I'm happy that Jan asked me about Tar Barrel Corner because if she hadn't I might have forgotten that I had ever started writing PENINSULA DICTIONARY HISTORY, which I haven't even touched since I wrote up the information given to me by Keith Holmes about a year ago. I was in top gear about Red Hill until, sick of note-making, I read a local history book for pleasure. Little did I know that Leila Shaw's book would lead to THE MYSTERIOUS HENRY GOMM, JOSEPH PORTA:BELLOWS MAN., TUERONG, THE FEMALE DROVER: A HISTORY OF MOOROODUC, DROMANA, ROSEBUD AND MILES AROUND ON TROVE, heritage evaluations regarding the Jones properties at Moorooduc and many houses in Rosebud (Ferrier, Boyd, Durham, Potton, Hindhope Villa etc), as well as my Family Tree Circle journals.
Before I was side tracked by "The Way We Were", I was intending to read Sheila Skidmore's history of Red Hill because I like to read every available history about a place to make sure that I'm not repeating information that is already available and accessible.
My information comes mainly from parish maps, rate books, "A Dreamtime of Dromana" and Keith Holmes.

Red Hill is in three different parishes: Kangerong (north of the west-east section of Arthurs Seat Rd); Wannaeue (west of Mornington-Flinders Rd to Main Creek Rd.) and Balnarring (bounded by Bulldog Ck Rd-Myers-Junction-Red Hill Rds and Balnarring Rd, with a western extension between Shoreham and Mornington Flinders Rd.)As in the case of Moorooduc, one must define what is meant by the term. The Wannaeue part of today's Red Hill (as marked in Melway) was commonly referred to as Main Creek, and parts now called Arthurs Seat and Dromana were regarded as being part of Red Hill.
Surveyors preferred to draw straight lines for roads, allotment boundaries and so on, regardless of the terrain. The best example of this was Burrell Rd, the west boundary of Dromana Township. You won't find it in Melway 159 C8 because it was supposed to be Latrobe Pde going straight down the cliff to the beach! Because of terrain,the course of many parts of roads has been changed from the original route. Station Rd was part of Red Hill Rd, Mechanics' Rd was part of Arthurs Seat Rd and Sheehans Rd was the original part of White Hill Rd until Wiseman's Deviation was built. (The last example explained to me by Thelma Littlejohn.)
Everyone knows about Trevor Chappell creating Kiwi hatred of Aussies by bowling the last ball of a one-day match underarm to make a Kiwi victory impossible. Many people would also know that Sam Loxton told the skipper, Greg Chappell, that he won the match but won no friends (or words to that effect) before storming out of the M.C.G.
Okay Mr Smartie pants itellya, what's that got to do with Red Hill?

LOXTON (Edited extract from present pages 100-101 of "Peninsula Dictionary History".)
Sam Loxton (who recently died on 3-12-2011) was interviewed for an article about the famous underarm bowl incident on the last ball of a one-day international against New Zealand in 1981 (Sunday Herald Sun 30-1-2011.) Sam hadn't known how to respond to Greg Chappell's instruction to his brother, Trevor, to bowl such a (literally) low ball so he took Billy Sneddon's advice (as described above.) The article went on to say that, after delivering this spray to Greg, Sam left the ground and drove back to Red Hill where he lived.

S.L.Loxton became the owner of crown allotment 20B, no section, parish of Kangerong on 16-11-1939. Consisting of just over 106 acres, this block (indicated by Melway 161 B-C 10) was accessed via Bowrings Rd off McIlroy's Rd. S.L.Loxton, who was almost certainly Sam's father and known to Thelma Littlejohn's family as Sam, was a member of the committee of the Prahran Cricket Club from 1941 until his death in 1974. Sam Senior was an electrician but in 1956 he became the FIRST PRINCIPAL of the Melbourne Royal Arch. I presume that that would make him a Grand Master of a lodge, and this introduces another cricketing connection, as the first to occupy this position (in 1884) was the venerated Sir William John Clarke at whose "Rupertswood" at Sunbury the "Ashes" were created. There is also a Red Hill connection in that Sir William owned the Survey (Safety Beach to Bulldog Creek Rd) where many pioneers near Red Hill had made their start in the area (Henry Dunn, 1846-51, followed by the McLears, Watsons, Eatons, Clydesdales and so on.)

