I would estimate that hundreds of people have helped me with my research. Some were referred to me for help, resulting in win-win situations. Some contacts, such as Judith Durham and Laurie Wilson (Bonnie William of Dundee) resulted from much digging but in the case of Bernard and Patricia Wright, it was just sheer luck.I taught at Gladstone Park with their daughter. She knew of my interest in local history and got her dad to write his memories of running the Inverness Hotel which was only a stone's throw north of the north end of the N-S runway at Melbourne Airport. The closed road that led from Bulla to Oaklands Junction is shown with a dotted line in Melway 177 F9 and G10. By tracing this to the south east and Oaklands Rd to the south until they intersect, you can find the location of the junction.

Here is Bernard Wright's story, from page I-L 5 -7 of DHOTAMA. I did not realise that I had missed the first portion of Bernard's story, which is in bold type, until I noticed that Ken Sier and the ride-in patron were not mentioned.

Some memories of THE INVERNESS HOTEL at Oaklands Junction.
The Inverness was a popular Saturday night spot because it had a fully enclosed Beer Garden, a band playing dance music of the times and there was strict policing of who was permitted to enter ensuring a pleasant trouble free night.

My knowledge of The Inverness runs from early 1962 until the end of 1964. The licensee before that time was a former Fitzroy footballer, named Ken Sier. He was so familiar with his customers he could tell from the sound of their footsteps who was coming.

Ken introduced me, as the new licensee, to numerous customers, among whom was Norm Oliver, a local transport operator who was also a keen horseman. Norm would often ride his horse to the hotel, sometimes even into the bar, to ensure he had a place to sit while having a drink.

The Inverness was often used by the Oaklands Hunt Club as the starting point for a hunt. Quite exciting to see the riders in their pink jackets, milling about, awaiting the call of the Master of the Hunt. Then the bugle called and the hounds bounded off after the scent.

The Inverness was situated on a bend of Bulla Road, notorious for accidents, because it was much sharper than it looked. This road has disappeared with the construction of Melbourne Airport, being replaced by Tullamarine Freeway and Sunbury Road to the north of the site of the old hotel.

In the late 1950's the hotel was purchased by the Commonwealth Government as part of the area that was to become Melbourne Airport. This meant that I leased the hotel at the Government's pleasure, until the end of 1964, when the licence was cancelled, and construction of Melbourne Airport began.

The hotel was a two storey building, the ground floor consisted of the main bar, saloon bar, dining room, kitchen, guests' lounge and guests' quarters, the upstairs being private residential.

The main bar was a large "L" shaped room which had a thick steel pole in the corner of the "L" reaching from the bar to the ceiling. This pole became known, during my time at the hotel, as "The Penny Pile" because it was suggested that any small change be placed around the pole and built up to the ceiling, the money to be donated to the the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal. This was so popular with our customers that it was followed up with with a suggestion that we organise a barrow push into the city on Good Friday to raise more money for the appeal.

A wheelbarrow was donated by KELSO and the manager of Balbethan Stud drove a utility car and horse float to carry the money donations as the barrow became too heavy to push, and to provide transport for the relief pushers.

As a further gesture of goodwill the hotel was open to prime the volunteers who were going to push the barrow and to quench their thirst when they returned after their efforts. In 1963 and 1964 The Inverness would have been the only hotel in Victoria that was open on Good Friday.

Water was always at a premium because we had only tanks for all our needs. If it didn't rain we had to buy water from a local carrier who might take two days to come and fill our tanks. Two days are a long time if you don't have water to wash.

In the cellar I installed a water tap and connections to the beer supply system so that at the close of business each night I could flush the pipes with water. One memorable day at lunchtime there was a degree of panic from the kitchen. The staff turned the taps on to wash the dishes and got beer instead of water. I had forgotten to turn off the water tap in the cellar when I connected the gas to the system. (The gas pressure in the beer barrels being greater than the water pressure in our overhead water tanks.)
Counter lunches were always very popular at The Inverness , especially among the pilots from Essendon Aerodrome. They loved the Scotch Fillet STeak and Fish in Beer Batter we used to put on, and one of the pilots, John Barnes, kept us regularly supplied with fresh King Island crayfish.

