SQUATTING STATIONS OF FIREBRACE, DOWNIE, HUTTON and McNALL, NEAR TULLAMARINE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA. (and W.H.Mutton, pioneer of Avenel.)
1842 GRANTS
OH DEAR, THE TIME THAT I HAVE WASTED!
THE TITLE OF THIS JOURNAL HAS BEEN CHANGED; MUTTON IS NOW HUTTON.
After finding no squatter named MUTTON pre 1842, discovering a pioneer of Avenel, guessing that the name might have been Hutton, providing evidence to support that assumption and postulating that a handwritten H had been misinterpreted as M by such as a typesetter, I decided that I had done all that was possible. Then the penny dropped! Was the trove digitisation wrong regarding the name of the station? IT WAS!!!!! I HAVE NOW CORRECTED IT ON TROVE BUT NOT IN THE JOURNAL as a lesson to myself to read the actual article before I worry about the digitisation.
Most squatters because of insecure tenure, erected hovels, later building substantial mansions on their pre-emptive rights if they survived the circa 1843 crash. These hovels were better than nothing and purchasers of land containing such head stations could at least move in immediately, perhaps supplying a reason for their choice of that particular land, as well as fencing for stock-holding paddocks and other buildings such as shearing sheds.
Cortland Taylor's grant, section 9 Bulla Bulla at Melway 384 K 11-12 south of Oaklands, extending east to the eastern boundary of the Readymix Oakland junction Quarry, and now consisting of the quarry and Balbethan was purchased by Walter Clark of Glenara and named Glenalister after his recently-born son, who became chairman of the Moonee Valley Racing Club and a famed breeder of roses. Bob Blackwell was the last manager of Dunalister and was given permission by the new owner (who renamed the farm as Balbethan)to use Dunalister as the name of a stud he established at Elmore. See the Balbethan citation for further information. The portion of Pascoe Vale Rd between Glass St(or Five Mile Creek) and Woodlands St was originally named after Major Firebrace.
FIREBRACE STREET
John Carre Riddell's grant, 15 Tullamarine, with another of his grants (section 6 Tullamarine)became the Camiestown Estate. Most of section 15 became John Mansfield\'s triangle on which the Melbourne Airport terminal building is located, Glendewar (initially 377 acres) purchased by William Dewar who previously managed the Camiestown Estate, Charles Nash and Wallis Wright's farms and the northern 123 acres of John Peter's Chandos north of Bamford Avenue.
See the following for a map showing the location of Downie's station.
DOWNIE\'S STATION
R.H.Bunbury's grant, section 1 Tullamarine, actually consisting of 907 acres, adjoined Annandale at a line indicated by the northernmost point of Annandale Rd and extended west to the Maribyrnong River. Bunbury lost his right arm arm in naval combat, but could paint beautifully with his left hand according to Georgiana McCrae who came out on the same ship. Bunbury apparently bought the land as a dummy for Colin Campbell who called it Glengyle. Edward Wilson named his farm on the Glengyle Estate "Arundel" and this name later described the Closer Settlement and one of its subdivision roads, the other being Browns Rd.
George Russell of Golf Hill in the Western District bought section 5 Tullamarine as a dummy for Niel Black of Mt Noorat in the same district. Black leased it from 1846-1855 to Peter McCracken, the property being named Stewarton after Stewart, a member of the Black syndicate, as was the prime minister's cousin, Gladstone. In about 1893 the property was renamed as Gladstone. The property fronted the east side of today's Mickleham Rd between the Lackenheath Drive and Forman St corners, extending east to the Moonee Ponds Creek which also comprised much of its northern boundary. The freeway divided the property into Gladstone Park (east side) and Gladstone Gardens fronting Mickleham Rd.
LOCATIONS OF STATIONS
Portion 9 — 640 acres, county of Bourke, parish of Bulla Bulla ; purchaser, Major Taylor, H.E.I.C.S. (per
James Simpson, Esq.) This includes Major Firebrace's station, near the Salt Water River.
Portion 15 — 713 acres, county of Bourke, parish of Tullamarinc ; purchaser. J. Carre Riddell, Esq. This includes the place known as Downie's station, on the Moonee Moonee Ponds.
