THE MELBOURNE, ESSENDON, and KILMORE RAILWAY COMPANY.
To he incorporated by Act of Parliament, limiting the liability of Shareholders.
Capital, ?60,000,(With power to increase to ?200,000,)In 5,000 Shares of ?10 each. Deposit, 6s. per Share.
Provisional Directors : '
P. Phelan, Esq., M.L.A., Chairman. Chas, Bradshaw, Esq. John 0. King, Esq.John Brown, Esq. P. M'Cracken, Esq.
John Dinwoodie, Esq. Thomas Napier, Esq. Hugh Glass, Esq. W.H.Tuckett, Esq. Rawdon Greene, Esq. Wm. Yuille, Esq. George Holmes, Esq. E, B. Wight, Esq. Wm, Hoffman, Esq.
Bankers :The Colonial Bank of Australasia.
Solicitor :Frederick John Coote, Esq.
Engineer :Francis Bell, Esq.
Temporary Offices:Victoria chambers, 20 Collins-street west,Where forms of application for shares can be
obtained.

The numbers and paragraphing are mine,to provide easy reference regarding my comments.

1.The present undertaking contemplates the formation of a railway to Flemington and Essendon, with future extension to Broadmeadows and Kilmore. The erection of the new Cattle Market at Flemington and the proximity of the Racecourse, taken in connection with the large and rapidly-increasing population in the neighborhood, leave no doubt that a line of railway, if of easy construction, would be at once self-supporting so far as Essendon, and to this point it is for the time being proposed to limit the enterprise.

2.A very careful survey has been made of the country to the Braybrooke-road, Essendon, and the result, as will be seen from the annexed letter of Mr. Bell, the engineer, is in the highest degree favorable ; in fact, few lines of railway, either at home or here, present such great natural facilities of formation. It is intended to use the Central Railway Depot, at the end of Collins-street, as a terminus, and to traverse the Murray River Railway across the swamp to a point adjoining Mr. Smith's brickworks, from whence the line will proceed directly for the new Cattle-yards and Essendon.

3.In carrying out this arrangement the promoters are induced to believe every facility will be afforded by the Government, while the proprietors of private property on the line are prepared to give the railway the fullest possible support,-Messrs. Glass, Bradshaw, and others having volunteered to surrender the required quantity of land to the Company free of charge. The estimated cost of the formation of the line to Essendon is under ?40,000, but to provide against all contingencies the capital has been fixed at ?50,000, with power of increase to ?200,000, so soon as the Company find it expedient to undertake the extension to Kilmore.

4.When such an extension does take place-and it certainly cannot be long delayed-the Company may reasonably expect, in addition to tho passenger traffic, to be the carriers of a large proportion of the stock and agricultural produce which comes to Melbourne from that direction. It will,besides, have the effect, of
rendering available the granite quarries in the neighborhood of Broadmeadows, which are at present inoperative from tho high cost of cartage.

5.On the opening of the Geelong and Murray River Lines, the railway now contemplated will likewise afford the facility of taking stock coming to town by these routes direct to the Cattle Market. It is intended to apply to Parliament without delay for an Act to incorporate the Company and bestow upon them tho requisite powers for constructing the railway; and, considering the perfect unanimity that prevails among all parties interested, the Provisional Directors have every hope that it will be passed without opposition.

6.To the Provisional Directors of the Melbourne, Essendon, and Kilmore Railway.
Gentlemen, I have the honor of submitting to you the plan and sections of a portion of the line of railway (as far as Essendon) of the proposed line from Melbourne to Kilmore. It is intended to use the Mount Alexander Railway for a length of 1 mile 34 chains, or to the end of the viaduct to the Saltwater Lagoon, and the length of the line from the junction, as now laid down to the proposed terminus, for the present, at Essendon, is
3 miles 3 furlongs and 7 chains. The total length, from the centre of the terminal station, Collins-street,
is 4 miles 6 furlongs and 11 1/2 chains. Ground of such a favorable nature for tho formation of a line of railway, or one so easy of construction, I have seldom or ever seen for the same distance out of any city. My estimate for the works alone of this length, including stations, engine shed, storeroom, forge, offices, &c, as well as sleepers, ballast, and laying the line, is under 40,000L., or about 11,600L. per mile.