The genial gentleman befind the bar with the horseman was my father-in-law, Angus Grant, who was my partner in the business. He was formerly the licensee of the Echuca Hotel where I met him in 1956 through my future wife.

Our time at The Inverness was most memorable because our first two children were born while we were there.

We met many interesting people during our time there. Des Dumbrell who became President of the local shire was a regular customer as was the late Doug Elliot, media personality and politician.

Although close to the city, The Inverness had the ambience of a rustic hostelry, and for this reason it attracted many celebrities who wished only for a quiet drink away from the public view. Numbered among these were such people as the Police Commissioner and the State Coroner who each would arrive in chauffeur driven cars.

BACKGROUND NOTES.
The first thing I want to comment on is Bernard's masterful description of the prelude to a hunt; one word "milling" captured perfectly the atmosphere of impatient riders and mounts. I have read over a hundred reports on the Oakland Hunt and D.F.Cameron-Kennedy's excellent history of the club's 100 years but nobody has come close to such a vivid word picture.

KEN SIER. It is easy enough to find details about V.F.L. footballers on the internet but don't rely on one site. The wikipedia entry highlights his 41 goals from full forward in 1944 and 3 goals in the grand final. The A.F.L. stats site gives a breakdown of games and goals per season, jumper numbers, age in his first and last game, and so on. Full Points Footy gives a more personal picture, including a swap card. It describes him as excelling at both ends of the ground, which explains his low tally of goals except in 1944. It also explains his low tally of games and goals in 1942-3 when he did military service and probably only played when he had leave.However the number of goals kicked for both Fitzroy and Richmond differ from the A.F.L. stats, 61 and 13 instead of 36 and 23.Ken played in Fitzroy's last premiership. He was renowned for clever spoiling, prodigious drop kicking and well-timed breakneck runs out of the backline.

Coached by Jack Dyer (Captain Blood)you'd expect him to be a tough nut and flattening Hawthorn's Bobby Milgate behind play in his first game in 1948 would have delighted the coach. (www.hawthornfc.com). Ken would have received as much as he gave, such as when Carlton's Ken Hands jumped into his back and got off at the tribunal in 1946. (Round 15, 1946:blueseum)

My personal experience at Franklinford Primary School convinces me that Ken would have known each customer from the sound of footsteps.
Many of those who built the Airport were Americans. John Petersen (who lived on the east side of the Kindergarten site) and Leo Dineen told me that the Theresa St area in Tullamarine was developed to accommodate them.
John Barnes may have been the pilot -pictured- who left to work for Pakistan International Airlines in 1954. (Sun-Herald, of Sydney, 14-3-1954, page 11.) He may also have previously been at Townsville, Thursday Island, Brisbane and Cairns.

Des Dumbrell was President of Bulla Shire in 1774-5 and 1980-1 and leased Woodlands for many years.(DHOTAMA D77.)

THE INVERNESS HOTEL; 111 YEARS OF HISTORY.
I.W.Symonds mentioned that a Mr Kennedy had built the Inverness Hotel. I can't remember whether he specified a given name but I do remember wondering if it was Donald Kennedy of Dundonald, near Gellibrand Hill. I also have a recollection that his "Bulla Bulla" stated that Robert O'Hara Burke's expedition struck its second camp on the site of the Inverness Hotel.I remember wondering when it was built. Trove reveals all!

The earliest reference to the Inverness Hotel found on trove was on page 6 of The Argus of 2-3-1853.
Henry Kennedy made an application for a new licence, for the Inverness Hotel, Bulla Bulla. This was under the heading of COUNTY OF BOURKE QUARTERLY LICENSING DAY. Above this was more information about licences which showed that the licence for the Robert Burns Inn in Lonsdale St was transferred from Henry Kennedy to Ewen McKinnon.