I will not provide details of Sam's sporting exploits here because they are available on wikipedia.

RATEBOOK INFORMATION.
The following pioneers were described as being at Red Hill in the 1864 assessments for Kangerong. I have only mentioned the house of R.C.Young because it was bigger than the usual hut or 2 roomed house that most pioneers dwelt in.
Thomas McRavey 60 acres with 32 cultivated, Francis Windsor (obviously a widow or spinster) 153 acres 3 cultivated, James Wiseman shop (blacksmith's forge?) 106 acres 1 cult., Robert Coxon Young 5 room house 121 acres 7 cult., Charles Brown 20 acres, William (Dory?) (154?) acres, Holmes 140 acres. John Arkwell 144 acres seems to have been first assessed on 2-9-1865 and the mysterious Holmes (Holmes and Co. on the parish map) was shown to be John Holmes who was a joint occupier of 140 acres with Laurence Weadson in the assessment of 7-9-1867. The assessment of 5-9-1868 revealed that Charles Brown had become insolvent.

Flinders Road Board ratepayers in the Balnarring (division/parish) before the merger with Kangerong were as follow in 1869. Many, such as Henry Tuck, Smith Ellis and William Bayne, were near Westernport rather than Red Hill but were well known to Hillmen such as Hec.Hanson (Memoirs of a Larrikin.) My use of the footy team's nickname reminds me that William Hillas was consistently referred to by Colin McLear as Hill Hillas; I presume that Hill was his nickname.
James Byrne 134 acres, Martin Byrne 129, Thomas Bullock 59, Hamilton Allen 115, George Wilson 32, Edward Grey 53, William Bayne 2256 (most apparently leased by James R. Thompson), William Hopcraft 89, Alfred Head 130, James Pitcher 140, Hill Hillas 50, Robert Wighton 243, Alex Wighton 319, James McConnell 135, John Baldry 145, James Davey 249, Smith Ellis 183, Henry Tuck (Mantons Creek) 970, Michael Byrne 151, Charles Graves (probably near Shoreham) 382, John Richard and John senior Barker 3481 (Barkers Rd near Main Ridge), Robert Anderson (leasing Barragunda at Cape Schanck?, which is in Fingal parish, from Howitt) 1967, Hector Munro 101, Robert H.Holding 140.
Pioneers not listed above seem to have been first assessed as follows.
8-6-1871. James McKeone (McKeown) 165 acres, John Hindmarsh, grantee on 14-5-1871 of 83 B1, Balnarring, fronting the south side of Stanley Rd near Tonkins Rd(leasing from Attenborough) 65, Christopher Laurissen (ancestor of Dromana Historical Society's Bev. Laurissen) 137 and 169 leased from Duff, George Sherwood 128, Edward Stanley 160, 5 roomed house. 11-5-1872.William Kemp.

The 1875 Flinders and Kangerong Shire rate record reveals these pioneers who have not been mentioned previously. James, William and Henry James Gibson 170 acres Bittern, 170 Balnarring, 20 acres and tannery Balnarring, Henry Ault (Prominent Methodist) leasing Pitcher's 140 acres, Henry Blakely (saw maker who has bought Holding's 140 acres), Richard, P.,and John Francis Counsel (various parcels including a grant east of Loxton's and now owning Gracefield {Melway 159 H 9-12}whose vines they had tended for William Grace), Charles Cleine 52, James Clydesdale 50 (between Dromana boundary and Gibb Rd), Charles Golding, cordial manufacturer? 130, Francis Hirst (Hurst?) leasing 60 acres at Red Hill from Bryan Ringrose, John Moore 16 Red Hill, Mitchell 40 Red Hill, James Wiseman, blacksmith, 5 roomed house and 106 ac. Red Hill, Henry Prosser, fisherman, 284 acres leased from the Crown at Bittern (Henry was a storekeeper who owned two allotments at Portsmouth, Bittern by 1887-8 and there is a link between the Prosser, Sawyer, Gibson and Renouf families which I have covered in great detail in "The Female Drover: A History of Moorooduc" if anyone would like the information), George and Job. Sherwood, nurserymen, 128 acres Balnarring, Bryan Tonkin 418 acres Bittern and Balnarring.

