Burke and Wills Commemoration Tree, Essendon

On August 20, 1860  Robert O'Hara Burke (1) and William John Wills (2) set off from Royal Park in Melbourne. They were accompanied by 16 other men, 26 camels, 22 horses and wagons and drays carrying 12 months worth of supplies, with the aim of crossing the Continent from the south to the north. We all know the story, they reached the Gulf of Carpenteria on February 11, 1861 and then  headed south again and perished at Coopers Creek in South Australia around June 1861 (3)

Their first night was spent at Essendon. Dr Ludwig Becker (4), artist and naturalist, who was a member of the exploring party and who also perished at Coopers Creek, kept a dairy and  the entries up to September 6, 1860 were published in The Age in September 1860. This is the first two days -

Monday, August 20. - All day engaged packing and loading. Mounted a camel at 4 p.m., and proceeded with the greater portion of the Exploring party through Moonee Ponds, and camped at Essendon. One of the waggons broke down before reaching the halting place. About sunset one of the horses broke loose and ran away.
Tuesday, August 21. - In the morning caught the horse. The remainder of the waggons arrived unloading and reloading the same. Started at a quarter-past 2 p.m. The horses, camels, and waggons proceeded together. A valuable little watchdog belonging to Mr. Landells was lost. At 6 p.m. camped in a paddock near the Inverness Hotel, Bulla. (5)

I came across the photograph, below, of the stump of the tree in Queens Park, Essendon (or Moonee Ponds as the location was also called) which marked the site of the Expedition's first camp and decided to undertake some research on the tree.

Burke & Wills Commemoration Tree, Essendon, sometime between 1927 and 1938.

Victorian Railways photographer.

State Library of Victoria image H91.50/569. 

An almost identical photograph was published in The Age, August 12, 1936, see here.

The first mention I can find in the newspapers about the Burke and Wills Tree was in December 1892 when at an Essendon Town Council meeting -
Cr. Dangerfield moved that the surveyor have a small fence put round the tree near the Moonee Ponds reserve, this spot having been the first camping place of Burke and Wills, when setting out on their expedition. (6)

The fence was not erected at the time and later on, in October 1896, the Essendon Gazette reported on the monthly meeting of the Ascot Vale People's Association, held on Friday, October 2 where a letter was received on this matter -

H. P. Williams, drawing attention to an old tree near Moonee Ponds  reserve, under which the Burke and Wills' expedition camped the first night of their journey. An interesting discussion took place on the subject of the "old tree" it being decided to send the letter to the council, asking them to  erect  a protecting fence, and put a tablet on the tree, so as to make it an historical landmark in the district. (7)

The letter from the Ascot Vale People's Association was sent very promptly as it was presented at the Essendon Town Council meeting held on Monday October 5 where -

Cr. Cowan said that the Ascot Vale People's  Association was a day behind the fair as to the Burke and  Wills tree as the council had had it  under consideration....and  as long as five years ago he (Cr Cowan) had tried to spend a few shillings on the tree in question but was thwarted by lack of funds. (8)

The Mount Alexander Mail published this report on the Tree in their October 12, 1896 edition - 

The preservation of an old gum tree at Moonee Ponds, under whose shelter the ill fated Burke and Wills expedition made its first halt, after its start on 20th August, 1860, has ever been a matter of concern to the Essendon Council. It is a grim relic of the courageous attempt of the intrepid explorers, and here it was that they watered their camels and rested under its shelter. The Council has now decided to erect a picket fence for its protection, and to mark the dead eucalypt with a commemorative tablet. (9)  Interesting, that the grim relic - the tree - was already dead in 1896.

The next mention of the Burke and Wills tree I can find is this one from August 1898, where it is mentioned in conjunction with the new lake formed at Queen's Park. 

Queen's Park Lake, Moonee Ponds - This lake is the outcome of Jubilee celebration works done at Essendon, and is named to commemorate the Queen's reign. Queen's park was the first camping-ground of the Burke and Wills Expedition. A tree on the margin of the lake marks the spot where Mr. FitzGibbon, then town-clerk, addressed the members of the exploring party and wished them God speed on behalf of the citizens of Melbourne. (10) 

The Gum Tree, c. 1905, before limbs were removed in 1927

The Old Gum - Burke and Wills' first camping place, c. 1905.

State Library of Victoria image  H36145/32

In 1909, the Burke and Wills Tree had some distinguished visitors as on May 24, which was Empire Day, Essendon was proclaimed as a City and the Governor, Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael and Lady Carmichael were amongst the visitors on this auspicious occasion. Amongst the activities of the official party they motored to Queen's  Park to see the memorable tree under which Burke and Wills camped in the early exploring days of Victoria. (11)  

As a matter of interest in 1910, the second camping place of the Burke and Wills expedition was commemorated - 

A very interesting ceremony took place on Monday, 22nd August, when the scholars of Bulla State School, under the direction of Messrs A. F. Daniell (shire secretary) and Mr D. Griffiths (head teacher) erected a monument and planted some native trees at the spot where Burke and Wills' expedition camped 50 years ago. A small crescent had been fenced off, and each of the senior scholars planted a tree, the trees being kindly supplied by Mr A. F. Daniel. The monument consists of a box post about 16 feet long and 1 feet in diameter. It is intended to place on the post a plate bearing a suitable inscription......(12)

The tree after the removal of limbs in 1927 and before the plaque was installed.

The caption reads - Under this tree Burke and Wills rested for the first night after they had set out on their great expedition into the interior. It is situated in Queen's Park, Moonee Ponds. The Essendon City Council recently cut it down as shown, and will shortly erect a guard rail around the butt and attach a brass commemorative plate.

The Argus May 5, 1927  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3852646

In 1927 there was concern about the preservation of the tree and in the May some limbs were removed by the Essendon City Council and a plaque attached. However, there was still concern about the long term preservation of the tree, as well as the mis-spelling on the commemorative plaque. This report is from The Place in the Sun column in the Sun News-Pictorial in September 1927 -

Concern is being experienced as to the preservation of the Burke and Wills tree at Essendon, and, while they are about it, I think the local council might rectify a point or two of the inscription by which it is surmounted. This declares rather humorlessly that ‘‘Under this tree and in its immediate vicinity the Bourke and Wills exploration party camped, August 1860, by order of Council.” And Robert O’Hara Burke didn’t spell his name ‘‘Bourke.” (13).

The tree after the plaque was attached.