Why would Henry want to leave the big smoke (literally!) to set up a hotel in the sticks? In the days when there was a hotel on practically every corner, the competition in the bustling town might have been too great, or perhaps Henry's lease on the hotel had expired and the owner was increasing the rent BECAUSE OF THE GOLD RUSH. As for the location of his new hotel, it was situated on the great road to the diggings to quote an advertisement of the time.
Even those headed for McIvor's Diggings (near Heathcote)would travel this road as far as the Lady of the Lake (just south of Derby St Tullamarine) before veering to the right through "the Broadmeadows".

Unfortunately 1854 was a bad year for Bulla and Sunbury. Much Government money was spent on improving the road to Mt Alexander (Castlemaine.)This improved the surface but also allowed the construction of Samuel Brees' timber bridge which was to serve for 15 years until it was replaced by the iron "flower basket" bridge. Keilor Rd maintained the name of Mt Alexander Rd into the 1900's and this became the popular route. The mail route through Bulla had disappeared a few years earlier despite the fierce opposition of Peter Young of "Nairn" who hinted that Taylor of Overnewton and Robertson of Upper Keilor had used undue influence to divert the mail route through Keilor.

However Henry did not live long enough to see his hopes of a quick fortune dashed. Henry Kennedy, of the Inverness Hotel, died at Bulla Bulla at the age of (26/28?) on the 4th December. (Argus 8-12-1853, page 6.)His widow had obviously transferred the licence before she died in March, 1855, at 130 Collins St with her funeral leaving for the new cemetery from 126 Collins St. (A. 29-3-1855, pages 4 and 8.) Perhaps the new licensee was Charles Melville, of the Inverness Hotel near the Deep Creek, whose property was stolen (A. 5-12-1856, page 6.)

George Melville was running the hotel by 1860 and was also a victim of theft. (A.28-8-1860, page 8.)He had been landlord of the hotel for some time and was a witness regarding an alleged theft at John Beech's Beech Tree Hotel in Tullamarine in 1857. (5-5-1857, page 5.)It was probably George who offered the Bulla District Road Board free use of a room when Frost of the Deep Creek Inn sought to impose a charge.
("Bulla Bulla",I.W.Symonds.)

In 1860, the great race was on. That was the race to cross the continent from south to north. It was a matter of boasting rights between South Australia and Victoria.Former policeman at Castlemaine, Burke, was our leader and Landells, who had obtained the camels, was his deputy; the latter resigned later en route and was replaced by Wright, who caused the death of Burke, Wills and Charlie Gray.(Google "the dig tree".)

The expedition's departure from Royal Park was delayed enormously by endless speeches so that they had to strike the first night's camp in the vicinity of today's Queen's Park at Moonee Ponds. On the next day, they travelled to the site of the Inverness Hotel, as Symonds puts it. Two little girls, Catherine and Minnie O'Niall, daughter of the late David O'Niall (who had established the Lady of the Lake Hotel) and who died as spinsters in Docker St, Richmond in the 1930's, peered through the Cape Broom Hedge (that led to the farm being called Broombank) as the procession passed by. (The late Colin Williams whose family leased the property for many years. See the O'Niall/ Beaman journals.)

Symonds' reference to the camp being on the site of the hotel may have been meant to convey the fact that the hotel no longer stood there rather than the impression I gained, that the hotel had not been built by 1860. The expedition's camp sites would most likely have been chosen because of the availability of water. The Beech Tree had an enormous water tank, the building of a tank was one of the first priorities for Michael Loeman at Glenloeman, and no doubt the Inverness had a good supply.AS WE HAVE SEEN, THE HOTEL HAD BEEN THERE FOR SEVEN YEARS!

There is possibly a body buried near the north end of the runway at Melbourne Airport. The Sydney Morning Herald of 13-1-1862 had a par on page 5 about Ludwig Becker, an artist whose scientific talents and enthusiasm made him an ideal selection as a member of the expedition but whose health gave way early leading to his burial on Bulla. This was a retelling of an Argus article in which I'm sure it said in Bulla but the type was hard to read. Near the Inverness, I thought. But then my memory of reading "Coopers Creek" kicked in and I doubted whether Becker had died that soon. I consulted his biography which stated that he had been buried at Bulloo, 8 miles south of Coopers Creek, on 28-4-1861. "Sloppy journalist!" I thought until I discovered that all references to this place during the inquest into the tragedy were as "Bulla".