1887-8. Helen Bayne, spinster and possibly sister of James and John who also owned land, had 148 acres in Balnarring. The rate collector assessed Edmund and Michael Callaghan on 1860 acres south of CALLANANS RD which had been granted to the Buchanans. As Michael was a surveyor, one would expect council officers to know how to spell his name! The rate collector had similar trouble with the Firths of Moorooduc who had bought land near Balnarring Rd, rendering their surname as Frith! William Shand had his steam saw mill operating on Main Creek and created what is now Roberts Rd hauling his timber to Red Hill according to Keith Holmes. John Arkwell was an orchardist on 144 acres where the Red Hill footballers now play.Hans Christian Hansen had arrived since the 1886-7 assessment and was probably living in William Hopcraft's "Alpine Chalet" with its drive flanked by fruit trees near the northern end of Tuck's Rd. William Hillas was leasing 213 acres from W.Higgins, probably near Whites Rd.John Hindmarsh was now a "Gentleman" and apparently living in Dromana. James McKeown had apparently sold his land (which was to pass into the ownership of the Sheehan and Holmes families) and was leasing 115 acres from a land investment company. The McIlroys now had 1057 acres but were as a Loxton to a Miller compared with the Downwards (2098 acres.) Alfred Sheehan had 219 acres in Balnarring and Robert Sheehan 215 acres in Kangerong.

ABOUT THE PIONEERS.
Let's see if I can tell you something about the people granted land near Red Hill.
*=written from memory. More detail can be supplied if requested in comments.
Balnarring parish.

AITKEN.This surname is associated with the early history of the area near Dromana. John Aitken had to carry his sheep ashore in 1836 when the ship carrying them across Bass Strait ran aground nearby.(The statement in an obituary for George Russell that the ship was stranded four miles from shore is a tad curious.) He probably rested the half of his flock that survived on Dalkeith (See APPLEYARD), where he held a run (Heritage Study)before heading north and establishing Mt Aitken west of Sunbury. Aitken is a common entry on Trove but is not linked there with Red Hill or Balnarring. It is possible that the grantee was W.Aitken of Essendon who won prizes with his sheep, circa 1898.His son was probably the Aitken who married Miss Dwyer (at Moonee Ponds?) and was living at "Kenyer Park", Moorooduc when they celebrated their Ruby Wedding in 1945. The name also appears in relation to sport in Frankston and Carrum. I doubt very much that the grantee belonged to the family that owned Aitken's Brewery in Melbourne circa 1905.
ALLAN.
ATTENBOROUGH.

BAYNE. (Mornington Standard 29-3-1913, page 2.) James Bayne, one of the oldest residents of the district, died at Dr Weld's private hospital at Dromana on March 16th.
BUCHANAN.
BULLOCK.
BYRNE.
DAVEY. See OTHER PIONEERS after Wannaeue grantees.
DOWNWARD.Much has been said about Alf in the GRANTEES NEAR RED HILL journal. There is much information about the family in books available for loan, such as "A Dreamtime of Dromana", "Lime Land Leisure" and the one about Tubbarubba. There is also a good ANECDOTAL PHOTOGRAPH of the Hon.A.Downward on page 6 of the Frankston and Somerville Standard of 1-10-1924.
DUFF.
FOOKS.
GIBSON.
GRAY (GREY?).
HAMILTON.
HEAD.
HINDMARSH.
HOLDING.
HOPCRAFT.
JOURNEAUX.
McCONNELL.
McKEOWN.

OSWIN. Balnarring's John Oswin's expertise regarding horses must have been widely known; he had been appointed a judge at the Shepparton Show.(Mornington Standard, 5-10-1907, page 2.)
PALMER.
PITCHER.
ROY.
SHERWOOD.
SIMPSON.
SMITH.
THOMPSON.