7.The heaviest cutting is 19 foot 0 inches in depth, as shown on the section ; it is mostly composed of excellent stone ballast, which will be required for the line ; this cutting contains about 25,000 cube yards of excavation. The remainder of the cuttings are very light, the total number of cube yards on the whole line being about 40,000. The steepest gradient is one in 72 for 6 furlongs, and the quickest curve is one of 30 chains' radius. There are to be two road bridges, and the culverts are very few, and of a small size.

8.It is proposed to have three stations :-The first at the now Cattle-yards, on the road to the Racecourse,-the course being only about half-a-mile from the station ; the second to be near the Moonee Ponds Turnpike; and the terminus, for the present, will be at the road leading to Braybrooke, close to the Farmers' Hotel at Essendon, and the centre of this populous district.
I have the honor to be, Gentlemen,Your most obedient servant,FRANCIS BELL.Melbourne, November 8,1858.
(The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Monday 15 November 1858 p 8 Advertising)

COMMENTS ABOUT DETAILS ABOVE.
Paragraph 2. BRAYBROOKE RD,properly Braybrook road, was today's Buckley St which was part of the earliest route to Geelong. Braybrook Township, south of Clarendon St.,Avondale Heights, straddled the Saltwater River, being like many early townships, partly in two parishes,in this case Doutta Galla and Cut Cut Paw. By 1850 Joseph Raleigh at Maribyrnong and Michael Lynch at Footscay had enabled shorter routes so the township never took off but the original name for Buckley St west persisted for about three decades.

Paragraph 3. PROPRIETORS OF PRIVATE LAND.
John Robert Murphy was the grantee of much land between Dynon Rd and Macaulay Rd,through which the Geelong/ Mt Alexander and Murray River railway passed and the Essendon line was to pass. The occupant of much of what was called Kensington Park from 1855 was Peter McCracken,one of the provisional directors, who will be discussed later. Peter conducted a dairy farm there while his Ardmillan mansion (1857?) was being built and for a few years afterwards until high labour costs and destruction of his haystacks by fire caused him not to renew the lease. W.S.Cox then leased the former dairy and Edward Byam Wight's land south of Derby St (today's Holland Park)for his Kensington Park Racecourse until Kensington Park was subdivided in 1882, causing Cox's move to Feehan's Farm at Moonee Valley.

From Macaulay Rd to Racecourse Rd,the Essendon line was to pass through a Government Township in which James McConnell, Wight, J.T.Smith, George Scarborough and John Rankin (all of whom, with Peter McCracken, are recalled by street names) were prominent grantees. They, as well as John Robert Murphy, no doubt had shares in the company.

From Racecourse Rd to Kent St was the Flemington Estate owned by Hugh Glass, who with Peter McCracken was one of the principal shareholders. The next estate was Robert McCracken's Ailsa which he bought in about 1864 but may have been leasing earlier. The triangle fronting Ascot Vale Rd (probably including the railway line) had been conveyed to a member of the Glass family.

Land on the west side of Ascot Vale Rd up to Moonee Ponds was known as Glass's Paddock so Hugh must have bought it from the grantees (titles not researched.) James McConnell (see Kensington) was a co-grantee, with Ozanne, of the land between Burns/Winchester/Gladstone St and Derby St in today's Moonee Ponds. Peter McCracken (Ardmillan) and his brother-in-law,James Robertson (Trinifour) owned the land from Derby St to the line of Inglebrae Court.

Not much negotiation had been required to ensure the support of private landowners:"Messrs. Glass, Bradshaw, and others having volunteered to surrender the required quantity of land to the Company free of charge."



Paragraph 4.The GRANITE QUARRIES NEAR BROADMEADOWS were in the vicinity of Woodlands Historic Park, which I'm certain has information on the subject.

Paragraph 6. The SALTWATER LAGOON or WEST MELBOURNE SWAMP was the reason early travellers to the Geelong area needed to take the long route (Buckley St) to cross the Saltwater River at Solomon's Ford. Dynon Rd was originally known as Swamp Road. The Wikipedia entry for WEST MELBOURNE SWAMP (below) seems to have only one mistake; Dynon Rd connected with Victoria St and it was Footscray Road that connected with Dudley St.Brown's Hill was near the intersection of Swamp Rd and Lloyd St.