Portion 1 — 902 acres, county of Bourke, parish of Tullamarine ; purchaser, Captain Bunbury, R.N. This includes Mr. Mutton's(sic, Hutton's) station, near Keillor, on the Salt Water River.
Portion 5 — 785 acres, county of Bourke, parish of Tullamarine ; purchaser, George Russell, Esq., manager for the Clyde Company. This includes M'Nall's station, on the Moonee Moonee Ponds.
(P.2, Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser, 8-9-1842.)
The link for this or an identical article is at the start of the journal.
Another land claim enabled by land orders was the selection of "Woodlands" in lieu of a special survey, discussed in my very recent journal:
LAND SELECTIONS BY WILLIAM RUTLEDGE OF PARAMATTA, N.S.W. AND ANDREW McCRAE IN 1842 THAT MAY HAVE CHANGED THE HISTORY OF BULLA AND ARTHURS SEAT.
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, OR IS IT HUTTON?
As the following shows, I have been unable to link anybody named Mutton to Bunbury's purchase. Christine Laskowski's STEELE CREEK AND THE LADY OF THE LAKE has a map showing HUTTON'S STATION near the south side of Keilor Rd in the parish of Doutta Galla. From that spot Hutton would have been able to walk to section 1 of the parish of Tullamarine without getting his feet wet, let alone having to cross the Saltwater River. If his run did extend from Keilor Rd to Bunbury's purchase north of the river from the Watson and Hunter run, "Keilor",if would make sense for him to have two stations upon it as Edward Hobson had at Kangerong (his house near the Mount Martha run and a station near the present south boundary of Safety Beach.) While no squatter named Mutton has been found before 1842, William Hutton certainly was and near the Saltwater River too. Was Mutton a typo?
Sam Merrifield'a Annals of Essendon stated that William and John Foster obtained a ten year lease of Leslie Park in 1840; perhaps William Hutton had held the lease previously, UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME as Leslie was a given name of both William and John Foster. See "MUTTON, OR WAS IT HUTTON?" after MUTTON.
MUTTON. (I'm feeling sheepish about such an indefinite commencement!)
Mutton is a terrible name to flesh out on trove as is Rye for a similar edible reason. Rather than beef about this difficulty, I'll make a guess that the squatter north across the river from Watson and Hunter's Keilor run was William Henry Mutton, based on the earliest Mutton birth on Victorian BDM.* We'll try a pay for view ancestry site to launch an investigation.**
* EventBirth Event registration number25552 Registration year1851
Personal information
Family nameMUTTON Given namesHenry James SexMale Father's nameMUTTON William Henry Mother's nameElizabeth (Unknown) Place of birthSEYMOUR
MY HERITAGE. (I don't want to advertise heritage scavengers who charge for information they obtain free.)
William Henry Mutton, 1825 - 1856
William Henry Mutton was born on month day 1825, at birth place, to Robert Mutton and Barbara Mutton (born Kellow).
Robert was born in 1805, in Callington, Cornwall.
Barbara was born in 1800, in Callington, Cornwall.
William had one brother: Harry J Mutton.
William married Elizabeth Mutton (born Lock).
Elizabeth was born on January 20 1823, in Bath, Somerset, England.
Her occupations were Dressmaker and Ag Lab Daur.
They had 4 children: Eliza Jane Cawtheray (born Mutton) and 3 other children.
William lived in 1861, at address.
His occupation was occupation.
William passed away on month day 1856, at age 31 at death place.
He was buried on month day 1856, at burial place.
No doubt somebody discovered his body at that address five years after his death because of the smell! Perhaps his 1861 address was his grave.
IN the Supreme Court of the Colony of Victoria. Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction.
Notice is hereby given, that after the expiration of fourteen days from tho publication of this advertisement an application will be made to the Supreme Court of the Colony of Victoria, in its Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, on
behalf of the widow of William Henry Mutton, late of Avenel, in the colony of Victoria, blacksmith, deceased, that probate of the last will and testament of the said William Henry Mutton, deceased, may be granted to his widow as sole executrix.