TONKIN. (MAITLAND MERCURY AND HUNTER RIVER GENERAL ADVERTISER, 18-10-1881, page 2, Stock Movements.) Captain B.Tonkin and sons were shorthorn breeders on Tolcarne, Balnarring and seemed to be associated with the Teesdales of Western Park, Westernport and Gisborne with dealings regarding breeding stock.The property was given as Tolarne on page 7 of the Argus of 1-9-1884 where the names of the expensive shorthorns they sold (and the buyers) are listed.

WIGHTON.
WILSON.

Kangerong parish.
APPLEYARD. The death of Mr Appleyard at Red Hill was reported under the heading of SORRENTO on page 10 of the Argus of 30-9-1927. The correspondent reported that he was an old resident of Sorrento and that he and his late wife had conducted a drapery business there for many years.The Flinders ratebook of 1919-20 shows that Thomas Appleyard of Sorrento was assessed on 197 acres, part crown allotments 19 and 20, Kangerong. The 1910-11 records describe him as a draper of Sorrento and showed that he was assessed on 313 acres. In 1900 he'd been assessed on 546 acres.

Strangely, it would seem, Appleyard was not mentioned in Colin McLear's "A Dreamtime of Dromana". But I think I know why. He would have been as popular around the locality as the local who bid against the Griffith family for their historic homestead block when the Clarkes' share of the survey was sold in 1907. I found reference to a letter he wrote to council in August 1898 stating that he had opened up the road at his property and asking for it to be repaired. I thought it strange that the council decided to take no action and wondered what opening up the road meant. Then I found that the draper had (probably in February) fenced off the road, which led to a water reserve and had ordered off anyone trying to use the road. No wonder the shire treated his request with disdain!

The parish map is hard to read but part of his land may have been issued in 1889. I've also noticed that he had land between Dromana Secondary College and the junction of Harrisons and White Hill Rds. Counting this land, his grants totalled 429 acres. It is almost certain that Thomas had blocked the top of Harrisons Rd and deprived Red Hill residents of access to the water reserve which was probably on the east side of Harrisons Rd where a creek crossed into Moat's grant.

It is certain that Thomas was on that land by 4-5-1892 when the Argus reported on page 3 that George Howat had sold 493 merino wethers for T.Appleyard of Dromana. William John Brady of Mount Evergreen took him to court in 1896 on a charge of sheep stealing but Brady's barrister was not available and the case was adjourned. Appleyard researchers can chase that one up; this is supposed to be a couple of sentences, not a book!It is possible that Appleyard was leasing W.A.Blair's or Hearn's land near Mt Evergreen at the time.

Where had he been previously? Welshpool, Sorrento, Richmond, Fitzroy? I think he might have been at Melway 151 B8. George Howat sold 10 bullocks for Simmons and T.Appleyard of "Dalkeith Park" (Argus 9-3-1882 page 10) and a later sale in the 1880's shows that Howat sold 3000 merino wethers for Alf Downward of Mornington and 1000 for Thomas Appleyard of Dalkeith Park. The latter sale makes it likely that I'm talking about the correct Dalkeith. As these were the only sales conducted by Howat on that day, it is likely that both consignments had been taken to Nelbourne together. I can't remember whether Watson had bought Hearn's grants at that stage but Dalkeith seemed to be chiefly occupied by lessees, such as Alfred Head before Vale bought it later on circa 1890.(Vale's daughter became Mrs Jackson; hence Jackson's Hill at the start of the Mornington turn off. Appleyard was not the only one to move from Moorooduc parish to Kangerong to acquire a freehold, the Counsel boys did too.