The 'West Melbourne Swamp also known as Batman's Swamp, was a large saltwater wetland located to the west of the city of Melbourne, Victoria. It was drained under the design and supervision of Public Works Department (Victoria) engineer William Thwaites (engineer) from around 1890, and became the site of a canal, the outlet to Moonee Ponds Creek, railway yards and some of Melbourne's docks including Appleton Dock.[1]

The swamp was an important resource for Aboriginal people,[2]

Surveyor Charles Grimes, was the first to observe the swamp, when he climbed a nearby hill during his 1803 voyage to chart Port Philip Bay. Originally known as Batman's Swamp, after pioneer settler John Batman, who built a house at the base of the nearby Batman's Hill in April 1836, where he lived until his death in 1839.[3] In 1841, George McCrae (son of diarist Georgiana McCrae) described it as: a real lake, intensely blue, nearly oval, and full of the clearest salt water.[4] The lagoon was also described as; having a bottom of solid blue clay and laying at the high water level while the flats surrounding it were about one metre above high tide... [5]

Drainage of the swamp was considered from the mid century, but did not commence in ernest until about 1877, with a steam operated pump set up near Brown's Hill at South Kensington, and drains dug along Swamp Road, which was later reconstructed as Dynon Road connecting to Dudley Street, West Melbourne. In 1907 the Footscray contractor Michael Walsh won a large state government contract to undertake the drainage. In the depression of the 1930s, the swamp margins and the bottom of Dudley Street became the site of a shantytown of unemployed known as Dudley Flats.[6]

See also:
Boxing - Entry - eMelbourne - The Encyclopedia of ...
www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00224b.htm
'Snowy' Baker, sportsman and promoter, built the West Melbourne Stadium on swampy land in Dudley Street in 1912, before selling it to John Wren in 1915.

Paragraph 8.
MOONEE PONDS TURNPIKE. In 1858, the Central Roads Board controlled toll gates because the district road boards that led to the municipalities of Essendon, Keilor and Bulla were not established for another half a decade and the Broadmeadows one was just starting. The Moonee Ponds turnpike was named because of its proximity to the creek, residents of the local area being more likely at that time to be described as residents of Doutta Galla rather than Moonee Ponds- unless they lived right near the creek.

The Turnpike would have been located at the corner of today's Mt Alexander and Pascoe Vale Rds with fees being collected from those veering left to Keilor, Bulla and the diggings and those heading north past the old Young Queen inn at Pascoeville to Yuroke, and via Cliffords Rd at Somerton to the new Sydney road.

FARMERS'HOTEL.This hotel still stands at the south west corner of Mt Alexander Rd and Buckley St,Essendon,not far from the station. It was established by Peter Pitches, after whom Pitches St just to the south was named.Later it was owned under the name of the Farmers' Arms Hotel by William Chadwick, an early licensee of the Broadmeadows Hotel (near the bridge in today's Westmeadows)who ran it for a decade before moving to Benalla and building a hotel of the same name there. (Victoria and Its Metropolis, and two Benalla histories kindly lent to me by former Essendon Mayor, Dorothy Fullarton, while I was researching Ardmillan Rd, Moonee Ponds.)


ABOUT THE SOLICITOR,ENGINEER AND DIRECTORS.
* =DON'T YOU DARE, MELBOURNE HUNT! (NORTH AND NORTH WEST OF MELBOURNE,VIC., AUST.)

Provisional Directors :
P. Phelan, Esq., M.L.A., Chairman. Partner with Owen Connor as a spirit merchant and land speculator (such as in the parish of Yangardook), Patrick Phelan was a member for West Bourke who lost his seat in parliament and "Spring Park" (Melway 15 G8)due to insolvency. (See KEILOR PIONEERS:DEAD MEN DO TELL TALES, Angela Evans.)

Chas. Bradshaw, Esq. A grantee in Hawstead, between Glass St and Woodland St, Essendon, and speculator in a portion of what became Temperance Township in Ascot Vale West (site of John Wren's racecourse, Volume 36 folio 306), Charlesand his(brother?) became insolvent too.

