - 1930, v. 1 (City of St Kilda, 1931), p. 93)

(32) See my post here for sources - https://victoriaspast.blogspot.com/2021/12/street-names-in-cranbourne.html

John and Margaret Doveton - the namesakes of the suburb of Doveton

The suburb of Doveton was established in the mid 1950s by the Housing Commission to provide housing for the employees of the 'Big Three' Industrial companies, International Harvester Company, H.J Heinz and General Motors Holden. The area was originally known as Grassmere or Eumemmerring, which I have written about here.  However in September 1954 the new suburb was named Doveton after Captain John Doveton. This is an interesting choice given that Captain and Mrs Doveton were only in the area for ten years and there are other families with a much longer or much earlier connection to the area. They had already been remembered in the area by the naming of Doveton Avenue, which dates from the mid-1920s (1). Doveton is variation of the name Dufton which means dove farm or farm where doves are kept (2).

This post looks at the life of John and Margaret Elizabeth Doveton.  They were actually first cousins, he was the son of John Bazett Doveton and Margaret was the daughter of Francis Crossman Doveton. They married on October 8, 1873 at All Saints Church in St Kilda. Their marriage certificate tells us that he was a Master Mariner, born in Saltford, Somerset and she was a Spinster, born in Tasmania. Usually marriage certificates state the age of the couple, but theirs just said they were of 'full age', however he was 30 and she was 29.

The marriage notice of John and Margaret Doveton.

The Argus October 10 1873 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5873339

These are the signatures of John Doveton and Margaret Doveton from their Marriage Certificate. We don't have any photographs of them, so it is the only physical connection we have to them.

After they married they lived for a  time in Barkly Street, St Kilda and then Murray Street, Prahran and during this time, John continued his career as a master mariner. There was a report in The Age of September 21, 1874 about the new steamship Durham which had just arrived from London after 47 days of sailing. Mr John Doveton is listed as the Second Officer (3).  The Argus has various reports, in the Shipping Intelligence column, of Captain Doveton arriving and departing Melbourne as the Captain of the Julia Percy, then the Tamar and then the Southern Cross. 

A report in the Hobart Mercury of May 8, 1882  (see below) said Southern Cross, under Doveton, run ashore on the Vansittart Shoals between Babel Island and Cape Barren in Bass Strait. Captain Doveton was suspended from the Command, pending an enquiry. Another report in the same paper of  May 23, 1882 said that Captain Doveton had resigned. After this, the only reports I could find about Captain Doveton involved him supervising work at the Wright, Orr & Co. floating Dry Dock and later at the Alfrred Graving Dock, so it appears he was still involved in the maritime industry, but no longer went to sea (4).

The Southern Cross runs aground

Hobart Mercury, Monday, 8 May 1882.  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9009163

In 1893, the couple moved to Grassmere, just east of Dandneong, which at the time was still very much a country town.  The first listing for Captain Doveton in the Shire of Berwick Rate books was in 1893/94. He owned a house and 2½ acres at Lot 53, Parish of Eumemmerring, in Grassmere. The following year he is listed as having another 2½ acres, Lot 56, so five acres in all.  Even though Captain Doveton was listed as the ratepayer, according to the Title, the property was actually purchased in Margaret's name. From 1900 it was leased out and was sold on August 21 1903 to Robert Skinner. The house, which is now demolished was located around Gumbuya Close, off Doveton Avenue (5).

The thirteen voters on the Supplementary Electoral Roll at Oakleigh in the Kooyong Electorate in 1913, including John and Margaret Doveton.