Ah well, there goes the dramatic announcement about Becker being buried near the Inverness. If he had been buried so close to Melbourne, his remains would almost certainly have been moved to a place of honour anyway. (I did read that moves were afoot to raise funds to enable his remains to be brought back from that more- distant "Bulla".) However the first sentence of the previous paragraph will remain.

An exhausting scroll through every one of the 2346 burials registered at Bulla Cemetery has convinced me that the first burials took place at the cemetery in 1867. (One would expect details of the cemetery's history to be on the City of Hume Website, as Neil Mansfield says it once was, but I couldn't find it.) One of the conditions of victuallers' licences was that bodies discovered nearby had to be accepted until an inquest could be held.

The following inquest report appeared on page 6 of the Argus of 29-1-1868. An unknown man, who had no money, and had kindly been fed by McKenzie of the Inverness, was found dead in the vestry doorway of the Woodlands Church* (Melway 177 J9). Although the report did not say so the inquest would have been held in the Inverness Hotel, 20 chains (400 metres) south of the church block.

The cemetery would have been in operation, but did the trustees allow pauper burials? It is possible that he was buried near the side of the road as so many other had been. Symonds mentioned the bodies that had been found when the road was being made at Troopers Bend on the Sunbury side of the Bulla bridge. No doubt there had been previous deaths of "travellers" near the junction and burials near the end of the runway!


(* The Woodlands Church would have been St Mary's Church of England, built by Mary Greene of Woodlands in (1858?) This church was relocated by Walter V. Murphy, who attended St Pauls in Broadmeadows Township but undertook the huge task of ensuring that what was erected at Melway 177 B8 was exactly the same as what was dismantled at the south west corner of Woodlands.The move was Government -funded because vibration caused by planes was shaking the church to bits.) N.B. Google "St Mary's Bulla" and you'll see my memory of what I read over 20 years ago isn't too bad; it was 1858.

All the following come from The Argus unless otherwise stated.
17-2-1861. A plough had been stolen from Gilbert Alston, a smith at Inverness on the Deep Creek Road. This shows that the hotel's name was being used for the locality. Perhaps section 10 in the parish of Bulla (Mel.385 B9) was not yet known as "Oaklands", a name applied to the road leading to it from Oaklands Junction.
2-2-1863 page 8. Pony lost. Robert Grigor, Inverness Hotel. Assuming he was the publican, he must have continued Melville's offer of a free room for the Roads Board.
28-4-1863 page 7. A notice regarding tenders shows that the shire office (not just the meeting room) was at the Inverness. (See also 31-7-1867.)
8-5-1863 page 4. Thomas Chadwick was the Landlord of the Inverness Hotel. William Chadwick was assessed on the Broadmeadows Hotel in Broadmeadows' oldest extant rate book (1863-4), he was leasing the hotel from John Bethell. William Chadwick later ran the Broady, the Farmers Arms (still) on the south west corner of Mt Alexander Rd and Buckley St, Essendon, and then moved (between 1877 and 1880) to Benalla where he built a hotel of the same name and bought much land. (Victoria and Its Metropolis, page 326.) William, a native of Yorkshire, was no doubt related to Thomas.
22-11-1864. Uh, oh! Thomas Chadwick was insolvent and the Sheriff was to sell goods and the licence.
28-12-1866 page 2. A clearing sale was to be held, Mr Jamieson's lease having expired.
4-9-1867 page 5. James Munro McKenzie, publican, Inverness Hotel, was insolvent. (See inquest above.)
30-7-1887 page 3. The Glenara Estate of 4078 acres was offered for sale.The Inverness Hotel, which had obviously been the property of the late Walter Clark, was to be sold with one acre of land. The current tenant's lease was to expire on 31-12-1887. The buyer must have later purchased the Inverness paddock. I don't think the sale was a raging success because Russell and Davis (in-laws because Mrs Russell was a Davis)were still leasing the estate in 1888 when Farquhar McRae, who was in charge of their hunters, laid the trail from Warlaby for the first activity of the Oakland Hunt. ("The Oakland Hunt" D.F.Cameron-Kennedy.)
20-10-1900 page 3. The Trustees, Agency and Executors Co.Ltd. and A and W.Wiseman were selling 57 acres 2 roods and 38 perches being part 17A parish of Tullamarine and the Inverness Hotel and Oaklands Junction Post Office.This 58 acres included land on both sides of the closed road discussed in the first paragraph of this journal; I estimate that the triangular portion we traced to locate the junction had frontages of 29 chains on the parish boundary (e-w section of Sunbury Rd) and 20 chains to Oaklands Rd, giving the triangle an area of only half of the 58 acres. The Hume Library system should have the Airports acquisition map so this could be confirmed, but my email enquiring re the whereabouts of this, and other, material has not even been answered.
23-12-1903 page 2. Tenders were called for the purchase of a creamery and equipment close to Madden's Inverness. Bridget Madden was Maurice Crotty's daughter. Joe Crotty told me that Maurice, who leased and then bought Broomfield (indicated by Tullamarine Park Rd) had bought the hotel for her but it is more likely that he paid the lease. I remember something about Bridget's husband dying young but I'll have to check on this.
4-9-1928 page 18. Thomas Pickles of the Inverness Hotel, Oaklands Junction, had an accident near Riddells Creek.