The Sun News-Pictorial, September 13, 1927 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article275443373

A few years later in 1933, there was more concern about the tree, this time about whether the tree did, in fact, mark the camp site. The Argus had the following report - 

Burke and Wills Camp. Is Tablet in Wrong Place? Councillor Kinnear informed a meeting of the Essendon council on Monday night that a wooden tablet on a tree in Mount Alexander road Moonee Ponds bore the incorrect statement that under that tree the Burke and Wills expedition rested on its journey from Melbourne to Central Australia. Actually the expedition had camped on the opposite side of the lagoon in Queens Park. He thought that a permanent memorial should be erected in the right place. Some of the very old residents of Essendon remembered the exact spot where the expedition had camped. Councillor Royle suggested that the council should not be in a hurry to remove the tablet. An old resident had stated that she had seen the expedition at the tree opposite the Moonee Ponds bowling green. Councillor Gilbertson said that his relatives who had been born in the district, agreed that the expedition had not camped under the tree in Mount Alexander road, but on a site on the other side of the lagoon, now enclosed in Queen's Park. The council resolved to have the question investigated and to place a permanent tablet at the correct place.  (14) 

The Herald also reported on the matter - 

Essendon Council is trying to ascertain the exact spot where the Burke and Wills Expedition camped at Moonee Ponds in August, 1860. The oldest living Essendon native in the district is Mr John Woods (uncle of Cr. R. J. Gilbertson), who is 81 years of age. Mr Woods remembers having been taken by his mother to see the Expedition camp and its camels. He is positive that Burke and Wills camped on the site now occupied by the Catholic Church tennis court in St. Monica's grounds, at the bottom of Hutchinson Street, and 500 yards away from the tree stump now marked by a placard as the site of the camp. Mr John Cooke, a resident of Essendon for 76 years, was 17 years of age when the Expedition camped at Moonee Ponds. He and his brother Robert agree with Mr Woods that the spot was somewhere between the Catholic Church tennis court and the lagoon in Queen's Park. Other old residents who might be able to throw light on the matter are: - Mr George Bishop (Essendon) and Mr Granville (Aberfeldie). (15)  

It appears nothing came of this uncertainty as to the exact location of the first Burke and Wills camp and five years later, in 1938, the Essendon Council made the decision to remove the tree stump as part of a beautification project. The Age reported in April - 

Burke and Wills Memorial. The slump of an old tree in Mt. Alexander-road, Essendon, marks the spot where Burke and Wills camped on their first night out from Melbourne on their fatal expedition. Residents of Essendon have felt for a long time that some suitable memorial should be erected to mark the historic place. As it is probable that the remains of the old tree will be removed under a beautification scheme of the council for the laying down of lawns, the town clerk was instructed at the meeting of Essendon council last night to submit a report regarding the erection of a memorial. (16) 

 

The Age had a follow-up report in the June - 

Historic Tree. Time marches on, and sentiment, apparently, cannot be allowed to stand in the path of progress. To-day the stump of the old tree under which Burke and Wills camped on their first night out from Melbourne in August, 1860, will be dug out by employes of Essendon city council. The council is laying down plantations, and the old tree was in the way, and it was officially decreed that it had to go. Residents of Moonee Ponds and Essendon will miss the familiar landmark in Mt. Alexander-road, opposite Queen's Park. Bearing a simple inscription that two brave men slept beneath it before facing their deaths in the pioneering of a continent, the old tree braved many a storm. But the passage of 78 years took its toll, and old limbs broke under the strain, until in the last few years all that remained was a stump that all the forces of nature seemed powerless to destroy. Human agency, however, will tear it out by the roots. The stump will probably be presented to some historical society and preserved, and near the spot where the tree stood for so many years a memorial tablet will be placed. No doubt, however, despite the rush and bustle of 1938, the spirit of 1860 will still hover. (17) 

A memorial tablet was installed on the site of the tree, but not until January 1940. The Sun News-Pictorial reported - 

Where Explorers Camped. Obelisk Marks Spot At Moonee Ponds. An obelisk has been erected on the lawns in Mount Alexander Road opposite Moonee Ponds bowling green, to mark the spot where the explorers Burke and Wills camped on August 20, 1860, on their first night out from Royal Park. The memorial is the gift of Cr Thompson, a former mayor of Essendon. This historic spot was marked until recently by the trunk of an old red gum tree, but when modern plantations were laid down it was found the decayed butt could not be retained any longer. (18)  

The plaque in Queen's Park, installed in January 1940.

Image: https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g2023413-d21336147-Reviews-Burke_And_Wills_Expedition_Monument_Camp_One-Moonee_Ponds_Moonee_Valley_Greater.html

In 2002 a new monument was installed in Queen's Park to commemorate the first camping place of the Burke and Wills Expedition. Dr Dave Phoenix, in his paper, A Monumental Task: Remembering Burke and Wills noted - 

Moonee Ponds Camel Sculpture - The public artwork titled “Burke and Wills” was commissioned by Moonee Valley Council and managed by the Council's Environment and Urban Design Department. Big Fish Workshops constructed the camels from rusted, perforated steel and the project was funded by the Essendon Rotary Club at a cost of $26,000 and installed in 2002.

The Camel sculptures at Queens Park.

Image: Dr Dave Phoenix  A Monumental Task: Remembering Burke and Wills - 

  https://www.academia.edu/44569701/A_Monumental_Task_Remembering_Burke_and_Wills 

Footnotes

(1)  Robert O'Hara Bourke - Australian Dictionary of Biography - https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/burke-robert-ohara-3116

(2) William John Wills - Australian Dictionary of Biography - https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wills-william-john-4864

(3) A good map of the Expedition can be seen here https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-231339887/view, Two accounts of the Expedition setting out - The Age, August 21, 1860, see here;  The Argus, August 21, 1860, see here.

(4) Ludwig Becker - Australian Dictionary of Biography - https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/becker-ludwig-2961

(5) The Age, September 24, 1860, see here.

(6) Essendon Gazette, December 22, 1892, see here.

(7) Essendon Gazette, October 8, 1896, see here.

(8) Essendon Gazette, October 8, 1896, see here.

(9) Mount Alexander Mail, October 12, 1896, see here.

(10) The Australasian, August 6, 1898, see here.

(11) Essendon Gazette, May 27, 1909, see here.

(12) Sunbury News, September 3, 1910, see here.

