A BIT ABOUT THE SQUATTERS.
FIREBRACE.
These two children were most likely the offspring of Major Firebrace, not of his nephew, W.P.Firebrace who remained unmarried. Their father was in Melbourne in 1842 but on the Moonee moonee chain of ponds in 1844, an indication that the major was still leasing the remainder of his run on Oaklands Rd, which was called an OCCUPATION ROAD when it was proclaimed in 1848.

FIREBRACE Given namesCharlotte Elizabeth EventBirth Father's name nameFIREBRACE William Mother's maiden name Anne (Unknown) Reg. year1844 Reg. no14013
Family name (surname)FIREBRACE Given namesGeorge EventBirth Father's name FIREBRACE William Mother's maiden name Ann (Unknown) Reg. year1842 Reg. no13056

Major Firebrace did not arrive till 1841* so he must have just obtained the lease of his run on the Moonee Ponds when he was dispossessed of part of it.

They came by ship William Mitchell in 1841 - OoCities
www.oocities.org/vic1840/41/wm41.html

William Firebrace hus Cabin 1)
Mary Ann nee Wade Firebrace wife Cabin 2)
Adelaide Grace Firebrace infant Cabin 9)
Robert Tarver Firebrace son wed 1858 Cabin 5)
Edward Bell Firebrace son wed 1875 Cabin 7)
John Firebrace son Cabin 8)
Mary Anna Firebrace dau wed 1845 Cabin 3)
Catherine/Christian Mehetabel Firebrace dau Cabin 4)
Elizabeth Firebrace dau Cabin 6)

W.P.FIREBRACE'S PROMINENT ROLE AND DEATH NOTICE. Anecdotal Photograph. Mr. W. P. Firebrace.

FIREBRACE.—On the 25th June, at "Bathwick,"Ivy-street, Prahran (suddenly), William Piggott Firebrace, late Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of Victoria, elder son of the late Judge Firebrace, Demaram, British Guiana, aged 76.(P.60, The Australasian, 4-7-1908.)

In 1845 Major William Firebrace replaced the Wilsons on a run called Vectis in the Horsham area according to a letter from William Taylor (The Father of Keilor) to Governor Latrobe about early pioneers.

"Several local histories say that Firebrace named this run Vectis;this was the ancient Roman name for the Isle of Wight (England), where he was supposed to have been born. However, I have recently come across a manuscript written in 1958 by high school principal I.T. Maddern, entitled The Early Days of Horsham, which states that the Firebrace family came from Duffield in Derbyshire." QUOTED FROM:
The Micro-toponomy of Mount Arapiles - ANPS
www.anps.org.au/documents/sept_2004.pdf

Major Firebrace's father was WILLIAM NEWTON FIREBRACE.
FIREBRACE.—On the 6th of May last, in London, Elizabeth Ann, daughter of the late Wm. Newton Firebrace, Esq., of Demerara, and sister of the late Major
Firebrace, in her seventy-first year.(P.4, Argus, 3-7-1868.)

The Major had obviously returned home* and certainly DIED on the ISLE OF WIGHT but his son Robert (Tarvers?Firebrace, who'd also been on Vectis, became a Gippsland pioneer by 1863, after marrying in Sydney and first living at Orrong, Toorak (both in 1860.)

*On the 28th July, at Newport, Isle of Wight,William Firebrace, Esq., late Major H.M. 58th Regiment, aged sixty-one years.(P.4, Argus, 21-10-1856.)


This seems to confirm that the children born in 1842 and 1844 were the Major's children, their mother's name being Ann(e).

FIREBRACE.—On the 2nd ult., at Orsett terrace, Hyde-park, in her 75th year, Anne, widow of the late Major Firebrace, of Melbourne, and formerly of H.M. 58th Regiment.(P.1, Argus, 18-7-1878.)

A SCOTT death notice shows that the portion of Pascoe Vale Rd, Essendon referred to in the journal was still called Firebrace Street in 1909.
(P.1, Argus, 29-3-1909.)


DOWNIE.
Late 1830's and 1841 results on trove indicate that he depastured sheep belonging to others, either as a manager or partner,and that he was at Wardy Yallock by 1841*, his lease near Keilor obviously having been cancelled when the parish of Tullamarine had been surveyed.

Notice is hereby given THAT any persons trespassing on the Runs of the undersigned with diseased sheep, will be prosecuted according to law.
McMILLAN & WILSON, and THOMAS W. DOWNIE Wardie Yallock. 21st May, 1841.
(P.3, Geelong Advertiser, 22-5-1841.)

His name was given as Thomas Walter (or Water[s]) Downie in the 1840's and he married Margaret Muir, John, apparently their first child, being born in 1844 and registered at Geelong. He was living at Wardy Yallock in 1846 when Mary was born. The Woady Yaloak River (whose name means big creek) and Linton southwest of Ballarat on the Glenelg Highway (named after the first pioneers in the area)roughly indicate the location of Wardi Yallock. Downie returned to Scotland where he died in 1862.

DOWNIE.—On the 20th February, at his residence,Stirling, Scotland, Thomas Waters Downie, Esq.,late of this colony. (P.4, Argus, 25-6-1862.)
MUTTON. To be continued.
McNALL.

It was a bad decision last night to start my investigation of the four squatters in a comment box. Comments can't be added to, or if necessary, corrected. I'd expected to find biographies of most of these early Port Phillip District pioneers but didn't for Firebrace and Downie, with the result that it was 4 a.m. before I decided to get to bed, even though I'd probably discovered a lead to McNall in Victorian BDM.

In view of the above, I have decided to copy comment 1 into the journal so I can provide the information about Mutton and McNall without the pressure to find all I wish to before I submit, and add any more details about any of the four that I might stumble upon in the future. It wasn't until I'd submitted the comment that I realised that the maiden name of Major Firebrace's wife was included in the passenger list.

STOP THE PRESSES!
The squatter on section 1, Tullamarine was WILLIAM HUTTON, not MUTTON.
The only MUTTON that had been on Bunbury's purchase could only speak one word, starting with B and followed by AAAAA!
I feel sheepish about pulling the wool over my eyes by not checking the digitisation properly. Wouldn't ewe? RAM-A LAMB-A-DING-DONG!