Ancestry.com Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980 

When the property was leased they moved to Oakleigh and in the 1903 Electoral Rolls they were at Ferntree Gully Road, in Oakleigh and his occupation was a Poultry Farmer. They then moved to  Burnett, Atherton Road, Oakleigh, where John Doveton died at the age of 61, on April 7, 1904. He is buried at Oakleigh Cemetery. Margaret was still listed at Atherton Road in the 1909 Electoral Rolls, but by 1912 had moved to Williams Road, Prahran, then various addresses in Malvern until 1924 when she is listed at Everdon, Rose Street, Surrey Hills. She was still there in the 1937 Electoral Rolls, however her address when she died on December 13, 1941 was 13 Randell Street, Mordialloc. She was 97 years old and was buried at St Kilda Cemetery, where her father was buried, and not for some reason at Oakleigh with her husband. The couple did not have children (6).

Life of Margaret Doveton

The Argus, November 17, 1941 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8217085

We have looked at John and Margaret's life together, now we will have  a look at their lives before they married.

John Doveton was the son of  John Bazette Doveton and Mary Harriett  Fenton, they had married in October 1838 in Saltford, Somerset. The Minister who performed the ceremony was the Reverend John Frederick Doveton, the father of the groom.  John was baptised on February 21, 1843 in Saltford,  I don't have  his date of birth, but based on the date of his baptism its is likely to be the end of 1842 or beginning of 1843. His father, who was also a Church of England Minister, actually performed the baptism ceremony on his son.  John's father and grandfather had both studied at Oxford University and they both held the position of Rector of the parish of Burnett, Somerset (7). As  a reminder of his childhood, John and Margaret had named their house in Atherton Road, Oakleigh Burnett.

John Doveton's father, John Bazett Doveton went to Oxford University. John Frederick Doveton is the grandfather of both John and Margaret. 

Ancestry.com. Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886 

The family were quite well off. In the 1851 Census the family is listed at Burnett - John Bazett (aged 44, occupation Rector of Burnett), Harriet (aged 32) and their children, Catherine (aged 9), our John (aged 8), Bazett (aged 6), Caroline (aged 3) and Ella (aged 1). They also had a Governess and four female servants living in the house. In the 1861 Census, John Bazette Doveton was still the Rector of Burnett, and there are two more children in the family, Mary Harriet aged 9 and Henry aged only 10 months (8).

John Doveton's Second Mate Certificate

National Maritime Museum. Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927

John went away to sea and in May 1862 gained the qualification of Second mate (9). He obviously sailed his way to Victoria as he married Margaret in 1873, but I don't have any details of this part of his career. Margaret Elizabeth Doveton was born in Hobart on November 17, 1844 to Francis Crossman Doveton and Margaret Bostock. Francis and Margaret had married in Launceston in September 1842. They had another daughter Rachel Emily in Tasmania in 1846 and then moved to Victoria where they had three more children, Annie (1848), Francis (1850) and John (1852). Margaret died in 1853 and in 1855 Francis married Mary Ann Snell and they had eight children together (10).

Francis Crossman Doveton, was another son of the Reverend John Frederick Doveton and his wife Elizabeth Crossman and thus the brother of the Reverend John Bazett Doveton (11).  Francis joined the British Army, when he was married his occupation was listed as a Lieutenant in the 51st Regiment. The 51st  Regiment (2nd Yorkshire West Riding), or The King's Own Light Infantry Regiment escorted convict ships to Australia in 1837 when they left Tasmania for Bengal in 1846, Francis remained behind (12). Francis and Margaret moved to Victoria around this time. From 1851 Francis had a number of Government appointments the first being the Commissioner of Crown lands in the Buninyong and Lodden Districts (13).  This covered Ballarat and he was stationed at Ballarat during the Eureka uprising where he had the unpopular responsibility of leading the troopers against the gold diggers  (14).

Francis Crossmam Doveton's first Victorian Government appointment.

Victoria Government Gazette http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1851/V/general/8.pdf

In 1852 he was appointed a Magistrate of the Colony of Victoria, in 1855 Chairman of the Local Court of the District of Hepburn and a Police Magistrate; and in 1858 he was appointed a Warden of the Gold Fields, then a Chinese Protector and in 1860 he was appointed as a Coroner, acting at Daylesford. Francis Doveton died on July 10, 1905 and is buried at the St Kilda Cemetery (15). As you can see in the article below, Doveton Street in Ballarat is named for him.