(13) Sun News-Pictorial, September 13, 1927, see here.

(14) The Argus, June 14, 1933, see here.

(15) The Herald, June 17, 1933, see here.

(16) The Age, April 27, 1938, see here.

(17) The Age, June 16, 1938, see here.

(18) Sun News-Pictorial, February 1, 1940, see here.

(19)  Phoenix, Dave A Monumental Task: Remembering Burke and Wills A study of the memorials and monuments erected to commemorate the Burke and Wills expedition. A paper presented to the Inaugural Burke & Wills Enthusiasts Outback Conference Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. 18th & 19th August 2003. Downloaded from   https://www.academia.edu/44569701/A_Monumental_Task_Remembering_Burke_and_Wills 

Pakenham Consolidated School - a short history

I went to Pakenham Consolidated School on the Grenda's school bus, Bus 7, from Vervale from 1964 until 1970. My two sisters and my brother also went there. We spent at least two hours a day on the school bus, and we would have been the most easterly students who attended the School. This is a short history of Pakenham Consolidated School. 

In the 1940s and 1950s there was a movement to consolidate small rural schools into one larger, central school. This was partly a response to a shortage of teachers, due to many male teachers enlisting during the Second World War. The War also caused a shortage of materials and labour and many school buildings fell into disrepair. Consolidation was also seen to give advantages to students - the schools would have specialist Infant teachers and specialist subject teachers such as Art and Physical Education and would also allow the students a wider choice of friends from the different localities. The first consolidated school opened in Murrayville in January 1944; in 1946 Manangatang and Tongala; 1947 Woomelang and Patchewollock and in 1948 Timboon. In the 1950s newly built consolidated schools included Red Hill, Pakenham, Boisdale, Edenhope, Cobram, Kaniva, Kiewa Valley and Lockington and so by 1958, 32 such schools had opened. (1)

The schools would offer a general for children to the age of fifteen (which for some children was the end of Form 3 and for others it was Form 4) and Schools within 5 miles or 8 kilometres would be closed and beyond that, the Schools would have an option to close and join the new school. (2)  

Pakenham was selected for consolidation as early as 1946 and the new school would be built on the site of the Pakenham State School, No.1359, in Main Street. (3)

Pakenham selected as a site for a consolidated school

The Age, September 6, 1946 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206373527

One of the issues faced by communities in the consolidation catchment zone was the retention of the existing school building for community use, rather than have them relocated to the new school site. This was especially important in areas which didn't have a hall. As reported in The Age in May 1947 -

Retention of old school buildings for, community centres, in areas where consolidated schools have been established, will not be permitted by the Education Department unless removal of the buildings to other sites for department use is uneconomic. This decision was given yesterday by the Minister for Education, (Mr. Field) when he was approached by two deputations from the Pakenham area with requests that the old school buildings in Pakenham South and on Army-road should not be removed, but should be sold to the district for use as public halls. Mr. Field said that if it could be shown that removal of the buildings to other sites for use in craft work and non-academic studies was not an economic proposition, the buildings might be handed over. On the information he had at present, he could not grant the request. (4)  Pakenham South did retain their hall in the community, however Army Road did not. (5) 

Cora Lynn, where my father, uncle and aunties attended school, was happy to voluntarily consolidate - as local Councillor Dan Kinsella reported - 

Cora Lynn -  the people were anxious to be brought into the Consolidated School scheme and at a public meeting had decided to request this. There had only been two dissentients. If the Department agreed there was no question that the Cora Lynn school would be moved. If the Department had a use for these buildings as schools, he did not think they should try and influence it politically. (6)  As a matter of interest my aunty who was born in 1941 was at Cora Lynn State School until May 1951 and  when it became part of Pakenham Consolidated School, she then did the rest of Grade 5 and Grade 6 there; then Form 1 and Form 2 at Drouin Central, because that is as far as that school went at the time, and finally went on to Form 3 at Warragul High in 1955. (7)

There were four different contracts for the construction of the Pakenham Consolidated School, with the one contractor K. G. Hooker and Co., of  Thistlethwaite street, South Melbourne, being the successful contractor each time. The total cost of the construction was around  £100,000.  I cannot find when the first tender was advertised, however local M.L. A., Matthew Bennett was reported as saying in May 1947 that the plans for the school had been completed and that tenders would be advertised in two weeks.  The first tender I can find advertised was for the removal, re-erection and repair of the existing building and the construction of the Junior Wing in November 1947. This was to relocate the existing building towards the back of the block (nearer to MacGregor Road), so the new buildings could be erected facing Main Street. (8)

First contract for Pakenham Consolidated School advertised

The Argus, November 7, 1947 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22518382

In January 1947, the Pakenham Gazette could report that - 

A further move is being made towards the establishment of  the Consolidated School at Pakenham. Mr C.H. Pobjoy, correspondent of Pakenham State School Committee, has been asked to ascertain what temporary classroom accommodation could be arranged whilst the existing Pakenham school building was being moved to a new site further back on the block. He is submitting particulars of arrangements which it is hoped to make for the temporary accommodation of the children at the Mechanics' Hall or Scout Hall.  Mr Pobjoy said yesterday that he understood that the existing Pakenham school rooms were to be moved practically immediately to make way for the junior wing of the Consolidated School. (9). The Pakenham Gazette the next week said that the Scout Hall and the Recreation Reserve Pavilion  would be used as temporary school accommodation (10) so I am not actually sure which facilities were used as the temporary classrooms. 

News on the establishment of the school

Pakenham Gazette, January 23, 1948, p.9

The tender of  £12,742, for the Junior Wing was accepted in September 1948 and work was started on the new building at the beginning of October. (11)  The next tender of £15,999 for the construction of the wing housing the Cookery room, Cafeteria and staff room was accepted in January 1950 (12).  The final section was the Administrative block, and the tender of £14,977 was accepted in April 1950. (13) 

Last tender let for the School

The Sun News-Pictorial, April 29, 1950 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article279632268

One of the last contracts to be signed was for the bus service, which was awarded to Grenda's buses of Dandenong. (14)

Bus contract

Dandenong Journal, May 23, 1951 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222352474

This is one of the Grenda's buses parked at Main Drain Road, Vervale (corner of Dessent Road) and it did the Cora Lynn run. The bus driver was Eddie Plumb, who rented the house, which was owned by my great-aunt, Lucy Rouse. The photo was taken, during a flood, after 1951 and before February 1956; when my newly married parents bought the house from Lucy to live in. There is another photo of  the Grenda's buses at the end of the Public Records Office of Victoria photos, below. 

