Hi itellya,
I am doing some research on the Pine plantation, Rosebud and trying to find out all the previous owners of that land. This is what I have so far (some of which has come from your findings as well as my own research)
Wannaeue Estate, prior to the Pine plantation - Rosebud. This is what I have and stand corrected if I am wrong - please advise on this- Land owned by William Ford circa 1880. William Raper then had the land from ? up until circa 1917 (large article in the Argus 1917 describes land for sale). Next I have John R Raper (his son?), in 1919, being assessed on the 660 acre estate. Did he buy the land from his father or perhaps it was just passed on to him?? In 1938, John Raper sold the land to a pine plantation firm. 1939, William Raper dies.
If you can offer some extra info to either verify what I have stated or otherwise I would be very grateful. Putting together a book about the pine forest and locals memories of it. Not doing much on the history before but wanted something there and want it right. Thanks in advance. :) Margaret

Hi, Margaret.
First an apology. In the journal, I had the name of the Rosebud Country Club history wrong;it is BOGIES AND BIRDIES, written by Charles Coleman. Its call number is
796.3520994COL, the 796 equating to sport and 994 to history in the Dewey classification. It may not be borrowed but is available for perusal in the local history room at Rosebud library.

On page 2 the cost of the three options for a country club site is detailed and each site is shown on the page 3 map: Cooper (146 acres),Gafer (184 acres at 250 pounds per acre) and Pine Forest (140 acres at 140 pounds per acre).

"SITE IS SELECTED.
At a committee meetingon October 9,1961,T.W.Maw and C.R.Coleman were appointed to act on behalf of the club and to report back to the committee on any decisions it (sic)had formulated. The three propositions were fully discussed and resulted in a decision being made to endeavour to obtain an option of purchase from the Forestry Pulp and Paper Company Pty Ltd,on the best possible terms. The option was taken out on October 24,1961 in the names of Robert Henry Grant, Thomas William Maw and Charles Robinson Coleman as trustees for the golf club.

...........The land selected was part of a property bounded by Eastbourne Road, Jetty Road, Government Road (later Hiscock Road and now part of the Country Club) and Boneo Road. It was formerly owned by a Mr Jack Rapir (sic) and purchased by Forestry Pulp and Paper in 1938 for development as a pine plantation.

Shortly after Christmas,1958, a fire swept through 300 acres of the pine forest severely damaging the trees."(The company salvaged the timber but it became apparent that the land was too valuable to be replanted to pines.)

In 1864, James Ford senior(convicted of machine-breaking, who gave Portsea its name)was assessed on a five roomed house and 720 acres while James Ford Junior was assessed on 260 acres. These were both in the Wannaeue Division (parish.)

To follow what I have to say, you need to google WANNAEUE,COUNTY OF MORNINGTON, select the first result and click view. Then find crown allotments 14,15, 16 and 17, bounded by Port Phillip Bay, Jetty Rd, Eastbourne Rd and Boneo Rd. Now scroll down below Eastbourne Rd and you will find allotments 11 to 8,the Wannaeue Estate. As you will see, allotments 10 to 8 were granted to James Ford and by 1864,he had purchased Henry Reynold's grant, crown allotment 11 between Eastbourne Rd and the Besgrove St corner.

Crown allotments 11 to 8 total 661 acres 1 rood and 22 perches so the commonly expressed area of 660 acres is fairly close to the mark.Although there is no mention of this in the rate record, I believe that the extra 60 acres must have been selected by James Ford Senior to ensure the security of his son, Edward, who was apparently a blacksmith at Boneo and was leasing a few acres on the Barkers' pre-empive right. Edward eventually received a grant for crown allotment 26 on the north east corner of Truemans and Limestone Rds.

The 260 acre property that James Ford Junior had in 1864 was Greenhills on the west side of Purves Rd, crown allotments 13A and 13 B,which you'll find by scrolling right from the southern boundary of the Wannaeue Estate (c/a 8 and 6 boundary, Hiscock Rd).The allotments consisted of 130a.1r.each, making two hundred and sixty and a half acres. James Ford Junior was rated on Greenhills until 1874 when it was so- described and on 2-10-1875 William Ford was assessed on:
-acres and five roomed house (the usual nett annual value of the 720 acres of 60 pounds) and 260 acres (Greenhills),N.A.V.25 pounds.By 15-9-1876, Greenhills had apparently become part of the estate of Professor W.E.Hearn of "Heronswood".

The assessment in association with the five roomed house was 720 acres until it became 700 acres in 1869.On 15-9-1876, William was assessed on a 5 roomed house and 780 acres,which would seem to indicate that the Wannaeue Estate (660 acres) had been combined with 120 acres on which he'd been assessed separately in 1873. I have no idea where the 120 acre property was.It might have been part of the 260 acre Greenhills.