Extract from my EARLY LANDOWNERS:PARISH OF DOUTTA GALLA.
FLETCHER?S GRANT.
A parish map describes this triangle as ?3, no section?. It should really be ?section 3, no allotment number?. William Fletcher also received grants for the land between Maribyrnong Rd and Gladstone St, running east from Scotia St to the Moonee Ponds Creek.
In 1853 Andrew Binns bought 6 acres (including the Racecourse Hotel site and extending almost to Duncan St) from Fletcher. He was forced to sell it to Stephen Tully the following year because of money he owed. [10 247, 26 243]
In 1854, The Bradshaws and Charles Mossman bought 10 acres each at the north east corner, with Milton St indicating the boundary between the two blocks. [13 188, 27 349]
On 30-8-1855, Watson, Wight and Jennings (owners of allotments 21 and 20 at Kensington) paid L.20 691/5/- for the 218 acres 31 perches that remained after they?d sold 79 acres, on the first of May, to the Bradshaws, whose payment was made directly to Fletcher as the.Kensington trio?s part payment for their 218 acres. Part of the deal was that a road be reserved around the Bradshaws? 79 acres. This was the origin of Union Rd, which was not a Government road; the road approximating the course of Francis St, to be called Division Rd, was never built.
Also in 1855, Joseph and Charles Bradshaw partitioned their 79 acres with Joseph taking the part north of a line indicated by Station St (except for the two 10 acre blocks.)
Charles sold 5 acres covering the middle third of the block between Roxburgh and St Leonard Sts to James Butchart, who reconveyed it to Charles at the end of 1859. This was probably Thomas Brunton?s land later on. Charles mortgaged the rest of his southern portion to William Hoffman.
Other mortgages (in 1859 and 1860) indicate that Charles had purchased the 108 acres, containing Dunlop Ave and Duncan St, between this portion and Andrew Binns? 6 acres.
[He did, on 17-7-1855, paying the Kensington trio 115 pounds per acre. 36 306.]
He also seems to have bought Mossman?s 10 acres east of Milton St.

In 1860, Charles sold small blocks to John Linton (on Mossman?s purchase), George Clissold (west of Clissold St), F.Wood (south west corner of North St), and J.Willman (site of Ascot Vale Rd shops). He also sold 20 acres* containing Sandown Rd and Wisewould St to William Kaye, and 79 ? acres, containing Dunlop Avenue and Ascot St, to F.A.Stratford. [93 577, 93 578, 96 110, 96 111, 100 397, 101 299]
(*Joseph had probably sold this to Charles for a ridiculously low price to prevent creditors laying claim to it. He?d sold Charles the 20 acres containing the racecourse railway for 5 pounds and Charles sold it to Kaye for 546 times that amount!)
These maps show:
(a) The partition of the Bradshaws? 79 acre purchase [A= Joseph, B= Charles] and the land conveyed to Stratford and Kaye.
(b) The land north of ?Windy Hill? granted to the Bradshaws.


This frenzy of selling by Charles resulted from his property, including blocks at Hawstead (above right), being assigned for the benefit of creditors in July 1860. Joseph?s land between Maribyrnong Rd and the line of Station St (called Division St in 1855) was conveyed to William Hoffman by the official assignee of the insolvent Joseph Bradshaw in consideration of money owing and due, and it became known as Hoffman?s Paddock. (This did not include the 10 acre blocks separated by Milton St.) Joseph also lost ownership of Glenarthur (western half of Greenvale Reservoir) to Charles Hutton for the same reason. By 1875, Bagot, Croker and Stevenson had houses on Maribyrnong Rd, between Ascot Vale Rd and the railway. (Map on P. 15.)

John 0. King, Esq. Nothing known.

John Brown, Esq. Nothing known.

P. M'Cracken, Esq. See*.Peter lived at Stewarton (Gladstone Park north of the Lackenheath Dr. corner) 1846-1855,the dairy at Kensington and Ardmillan until about 1871, when he sold the part of Ardmillan east of the line to Taylor and the part west of it to Puckle,the minister's son who subdivided it with William Hudson buying Hudson's Paddock (from Mantell St almost to Millsom St, on which Peter's mansion sat. Peter moved to Powlett St, East Melbourne to live at 104 Gipps St.