In May 1951, the Pakenham Gazette could report that the school had opened and that  four buses conveyed 130 children from surrounding districts to Pakenham Consolidated School. At present there are 258 pupils attending the School, and it is hoped that in September several other schools will be consolidated, raising the attendance to over 400 children. (15)

However, the official opening by the Minister of Education, Mr A.E. Shepherd, did not take place until November 18, 1953, in front of a crowd of 500 people, including the Director of Education, Mr Ramsay. At this time there were 550 students at the school and a staff of 21. (16)  In 1966, when I was in Grade 2, the school population was 550 (plus 94 post-primary students) and there was a space shortage because my classes that year were conducted down the street at the Anglican Church hall. In 1970 there were 600 students. (17) 

The first Head Master was Charles Hicks. The schools that formed the Consolidated School were 

Army Road No. 3847 (closed April 1947) 

Cora Lynn No. 3502 (closed May 1951)

Koo-Wee-Rup North (Five Mile) No. 3198 (closed November 1959)

Mount Burnett No. 4506 (closed October 1949)

Nar Nar Goon North No. 2914 (closed October 1951)

Nar Nar Goon South No. 4554 (closed May 1951)

Officedale No. 4242 (closed May 1951)

Pakenham South No. 3755 (closed September 1951)

Pakenham Upper No. 2155 (closed January 1952)

Rythdale No. 4231 (closed September 1951)

Toomuc Valley No. 3034 (closed September 1951)

Tynong No. 2854 (closed April 1951)

Tynong North No.4464 (closed December 1951)  (18)

In 1967 Pakenham High School was established at the Pakenham Consolidated School site and it moved to its existing location in 1970. (19)  Pakenham Consolidated School moved from Main Street to Rundell Way in 1997 and the Main Street site was sold. Some of the old school buildings that had come from the closed schools were shifted to Beaconhills College in Pakenham.

Before we look at some photographs of Pakenham Consolidated School, here is an overview of the history of the Pakenham State School, No. 1359. The School had opened on a 2-acre site adjoining the Toomuc Creek in January 1875.  The successful tenderers for the school building were the firm of Lane, Orviss and Fanning and the contract price was £252/19/0; this was gazetted in the Victoria Government Gazette, October 9, 1874. The School operated half-time with the school named Pakenham South, No. 2139 (later called Cardinia) in Bould Road, Cardinia until April 1879. (20)

Lane, Orviss and Fanning won the contract  to erect the original Pakenham State School, on the Toomuc Creek.

Victoria Government Gazette, October 9, 1874, p. 1823 https://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1874/V/general/64.pdf

The original Pakenham State School which opened in 1875 on the Toomuc Creek.

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 14517/P0001/28, L579 

In 1891, the school moved to the Main Street Pakenham site into a new building, the builder for which was A. Goad; the tender price was  £170 and it was accepted in February 1890 (21).  An extension was added in 1908, which could accommodate 40 children and  which had been built with all the latest improvements. (22)

The tender for the Pakenham State School in Main Street

The Argus, February 28, 1890 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8591776 

The original building on the Toomuc Creek was moved to Lardner in 1892 and was totally destroyed by fire in May 1912. (23)

The original Pakenham School building moves to Lardner.

Warragul Guardian, October 18, 1892 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68729329

Photographs from the Public Records Office of Victoria

What follows are photographs from the Public Records Office of Victoria, taken in the 1950s and 1960s. You can access more of these photographs here https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/education/publication-branch-photographs-dept-education

The 1891 Pakenham State School building, which was relocated towards the back of the block in 1948 to became the Infants School (Preps to Grade 2)

Exterior of old school,  PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/10, F225

The 1891  Pakenham State School building during the construction phase.

Construction scenes and exterior shots  VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C148

 

Opening Ceremony, November 18, 1953. The Office was where the flagpole is, the building on the left is the Cafeteria.

Opening ceremony at Pakenham Consolidated, VPRS 14517/P0001/54, B996

Opening Ceremony, November 18, 1953

Opening ceremony at Pakenham Consolidated, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, B997 

Opening Day, November 18, 1953. I wonder who this girl is?

Opening of Pakenham Consoldiated School 1953 by the Honorable A.E. Shepherd, M.L.A., Minister of Education, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, C86

The muddy yard before asphalting and lawns

Construction views, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C176

View towards the original Pakenham School, love the little girl looking through the window of a class room in the junior wing. 

Construction views, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C173

The classroom wing, the junior wing, on the west side, against Dame Patty Avenue; this is the front of the buildings shown in the photograph, above

Front exterior, Pakenham Consolidated, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/19, H740

 These are all the new buildings. On the far left are the senior classrooms, the next wing was the Art room and Library, then the Cafeteria wing and the Offices.

Exterior of playground, Pakenham Consolidated, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/19, H739

Playground

Exterior of playground, Pakenham Consolidated, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/19, H738

The houses for the teacher. The building on the right is the corner of the Cafeteria. 

Teachers' residences, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, B975

The existing Pakenham State School building was used as the Infant School (Preps to Grade 2) and new buildings to house the rest of the school population were constructed at a cost of £100,000. As well, some of the closed school buildings were transported onto the site, and some are shown below.

Nar Nar Goon North No. 2914.

Construction scenes and exterior shots,  PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C146

Other school buildings, the little one in the middle is Nar Nar Goon South, No. 4554.

View of old building,  PROV  VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C259

Some of the old schools, the one on the left is Toomuc Valley School, No. 3034.

Old classrooms, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, B986

Children wait for buses, this was a bit before my time, but how well I remember waiting for School buses. Many of the children are wearing gumboots, you can see how muddy the yard is.

PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, C85

Footnotes

(1) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), v. 1, pp. 403-408. Some of the information in this paragraph comes from the paper written by Ron Smith, in 1974, Consolidation, with particular reference to Pakenham Consolidated School. 

(2) Country Children to Get Better Education in the Weekly Times, March 6, 1946 see here - a good overview; Vision and Realisation, v. 1, op. cit., p. 407. I was actually a bit unsure whether the Consolidated school went to Form 3 or Form, but the photo below shows a Form 4 student.

Form Captains in 1964, the year I started at Pakenham Consolidated School, pictured are some from From 1 to Form 4.