Dated this 20th day of October, in the year of our Lord 1856.
JOHN MATTHEW SMITH. No.9 Elizabeth-street south. Proctor for the widow of the said William Henry Mutton.
(P.8, Argus, 21-10-1856.)
N.B. A subsequent application asked that probate be granted to Elizabeth Mutton, the widow, John Bignell, of Avenel aforesaid, innkeeper, and James Hilet, of the same place, storekeeper, the executrix and executors named in and appointed by the will of the said William Henry Mutton deceased.(P.7, Argus, 30-10-1856.)
This is almost certainly the son of the Avenel pioneer and his executrix, born in 1851 (birth record at the start of the MUTTON entry.)
EventDeath Event registration number9717 Registration year1910
Personal information
Family nameMUTTON Given namesHy Jas SexUnknown Father's nameMutton Wm Hy Mother's nameElizth (Locke) Place of birth Place of deathMfield Age59
This would be "Eliza Jane Cawtheray (born Mutton)" who is stated on the MY HERITAGE page to be one of four children. Henry James was one, so that leaves two more to find.*
EventBirth Event registration number2778 Registration year1854
Personal information
Family nameMUTTON Given namesEliza Jane SexUnknown Father's nameWilliam Henry Mother's nameElizabeth (Lock) Place of birthAVEN
HERE'S ONE.
EventBirth Event registration number2213 Registration year1855
Personal information
Family nameMUTTON Given namesGeorge Thomas SexUnknown Father's nameWilliam Henry Mother's nameElizabeth (Lock) Place of birthAVENEL
I CAN'T FIND ANOTHER BIRTH RECORD WITH THE RIGHT PARENTS.
This could be the Avenel pioneer but his mother's name is given as Sophia rather than Barbara and no place of death is recorded. However he was born in Cornwall, with his year of death (and age) conforming with the MY HERITAGE details.
EventDeath Event registration number4327 Registration year1856
Personal information
Family nameMUTTON Given namesWilliam Henry SexUnknown Father's nameRobert Mother's nameSophia Place of birthCOR Place of death Age31 Spouse's family nameLOCK Spouse's given namesElizabeth
I have tried everything I can think of, including an English MUTTON genealogical forum, Keilor and Tullamarine searches in 1841 etc., to link the Avenel pioneer to Bunbury's purchase without success.
Given that the Avenel pioneer did not arrive until 1846, he could not have been the squatter on Bunbury's purchase in or before 1842.
User stories about Avenel in Victoria - Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia
www.bonzle.com › home › cities, towns and villages › Avenel
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William & Elizabeth Mutton Early Pioneer of Avenel by 'greenfingers' (contact greenfingers about this story)
William & Elizabeth Mutton
These pioneers William Henry Mutton and his wife, Elizabeth, were immigrants, who had arrived at Melbourne, in the ship, Lady Loch, three years previously, in 1846, to seek a new life in a new land which was then known as the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.
W. H. Mutton was born at Callington, Cornwall, on 22 September 1825. He was the son of Robert and Barbara Mutton and grandson of William Kellow, squire of Callington. He was always described, by those who knew him to the end of his days, as a gentleman in every respect, by education and nature. He was twenty four years of age when he arrived in Avenel. His bride Elizabeth Locke, of the Jersey Islands, was of French descent and younger than he. Their long voyage on the sailing ship had been a great adventure for them, a journey to a land so different from everything they had known, where they would make a home for themselves in pioneering conditions.
In 1847, they had settled in Seymour, soon after their arrival in the colony, but had suffered losses in disastrous floods when the Goulburn River burst its banks. They then decided to move further north along the Old Sydney Rd to Hughes Creek, on the Avenel Run, where the Government was offering Crown land for sale. etc.
"MUTTON, OR WAS IT HUTTON?"
Caution.
I HEREBY caution the Public against employing an old scamp named Daniel Watkins. He absconded from my service on the 30th May, after I had paid his passage from Van Diemen's land. and advanced him money besides. A warrant will be applied for immediately for his apprehension, and any constable apprehending him will receive from me One Pound reward. Height, about five feet 8 inches, dark complexion, age about forty-five.