East Melbourne, Gipps Street 104
East Melbourne 104 Gipps Street
Surnames Clark Dodd


1973 - 104 Gipps Street. Photo by Winston Burchett

Date built: 1869c
Architect: John James Clark
Builder: George Dodd
First owner: John James Clark
Description:
The residence at 104 Gipps Street is a two storey rendered Brick townhouse with a refined almost Regency air. It is architecturally significant as a fine and unusual example of a nineteenth century townhouse and is unique for the open work cast iron panels on the verandah columns which although common in Sydney are otherwise unknown in Melbourne.

History:
104 Gipps Street is historically significant for its association with J J Clark, one of Australia's most important architects in the second half of the nineteenth century. Clark is best known for his designs for public buildings in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and this is an unusual example of a private residence designed by him.Its significance is increased by it being Clark's own house.

Peter McCracken, farmer and brewer, was the next owner of the house. He and his brother, Robert, were early pioneers, arriving in Melbourne in January 1841 aboard the Nimrod. He married Grace Robertson in 1846. Peter wrote in a letter, 'Having lost a great deal of money by the Essendon Railway in the beginning of the year 1871 had to sell out the Ardmillan [Moonee Ponds] property and remove to East Melbourne on the 4th May 1871.' The McCracken family were heavily involved in the formation of the Essendon Football Club which played its first seasons at Robert's property, Ailsa, in Ascot Vale. When the club joined the V.F.A in 1878 it had no suitable local ground and moved to the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, probably at the suggestion of Peter McCracken. East Melbourne continued to be its home ground until 1922 when the site was ear marked for the Jolimont railway yards. The club then moved to Windy Hill.

Owners and occupiers:
1869 - 1871 John James and Polly Clark
1871 - ? Peter McCracken and family

Sources:
Heritage Council of Victoria
Andrew Dodd, PhD Thesis, Faculty of Architecture, University of Melbourne.
First Families 2001: http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/10421/20041220-0000/www.firstfamilies2001....
Ray Gibb, email 27/09/13

John Dinwoodie, Esq. Noted in title research as providing mortgages in the parish of Doutta Galla,probably in relation to Aitken's Estate or part of Millar's farm on the south side of Buckley St,Essendon.

Thomas Napier, Esq. See Thomas Napier's Australian Dictionary of Biography entry. Thomas was the grantee of much of Airport West and part of Essendon Aerodrome south of Fraser St between about Bowes Avenue and Treadwell St/Nomad Rd. Henry Stephenson later bought it and called it "Niddrie", a name that later drifted south! Thomas Napier was mainly associated in the area with Strathmore, having purchased 100 acres between Woodland St and Glenbervie/ Upland Rds. N.B.SCOOP. See * about the suicide of Thomas Napier Jnr.

Hugh Glass, Esq. Hugh Glass was a huge land speculator, perhaps bigger than Big Clarke at one time. He even received the grant for crown allotment 14 Wannaeue between First Avenue and Boneo Rd at Rosebud, probably as a holding paddock for his sheep hoofing it to Melbourne from Gippsland. He spent a fortune on his fabulous mansion and gardens fit for a king in today's Travancore and this expense, scab in his sheep, a painful illness, and probably debts caused by the railway failing in 1864,led to his death from an overdose of medication. See Australian Dictionary of Biography entry.

W.H.Tuckett, Esq. Nothing known.

Rawdon Greene, Esq.Son of William Pomeroy Greene who received the grant for "Woodlands" (Melway 177 K8) at Bulla in 1843. A street in Bulla township is named after Rawdon and the diagonal west end of Somerton Rd was named after the family (but unfortunately the e was left off the end of the name through countless editions of Melway.)

Wm. Yuille, Esq. With James Purves and Charles Fisher,the Yuille brothers occupy prime positions in the history of the Australian turf. They held squatting runs in several parts of Victoria, such as near Mt Eliza.

George Holmes, Esq. It's years since I've seen Lenore Frost but she's still helping me. George Holmes was said to have lived at the foot of Holmes Rd, Moonee Ponds. I think he was involved in the construction of Mount Alexander (Keilor) Rd in 1854.

These extracts come from several of Lenore's posts. Lyttleton is in New Zealand.

Can someone help me unravel some Holmes people, please?