LICENSEES AND CHRONOLOGY. --- to --- indicates a transfer of licence. The new licensee's full address is given in the notice.
1853. First application for a licence by Henry Kennedy as detailed elsewhere.(henceforth a.d.e.)
Dec. 1856. Charles Melville a.d.e.
1860. George Melville a.d.e.
Feb. 1863. Robert Grigor a.d.e. Road board office for several years.
May 1863-November 1864. Thomas Chadwick a.d.e.
1866.Jamieson's lease expired a.d.e.
1867- Jan. 1868. James Munro McKenzie insolvent a.d.e.
1870's. See CHANGE OF NAME following this. Dean, Hunt.
1879, 1882. Patrick Condon. (Bulla Rates.)
1884-5 Wise's directory. Patrick Condon.
A. 13-11-1889, page 1.Death and Funeral notices; MADDEN. On the 12th, at the residence of her brother, Mr Maurice Crotty, Keilor, relict of the late Thomas Madden (of Lisgibon, Bansha, Ireland), aged 50 years. The funeral was to proceed from the residence of Maurice to Bulla Cemetery at 1 p.m.
I was given to understand that Maurice paid for Bridget's passage to Australia and bought the hotel for her; perhaps this meant leasing it from the first day of 1888. No transfer of licensees in this period has been found; perhaps the notice was in "The Age" instead of The Argus. Bridget's children may have been running the hotel while she lay in her sick bed at Broomfield. (See Foster, Sharp and Crotty journal.)
A. 26-8-1901 page 1 and Sunbury News 312-8-1901 page 2. Mr T.Madden, brother of Miss Madden of the Inverness Hotel, who was only 27, died on the 24th at 1p.m. from rheumatic fever. He had been living at the hotel and was very popular.
A. 26-9-1893 page 2. The sheriff was instructed to sell 12 horses belonging to Robert M.Kerr.The sale was to take place at the Inverness, but as Miss Madden was already running it (see below), Kerr could not have been the publican.
Sunbury News and Bulla and Melton Advertiser, 23-9-1893 page 2. The late Arthur Wiseman owned the Inverness and the post office, occupied by Miss Madden and Miss Rolston (i.e. Ralston) respectively.
A. 18-5-1895 page 8. Miss Madden was badly burnt while cooking at the Inverness.
1914-5. Eleanor C. Gibb. (Bulla rates.)A Miss Madden was riding with the Oaklands Hunt in 1891 (Miss J.Madden) and 1914. This might have been one of Bridget's daughters or a member of the wealthy family that owned Travancore at Flemington. It was possibly Bridget's daughter(s) because I.W.Symonds said that Henry Howarth Daniel of Narbonne married Margaret Theresa Madden and the Daniel family was heavily involved in the Oakland Hunt.I have been unable to determine if Margaret was Bridget's daughter.
Talk about doing things the hard way. Two or more hours spent on Madden genealogical websites and biogs of the Flemington/ Mornington/ Kew etc Maddens were MADDENING! I discovered that Henry Madden of Travancore only had one daughter (not Margaret Theresa.)Then by chance I came across the Bulla Cemetery Index, compiled by Neil Mansfield and John Shorten.
484. DANIEL (NEE MADDEN),MARGARET THERESA, BORN 1873, DIED 4-8-1905,aged 32, DAUGHTER OF THOMAS MADDEN AND BRIDGET(CROTTY.) It was Bridget's daughter that married Henry Howarth Daniel.