Obituary of Francis Crossman Doveton

The Age, July 13, 1905 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198601487

As we saw before Margaret named her house in Surrey Hills, Everdon, and there is an Everdon Hall, a Grade II listed building, in Everdon, Northamptonshire, which was built around 1820 for General Doveton, so Margaret and John are almost certainly connected to him. The article, above, mentions a Sir William Doveton (1753-1843), he apparently spent all his life on St Helena in the service of the East India Company, so possibly General Doveton was his brother (16). 

Everdon Hall. Grade II listed building. Photographer: Michale Trolove. 

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved] © Copyright Michael Trolove and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. This image has been cropped - the original is here https://www.geograph.org.uk/more.php?id=3321126

John and Margaret came from  a very well connected solid middle (upper?) class family. It is ironic, then, that the suburb of Doveton was from the start a working class suburb. It did, however, have  a strong sense of community. Dennis Glover grew up in Doveton in the 1960s and 1970s and has written about the suburb in his book An economy is not a society: winners and losers in the new Australia (Redback, 2015). Well worth tracking down to look back at time before economic growth was considered more important than community. There is a great interview with Dennis Glover here, in the Sydney Morning Herald  of February 18, 2014.

In conclusion, the fact that Captain John Doveton and Margaret Elizabeth Doveton were first cousins, means that Margaret should have as much status as the namesake of the suburb of Doveton as her husband has traditionally had.

Footnotes
(1) I have written about Grassmere, Eumemmerring and Doveton Avenue, here.
(2) Mills, A.D A dictionary of British Place names (Oxford University Press, 2003)
(3) The addresses come from the Rate book on Ancestry.com; The Age September 21, 1874, read here.
(4) Hobart Mercury May 8, 1882, see here; Hobart Mercury, May 23 1882, see here; The Argus, February 6 1885, see here;  The Herald, April 5, 1888, see here.
(5) Rate Books are at Casey Cardinia Libraries. The Title was in the Archive there. 
(6) Death certificates of John Doveton and Margaret Doveton. Electoral Rolls are on Ancestry.com.
(7) Marriage and Baptism certificates on Ancestry.com as is the list of Oxford University Alumni.
(8) U.K Census available on Ancestry.com
(9) Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927
(10) Tasmanian Archives and the Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages.
(11) Parents listed on Death Certificate.
(12) https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/51st-2nd-yorkshire-west-riding-or-kings-own-light-infantry-regiment

(13) Victoria Government Gazette http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/

(14) The Argus, November 17, 1941, see here.  
(15) Victoria Government Gazette http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/ ; Death Certificate.

(16) Everdon Hall - https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/IOE01/06653/23             St Helena -  http://sainthelenaisland.info/importantpeople.htm

A version of this post, which I wrote and researched, appears on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to our Past. I wrote the original in 2010, this is an updated and improved version.

Grassmere becomes Doveton

The suburb of Doveton, just east of Dandenong, was established in the mid 1950s by the Housing Commission to provide housing for the employees of the 'Big Three' Industrial companies, International Harvester Company (established 1952), H.J Heinz (1955) and General Motors Holden (1956) (1). 