George Holmes of the Lyttelton Railway fame, built a mansion in Moonee Ponds, near Melbourne in the 1850s. After he left for Lyttelton the house was subsequently occupied by John Holmes, barrister-at-law, from 1870-1872. I think it is the same barrister who appears in a court case representing a George Holmes who is in New Zealand. I can only assume they are the same John and George at this stage, don't really know.

In 1880 John Holmes, barrister, married Gertrude Isabella Holmes, daughter of John Holmes, late of Christchurch, NZ, formerly of Huntley, Canada. They married in East Melbourne.
--------
I believe George and John were born in Ireland. John went to Canada, George I think was less settled. He seems to have worked on railway engineering, and talks about having been in Canada, America and England, so he is a heck of a lot harder to pin down in the records than the brother John.
-------
Adele,

You are a genius!!!! Now I know that the John Holmes, barrister who married Gertrude Holmes was her first cousin, and a pretty fair chance to be the same John Holmes who resided in uncle George Holmes' house in Moonee Ponds for a few years.

The George Holmes's may have intended to return because they don't seem to have sold the property until 1876, but then George died in 1877.
(John Holmes, died 1907, MHR Christchurch [Archive] - British ...
www.british-genealogy.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-51712.html)

CONTRACT ACCEPTED.George Holmes and Co., extras of contract for erection of bridge oven Saltwater River,
?2,052. (The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Wednesday 22 September 1858 p 5 Article)

CONTRACTS ACCEPTED George Holmes and Co., to make three and a half miles of plank road between Woodend and Carlsruhe ; ( The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Saturday 5 April 1856 p 5 Article)

George worked on Melbourne's streets as well and copped a fine despite testimony that his "dangerous cutting" had been fenced.

STREET EXCAVATION. - George Holmes, a contractor, was summoned at the City Court yesterday, on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Nicolas, with leaving an open cutting in William-street and Lonsdale-street completely unprotected. Mr. Stooke stated that he was driving through the street in a gig on Wednesday night last, at eight o'clock, and as the cutting was entirely unprotected he drove right into it. (etc.)
(The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Tuesday 12 February 1856 p 5 Article)

E, B. Wight, Esq. Edward Byam Wight was the grantee of the crown allotment on the west side of Footcray (now Kensington) Rd, Kensington. He called his property "The Ridge",this name recalled by a street named The Ridgeway. He donated land for the Holy Trinity C. of E. original purpose-built church at the south corner of Wight and McCracken Sts and his descendants donated land for the new church at the north east corner of The Ridge when it was subdivided. Wight was involved in land speculation in the future Temperance Township at Ascot Vale West. (See Charles Bradshaw.)

Wm, Hoffman, Esq.William Hoffman was a pork butcher who was granted two crown allotments on the east side of Hoffmans Rd extending east halfway to Lincoln Rd, Essendon, where it adjoined Mar Lodge. He did not settle there but leased it to Alexander Earle McCracken, brother of Robert and Peter who was prominent in Agricultural Societies before returning to the family's Ardmillan Estate in (Ardwell?)Scotland because of his wife's ill-health in about 1859.

Solicitor :Frederick John Coote, Esq. Coote St in Kensington is named after Frederick. His house at 11 Footscray (now Kensington) Rd (now 18 Henry St)was almost directly across the road from Wight's homestead on The Ridge.