A. 6-3-1916 page 2. Tenders called for the rebuilding of the Inverness Hotel in brick. "The Oaklands Hunt" by D.F.Cameron-Kennedy has photos of the old weatherboard and new brick versions of the Inverness.
May 1917. A flurry of advertisements advise that Mrs Eleanor C.Gibb, formerly of the Inverness, was now at the Keilor Hotel. She also ran the Essendon Hotel and there is a photo of her outside this hotel in "The Stopover That Stayed" by Grant Aldous.
A. 18-11-1922 page 29. Florence Mabel Saunders to Catherine Thersa Hutton of St Kilda.
A. 6-7-1923 page 10. A break in at the Inverness.
A. 3-5-1927 page 8. A disturbance at the Inverness; Meno McCoppin was the publican.
A. 16-10-1927 page 18. Christopher H.Hillto George Whatman.
1928. Thomas Pickles a.d.e.
A. 31-3-1934 page 3. Dora Lewis to John Short (of a hotel in Fitzroy.)
A. 11-9-1937 page 4. Catherine Anderson to Jean Hooper.
A. 16-7-1938 page 32. Jean Hooper to Catherine Veronica Morse.
A.13-12-1938 page 14. C.V.Morse to Alfred Norman Ebsworth.
A. 7-10-1941 page 5. L.N.Moebus to Iris Lawson.
A. 5-11-1949 page 29. Iris Winifred Lawson to Ronald Edward and Irene Wilma Downing of Caulfield.
A. 4-11-1950 page 31. Downing to Rita Elizabeth Stanley.
A. 18-1-1951 page 12. Death notice for Mrs Roberts inserted by her loving daughter, Rita, of the Inverness Hotel, Oaklands Junction.
A. 23-8-1952 page 15. Frederick Hamilton Wregg to Michael Meehan of Kingslake.Perhaps Wregg's enthusiasm had been destroyed when he was robbed about three months earlier, (Barrier Miner, of Broken Hill, 6-5-1952, page 3.)
A. 3-10-1953 page 25. Meehan to Downing (as above.)
A. 14-10-1953 page 12. Clearing sale-no name.
A. 9-4-1955 page 24. Olive M.Powell, formerly in partnership with M.H.Collins becomes the sole licensee.
The Age (via google not trove.) 28-5-1958 page 3. Flanagan. Was it all his fault??? Coroner advises inquiry on conduct of hotel.