Pakenham Gazette, June 26, 1964, p. 8

(3) The Age, September 6, 1946, see here.  

(4) The Age, May 15, 1947, see here. 

(5) Bunyip & Garfield Express, May 16, 1947, see here;  Dandenong Journal, June 28, 1950, see here;  Dandenong Journal, February 26, 1947, see here. 

(6) Dandenong Journal, June 28, 1950, see here.

(7) More about local High Schools here https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2019/04/local-high-schools.html

(8) Dandenong Journal, May 7, 1947, see here; The Argus, November 7, 1947, see here.

(9) Pakenham Gazette, January 23, 1948, p.9 

(10) Pakenham Gazette, January 30, 1948, p.1

(11) Dandenong Journal, September 15, 1948, see here. 

(12) Dandenong Journal, January 11, 1950, see here.    

(13) The Sun News-Pictorial, April 29, 1950, see here. 

(14) Dandenong Journal, May 23, 1951, see here. 

(15) Pakenham Gazette, June 8, 1951, p. 1.

(16) Pakenham Gazette, November 13, 1953. p. 1 and Pakenham Gazette, November 20, 1953. p.1. 

(17) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), v. 3, p. 1191.

(18) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), v. 3.

(19) Vision and Realisation, v. 3, op. cit., p. 1352.

(20) Vision and Realisation, v. 3, op. cit., pp. 1190-1191; Victoria Government Gazette, October 9, 1874, p. 1823 https://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1874/V/general/64.pdf             

(21) The Argus, February 28, 1890, see here;  one report has his name as A. Good, but I believe Goad is correct.

 (22) The Argus, September 25, 1908, see here

 (23) Warragul Guardian, October 18, 1892, see here; Vision and Realisation, v. 3, op. cit., pp. 1197-1198. The Vision & Realisation entry on Lardner doesn't mention that the school was moved from Pakenham, they note that Lardner No. 1711, acquired a new school building in 1886. It is possible that the Warragul Gazette report is incorrect and I can find no information about a tender. Around the same time the school known as Pakenham East was relocated to Harkaway. This was School No. 1279, it opened in 1874 and was then called Nar Nar Goon, renamed Pakenham East in 1889 and closed August 1891, with the building being moved to Harkaway, No 1697.

The Argus, September 30, 1892 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8463926

  

This post is a very much enlarged version of a post I wrote and researched on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to our Past.

A postcard from Mordialloc to East Caulfield

Mrs Ernest Cooke of Princes Avenue, East Caulfield received this New Year postcard from all at The Manse, Mordialloc. The postcard is not dated, but I would estimate it was sent 1912, give or take a few years either side. This post looks at the postcard photograph of the Mordialloc Pier; the recipient, Mrs Ernest Cooke; and the sender of the New Year greetings, the Presbyterian Minister or his wife.

Mordialloc from the Pier

New Year Greetings

Mordialloc Pier
The postcard is a photograph of Mordialloc from the pier. In January 1867, The Australasian reported - 
A meeting of market gardeners was held on Wednesday evening, at the Cheltenham Hotel, Cheltenham, for the purpose of receiving a report from the Market Committee appointed at a previous meeting to devise means for the establishment of the Emerald hill Market, and to take steps for the erection of a jetty at Mordialloc, and the removal of  the Metropolitan Manure Depot to the latter place. (1)

The value of a pier to Mordialloc was explained by The Age - 

The farmers and market gardeners about Brighton and Mordialloc, who are bestirring themselves to procure the erection of a pier somewhere near Picnic Point present a claim which deserves favorable consideration for more reasons than one. At present the farmers of the district cart their produce a distance of eleven miles or so to Melbourne, which is of course their chief market;  but in addition to their journey on market day, they have to send about three times a week for a supply of the manure which is indispensable to replenish the natural poverty of their soil. Of course these constantly recurring journeys to and fro involve an expenditure which would be vastly reduced if they had transport by water instead of by land. They say that if they had a pier, the saving in money value to the district in regard to manure alone would not be less than £18,000. Nor would the benefit be all on their side. Think of the material aid to the great sewage question which so perplexes the brains of our city Solons. Here is a way of getting rid of our night-soil, if you wish to got rid of it. (2)

Perhaps due to the pressure exerted by the farmers, in February 1867, £500 was assigned to the Mordialloc Pier in the Government Estimates.  However nothing came of this, and thus in November 1868, it was reported that -

 A deputation from the residents of Mordialloc were introduced, Wednesday, to Mr Jones by Mr Crews, M.L.A. They asked that a sum of £1000, promised by Mr Vale for the erection of a jetty, should be appropriated for that purpose with as little delay as possible. (3)  Mr Jones was the Minister of Roads and Railways and Commissioner of Public Works. 

The jetty was built around 1870. However by 1873 a deputation from the Moorabbin Council met with the Public Works Commissioner in regard to elongation of the Mordialloc Pier, as the pier at present was useless, on account of there not being sufficient depth of water to allow vessels to come along side. (4). It doesn't appear that it was lengthened at this time, as 16 years later, in 1889, another deputation of Mordialloc residents to the Commissioner of Customs requested that the pier be extended (5).  However well before then, the railway line to Frankston had opened in stages -  Caulfield to Mordialloc in December 1881 and Mordialloc to Frankston in August 1882, and so providing the farmers an alternate transportation mode. (6)  The pier was thus then a pleasant location for promenading and fishing, as illustrated on our postcard.

Mrs Ernest Cooke and the Manse Residents

The Electoral Rolls around this time - 1912 -  list Edwin Henry Cooke, his wife Emily Sarah Annie Cooke and his sister Annie Cooke at the address on the postcard, Princes Avenue, East Caulfield; their exact address was Rudland, 10 Princes Avenue (they were also there in the 1903 Electoral roll).  Edwin had a brother Ernest William, who along with his wife Mary Catherine - the Mrs Ernest Cooke from the postcard - were listed at Dandenong Road, East Caulfield, however their two daughters were born at residences in Princes Street in 1900 and 1903 and by 1915 they were living at 7 Princes Avenue. (7)

I looked at newspaper articles on Trove to find out who was the Presbyterian Minister at Mordialloc was at the time and found that the Reverend Hugh Jones was appointed to Mordialloc in June 1908 and preached his final service there in March 1916, when he then moved to the Ormond Presbyterian Church. (8) I felt that it must have been the Reverend Jones, or Mrs Jones, who wrote the postcard and  when I looked at the will of  Edwin Cooke (9) and I found that his executors were his brother, Ernest, and his brother-in-law, the Reverend Hugh Jones, and so it all fell into place.