In 1880, William Ford,hotelkeeper,was assessed on the 5 roomed house and 780 acres as usual but he was also leasing 128 acres from B.Marks. He was probably using one of the earliest lime kilns on the peninsula,built by Edward Hobson circa 1840 near the present Marks Avenue, Rosebud, over Boneo Rd from Rosebud Plaza.It was obviously used by Safety Beach and Dromana pioneer, William Cottier,who followed William Ford on the 128 acre block before the 1884 assessment. Cottier had established the Tootgarook Hotel at Rye in partnership with John Campbell (another Dromana Old Boy)on Campbell's grants in Rye Township (from the Board Shop to Ray White's.) By the time Cottier had become insolvent,the partnership ended, he had become a lime burner.

In 1885 there was no mention of William Ford or any properties that might once have been his. This situation continued until 1899. William Allison Blair had apparently bought William's properties. On 4-8-1897, Blair's estate was under liquidation and lots 8,9,10,11 and 15 were specified as being part of it.As I had spent hours searching through every West Riding assessment, I changed tack and decided to work backwards from Raper. Thankfully, I already knew of his assessment in 1919, and aware of his activity in Rosebud in 1913, I tried the assessment of 30-11-1912.
Assessment No. 1201. (William-crossed out)John R.Raper,660 acres and buildings, c/a 8,9,10,11.

Talk about slow learners! In 1911 William had been crossed out and replaced with John Raper c/o James Service & Co. 962 Collins St, 650 acres and buildings 8,11 Wannaeue.

I WILL GET BACK INTO MY TIME MACHINE A.S.A.P.,MARGARET.

I have not been able to confirm that Jack Raper sold his farm to Pulp and Paper but in the process found that Bart Rodgers, who with Cr Wood, was primarily responsible for getting the Rosebud Memorial Hall built, managed the pine plantation for a time. See Peter Wilson's ON THE ROAD TO ROSEBUD about Bart.

As often happens, the attempt to find information resulted in one of my own journals coming up. The Moser,Munday etc memories of Rosebud journal was prompted by a request similar to yours, from Shah. As usual,I got as good as I gave. Shah wrote:

Hello,
Yes, I did mean the Thicket! My great grandparents names were Sydney and Mary (May) Moser. My grandmother Mona Moser was married there. She married Bartholomew Rogers who had bakeries in Rosebud and then managed the pine plantation.

The Thicket was bounded by Eastbourne Rd, Boneo Rd the Hope St houses which were part of the Hindhope Estate, and First Avenue, so all Bart had to do to get to the Wannaeue Estate was walk across Ropers Lane (the name by which old Rosebud residents referred to Eastbourne Rd.) Jack Raper's house was on the east side of the Conifer-lined entry to today's Olympic Park, the home of the Rosebud footy and cricket clubs since about 1963 when widening of Pt Nepean Rd reduced the foreshore ground opposite the pub to the present Village Green. Doug Bacchli, son of the publican,only needed to walk about 20 metres to practise his golf on the old ground.

Raper's house,described as modern in the sale advertisement of 1917, and the trees were removed in the last decade or so, just another example of the shire's lack of regard for Rosebud's heritage. The trees would have been an important historical reminder of the pine plantation that occupied much of the Wannaeue Estate which was still zoned Rural when the Country Club bought its portion. This could be part of the INDUSTRY theme in the shire's thematic study,just like Hitchcock's fertiliser scheme on Woyna, and the tramline on the east side of Truemans Rd, that only Ron Doig and I know about.

My rate research was interrupted by the long weekend when I was kicked out of the library on Saturday arvo. I resumed this morning with great success, at the cost of strained eyes and brain.

Ownership of the Wannaue Estate was entirely in the hand of the Ford family from 1864 (and probably for some time before the first assessment)until some time after the 1884 assessment. In 1884, Joshua Watson was leasing 780 acres and building from Ford.

It was probably at about this time that William Allison Blair added the Wannaeue Estate to his vast holdings (such as the future Woyna Estate that covered much of Rosebud West and much land south of Rye Township.) It was recorded in 1897 and again in 1906 that Blair's land included crown allotment 8-11 and 15* of section A, Wannaeue,(the Wannaeue Estate.)
*Crown allotment 15,part of the Clacton-on-Sea Estate is between First Avenue and (about)Fifth Avenue.

From 1885, Joshua Watson,grazier,was leasing 3001 acres from William Allison Blair, reduced to 1200 in 1888, and was assessed until 1891 but not in 1892 or afterwards. (This was when the depression forced many farmers off their farms which reverted to mortgagees who were also ruined because new tenants could not be found.) Blair would have been deprived of income from tenants and soon, by 4-8-1897 his estate was in the hands of liquidators. (This would have included his farm at Braybrook including today's Medway Golf Course whose homestead was the original clubhouse.)

