JOHN BEECH AND THE BEECH TREE HOTEL AT MELWAY 5 G 10 OPPOSITE THE PRESENT HENDERSON RD CORNER.
(As my additional information re the early pioneers of Tullamarine in the 1850's (BEECH, PURVIS, HENDRY) will not submit in that journal, any information that I discover until that can be achieved will be posted here.)
The following shows that John Beech's Wiltshire Store of 1852 had become the Beech Tree Hotel by mid 1855. It also shows that John was an enthusiastic member of the community.

VICTORIA VOLUNTEER YEOMANRY.
Minutes of the first meeting of the Victoria
Volunteer Yeomanry Corps, held at Woodlands.
June 16th, 1855, Rawdon Greene, Esq., in the
chair.
The following members having been duly
sworn :
Thomas Bertram, John Raleigh, Alfred Locke,
W. F. Greene, Robert Laudale, George Mel-
ville, Dugald M'Phail, James Duncan, Thomas
Branagan, James Miller, Archibald Forsyth,
David Patulla, George Harris, James Daniel, Al-
exander M'Kintosh, John M'Nab, William Smith,
John Beech, Angus M'Nab, Henry Mosely. (etc.)

RESOLUTIONS.
3rd. Proposed by Mr Smith, and seconded by
Mr. Laudale,
That Mr Rawdon Greene Mr. Raleigh, Mr.
Bertram, Mr. Smith, Dr. Harris, Mr. William
Greene, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Miller, Mr. M'Phail, Mr.
M'Kintosh, do form a commlttee, five of whom to
form a quorum, for the purpose of framing a code
of rules to be submitted to the meeting on 30th
June; and, that this committee meets at the Beech
Tree Hotel on Saturday, 33rd June, at one o'clock
p.m,
(P.5, Argus, 20-6-1855.)

ABOUT THE NEW MEMBERS.
In 29 years of research, I have not come across any mention of the Laudale, Forsyth or Mosely families.

Thomas Bertram was at Glengyle (Melway 14 G-H2) near Browns Rd and a ramp just near the corner house led down to a ford, known for generations afterwards as Bertram's ford which provided access to and from Keilor Village until 1906 when the Arundel bridge was completed not long after William John Mansfield and his namesake son were drowned at Bertram's ford.

John Raleigh was probably from Broadmeadows Township (Westmeadows south of Kenny St) where Raleigh St is a main street and its first school was conducted in a building provided by Mr Raleigh according to the Westmeadows Primary School history.

The Locke family was much involved in Essendon's history, Richard Locke being one of the original councillors of the Borough of Essendon and Flemington elected at its formation on 25-1-1862. (P. 13, Bob Chalmers' THE ANNALS OF ESSENDON.)

W.F.Greene was probably the younger brother of Rawdon and son of William Pomeroy Greene who established Woodlands circa 1843. (See street names below.)

George Melville was probably by this time running the Inverness Hotel at Oaklands Junction (Melway 177 J 11 near Perimeter Rd) and was still doing so when the Shire of Bulla was formed about seven years later and he allowed the shire free use of a room as an office and for meetings until the old shire hall (http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/gid/slv-pic-aab45020) was built near the Bulla end of Somerton Rd, named after William Pomeroy Greene (a fact that seemed to escape the notice of Melway); Rawdon St was named after his son.

Dugald McPhail, in 1855, could have been on James Robertson's Spring Hill at Aberfeldie where the first services of the Presbyterian congregation that formed St John's were held, Dugald being acknowledged as the Church's founder, or Rose Hill east of Steeles Creek between the road of that name and Braybrook road (Buckley St.)

James Duncan was probably living on Gowrie Park, the operational area of Melbourne Airport west from the terminal building to the line of McNabs Rd, and son of David Duncan the co-grantee of the land.

Mr Miller owned land to the east of Aberfeldie, known as Miller's Paddock as well as a property called Ringwood near the east end of Holmes Rd, Moonee Ponds. James was probably his son.

Thomas Brannigan came out with the Greenes as their groom and may have by this time established St Johns at the west side of the start of Konagaderra Rd opposite Harpsdale.
(See I.W.Symonds' BULLA BULLA.)

David Patullo may have found the first gold in Victoria while working for Mr Rigg near Donnybrook but his workmates thought it was fool's gold. Perhaps they were the fools because the proceeds of his discovery may have enabled his purchase of "Craigbank" (Melway 384 A 10, 11 east to Deep Creek.)

George Harris may have been related to Thomas L. Harris who was the Bulla Shire engineer and departed amid a scandal a decade and a half later.(http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65424964). HOWEVER, the mention of Dr Harris makes this unlikely. Trove gives little information about the doctor.

James Daniel may have been a member of the Daniel family which established "Narbonne" near Daniels Rd (Melway 177 K4) not far north of "Woodlands". See Symonds' BULLA BULLA.

"James Mcintosh - who spent just two years on the (Boroadmeadows Road) Board and apparently left the district*" was probably related to Alexander. (James did not leave the district; he moved a mile or so west into the Bulla Road District! (* P. 47, BROADMEADOWS A FORGOTTEN HISTORY.)

John and Duncan McNab would have been on the southern 320 acres* of section 8 Tullamarine south of John Grant's "Seafield". (*Melway 4 G 8, 9 east to 5 A7 roughly.)

William Smith was almost certainly the proprietor of the original Young Queen Hotel at Pascoeville (Melway 16 H8 near Bass St), having bought it from John Watson in December 1842 according to P. 17 BROADMEADOWS A FORGOTTEN HISTORY.) He'd earlier been involved at Bulla.

John Beech. The location of his hotel is given above. By 1861, he'd moved to the Woodend area and advertised his hotel to lease by tender.

In 1857, William McNab was working as a servant at the Beech Tree Hotel for John Beech and was called as a witness in a court case regarding a robbery at the hotel.
ROBBERY AT THE BEECH TREE

As stated earlier John Beech was in the Woodend area by 1861 when he advertised the Beech Tree Hotel for lease by tender. It seems that he was at Newham, as was Thomas Purvis (of Springhill, Newham), possibly the brother of John Beech's wife. In the 1850's, Thomas had land across Post Office Lane at Tullamarine from the land John Beech purchased through J.p.Fawkner's land cooperative on 1-5-1851, and also land on Riddell and Hamilton's Camieston Estate near the Andersons. If I remember correctly, his wife Mary Jane, who died at Springhill in 1873, was an Anderson girl. (To be confirmed on Victorian BDM!)

W O O D E N D.
(FBOM OUR CORRESPONDENT.)
One of the largest funerals that ever took place in the district was that of Mrs. Purvis, the wife of Mr. Thomas Purvis of Newham, who was interred in the Woodend Cemetery on Tuesday, the 21st inst. There were between two and three hundred persons present,from Woodend, Newham, Kyneton and surrounding districts, this numerous attendance showed the high esteem and respect in which the deceased lady as well as all the members of the family have been and are held by the residents of the neighbourhood. (P.2, The Kyneton Observer, 23-1-1873.)

Thomas died in 1876, his funeral procession, with 100 horsemen and 50 vehicles, moving from the 470 acre Spring Hill to Woodend cemetery on 29-10-1876. (Keilor Guardian P.3, 28-10-1876 and P.2, 1-11-1876.)

The following gentlemen have been appointed by the Board of Education, members of the local committees of the undermentioned schools—Gisborne school, John Connell; Newham school, James Anderson, John Beech, and Richard Adams. (P.2, The Kyneton Observer, 27-4-1869.)