THERE GOES ANOTHER THEORY!
I thought Michael Fox might have died in the old North Pole Hotel. I was told his residence was on the corner of Milleara Rd. and I am annoyed at myself for not having asked which corner.However he died in 1918 and the old hotel had been destroyed by fire in 1891.(See end of journal.)

FOX.— The Friends of the late Mr. MICHAEL FOX are respectfully invited to follow his remains to the place of internment, in the Keilor Cemetery. The funeral is appointed to move from his residence. North Pole-road Keilor, THIS DAY(Thursday), 5th inst., at 2.30 p.m.(P.10, The Age,5-9-1918.)



LIST OF CLAIMANTS.
The following persons claim to have their names inserted in the Electoral List for
the Electoral District of the County of Bourke, in the Police District of Bourke. ......
Laverty, James, freehold, Steel's Ponds, Parish Doutta Galla.
(LIST OF CLAIMANTS.
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Tuesday 1 May 1849 p 4)

FIFTY POUNDS Reward.-The above reward will
be given to any person or persons, who
will give such information as will lead to the con-
viction of the party or parties, who, on the 7th
inst, stabbed James Laverty's horses, of the North
Pole, Keilor Road. JAMES LAVERTY, North
Pole, near Keilor. (P.8, Argus, 11-12-1854.)

TO Let Sixty Acres of Land, at Springfield. For
further particulars apply to James Laverty,
North Pole, near Keilor.(P.7, Argus, 10-2-1855.)

TO LET, a furnished PUBLICHOUSE, near
Keilor. Apply James Laverty, North Pole.(P.8, Argus, 7-9-1858.)

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1.
Important Sale of Green Crops and Farm.
JAMBS WATSON is instructed by Mr.
James Laverty to SELL by AUCTION, on the
ground, on Tuesday, November 1, at one o'clock,
50 acres growing crop (oats), at the North Pole,
beyond Flemington, 30 do, at Steel's Ponds, do.
After which,the farm, consisting of 50 acres of rich-
land, at steel's Ponds,Will be Sold Without Reserve.
(P.2, Argus, 26-10-1859.)

THURSDAY 10th MARCH.
To Speculators, Persons Seeking Investments, Etc.
Valuable Freehold Property, Situated on the Mount
Alexander Road, and Known as the
NORTH POLE HOTEL.
☞For Positive Unreserved Sale.
SYMONS and PERRY will sell by auction at
their rooms, Collins street, on Thursday 10th March,
12 o'clock,
A very valuable property, situated about eight miles
from Melbourne, on the main Melbourne and Mount Alexander Road,
And at the junction of the Geelong road, known as
the NORTH POLE HOTEL.
Containing eleven rooms, with good bar, kitchen, wash-
house, storeroom, stabling for nine horses, hay-shed gig
house, etc, also n large water tank 12 ft. x 12 ft., with a
constant supply of water at all seasons.
Together with
10 acres of land of the best quality, and in n good and
improving locality. The house is at present under lease
for a short time to a highly respectable tenant*, at a mo-
derate rent, and is now doing a first rate business, which
could easily be increased.
Terms liberal, at sale.
The House will, for the convenience of purchasers, be
sold either with the 10 acres, or with 1 acre, as may be
desired.
Title first rate, and will be guaranteed.
For further information application to be made at the
rooms of the Auctioneers.
For positive and unreserved sale. (P.3, Mount Alexander Mail, 9-3-1859.)

There was another advertisement which described the property as the NOBLE ESTATE OF SPRINGVALE, named neighbouring landowners such as Patrick Phelan and called North Pole road the Essendon road. It was found with a SPRINGVALE, KEILOR search.James Laverty was NOT the grantee of crown allotment 18C, Doutta Galla but had bought the undivided grant from (Joseph Hall? CHECK.)

From page 94 of my EARLY LANDOWNERS: PARISH OF DOUTTA GALLA.
I originally thought that the North Pole Inn was on the corner of Hoffman’s Rd because of the attached farm being described as 183 acres and the neighbours (Phelan, Hoffman) mentioned in an advertisement of 1859. It was described as being at the corner of the Essendon Rd and I took this to be Hoffmans Rd. Hoffman’s farm was immediately east and Phelan’s only 800 metres west. But two things worried me. Firstly, the frontage to both the Keilor and Essendon Rds was stated to be about 3000 feet while 17D has an eastern boundary of only about 700 feet. Secondly, why would North Pole Farm (18D) be 1½ miles west of North Pole Road?