WILLIAM HUTTON, Saltwater River. (P.2, Port Phillip Gazette, 23-5-1840.)
William Hutton later had a run named Gazette consisting of 21760 acres near Mount Rouse, apparently by 23-12-1846 when he was reported to have a squatting licence in the Portland Bay squatting district. However on 23-11-1841, he was close enough to Melbourne to serve on a Supreme Court jury with such as George Evans despite their need to conduct shearing and harvesting. The resident judge stated,"Gentlemen, — The extent of the calendar and
the value of your time at this season of sheep shearing and of harvest, prevent me saying more to you than a very few words." (P.2, Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser, 29-11-1841.)
gazette homestead complex - Victorian Heritage Database
vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/23134/download-report
Heritage Listing
Southern Grampians Shire
Statement of Significance
Last updated on - November 8, 2003
What is significant?
The present Gazette Homestead complex is located about 10kms south-west of Penshurst, on the edge of the
lava flow from Mount Rouse and on the Eumeralla River. The squatting run called Gazette dates from the early
1840s but its homestead was located some distance to the south-west. It was occupied by the Hutton family,
which had extensive and continuing pastoral interests centred on Penshurst and commercial interests in Port
Fairy. The run was divided into a northern half running sheep and a southern half running cattle. The present site
may have been an outstation for the northern half and it includes the original stone shearing shed, sheep dip and
associated but later outbuildings. A substantial manager's house, now in ruins, was built in 1882. The freehold
and leasehold land of Gazette was acquired in 1870 as the last great purchase of the important pastoral
partnership, Thomas Robertson and Sons. After the dissolution of the partnership, John and Mary Robertson
owned Gazette. It was their daughter Eliza with her husband, Dr William Cross, who commissioned the Ballarat
architect, Percival Richards to design the new homestead in 1895. It can be compared directly with another
Robertson property, Kongbool, designed by Richards in 1898. Descendents of Thomas Robertson still occupy
the property. The Gazette Homestead Complex remains substantially intact and in good condition, apart from the
ruinous manager's residence and the dilapidated timber outbuildings associated with the shearing shed.
How is it significant?
The Gazette Homestead Complex is of historical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria and to the
Southern Grampians Shire.
Why is it significant?
The Gazette Homestead Complex is of historical significance as the descendent of one of the earliest squatting
runs in the Hamilton part of 'Australia Felix' and particularly for its long associations with William Hutton and his family and with John George Robertson and his family, now to the fourth generation. The woolshed is of
architectural significance as one of the most complete surviving and still in use (with its historic extensions and alterations, the sheep dip and associated plant, and the nearby outbuildings). The manager's house, although in ruins, demonstrates the role and status of that position. The stables are distinctive for their scale and form. The homestead (with its drive, gardens, orchard and outbuildings) is of architectural significance as an example of very late Victorian architecture, for its setting within a formal but conventional garden and its siting within the broader landscape and as an example of the work of the architect, Percival Richards.
The following article implies that William Hutton came to Victoria from Van Diemen's Land in 1844 but the above evidence and the article itself show that he was here before David moved to the mainland. Frances Johnson's family history, below, shows that William bought land in Melbourne on 1-6-1837.
WILLIAM AND DAVID HUTTON
Keilor road was also known as the Portland road and the mail to Mount Macedon went through Keilor with the Portland Mail by 1851 after originally passing through Tulip Wright's patch that became Bulla*. If the squatter near Steele Creek and the Saltwater River was dispossessed, it makes sense that he would move farther from Melbourne along the same artery. That William Hutton was the squatter whose station was on Bunbury's purchase depends on an assumption that somebody (perhaps a typesetter) thought a handwritten H was M.
* PETER YOUNG'S RAGE.
WILLIAM HUTTON'S ANCESTRY AND FAMILY
This is a fabulous family history provided by Frances Johnson. It indicates that William Hutton and his partner Brown had a run by 1838, probably the one near Keilor. William was still shuttling between Launceston and Melbourne.