Other trove articles lead me to believe that the late wife of Thomas was Eliza and that Lily was managing the drapery business.It seems obvious that Thomas was a grazier rather than an orchardist as one of his distant ancestors seems to have been.
ARKWELL.
CALDER.
CLYDESDALE. If any Clydesdale researchers request it (in comments), I will present the two page Clydesdale entry from my Peninsula Dictionary History that combines information from ratebooks,"A Dreamtime of Dromana", "Pine Trees and Box Thorns" etc with great genealogical and biographical information from . William James Clydesdale seems to have been known as James, so-called in Colin's book and rate records. He married Julia Cahill who bore 14 children. The Clydesdales were related by marriage to the Dyson, Davis and Cleine families. The birth of Martha was registered at Mt Martha! Like the Peateys, they started on the Survey, obtained grants east of Moat's Corner and worked at Bernard Eaton's gold mine at Tubbarubba.
COUNSEL.
DAVEY.See OTHER PIONEERS after Wannaeue pioneers.
DAVIES.
DOWNWARD.See under Balnarring grantees above. In 1900, Alf had 1100 acres in the parish of Kangerong but I have not recorded whether it was leased or owned, or its location, most likely because the rate collector gave no details. It is likely that much of this land was adjoining the parish of Balnarring at the Bulldog Creek Rd end of the Survey and was leased until the Clarke estate was sold in 1907. I have the subdivision map and details of purchasers (with the Downwards buying many lots) and a journal about the Survey and Safety Beach may be written in the future.
DUNN.
EATON.*Colin McLear states that Abraham Griffith was a Quaker from Philadelphia and master of a whaler who settled on the Survey in 1855 and farmed with the Eaton brothers. His wife's name was Rebecca and somewhere(Lime Land Leisure?)my suspicion that she was an Eaton was confirmed.Rebecca was the executrix of Watson Eaton and the grant for the 150 acre grant which he had selected before his death in 1877 (west of the Red Hill end of Eatons Cutting Rd)was issued in Rebecca's name.I will not repeat the information in "A Dreamtime of Dromana" unless the book cannot be borrowed by Eaton researchers and a request for it appears in comments. In 1865, Watson Eaton was leasing 210 acres of the Survey from Big Clarke. Who, and where, was his brother? He was probably a "Race Owner" at the goldfields, certainly in some year that I can't recall, at Creswick.
For the information of those unfamiliar with Victoria's gold mining areas, a race was a channel that carried water from a dam to where other material needed to be washed away (in a cradle etc), leaving the heavier gold, like large-scale panning. At Blackwood, surveys for races were done by a woman and the Byers back track follows an old race to O'Brien's Crossing.
Colin didn't know the name of Watson's brother, so naturally it did not appear in LIME LAND LEISURE (a copy of Colin's notes!) I did bother to find out. He was back in Dromana by 1888 as revealed by the trades directory: BernardEaton, gold miner, Dromana.The mine was of course at Tubbarubba and his former neighbours, now east of Moat's Corner, were working for him.
The Eaton legend, as revealed to Colin by Maude Eaton or perhaps his own family, has it that Watson had undertaken part of a medical degree before leaving America, but at an inquest he stated under oath that he had never been to university or received medical training. The memorial, now in the Dromana museum, shows that the lack of a piece of paper did not affect his expertise or his patients' appreciation. There may have been a third brother who came out and became a librarian in Melbourne. Benjamin Eaton,librarian, who appeared to be paying the rates of Maude (a spinster), may have been that brother's son.

FRITSCH.
GOULDING.
GRIFFITH.
HARRISON.
HOLMES & WEADSON (WADESSON?)Somewhere in rate records not transcribed, while researching another pioneer, I must have seen something that left me with a suspicion that J.Holmes,grantee of 208 acres at Melway 191 E3, (with Vines of Red Hill at its s.w. corner and adjoining the Kangerong Nature Conservation Reserve), was a Sorrento resident. Trove indicates that he was probably J.T.Holmes, the prime mover in an attempt to get a fish company going there and prominent in the move to get a railway to Sorrento. It is possible that his wife was Susannah whose handbag was lost on an "omnibus" in Melbourne and that William Holmes of Sorrento was his brother. There is not one mention of Laurence Weadson on trove. Perhaps he was a silent partner in the old country such as Amos was with Alex Cairns at Boneo.
KEMP.
LOXTON.
MATHESON.
McILROY.
MILNER.
MOAT.
PEATEY. Rosalind Peatey's "Pine Trees and Box Thorns" is not available for loan but if a request appears in comments, I can present much of its detail. * In short the family started on the Survey and obtained a grant of about 50 acres and then another adjacent one at the east corner of Harrisons Rd, extending east halfway to Gibb Rd. This land proved too wet for farming (probably meaning hay growing) so in 1878 they borrowed money from Nelson Rudduck of Dromana to buy 2 acres (south corner of Jetty Rd and McDowell St) on Woolcott's subdivision of Crown Allotment 17, Wannaeue. After repaying the loan in 10 years, George and Susan moved onto the block and made a living by supplying eggs, milk, vegetables and poultry. Later their son bought a Rosebud Fishing Village block where the car park at the end of Murray Anderson Rd is now located and the drain that was renewed last year was known as Peatey's Creek. He also had a huge fishing boat which was used to effect many rescuesin foul weather. He and one of the Wongs (market gardeners at Chinamans Ck at West Rosebud) perpetrated an elaborate hoax, of which Rosalind was apparently unaware. I forget at the moment who told me about the hoax. Rosalind stated that the son (her father?, William?) was cross eyed so the market gardener made a mask with slits in the spots where his eyes should have been centred.A Peatey, probably the same son, was granted 200 acres across Elizabeth Dr from the Rosebud Public Golf Course on 3-9-1930 but due to a disability was unable to farm it; he probably sold it to L.E.P.Moran, of Moran and Cato, who built the house that is now the Carrington Club clubhouse.
RINGROSE.
WINDSOR.
WISEMAN.
YOUNG.