Extract from my EARLY LANDOWNERS:PARISH OF DOUTTA GALLA.
ALLOTMENT 20.
This was granted to William Highett who came to the Port Phillip District to manage the Union Bank. Highett also received a grant in the parish of Yuroke near Craigieburn Rd.
His land dealings fill many pages of the lands title index; no doubt many were in Highett. The entrance in Dynon Rd between Kensington Rd and the railway bridge is actually Highett St.
Not long afterwards, Highett sold allotment 20 to lawyer, Henry Jennings, after whom Henry St was probably named. In 1854, Jennings subdivided the land, selling the land north east of Derby St in 78 lots. The main buyers were F.J.Coote, William and David Winder, and John Cosgrave. Coote was a partner in Jennings? legal firm and Cosgrave was treasurer of the Corporation of Melbourne. William Winder was a brickmaker and David Winder had purchased the land between Stubbs St and the Macaulay Station site in 1849.
Coote bought most of the land between 18 Henry St and Derby St, which also fronted Kensington Rd, and lots 3-7 (the shop area between Gower St and Hampden Rd). The Winders bought nearly all the Macaulay Rd frontage between Gower St and Kensington Rd. Cosgrave bought land on both sides of Gower St from Derby St up to the church and school sites as well as north east of the latter. Land near the Holy Rosary church site was bought by Thomas Lilley (who owned it for 18 years), and Joseph Hore (who sold to John Brooks in 1857.) Across Gower St, Josh Hore, T.Gregory and T.Stubbs bought blocks that they sold to the McMeikans in 1859.
The McMeikans bought land from Cosgrave in 1864 and Coote in 1868 to extend their property to Bellair St. In 1863, J.T.Smith bought all of Cosgrave?s land east of Gower St (sold to Durham in 1879). Smith also bought six of Cosgrave?s blocks south west of the church site, Robert Wallace buying the other 9 blocks (to Derby St) in 1869.
Durham subdivided his land fairly quickly; Munro?s 1884-5 plan of allotment 19 subdivision shows the nearby houses of Durham and Clarke (manager of the Apollo Candle Works in Swamp i.e. Dynon Rd) with Mr Dixon in the old McMeikan house. In 1888, the two rows of terrace houses were added.
In 1871, Frederick John Coote bought lot 68, between 18 Henry St and Kensington Rd.
It had been owned by Henney (1854-65) and Warnock.
The heritage status of 18 Henry St has been significantly upgraded recently. The house had been built by 1867, when a picture was produced showing this house and those of Peter Wilson (church site), McMeikan and Cosgrave (school site). This picture clearly shows lot 68 is fenced off from Coote?s property.

F.J.Coote?s house is in the foreground of this picture (C.1866.)
Serving as a dairy and the residence of Richard Nelson for the first four decades of the 1900?s, the house was called 11 Footscay Rd, from 1893 until 1915.
This map shows original and later owners of lots in Jennings? subdivision.



South West of Derby St.
In 1858, when the railway to Mt Alexander was started, Henry Jennings sold land south of the railway to Lowry, Allbeury, Stuart and Merrick, and the land between the railway and Derby St to E.B.Wight. Land now occupied by the flats was subdivided by Wight in the 1880?s. The Apollo Hotel seems to have been on the north side of Swamp (Dynon) Rd, between Kensington Rd and the bridge over Dynon Rd, with the Half way Hotel near the bridge or perhaps further east.

The first of these maps (from 1875) shows the house of John Rankin as well as those of Coote and Wight. The second (from 1890) shows the last two houses. Rankin?s house had been demolished by then.


Engineer :Francis Bell, Esq. See*.

Francis Bell (engineer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Francis Bell
FrancisBell.jpg
Francis Bell 1872
Born c1813
Ireland
Died 3 September 1879
Petersham, New South Wales
Nationality Irish/Australian
Spouse(s) Jane Eliza Livingstone
Parents John Bell, Belfast, Ireland
Engineering career
Engineering discipline civil engineer
Significant projects Botany watershed,
Significant design Hawthorn Bridge, Hawthorn Railway Bridge, Melbourne and Essendon Railway
Francis Bell CE MInstCE (c1813 - 9 September 1879), was a British railway engineer, who worked extensively in Australia, and was involved in a number of important railway construction projects and bridges.

Bell commenced his engineering career in 1837, building railways in England and Scotland, and also worked under Sir John Macneill MInstCE, on the Southern and Western Railway in Ireland. By 1853 Bell had migrated to Australia, and in January 1954, in Victoria, is the engineer on the ?1,000,000 prospectus for the Geelong?Ballarat railway line. He was also listed as the surveyor for the Colonial Insurance Company, and there are a number of tender advertisements, for reinstatement for damaged buildings. In 1855, he presented a well received paper on the merits of iron truss bridges to the Victorian Institute for the Advancement of Science (later the Royal Society of Victoria). Other works he designed included 17 miles of the railway from Newcastle to Maitland, New South Wales prior to 1858, the design and construction of the Melbourne and Essendon Railway in 1859, and works for the Yarra Yarra Mining Company,[1] and Sandridge Lagoon, Port Melbourne.