The area was originally known as Dandenong or Eumemmerring or Grassmere and it was once part of the Eumemmerring Run. This run was 10, 560 acres (2)  and was taken up by Dr Farquhar McCrae (1807-1850) in 1839.  It was described as 'good sheep country'. Dr McCrae was the brother-in-law of Georgiana McCrae (1804-1890) who was married to his brother Andrew. Georgiana kept a journal, later published as Georgiana's Journal (3).   Later the same year it was taken over by Leslie Foster (1818-1900) or to give him his full name -  John Vesey Fitzgerald Leslie Foster, apparently known as 'alphabetical Foster’ due to his abundance of names (4).  Foster was, amongst other things, a cousin of Sir William Foster Stawell (1815-1889) who was appointed Victorian Attorney General in 1851 and became Chief Justice of Victoria in 1857. Stawell Street in Cranbourne was named after him, as well as the town of Stawell (5).  Foster also, in 1843, challenged Dr McCrae to a pistol duel over a land sale, when McCrae refused Foster whipped him and his horse with a horse whip. He was later fined £10 and had to pay £250 in damages (6).  Foster was a member of the Victorian Parliament, firstly in the Legislative Council, then the Assembly went on to help draft Victoria’s constitution, and acted as the administrator of the Colony between the departure of Governor La Trobe and the arrival of Governor Hotham (7). 

The Eumemmerring run is at the top of the map.

Squatting Runs, Western Port

Image: The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson (Cheshire, 1968), p.50.

Foster held the run until 1842 (8) when it was taken up by Edward Wilson (9) and James Stewart Johnson (10). Edward Wilson (1813-1878) was the owner of  The Argus newspaper. James Stewart Johnson (1811-1896), was amongst other things, a member of the Legislative Council. In 1846 when Thomas Herbert Power (1801-1873)  took over the property, which Power called Grassmere,  it went from around the Dandenong Creek all the way to Berwick (11).  Power was a business man and a member of the Legislative Council from 1856 until 1864 and had land in other areas including Hawthorn, where he lived.  He is  is the source of the name Power Road in Doveton. When he died in 1873 the value of his Estate was over £40,000. He still owned, according to his Probate papers 1,848 acres (747 hectares) in the Parish of Eumemmerring  when he died (12).

Probate papers of Thomas Power

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 28/P0002, 11/519

On October 30, 1888 Munro & Baillieu Estate Agents offered for sale  the Grassmere property of 3,000 acres (1214 hectares) subdivided into lots of between 1 acre and 20 acres (up to 8 hectares) (13). I realise that Power's Grassmere property was only 1848 acres when he died in 1873 and in 1880 when it was sub-divided it was described as 3,000 acres, I can only assume his family had purchased other adjacent land at some time.   It was described in the newspaper advertisements as being on the crest of  a delightful slope and only a few minutes walk from this happily situated and pretty township, so fast becoming a favourite residential estate. The pretty township was Dandenong (14).

Grassemere sale advertisement designed by the firm Batten & Percy, October 1888.

Dandenong Creek is the boundary on the west (left) side, the northern boundary is Heatherton Road, the southern boundary is the Princes Highway. The road running north to south is Power Road; the road running west to east is Kidds Road 

State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/157750

The area was called Grassmere well into the 1950s, when it was  renamed Doveton after John and Margaret Doveton in as we shall see, either 1953 or 1954. I have written about John and Margaret Doveton, here. There was already a reminder of the couple in the area - Doveton Avenue, which predates the name of the suburb by decades. John and Margaret Doveton's house was located in the vicinity of Doveton Avenue and they are, of course the source of the name of the road.  The earliest reference to Doveton Avenue, Grassmere that I can find is in 1927 in a death notice of Mr Siggins.

Death notice of John Siggins, who passed away at Doveton Avenue.

The Argus April 20, 1927   http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3849944

This is another reference to Doveton Avenue, Grassmere, below, the wedding report of Miss Ethel Hilyear of Doveton Avenue, Grassmere to David Newport. They were married August 4, 1951.

The wedding of  Ethel Hilyear of Doveton Avenue.

