The Dryden family pioneered the area near Hanging Rock before Tom Wills thought of the game that became known as Aussie Rules. When surveys had been completed, leases on squatting runs were cancelled, and as with most pioneering families, the next generation sought opportunities elsewhere.

POSTSCRIPT. 25-4-2017. I had wrongly assumed that the footballer was the husband of Susan Peatey. He was actually her son. Susan had married William John Dryden and the said footballer, William John Thomas Dryden, was born at Kyneton in 1910. The footballer's widow who inserted the family notice in 1935 was not Susan but Vera (nee Davis)who remarried in 1936. E.Dryden who'd been playing at Seaford with Bill was Edward James Dryden, born (registered) at Dromana in 1912. At the time I wrote this journal, I was not aware of the information in Victorian BDM. Information from Patricia Chadwick, writing on the PIONEERS OF THE MORNINGTON PENINSULA Facebook page alerted me to the possibility of an error.

Patricia Chadwick. Your information that your dad was Horace Dryden and born in 1914, alerted me that I may have made a false assumption about Bill Dryden, the champion footballer killed in 1933. I had! Your grandfather, William Dryden, married Susan Peatey in 1909 and the said footballer was born at Kyneton in 1910. He married Vera Charlotte Davis in 1930 and after his death she married Edward Herbert Proctor in 1936. Siblings of the champion footballer, William John Thomas Dryden, were Edward James, b.1912 at Dromana, and Horace (your dad) b. Kyneton 1914, (All details from Victorian BDM.)

Bill Dryden had been a champion footballer with the Kyneton Football Club. Unfortunately Rosalind Peatey did not explain how Bill(senior!) came to meet Susan Peatey. Susan, born in 1890 in Gippsland, was the daughter of Jack and Mary Peatey, who returned to Rosebud in 1894 and established their produce business on "Beachside" on the east side of Peatey's Creek.Susan's siblings were John Edward b.20-11-1886, William Henry b.22-11-1888 and George b.1892, also all born in Gippsland.

When Bill was killed, the elder of his boys, Jim and Bill, was six years old* so it can be assumed that they had married by 1926,three years before the Rosebud Football Club played its first season.
(*Jim Dryden must have told me this but none of the children could have been more than three years old. Unfortunately only pre 1930 birth records are currently entered on Victorian BDM. JIM ALSO TOLD ME THAT HIS DAD WAS KILLED ON THE MORNING OF THE (FOOTY) GRAND FINAL COSTING ROSEBUD A PREMIERSHIP, WHICH COULD NOT BE TRUE.)

Whatever job Bill had worked at probably disappeared soon after the 1930's depression started and he was probably offered a job at the Seaford sandpits if he played for Seaford. Another inducement may have been that his brother, E. (Edward?) Dryden,was also starring for the team.

Just before the tragedy, he'd been offered a job at (Tom Maw's sand pit at Rosebud.*) Bill stepped onto a wheel to get off the tray of the truck just as it started reversing and was crushed by the truck.
(*A descendant of Tom Maw has stated that his sandpit was at Rye and not established until after this time.)

ROSEBUD v. RED HILL. Red Hill turned out in full force last Saturday when their team visited Rosebud and were rewarded by a win. Both sides were very anxious to win this match, particularly Rosebud, who had their previous beating by Red Hill to repay. However, after quite the best game that has been played in Rosebud this season, Red Hill won by two points - a very unfortunate state of affairs for Rosebud. A large crowd of Rosebud supporters watched the match and the excitement was intense.
Dryden, Anderson and Wong Bros. showed up well for Rosebud; H.Liversidge was handicapped by his fingers being still tied and not yet right.The final scores were Red Hill 9.5; Rosebud 7.14. Frankston and Somerville Standard (Vic. : 1921 - 1939) Saturday 27 July 1929 p 7 Article

SEAFORD OBITUARY . Regret was expressed on the Peninsula, last Saturday when it was learned that Mr. W. Dryden had met his death by accident at Rosebud. The deceased was a well-known footballer around the district, having played with the Rosebud team a year or two ago, and last year captained the Seaford club. He had just recently left Seaford to accept employment at Rosebud. He leaves a widow and two* young children. Deepest sympathy is extended to his parents, widow and children. SEAFORD OBITUARY
Frankston and Somerville Standard (Vic. : 1921 - 1939) Saturday 25 November 1933 p 4 Article.

*VERA was obviously pregnant at the time of Bill's death, Wilma not having been mentioned in the obituary, unless she had been born soon after Bill's departure from Seaford.
DRYDEN. — In loving memory of my dear husband, Bill, and our daddy, who passed away on 18th November, 1933.—Inserted by his loving wife and children,
Billy, Jim and Wilma.(P.1, The Age, 18-11-1935.)

Bill's mother was Susie* Peatey, daughter of John and Mary Peatey of "Beachside" on the east side of Peatey's Creek which flowed through what is now the Murray Anderson Rd foreshore car park.Susie was named after Susan Peatey,who with her husband George,was a pioneer of the Survey north of Dromana, at the north end of Harrisons Rd, Dromana, and, from 1888, lot 76, crown allotment 17 Wannaeue, near the south corner of Jetty Rd and McDowell St, Rosebud.

*Family Notices
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Tuesday 24 July 1945 p 2 Family Notices
... son of John and Mary Peatey, loving brother of Jack (deceased), Susie (Mrs. Dryden), George, Mary (Mrs ... of Nell (Mrs. Lamb). PEATEY.-On July 21, William Henry, of Rosebud, at Melbourne, loving ... 5774 words