A CHANGE OF NAME. 1.Argus.1-12-1871 page 8; 2. 2-8-1872 page 8; 7-8-1873 page 8; 3.14-12-1875 page 8;
4.18-4-1876 page 62; 5.30-11-1878 page 12.
1.William John Dean of Deep Creek, Bulla, notified his intention to apply for a licence for a house situate at Bulla, known as the Inverness Hotel, containing 12 rooms exclusive of those required for the use of the family . This justifies its description as a sprawling timber building (which I've seen somewhere, probably an Oaklands Hunt report.)
2. John Hunt of Oaklands Rd was elected unopposed as auditor for the Shire of Bulla in 1872 and 1873.
3.For Sale or to let, Hunt's Oaklands Hotel , Bulla with 70 acres of land. Apply on the premises to J.Hunt. (Some of the land would have been small blocks across Oaklands Rd from Woodlands.)
4. John Hunt, late of the Oaklands Hotel, Bulla married Mrs McNamara, of the Junction Hotel, Redesdale, at St Patrick's Cathedral.*
(*Something very strange about the wedding being in 1876! Andrew Hunt, the son of John Hunt and Anastasia McNamara was born at Bulla in 1866. When he died on 28-4-1868, he was buried at Bulla Cemetery (No.1002 in Neil Mansfield's index.) Either Andrew was born out of wedlock or the later marriage was perhaps between John's son from a previous marriage and a niece of Anastasia's.
Mrs McNamara may have been running the Beech Tree Hotel (opposite the present Henderson Rd corner in Tullamarine)during the 1870's. W.McNamara ran the Beech Tree in 1889 and was followed in rapid succession by Katchell, Rosenberg, Buggy & La Fonta and Huxtable in 1893. The locals still called it the Inverness, such as when the late Mr O'Halloran's livestock was being sold prior to Oaklands being leased (by C.B.Fisher as it turned out.)I loved their little fib about Oaklands being only two miles from the Inverness.
5. Oaklands Hotel with 58 acres of land, Oaklands Rd, Bulla. Apply Thomas Dean, Moonee Ponds Hotel.
The Moonee Ponds was built by Robert Shankland, a Greenvale pioneer, but the Dean family ran it for many years. It was at the south corner of Dean St but had to be demolished to allow road widening and was replaced by the Moonee Ponds Tavern. The Deans were a real hotel family. T.J.Dean was at the Prince Albert (1874-7, possibly longer) and Dean's Hotel, on the east corner of Wildwood Rd was operating by 1879.

It is unclear whether the Deans or John Hunt decided to rename the hotel. There was a hotel in North Melbourne called the Inverness and another in St Kilda called the Inverness Castle so the motive might have been to prevent confusion.

THE KENNEDY FAMILY.
THE FOLLOWING (in bold) IS A COPY AND PASTE FROM "CENTRAL VICTORIA SQUATTERS". MANY OF THE SQUATTERS WERE DISPLACED FROM THEIR RUNS BY THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LODDON ABORIGINAL PROTECTORATE. THE HEADQUARTERS OF THIS PROTECTORATE WERE NEAR THE SITE OF THE FRANKLINFORD PRIMARY SCHOOL.

THE NAMES OF MT FRANKLIN AND FRANKLINFORD HONOUR SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, GOVERNOR OF TASMANIA AND ARCTIC EXPLORER; THE FORD WOULD HAVE BEEN ON JIM CROW CREEK.

STATIONS - Bough Yards

The establishment of the Aboriginal Station not only displaced the Jumcra* run, but took a good portion of Mollison's Bough Yards run. Now effectively separated from the Coliban run by Holecombe and the Protectorate Mollison possibly found Bough Yards an imposition.

In 1840 Alex Kennedy (1801 - 1877) had arrived in the Guildford area. He was related to William Campbell. William Campbell and Donald Cameron had arrived on the "Wm Metcalfe" from Invernesshire in late 1838.

Kennedy and his wife Margaret, and five children arrived aboard the "S Boyne" in January 1839. The Kennedys made their way to Clunes where Donald Cameron had set up his run. Kennedy had selected a run near Newstead whist on route to Clunes. By the time he returned, Norman Simson had established the Charlotte Plains run on the site.

Fortunately, William Campbell had purchased the lease for Bough Yards which was adjacent to his run, Strathloddon. Campbell gave Kennedy the remains of the Bough Yards run and the Kennedys established a homestead on the Loddon River. The homestead was named Bowyards.

The Strathloddon run homestead was near Yapeen. The township of Campbell's creek was named after William Campbell. Specific location given later.
*There is a theory that Jim Crow is a corruption of Jumcra but an article in the Yandoit, Franklinford and Clydesdale Chronicle points out that an American entertainer of the time did a disparaging negro act as "Jim Crow" and that may have been the origin of the name.
(Argus 5-7-1877 page 1. Alexander Kennedy died at his residence, Bowyard Station on the 3rd inst., aged 76.
He was an old colonist, much respected. "Inverness Courier" please copy.
The notice does not mention how cunning he was but more of that later! Notice his relationship to William Campbell and that Alex, Campbell and Cameron were all from Inverness -shire.