From c/a 18D titles information on a later page.
Keilor’s 1868 rates show that John Corcoran had 183 acres. The extra 2 acres resulted from a mistake perpetuated since at least 1859, when 18D and the North Pole Inn was advertised for sale. It was probably Corcoran who renamed Spring Vale as North Pole Farm.
On 6-6-1850, Joseph Hall sold 18 D to James Laverty for the remarkably low price of L198/16/6 (M 845). About four years later Springfield, only 5/6 the size of 18D, sold for 7000 pounds (15 593). Why?
The gold rush had started. Also Brees Bridge, built in 1854, made the Keilor route more popular than the Bulla one for diggers bound for Mt Macedon, and attracted those headed to Ballarat who would previously have used Raleigh’s Punt (Maribyrnong). The bridge allowed Cobb and J.M.Peck’s newly established coachline a secure crossing and farms along this road had a ready market for their hay and other produce. For example, David Milburn, Victoria’s first irrigator of Grange Farm west of the river, was called Basket Davie by the diggers.
Hall was not to know what the future would hold and he probably needed cash after buying Purnell’s grant (22B) at Tullamarine for 200 pounds on 5-3-1849 (6 112). With the addition of 22D, granted on 17-7-1866, this became South Wait.
Laverty mortgaged 18D to Hall (M 846 and M847) and on 9-8-1852, 18D as well as lot 6 of section 12 were reconveyed from Hall to Laverty for L152 plus L50 (Q 632).

Measuring the appropriate boundaries of 18 D, I found that they were about 2640 feet each, close enough to the stated frontages. Then I recalled that John Corcoran’s farm had been wrongly described as 183 acres (instead of 180 acres 3 roods) in the 1868 ratebook.
Apart from the name, acreage and frontage was there any other connection between the inn and farm? Yes. James Laverty bought 18D from the grantee in 1850, and when he failed to sell the inn and noble (but heavily mortgaged) estate of Spring Vale in 1859, John Laverty and Robert Linay took over the hotel in 1860. John was charged with abandoning the hotel on 4-3-1863. James Laverty had mortgaged the farm (and lot D of section 12) several times and about this time John Catto gained ownership. He sold it to Corcoran on 6-12-1864.
Although title memorials concerning 18D made no mention of the inn, the above pieces of evidence, and the one following, make it almost certain that the North Pole Inn was at the western corner of Keilor and Milleara Rds.


TUESDAY, JULY 5.
For Absolute Sale.
The North Pole Publichouse,
Producing £150 per Annum, with the Noble Estate of
Spring Vale along with it.
Keilor-road.
MR. STUBBS is instructed to call the atten-
tion of moneyed men, farmers, and others to
the absolute SALE of the above property, at Bear's
Auction and Exchange Rooms, 66 Queen-street, Mel-
bourne, on Tuesday, July 5, at twelve o'clock
precisely.
N.B.-Of any property ever offered about the
neighborhood of Essendon, for the Keilor-road, per-
haps there never was any over yet presented such a
prospect of realising a fortune, sooner or later, than
the one now advertised for public competition. Capi-
tal can never be better laid out than in what is
already returnable in good rental like this, indepen-
dent of the village pabilities of the property for
future subdivision and profit.
It is situate at the corner of the Keilor and Essendon
roads, having about 3,000 feet frontage to the
former, and about the same to the latter, more or less.
The whole well enclosed, and comprising 183 acres, in
two separate paddocks.
The soil rich, the country undulating, the scenery
magnificent, the approach by great Keilor-road.
Nearest neighbors-P. Phelan, Esq., M.L.A.
Hoffman, Esq., and other gentlemen.
Terms liberal.
Title, Grant from the Crown.(P.2, Argus, 1-7-1859.)