Dandenong Journal April 22, 1951  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222354279

From around 1951 the farms at Grassmere were purchased by International Harvester, H.J. Heinz and General Motors Holden to construct their manufacturing plants (15). From the start there was some discussion as to what the area should be called. An article in the Dandenong Journal of October 24, 1951 (see below) talks about General Motors Holden feeling that Eumemmerring as an address is 'unwieldly', although apparently International Harvester thought it was a 'thundering nice name'. The Journal asked if anyone knew the origin of the name and a further article (also below) in the Journal said the name was Irish, which is unlikely. Jean Uhl, in her book Call back yesterday: Eumemmerring Parish writes that Ummemmering, later spelt Eumemmerring, was the native name to that part of the district over the Dandenong Creek, outside the township of Dandenong.....and in means 'we are pleased to agree with you' (16). 

Opinions on the Eumemmerring name

Dandenong Journal, October 24, 1951. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222355372

There was a suggestion that Eumemmerring was an Irish name.

Dandenong Journal November 21, 1951 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222355877

According to an article in paper, below, the name of Doveton was agreed to by the Shire of Berwick in April 1953 after  a request from the Hallam Progress Association (17).  This decision preceded the establishment of the Housing Commission project east of Dandenong, between the Dandenong and Eumemmerring Creeks.

The approval to change the name of Grassmere to Doveton

Dandenong Journal April 29, 1953 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215818852

The Dandenong Housing Commission Estate was announced in September 1954. Two thousand homes were to be built, with preference for the housing given to employees of International Harvester, H.J. Heinz and General Motors (18). It is interesting that the area is still called Dandenong, in the article, below, even though the Shire of Berwick had approved the use of the name Doveton for the area over a year before. 

Establishment of the Housing Commission Estate at what will become Doveton.

The Age September 27, 1954. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205396052

Although the Berwick Shire had agreed to adopting the name of Doveton over Grassmere in April 1953, the formal adoption of the name Doveton for the area and the Housing Commission Estate was in October 1954, according to the report in the Dandenong Journal - 
New Housing Commission Estate now Doveton - Following the decision of Berwick Shire Council at their last meeting to name the area between Kay’s Av. and the western boundary of the Shire  “Doveton,” advice has been received from the Housing Commission that it has decided to adopt this name for its estate, formerly known as the East Dandenong Estate...The Department of Crown 
Lands and Survey has also advised Berwick Shire Council that it has no objection to the area referred to being named “Doveton." (19). 

The name of Doveton is formally adopted.

Dandenong Journal October 13, 1954 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article218513061

It does appear that the year 1954 was the year the name Grassmere was finally abandoned for the area east of Dandenong.  It is hard to know if it was still used informally by any old-timers who remained in the area. The Dandenong Journal on Trove only goes to 1954 and as there is also a town called Grassmere near Warnambool, later mentions could refer to that town. As a matter of interest, the modern day suburb of Eumemmering was gazetted on May 20, 1981 (20).  

Footnotes
(1) Harding, Maria  Doveton: a brief history (Friends of Doveton Library, 1993)
(2) Uhl, Jean Call back yesterday: Eumemmering Parish (Lowden Publishing, 1972), p. 8.
(3) Uhl., op.cit., p. 6.
(4) Leslie Foster, read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here.
(5) William Stawell, read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here. 
(6) Uhl., op.cit., p. 7.
(7) Leslie Foster, read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here.

(8) Dates of ownership from Billis, R.V & Kenyon, A.S.  Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip (Stockland Press, 1974).
(9) Edward Wilson,  read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here.                               
(10) James Stewart Johnson,  read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here.
(11) Uhl., op.cit., p. 10.
(12) Uhl, op. cit., passim; https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/about/people-in-parliament/re-member/details/24/782  His will is at the Public Records Office of Victoria.
(13) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, October 24, 1888, see here.
(14) Ibid.
(15) Dandenong Journal, August 29, 1951, see here.
(16) Uhl, op. cit., p. 6-7.
(17) Dandenong Journal April 29, 1953, see here.  
(18) The Age September 27, 1954, see here. 

(19) Dandenong Journal October 13, 1954, see here. 

(20) Harding, op. cit., p. 26.

A version of this post, which I wrote and researched, appears on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to our Past. This is an updated and revised version.