Mrs Ernest Cooke (nee Mary Powell)

Edwin and Ernest were the sons of Henry Cooke and Amelia Annie Job Ham.  As listed in Edwin's will there were two other sons -  Arthur James Cooke and Charles Wilkinson Cooke  and five daughters  - Annie Amelia Cooke, Florence Maude Mary McNaught, Edith Isabella Jones (the wife of the Reverend Hugh Jones), Hattie Winifred Cole and Olive Theodora Sloggatt. (10)

Their father, Henry Cooke, along with his brother John had founded The Age newspaper in 1854; they relinquished ownership after a few years and Henry returned to his previous occupation of a merchant, and he was also a City of Melbourne Councillor. (11)  He married  Annie Amelia Ham on August 5, 1851 in Sydney. Amelia was the daughter of the first Baptist Minister in Melbourne, the Reverend John Ham.  The Minister and his family had arrived in Melbourne in 1842 and he firstly conducted services at the Athenaeum and then at the first  Baptist Church in Collins Street  which was erected in 1845.  His three sons, Thomas, Theophilus and Jabez, were lithographers and the publishers of the Illustrated Australian Magazine from 1850.  Thomas and another brother, Cornelius, later founded the firm of  C.J. & T. Ham,  Auctioneers and Estate Agents.  Cornelius was also a City of Melbourne Councillor, the Lord Mayor and a member of the Legislative Council, amongst other public roles. (12)   

Illustrated Australian Magazine promotion, c. July 1850  published by the Ham Brothers, the uncles of Ernest, Edwin and Edith Cooke.

State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/243327

Ernest William Cooke was an accountant and he married Mary Catherine Powell in October 1896 and their wedding was reported in The Australasian - 

The wedding of Mr. Ernest William Cooke, fourth son of the late Mr. Henry Cooke, and Mrs. Amelia Cooke, Egglestone, Oakleigh, and Miss Mary Catherine (Kate) Powell, eldest daughter of the late

Mr. Levi Powell and Mrs. C. Powell, of Rugeley-road, Oakleigh, was celebrated very quietly at the residence of the bride's mother on Wednesday, October 7. The drawing room was filled with masses of white flowers. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. George Lloyd, the bride's cousin. Miss Powell was married in her travelling dress, a tailor-made gown of grey flecked tweed, the revers edged with passementerie. The coat opened over a vest of ivory silk. Her large hat was of white chip, with choux of chiffon and clusters of white plumes. She carried one of Cheeseman's shower bouquets of lilies of the valley, roses, azaleas, and asparagus fern. The bride was given away by her cousin, Mr. John Williams, and was attended by Miss Elizabeth Powell, her sister. Mr. E. H. Cooke, the bridegroom's brother, acted as best man. Wedding tea was served in the dining room. Only immediate relatives were present. The young couple will spend a short honeymoon at the seaside. (13) The report continues with a list of the guests, including the Reverend and Mrs Hugh Jones, and the wedding presents. 

Mary was the eldest child of Levi Powell and Annie Price, who had married at the Wesley Church in Melbourne on February 16, 1860;  they had seven children between 1861 and 1877. (14)  Levi Powell was an Architect and he died on March 17 1885 - the Ovens and Murray Advertiser had this obituary -

The death is announced of Mr Levi Powell, architect, which took place at his residence, Carlton,

on the 17th inst., at the age of 63 years. The deceased gentleman will be remembered by old residents of Beechworth, where he resided some thirty years ago, and superintended the erection of the local Wesleyan Church, and other buildings. He shortly afterwards removed to the metropolis, and the "Herald," in noticing his demise, remarks: - Mr Powell, who was of a genial disposition, was well known among the builders and architects of Melbourne, and his death is much regretted. He had been professionally connected with a number of our largest institutions. (15) 

Ernest and Mary had two daughters - Elsie Winifred born in December 1900 and Mary Constance in April 1903. Ernest died aged 63 on September 1, 1924 at the age of 63. Mary, Mrs Ernest Cooke, the recipient of the postcard, died on December 13, 1937, aged 77.  They are buried at the Brighton Cemetery with their two daughters, neither of whom married, and both of whom lived to a good age - Elsie died in August 1987 aged 86 and Mary three months later in November 1987 aged 84.  Elsie and Mary are listed in the Electoral rolls  at 7 Princes Avenue until the late 1960s. Princes Avenue has now been devoured by the Monash University Caulfield Campus and none of the original houses remain. (16)

Princes Avenue, Caulfield East, June 4 1951. Photographer: Airspy. 

Caulfield Technical School (now part of Monash University) is the prominent building in the centre with the sports grounds. It is located in a triangle bounded by Sir John Monash Drive to the right, Dandenong Road (Princes Highway) to the left and Queens Avenue to at the bottom. Caulfield Railway Station is bottom left. 

Princes Avenue, which consists of only 14 houses,  is the dog-leg street running from Railway Avenue to Queens Avenue. 

State Library of Victoria image H2010.91/371  http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/4223329

Ernest's brother Edwin and his wife Emily (nee Kernot) were, as we saw before, also residents of Princes Avenue.  Edwin was a partner in the firm C.J. & T. Ham, the firm started by his mother's brothers. Edwin and Emily did not have children and Ernest died November 26, 1927 and Emily on January 28, 1943; they are buried at the Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery. (17)  Emily's short obituary noted that -

As hon. treasurer of the Carlton Home, Carlton, for 40 years, and a sympathetic worker in several church and charitable activities, Mrs. Cooke devoted her long life, with untiring devotion, and won a wide circle of friends by her gentle character. (18)

Before we leave the Cooke family - Emily Cooke (or Mrs Edwin Cooke as she would have been known) was the daughter of  Charles and Mary (nee Archer) Kernot. Charles Kernot was a member of the Legislative Assembly on and off between 1868 and 1880. Her brother, William Charles Kernot was the foundation professor of engineering at the University of Melbourne; another brother Wilfred was also an engineer and eventually held the same role as professor of engineering that his brother had. A third brother Maurice was was engineer-in-chief of the Victorian Railways from 1907 to 1923 and her sister, Lillie, was married to Calder Edkins Oliver, engineer-in chief of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works. (19)  