In June 1838 a government agent collected the first 12 successful applications
for Pasturage Licences. On 20 July the same year he sent in a further 24
applications, one of which was from William Hutton and his partner, Brown,
who were squatting with 4,000 sheep, 2 horses and 13 free men. The range of
holdings of the 24 applicants, by way of comparison, was up to 8,000 sheep,
1,800 cattle, 13 horses, and 32 free and assigned men.
THE WESTERN DISTRICTS
By 1840 the Hutton family had established themselves in the Western
Districts of “Australia Felix” at Mount Rouse, where their four youngest
children were born. However, William continued to run stock at Saltwater
River, where he is recorded as a settler in 1842. 55
WILLIAM HUTTON & ANN PARTRIDGE
WILLIAM HUTTON
BORN: 1799, Scotland
DIED: 1862 Wangoom, Vic.
MARRIED: 8 May 1829, Hobart, Tas.
ANN PARTRIDGE
BAPTISED: 21 June 1812, Droitwich, Worcestershire
DIED: 1847, Mt Rouse, Vic.
ISSUE: (1) Isabella Anne
(2) William George
(3) Thomas David
(4) Susanna Sarah
(5) Mary Paul
(6) James Charles
(7) Lucy Eleanor
(8) Alexander
(9) Jane Charlotte
(10) Henry Partridge
McNALL.
EventBirth Event registration number794 Registration year1842
Personal information
Family nameMCNALL Given namesJohn SexMale Father's nameMCNALL John Mother's nameSarah (Unknown) Place of birthMOONEE PONDS
EventDeath Event registration number385 Registration year1843
Personal information
Family nameMCNALL Given namesJohn SexMale Father's nameUnknown Mother's nameUnknown (Unknown) Place of birthUNKNOWN Place of deathMOONEE PONDS Age35
There was no death notice for John who was probably the notorious insolvent of 1842 accused of swapping valuable for less valuable property (obviously for cash)so he would be less-damaged by sequestration of his belongings.
Provincial News.
Melbourne Times (Vic. : 1842 - 1843) Saturday 23 July 1842 p 2 Article
DIED.
On the 1st April., 1848, at 9 p. m., at her residence, New Town*, Sarah, relict of the late John McNall, in the 37th year of her age, deeply regretted by a large circle of friends.(P.2, Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser, 3-3-1848.) *Newtown was later renamed Collingwood.
EventDeath Event registration number2087 Registration year1848
Personal information
Family nameMCNALL Given namesSarah SexFemale Father's nameUnknown Mother's nameUnknown (Unknown) Place of birthUNKNOWN Place of deathMELBOURNE Age37 Spouse's family nameMCNALL Spouse's given namesUnknown
John McNall, apparently their son, was at Smythesdale (near Wardi Yallock) by the 1860's so the McNall and Downie families may have been associated in some way. As this John McNall's death is not on Victorian BDM, he may have moved to Bourke N.S.W. He married Maria Moore.
EventMarriage Event registration number3725 Registration year1869
Personal information
Family nameMCNALL Given namesJohn SexUnknown Spouse's family nameMOORE Spouse's given namesMaria
There are only three results for John McNall on Victorian BDM (1843, THE SQUATTER'S DEATH AND 1842 AND 1869-THE BIRTH AND MARRIAGE OF,PRESUMABLY, HIS SON.)
This John McNall was probably the grandson of the Moonee Moonee Ponds squatter.
OBITUARY MR. JOHN McNALL
Western Herald (Bourke, NSW : 1887 - 1970) Friday 16 September 1949 p 8 Article
... OBITUARY MR. JOHN McNALL One of the oldest and highly respected graziers of the north west of the ... State, in the person of Mr. John Mc-Nall, passed away in the Bourke District Hospital on Thursday
on 2018-05-07 04:53:55
Itellya is researching local history on the Mornington Peninsula and is willing to help family historians with information about the area between Somerville and Blairgowrie. He has extensive information about Henry Gomm of Somerville, Joseph Porta (Victoria's first bellows manufacturer) and Captain Adams of Rosebud.
Comments
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!