*Probably Robert Linay.
THE friends of Mr. ROBERT LINAY, of the
North Pole Hotel, Keilor-road, are respectfully
invited to follow the remains of his daughter Janet
Jane to the place of interment, Melbourne Cemetery.
The funeral will leave his residence at 12 o'clock noon
this day (Wednesday), March 7. (P.8, Argus, 7-8-1860.)

The description of "Springvale" as consisting of 183 acres, is a problem because 18D on the west corner of North Pole (Milleara) Road, consisting of 180 acres 3 roods, was granted to Joseph Hall and 18C on the east corner of North Pole Road, granted to D.T.Kilburn, consisted of 163 acres 3 roods and 183 could have been an incorrect rendering of either. Either allotment would have had a frontage to the (Essendon or Geelong) road of 42 chains, south to a point indicated by the Clarks Rd. corner. The frontage to the Essendon road given is ABOUT 3000 feet which is 1000 yards and 45.45 chains so the frontage to North Pole Rd was actually 42 x 22 x3, 924 yards or 2772 feet.

To work out whether "Springvale" was on the east or west corner of North Pole Road we need to take into account the Doutta Galla map, [Parish maps of Victoria]. Doutta Galla, County of Bourke [cartographic ...
digital.slv.vic.gov.au/dtl_publish/compleximages/46/2442850.html ;
titles information; understanding of the farms on the north side of Keilor Rd, and reference to the farms described as being almost and exactly opposite the North Pole Hotel.

Titles information (above) shows that James Laverty definitely purchased c/a 18D on the west corner of North Pole Road and lost it to John Catto at about the time that James Laverty moved to New Zealand.

There is no mention of James Laverty regarding ownership of c/a 18C on the east side of North Pole Road.

TITLE INFORMATION CONCERNING 18C.
On 6-11-1852, D.T.Kilburn conveyed his grant to John Pinney Bear for L2968/11/7 (Y 149).
Bear leased most of 18C to John Wilson on 31-7-1855 at a rent of 500 pounds p.a. Bear had, or was intending to, sell blocks on the Keilor Rd frontage. The northern boundary of the leased land followed “various inclinations” (probably parallel with Keilor Rd and its bends) between the electric B.B.Q. and a point just north of the Woorite Pl. roundabout (29 794). Bear mortgaged 18C and land near Lancefield to Taylor, Fisken and Davis on 30-3-1871 (209 349).
On 15-5-1888 Bear contracted to sell 18C and 18D to G.W.Taylor for 34 350 pounds (347 14).
No doubt Taylor paid partly with credit notes but Bear would have pocketed some cash as well as regaining ownership when the bust ruined Taylor. Michael Fox probably bought 18 C and North Pole Farm soon afterwards (See 18D).


FARMS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF KEILOR ROAD were, from Treadwell St:
to the Grange Rd/Bowes Ave midline, "Niddrie" (17B);
to the line of Olive Grove, Patrick Phelan's "Spring Park" (17A);
to the Roberts Rd corner, James Kavanagh's "Springfield" (18B)bought by William Connor for his sister in 1863.
and to Collinson St, 18A, subdivided into small farms in the mid 1850's.

William Connor's sister was Patrick Phelan's wife, Ellen. When Patrick was tossed off Spring Park, he and Ellen moved onto "Springfield" and of course it was described as Phelans, when the 25 acres exactly opposite the North Pole Hotel and almost adjoining Phelans was advertised for sale by mortgagees. The 25 acre farm probably fronted the west side of Terror St in c/a 18A which is due north of 18D. This description had me believing it was part of "Springfield" (18B): "A very compact little farm, comprising about 25 acres of the best portion of the well-known Springfield Estate." A bit of background. In the 1840's the area just east of Keilor was called Springs but as Tullamarine was also called Springs, confusion resulted, so the Keilor road area was renamed (after Owen Connor's grant) as Springfield. Estate implied a subdivision and the locality was Springfield.

The farm, almost opposite the North Pole Inn, said to be "portion of A, Section 18, Doutta Galla, and comprising
about 152 ACRES 2 ROODS" was bigger than the whole of 18A, which consisted only of 132 acres 3 roods 20 perches.
"Springfield" (18B)consisted of 151 acres 0 roods 20 perches and was almost certainly the farm being described.