Bell was responsible for a number of fairly similar wrought iron lattice truss road and rail bridges, several of which were fabricated from components supplied by Messrs. Lloyds, Fosters, and Company's Wednesbury, Old Park Ironworks, Staffordshire. The West Maitland Bridge was the sixth bridge this firm exported for Bell, with the others including the Hawthorn Railway Bridge and Hawthorn Road Bridge over the River Yarra, in Melbourne, and the Gundagai, Pitnacree, and Dunmore bridges in New South Wales.[2]

His expertise was sought for a number of Melbourne civic works projects as he gave evidence to the Victorian Royal Commissions on the River and Harbour Trust in 1858 and 1860, and to the Select Committees on the Railway Department in 1860 and on the Central Railway Terminus in 1861 and in the same year was a member of the Royal Society of Victoria's Sanitary Committee.

Bell was City Engineer for the City of Sydney, Australia from about 1871 to 1879, a member of the Sewerage and Health Board,[3] and was responsible for improving the storage capacity of the Botany watershed and planned a system for sewering the city in the direction of Bondi.[4]

Bell was the sixth son of John Bell, of Belfast, Ireland. He was married on 17 June 1858 at the Cathedral, Newcastle, New South Wales to Jane Eliza Livingstone, youngest daughter of Captain Alexander Livingstone of Newcastle.[5] In May 1872 he was living in St. Leonards, on the North Shore of Sydney, when his wife gave birth to a daughter.[6] His youngest daughter married Charles Wade, who, amongst other things, became premier of NSW in 1907, was the Agent-General for NSW in 1917, and was knighted in 1918.

Francis Bell died in 1879 at his residence in Petersham, New South Wales, and was buried at the Necropolis.

References[edit]
Jump up ^ Yarra Yarra Mining Company prospectus
Jump up ^ "To the Editor of the Herald.". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) (NSW: National Library of Australia). 16 December 1868. p. 6. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
Jump up ^ "OBITUARY.". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) (NSW: National Library of Australia). 11 September 1879. p. 8. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
Jump up ^ Botany Wetlands, Sydney Water S170 Heritage Register
Jump up ^ "Family Notices.". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) (NSW: National Library of Australia). 10 July 1858. p. 7. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
Jump up ^ "Family Notices.". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) (NSW: National Library of Australia). 18 May 1872. p. 7. Retrieved 16 September 2011.


MELBOURNE AND ESSENDON RAILWAY.
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Monday 25 July 1859 p 5 Article.

MELBOURNE AND ESSENDON RAILWAY.
The ceremony of cutting the first turf of the Melbourne and Essendon Railway was performed by His Excellency the Governor, in the presence of a large concourse of people, at Flemington, on Saturday last.

As the digitisation of the lengthy article has been corrected by lthomas (possibly for a book),I do not feel justified in using it here. However, it is of great interest in that ambitions to expand the line (as in the North Eastern Railway of 1872) are mentioned.


Tho contractors for the construction of the Melbourne and Essendon Railway, are pushing on tho works with praiseworthy speed. Although only two months have elapsed since the first sod of the line was turned by the Governor, fully one quarter of tho entire distance of the line has been completed. The company's engineer is now engaged in surveying the country between the temporary terminus at Essendon and Kilmore.
(The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Wednesday 21 September 1859 p 4 Article)

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Monday 3 September 1860 p 6 Article
... MELBOURNE AND ESSENDON RAILWAY COMPANY. The second annual meeting of shareholders in the Melbourne ... and Essendon Railway Company was held on Friday, at the offices, Elizabeth street,with Edward Byam Wight in the chair. the engineer reported that there was a hold up re the supply of rails etc. but
" There are five stations and platforms erected, at a cost of ?2,600 : " The first-Kensington Station, 2 miles 4 chains from Spencer-street terminus." Second-Newmarket Station, at 2 miles 42 chains." Third-Ascot Vale Station, at 3 miles 31 chains. " Fourth- Moonee Ponds Station, at 4 miles 8 chains." And the last at Essendon, 4 miles 68 chains.

The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864) Wednesday 24 October 1860 p 2 Article
... Melbourne and Essendon rail- way was opened on Monday last.

The railway could have been sold to the government in 1863 and there was little sympathy for the company whose line was due to close by the end of July.
(The Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas. : 1835 - 1880) Saturday 9 July 1864 p 3 Article.)