William Campbell, son of the forester of the Duke of Montrose, arrived in Australia in December 1838. In early 1850 he found gold on Donald Cameron's station at Clunes but, fearing danger to pastoralists, did not announce his discovery until the middle of the next year. He eventually received half the 1000 pounds reward he was voted and used it benevolently. Read about his life and involvement in politics by googling "campbell' william, biographical entry".

With Kennedy and Campbell being such common names, it is dangerous to jump to conclusions but William Campbell and Alexander Kennedy may have been members of the new committee of management of the Pickpocket Mining company. The Strangways Hotel (i.e. Campbells Creek) was mentioned in the article. (The Star, Ballarat, 7-6-1861, page 15, YANDOIT.) William Campbell had returned home but was back by 1862 when he entered politics for another ten years before leaving again.
William Campbell's will was detailed on page 7 of The Argus on 2-3-1897. When I saw McIntyre and Anderson, I thought there might have been a Keilor connection but James Anderson was a soldier, not a farmer.

A KENNEDY CHRONOLOGY.
(Argus 5-3-1851 page 2.) On the 4th, Henry Kennedy, eldest son of Alex Kennedy, Loddon River, had married Mary Augustus, eldest daughter of James Buchanan, Rose and Crown Hotel, Collingwood. James Buchanan had earlier operated the Scottish Hotel in Bourke St (1843-6), Burns Tavern in Little Bourke St (1849) before taking over the Rose and Crown in 1850. (Publicans of the 19th Century in Victoria website.) He was not the pioneer of Berwick who arrived at Port Phillip in 1849(Aust. Dict. of Biog.), but he was a pioneer of organisations representing publicans, in 1843, while at the Scottish.

(Argus 26-9-1853 page 4.)Henry's mother and Alexander's (1st) wife, of Bowyard Station, Upper Loddon, died at the Inverness Hotel, Bulla Bulla, on the 4th.

4-12-1853, Henry died.(As mentioned previously.
)
29-3-1855. Notice of the death of Henry's wife,(Mary).

(Argus 22-12-1855 page 4.) John Johnston, wine and spirits merchant of 295 Elizabeth St had married Harriet, eldest daughter of Alexander Kennedy of Bowyard Station, Loddon River, at 117 Collins. Henry and Mary certainly had a connection with pubs and grog; hope that wasn't the cause of their early deaths!

1856 ARGUS 29-3-1856 page 7 ; 29-5-1856 page 5; 14-6-1856 page 6 etc.re Alexander's insolvency. Alexander was cunning. He owned Bowyard Station and 17 A, Tullamarine, which he may have named after Inverness, of which he was a native. Like John Pascoe Fawkner, who used a similar tactic to save Belle Vue Park circa 1843, he shrewdly transferred the ownership of Bowyard Station to a trust for his second wife, of whom details are given, as a sort of marital agreement. Henry had borrowed about 2500 pounds from Brown and Stewart in March 1853 (probably to pay the builders of the Inverness) and Alexander had taken responsibility for this debt.

Alexander's second bit of cunning didn't work as well, and in fact landed him in jail for a few days for contempt of court. In an attempt to convince the court that he did not realise the full impact of mortgages he had signed, he pretended to understand only Gaelic but a chink in his facade led to the discovery of his deception.

The case dragged on and by the time of the hearing in July, Brown and Stewart had sold 17A, Parish of Tullamarine, as they were perfectly entitled to do under the terms of the mortgage. As I wrote last night (but obviously in another journal), it was in 1856 that Walter Clark established Glenara, according to Symonds, so he was obviously the buyer.

(The Star, Ballarat, 5-5-1858 page 2.) Alexander Kennedy, 36, from Inverness, died on the 11th at Clunes. He was born in about 1832, so he could have been Alexander's second son or his nephew. The Scots had an annoying habit (for rate collectors, other officials and genealogists) of naming sons after uncles as well as the father. There were so many of the McNab clan at Tullamarine called Angus, Duncan and Donald the rate collector just assessed "McNab Bros". The Cairns family of Boneo had to use nicknames to distinguish the Harrys, Davids etc. This seems to confirm the statement in the squatters excerpt about Henry's father going to Cameron's run at Clunes.