James Laverty, late publican, Keilor-road.
Causes of insolvency—Depression in business and
pressure of creditors. Debts, L2,364 11s; assets,
L12,610; surplus, L245 9s. . E. Courtney, Official Assignee.
(P.2, Geelong Advertiser, 29-2-1860.)

THIS DAY.
Sale of
Household Furniture and Farming Stock.
At the
North Pole Hotel, Near Keilor.
ROW, KIRK, and Co. have received instructions
from Mr. James Laverty, who is leaving for
New Zealand, to SELL by AUCTION, at the North
Pole Hotel, on Saturday, 14th lnst.,
6 saddle and harness horses
6 bullocks, dray, and tackle
4 cows, in full milk
4 springers
Ploughs, harrows, drays, &c.
Also
A quantity of household furniture
Pigs and poultry.
Sale at one o'clock.(P.3, Argus, 14-2-1863.)

LOCATION, LOCATION!!!!!
MONDAY, APRIL 20.
Springfield, on the Keilor-road, about a mile and a
half beyond Harper's Essendon Hotel.
Positive Sale of a snug little Farm, of about 25 Acres,
with Homestead.
To Farmers, Carriers, Storekeepers, Restaurant-
keepers, and Small Capitalists.
By Order of the Mortgagee.
G. WALSTAB has received instructions to
SELL at AUCTION, in his rooms, 85 Collins-
street west, on Monday, April 20, at one o'clock in the
afternoon,
A very compact little farm, comprising about 25
acres of the best portion of the well-known
Springfield Estate, situated about 7½ miles from
Melbourne, on the main road to Castlemaine, to
which road It has a valuable frontage of 11
chains, exactly opposite to the North Pole Inn,
and nearly adjoining Mr. Phelan's property.
The land is of excellent quality, the greater portion
being of a rich loamy soil, all cleared, ready for the
plough, and surrounded by a capital post and three-
railed fence.
The homestead consists of a well-built weather-
boarded cottage, about 60 feet in length, with veran-
dah along the entire front. There is also a store
facing the main-road, detached stabling for six horses,
and a barn.ETC. (P.2, Argus, 27-4-1861.)

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20.
At Twelve O'clock.
152 ACRES 2 ROODS, FARMHOUSE,
KEILOR.
C. J. and T. HAM have received instructions from
R. G. Johnson, Esq., as agent for the owner, to
SELL by PUBLIC AUCTION, at their rooms, 45 Swan-
ston-street, on Thursday, 29th September, at twelve
o'clock,
All that fine block of land, being part of Portion
A, Section 18, Doutta Galla, and comprising
about 152 ACRES 2 ROODS,on the land being erected a
WEATHERBOARD BUILDING,containing 10 rooms, with
seven-stall stable,cartshed, piggeries, underground
tank, &c., in the occupation of Mr. J. Foley.
The land is subdivided in four paddocks, is under
cultivation, and is well situated, being almost oppo-
site the old North Pole Inn.(P.3, Argus, 17-9-1881.)


FIRE AT NORTH ESSENDON.
A fire occurred on Saturday evening at 9.30
o'clock in a wooden tenement situated on the
Keilor-road, near Spring Hill. The building,
which was a large wooden structure, consisted of
10 rooms, and was formerly known as The North
Pole Hotel, and used as such in the olden days.
Owing to the inflammable nature of the struc-
ture it was completely demolished before even
the occupants had time to remove the furniture,
a piano and harmonium being the only articles
of value saved from destruction. The place was
occupied by Mr. J. Lobb and family, and at the
time of the outbreak some of the occupants
were asleep. No cause can be assigned for the
origin of the fire. The building is believed to be
uninsured, and the loss to the tenant is esti-
mated at £120, and to owner of the house about
twice that sum. The local fire brigades
turned out promptly, but arrived too late to
save any portion of the buildings.
(P.6, The Age, 7-9-1891.)

More information about James Laverty (associated with Connor and Phelan, Spirit merchants, the Harvest Home Hotel at Moonee Ponds and the 50 acre farm on Main's Estate on Rosehill Rd) is available if requested.