Mordialloc Presbyterian Church, c. 1930

Image courtesy Mordialloc & District Historical Society

The Reverend Hugh Jones and Mrs Edith Jones (nee Cooke)

So now we know who Mrs Ernest Cooke was, we will look at the sender of the postcard, either the Reverend Hugh Jones or his wife Edith Isabella, and I suspect it was Edith, writing to to her sister-in-law, Mary Cooke. Edith and Hugh had married on June 11, 1896 at the Oakleigh Congregational Church; this was four months before the marriage of Edith's brother Ernest to Mary Powell.  The Australasian  reported on the wedding - 

The marriage of the Rev. Hugh Jones, M.A., Wharf-street Congregational Church, Brisbane, eldest son of the late Mr. Thomas Jones, Williamstown, and Edith Isabella Cooke, third daughter of the late Mr. Henry Cooke, Melbourne, and Mrs. Henry Cooke, Egglestone, Dandenong-road, Oakleigh, took place at the Congregational Church, Oakleigh, on Thursday, 11th June. The decorations consisted of floral arches, flower initials, and wedding bell. The Rev. Professor Gosman, assisted by the Rev. Geo. Chapman, performed the ceremony. Mrs. Powell, organist, played a festival march on the entrance of the bride, and the "Wedding March" as the party left the church. The bride, who was given away by Mr. Edwin H. Cooke, the bride's eldest brother, wore white surah silk with square train, chiffon, lace, and pearl trimmings; wreath of orange blossom and tulle veil; shower bouquet of white flowers, and diamond and opal brooch (gift from the bridegroom). The bridesmaids were Miss Hattie Winifred Cooke and Miss Olive Theodora Cooke (sisters of the bride), and Miss Emily Jones (sister of the bridegroom). They were in cream and buttercup silk, chip hats with buttercup crowns and chiffon, shower bouquets of golden flowers; gold-bar brooches, with star and crescent of pearls (gifts of the bride groom). The best man was the Rev. J. J. Hewitt. After the ceremony a reception was held at Egglestone, and about 120 sat down to breakfast served in a marquee. The toast of the bride and bridegroom was given by the Rev. Professor Gosman. The travelling dress was of dark brown fancy cloth trimmed with shot silk and passementerie, velvet cape, Thibet fur and toque to match. (20)

The report continues with a list of the guests and the wedding presents. 

Edith and Hugh had three daughters - Edith Gwendolen (born 1897), Mary Enid (1902) and Lorna Doreen (1909). The first two girls were born in Queensland and the third girl, whilst they were at Mordialloc. (21).  Hugh, who was born in Williamstown, Victoria had trained at the Victorian Congregational College, Melbourne University and Ormond Theological College. After some time in Germany to learn the language, he was appointed to the Oakleigh Congregational Church, no doubt where he met Edith. In April 1895, he was appointed to the Wharf-street Congregational Church in Brisbane, where Edith joined him after their marriage. In April 1903 he retired from the Brisbane Church to return to Victoria. As the Brisbane Telegraph reported -  This important step has been rendered necessary by the fact that Mr. Jones's general health has given his family and his most intimate friends some anxiety, for since a partial breakdown of about two years ago, his health has never fully re-established itself. (22)

We then find that in October 1903, the Reverend Jones defected/left the Congregational Church and becomes a Minister of the Presbyterian Church (23). It would be interesting to know the reason - was his partial breakdown caused by a spiritual crisis? In May 1904, Hugh was appointed to the Wallan Presbyterian Church and from there he moved to Mordialloc, where his induction was held on June 4, 1908. (24)  As is the life of a Minister's wife, Edith would have packed up the house and the girls and moved with her husband to the new Manse, which of course had the advantage of being much closer to her family members, including her mother, Amelia Cooke, who died the next year on October 6, 1909.  Henry Cooke, Edith's father, had died March 18, 1899 (25).  

The Mordialloc Presbyterian Church, St Andrews, is in McDonald Street, on the corner of Barkly Street. It was designed by Reed, Henderson and Smart and officially opened in January 1889. (26) There is some mystery as to where the Manse was at the time the postcard was written; Hugh and Edith Jones are listed in the Electoral Roll in McDonald Street; his successor Reverend John Frederick Heyhoe Sims, has an Ashmore Avenue address. It would appear that these two properties may have been rented as in March 1924 The Age reported that -

Mordialloc Presbyterian Church - At the annual Congregational meeting authority was given for the erection of a brick manse, and for the preparation of plans and specifications of a new kindergarten room, the need for which is being increasingly felt. (27)

Erection of Manse and Kindergarten Hall

The Age, March 1, 1924 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204093852

This new Manse was behind the Church and facing Barkly Street, between the new Kindergarten Hall and Mordialloc State School, No. 846 (now known as Mordialloc Beach Primary),  as you can see in the image below. I presume the Manse was erected 1924 or 1925 and it was certainly there when the next Minister, the Reverend Nasib Jaboor arrived. He was inducted on May 23, 1928, and his address in the Electoral Rolls was The Manse, 58 Barkly Street, Mordialloc.  The Manse is no longer stands and the land is now part of the adjoining School. As noted in Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria -  in 1967, the purchase of the site of the neighbouring Presbyterian Manse helped relieve the crowded playground.  (28)

Mordialloc Presbyterian Church and Manse, c. 1929

Mordialloc Presbyterian Church facing McDonald Street; adjoining the Church and facing Barkly Street are a Kindergarten Hall and another Hall or Sunday School building. The Manse is on the next block of land, immediately to the right of the School, Mordialloc State School, No. 846 (now known as Mordailloc Beach Primary). 