Wannaeue parish.
BRADY.
CAIN.
DAVEY.See OTHER PIONEERS after Wannaeue grantees.
GRIFFITH.
HARDS.
HOPCRAFT.
JAMES.
JOHNSTONE.
SHAND.

OTHER PIONEERS.
DAVEY. The first time I saw this name in ratebooks, I wondered if there was any connection with the Frankston pioneers. Tonight I have examined this possibility. Many websites about Frankston provide identical information about James Davey having a run south of Olivers Hill along the Daveys Bay coast and old man Davey (named as William on one site) building a house on Olivers Hill. Strangely I seem to be the first person to wonder if the two were related.They were, as shown by the Kessell family tree re the pedigree of Davey, Frankston Mornington. William, because of whom Olivers Hill was first named Old man Davey's Hill, was born in 1795 in Cornwall and was buried in lovely Frankston in 1880.(His father James, was buried in an obviously less lovely place called Mousehole, Cornwall!)
His son James, born in 1820, who married before leaving Cornwall, died on 13-7-1884 at Frankston. It might have been his grand daughters, Ethel 16 or Elsie 6, and Fanny 6, who were the Misses E. and F.Davey of Marysville, Frankston reported as having collected money for the destitute Connells of Red Hill. The really interesting thing is that the money was to be sent to Mr Davey of Forest Lodge, Red Hill. This was H.P.Davey who was the light and life of Red Hill for ten years before moving to St Kilda and working for Sands and McDougall in Melbourne.


GRAVES. Charles Graves was one of the tenants on Jamieson's Special Survey (Safety Beach to Bulldog Creek Rd) after Henry Dunn's lease of the whole survey had ended in 1851. Mary Ann McLear was another tenant , calling her farm "The Willow". Graves became a hawker ( called Graves the tinker in George McLear's accounts book), buying merchandise in Melbourne and selling it all over the southern peninsula.George McLear often accompanied Charles and in about 1854 when they called on the Cairns family at Little Scotland (Melway 170 B10) one of the blonde boys was complaining, "Ae cunnae crruck a whee whup yet." In 1859, he bought Monahan's grant, directly over Pt Nepean Rd from the Dromana Drive-In and extending to Boundary Rd. After having it fenced by the Rhymers (after whom a street in Safety Beach is named), he sold it to Mary Ann McLear, his partner in the hawking business.Charles became a shopkeeper at Shoreham and somewhere in my transcriptions of rates, I have a note (completely unrelated to the information I was seeking) that Charles had about 200 acres in that area. There is much detail of the dates and prices re Charles buying and selling the property that became Maryfield in Colin McLear's "A Dreamtime Of Dromana". If anyone researching the Graves family cannot borrow the book,let me know in the comments space below, and I'll supply the details.


EG GRAVES HAWKER MCLEAR MARYFIELD/HEAD ON DALKEITH/ HILLAS & WESTERN DISTRICT LINKS, FARMS


TO BE CONTINUED!!