In 1906,two interesting assessments,in light of the fact that I had worked back from 1911, were:
747. Mrs Albert Holloway, Queen St Nth,Melbourne, builder, 5 acres and buildings.
761. Melbourne Trust Co. 756 acres,8,9,10,11 and 15 of (section)A, Wannaeue.

Mrs Holloway wasn't a builder, despite the Suffragette movement. Her husband Albert was the builder, and according to Isabel Moresby's ROSEBUD FLOWER OF THE PENINSULA, Albert had built "Parkmore" in 1896. Parkmore Rd and Adams Avenue mark the boundaries of crown allotment 19,Wannaeue, which was granted to Isaac White, a great friend of Captain Henry Everest Adams who was probably Rosebud's first pioneer. Isaac had probably acted as a dummy for the captain whose cottage on the site of the McCrae car wash was built using the timbers of his beached vessel and was later extended to become the Hopetoun Guest House,named after the Governor who often stayed there.

By 1864, the captain owned section 19 and during the land boom his son Robert Henry Adams sold it to a speculator who subdivided the portion between South Rd and the beach road into acre blocks.Albert Holloway bought 5 blocks south of Rosemore Rd, today occupied by Phillip St (Melway 158 H 12.) Albert must then have purchased the five blocks across Rosemore Rd from his blocks and built Parkmore. The Clemengers bought Parkmore in 1908 and the grounds were made available for the first camping holidays in Rosebud, decades before the foreshore was used for this purpose.The Clemengers probably moved in when Alex Fulton's lease expired.

The Holloways had been heavily involved in the Methodist Church and the community, and were given a huge send off when they left. Obviously Albert had been ill and had died by the 1907-8 assessment when the owner was recorded as Emma Holloway,the nett annual value having dropped from 60 to 50 pounds due to the effects of the lingering depression. Alexander Fulton had started leasing Parkmore.

As I was working backwards, I found no assessment in 1907 that could be tied to the Wannaeue Estate but I think the Melbourne Trust Co.may have again paid the rates.

In 1908, relevant assessments were:
753. Alexander Fulton, Dromana,civil engineer, 9 acres and buildings, N.A.V.50 pounds;
754. John Livingston Fulton, Rosebud,farmer,650 acres and buildings, N.A.V. 50 pounds.

The rate collector must have assumed that the property occupied by Alex was part of the Wannaeue Estate and cleverly calculated: 660-10= 650! He should have asked Alex about this one day as they munched their lunch in the shire office in the Mechanics' Institute near the east corner of Beach St, Dromana; I suspect that Alexander Fulton was the Shire of Flinders and Kangerong Engineer, but I'll have to check when I have an internet signal.

Anyway, the probable reason for the Wannaeue Estate being described as 650 acres having been explained, John Livingston Fulton was rated on the so-called 650 acres till 1910 (A.N. 888)and John (William having been crossed out)Raper was assessed in 1911, also on 650 acres. (A.N.1039.)

Ratebooks confirm that the Rapers were assessed on the Wannaeue Estate until the last assessment(available on microfiche) of 1919-1920. If I find a later owner between 1919 and 1938, when Pulp and Paper purchased it, I'll add another comment, but I had no luck before my internet signal was lost. The tenure of Pulp and Paper is given in the BOGIES AND BIRDIES excerpt and the Country Club still occupies its portion of the Wannaeue Estate.

Details of the dates of acquisition/ construction of the freeway extension to Boneo Rd, the subdivision of the estates on the country club purchase and the expansion of the country club into crown allotment 7 (south of the line of Hitchcock Rd)will have to be the task of someone who is not writing about four journals at once while organising a Back to Red hill, but the shire, Vicroads and the country club may be able to supply answers.

Now for the usual walk to get a signal and check on Alex Fulton before I submit.

I stand corrected but I'll bet he was the engineer as well.
Shire of Flinders and Kangerong.
WIRE NETTING.
LAND owners requiring Wire Netting through this council are requested to forward applications to me, with 10 per cent. deposit, before the 25th inst.
S A. FULTON,Shire Secretary,Dromana, 3/2/'10.
Shire of Flinders and Kangerong.
(P. 2, Mornington and Dromana Standard, 5-2-1910.)

By mid 1939 Forestry Pulp and Paper had settled in at Rosebud and even had its own phone installed. I wonder if it was in the Raper homestead or perhaps in the homestead of The Thicket on today's circular reserve at the end of The Drive.

PAGE 25,ARGUS, 24-6-1939.
PINE SEEDLINGS FOR SALE.
Yearlings. Prices, 10 per 100; 45 per 500; 80 per 1000.
From the Forestry Pulp and Paper Company of Australia Limited, Rosebud. Telephone Rosebud 228. (2nd last column, 17th from bottom.)