Image courtesy Mordialloc & District Historical Society

Reverend Jones preached his farewell service at Mordialloc on March 26, 1916  and then moved to the Ormond Presbyterian Church, and he was there until he retired in 1934, when he was 70 years old. (29).  Well, he partially retired as he when he died on October 16, 1935 in Adelaide, a short obituary in the Williamstown Chronicle noted that he was the minister at the Ulney Presbyterian Church, a suburb of Adelaide. He was buried at the Magill Cemetery also in Adelaide.  Edith returned to Melbourne and she died in Boronia on March 7, 1942 age 70. She was buried at Springvale Cemetery. (30) 

Hugh and Edith had three daughters, as we mentioned - Edith Gwendolen, known as Gwen, married Alfred Frank Gerald Garrett in 1927, she died in Sydney in July 1948 and her death notice lists three sons, David, Gerald and Michael. Mary Enid, known as Enid, married a Mr Price, and she died in 1982 in Melbourne; she had two daughters, Judith and Gillian, but I have no further details of her husband. (31)  

The youngest daughter, Lorna Doreen, attended Presbyterian Ladies College and became a Doctor. She worked in Brisbane and then from June 1939 until December 1953 she practiced at Boronia. Her sister, Enid, lived with her for a number of years. The Mountain District Free Press reported on her farewell function -

Never before in the history of district has anyone been given a more spontaneous and sincere farewell, than Dr. Jones, who has endeared herself to man, woman and child alike, in her fourteen years of unstinted service to the community. On her arrival at the hall, Dr. Jones was escorted to the beautifully decorated stage by Mrs Allan Chandler, as the audience of many hundreds sang, "The more we are together." Dr. Jones and her sister, Mrs Price, were then welcomed by Mrs Chandler and presented with charming bouquets. The evening then took the form of a concert, with a splendidly balanced program from local artists..... Lorna died On October 15, 1963, aged only 54. (32)

Dr Lorna Jones, c. 1947

Image: Boronia “The good old days” Facebook page   https://www.facebook.com/groups/759569961240851/posts/1830718844125952/

This, then, is the story of the postcard sent from The Manse at Mordialloc, then occupied by the Reverend Hugh Jones, his wife Edith (nee Cooke) and their three daughters Gwen, Enid and Lorna. It was sent to Edith's sister-in-law, Mary Cooke, the wife of Ernest and the mother of Elsie and Mary, who all lived at No. 7 Princes Avenue, Caulfield East. 

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to Mordialloc and District Historical Society members Peter Ratcliff, Wayne Imlach and Paula McCarthy, who provided me with photographs from their collection and information as to the location of the Mordialloc Manse. It was Wayne who identified the Manse building on the c. 1929 aerial photograph, which I have used here, and also modern photos of the location.  Thank you!

Footnotes

(1) The Australasian, January 12, 1867, see here.

(2) The Age, June 25, 1869, see here.

(3) The Argus, February 7, 1867, see here; The Leader, November 7, 1868, see here; The Hon. C.E. Jones - Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers, August 8, 1868, see here.  

(4) The Argus, June 1, 1870, see here; The Herald, June 30, 1873, see here.

(5) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, June 26, 1889, see here.

(6) Harrigan, Leo. J. Victorian Railways to '62 (Victorian Railways, 1962)

(7) Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com; Sands & McDougall's Melbourne, suburban and country directory - available at the State Library of Victoria; various family notices in newspapers on Trove.

(8) Reverend Hugh Jones - The Argus, May 6, 1908, see here; Mornington Standard, June 13, 1908, see here; Moorabbin News, March 18, 1916, see here; Cheltenham Seaside News, April 22, 1916, see here.

(9) Edwin Cooke's Will and Probate papers at the Public Records Office of Victoria  https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/CE2BBC2A-F567-11E9-AE98-9B0037504020?image=1

(10) Ibid.

(11) Henry Cooke - https://emhs.org.au/history/people/cooke_henry_1818%E2%80%931889

(12) Cooke/Ham marriage - Sydney Morning Herald, August 6, 1851, see here; Punch, May 23, 1907, see here; Australian Dictionary of Biography - https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ham-theophilus-job-3904 and Obituaries Australia - https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/ham-theophilus-job-3904

(13) The Australasian, October 17, 1896, see here.

(14) The Argus, February 17, 1860, see here; Indexes to the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages. 

(15) The Ovens and Murray Advertiser, March 19, 1885, see here.

(16) Elsie birth  - The Australasian, December 22, 1900 see here; Mary birth  - The Argus, April 20, 1903, see here; Ernest death - The Age, September 2, 1924, see here; Mary death - The Age, December 14, 1937, see here. Brighton Cemetorians database - https://www.brightoncemetorians.org.au/

(17) Edwin - The Age, November 28, 1927 see here; Obituary - The Age, November 28, 1927, see here; The Age, January 30, 1943, see here; Friends of Cheltenham & Regional Cemeteries database  https://www.focrc.org/

(18) The Age, February 3, 1943, see here.

(19) Australian Dictionary of Biography - https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kernot-charles-3948 ;   https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kernot-wilfred-noyce-6937 ; https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kernot-william-charles-556; William Charles Kernot obituary - Bendigo Advertiser, March 16, 1909, see here.

(20) The Australasian, June 20 1896, see here.

(21) Indexes to the Victorian and Queensland Births, Death and Marriages.

(22) Brisbane Courier, April 6, 1895, see here; Brisbane Telegraph, March 6, 1903, see here.

(23) Williamstown Chronicle, October 17, 1903, see here.

(24) Williamstown Chronicle, May 7 1904, see here and Footnote 8.

(25) The Argus, October 8, 1909, see here; The Herald, March 19, 1889, see here. 

(26) The Argus, January 16, 1888, see here; Caulfield and Elsternwick Leader, January 12, 1889, see here. 

(27) Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com; Sands & McDougall's Melbourne, suburban and country directory - available at the State Library of Victoria; The Age, March 1, 1924, see here.

(28)  Induction of the Reverend Sims - Moorabbin News June 3, 1916, see here;  Reverend Sims had left Mordialloc by February 1927 - The Age, February 12, 1927, see here; Induction of the Reverend Jaboor, Dandenong Journal, June 21, 1928, see here. Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, May 30, 1966 - Registered Celebrants, see here; Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), v. 3, p. 310-311.

(29) Moorabbin News, March 18, 1916, see here;  The Herald, May 31, 1934, see here.

(30) Adelaide Advertiser, October 18, 1935, see here; Williamstown Chronicle, October 26, 1935, see here.  Edith - The Age, March 9, 1942, see here.

(31) Indexes to the Victorian Births, Death and Marriages; Gwen - death notice, The Age, July 21, 1948, see here. Lorna Jones' death notice, inserted by Enid Price, lists Enid's daughters as Judith Court and Gillian Price - The Age, October 16, 1963, p. 27 on Newspapers.com.

(32) Indexes to the Victorian Births, Death and Marriages, Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com;  The Age, February 6, 1926, see here; Brisbane Courier Mail, September 1, 1934, see here; Fern Tree Gully News, June 9, 1939, see here; Mountain District Free Press, December 31, 1953, see here; death notice - The Age, October 16, 1963, p. 27 on Newspapers.com.