THREE PIONEERING TULLAMARINE FAMILIES.
WHAT'S THIS GOT TO DO WITH TULLAMARINE?
This is not a good time for Victorian BDM to be offline due to scheduled maintenance!

BEECH.--On the 17th January, 1908 at 214 Drummond street south, Mary, relict of John Beech,late of Toolamba;aged 79. Colonist of 68 years. (P.4, The Ballarat Star, 18-1-1908.)

BEECH.—On the 1st inst, at his residence, Toolamba, John Beech, one of the earliest settlers of Victoria, aged 60 years. Deeply regretted. Wiltshire papers please copy.(P.1, Argus, 10-4-1882.)

I recently discovered that the Lady of the Lake Hotel was burnt down between February and October of 1961, and that the Beech Tree Hotel was operating by the latter month. Tonight I found that a fellow called Powell had won the tender to carry mail to the Beech Tree in 1859. John Beech had earlier run a store on the site of this hotel but as it had a different name, which I might never find again*, the hotel would seem to have been operating by that time.**

*WOW, FIRST GO!
Lost, from Barkers Creek Diggings, in November last, two red walking bullocks, one branded AT off rump', 895 off thigh, JW near shoulder, and one stag steer, branded ON off rump.
Any one bringing the same to John Beech, Wiltshire Store, Mount Macedon Road, will receive the above reward.
JAMES PURVIS. 9th February, 1852. (P.3, Argus, 10-2-1852.)

**The Argus Saturday 9 April 1859 p 5 Article.)

It was certainly operating in 1860 (as was the Inverness, just beyond the north end of today's N-S runway at Melbourne Airport.) The Lady of the Lake was obviously closed but the O'Nial girls watched the procession through the Cape Broom hedge.

Google BEECH TREE, TULLAMARINE, click on this site and you'll get the right page.
(Following Burke and Wills Across Australia: A Touring Guide
https://books.google.com.au/books?isbn=1486301606
Dave Phoenix - 2015 - ‎Science
Large trees alive with cockatoos and colourful parrots lined the route, which ... the Bulla Road, passing by the Beech Tree Hotel and Tullamarine village, where a ..)


As John Beech's death notice described him as one of the earliest settlers of Victoria, I found details of his marriage which, as the death notices show, gave the wrong name for his wife, unless she had the given names of Margaret AND Mary.

John Beech wed Margaret Purvis in 1846 at Church of England St James, Melbourne.
(http://www.oocities.org/vic1847/b/b10.html?201730)


Mary Beech (Purvis)
Birthdate: 1828 (80)
Birthplace: Cookstown, Cookstown, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Death: January 17, 1908 (80)
Ballarat City, Victoria, Australia
Place of Burial: Buried at Ballarat New Cemetery/Victoria, Australia
Immediate Family:
Daughter of Henry Purvis and Margaret Purvis
Wife of John Beech
Mother of Martha Groves; Robert Beech; James Beech; John Beech; William Edmund Beech and 3 others
Sister of Henry Purvis
(Mary Beech (Purvis) (1828 - 1908) - Genealogy - Geni
https://www.geni.com/people/Mary-Beech/6000000053386990844)

Nothing ties the above John and Mary Beech to Tullamarine EXCEPT FOR MARY'S MAIDEN NAME, PURVIS.

My 1999 Melway is useless as a road directory in any area near Tullamarine because early subdivision lots sold by J.F.L.Foster and J.P.Fawkner have been transposed on those maps, especially between Tullamarine Junction and Grants Lane. Thomas Purvis bought about 15 acres (Melway 5 parts F-G 3) from Foster (volume 30 folio 772) and ON 1-5-1851, John Beech bought land (possibly about 30 of the 56 or so acres always associated with the hotel) adjoining the Purvis land to the north in Melway 5 F-G 10.part 11 (volume M folio 481.)

Thomas Purvis also bought lots 14, 47 and 28 of J.Carre Riddell's Camieston Estate in 5 F-G 8.

A member of the Hendry family was Tullamarine's first official postmaster. (ELECTORAL REGISTRARS: Tullamarine - James Hendry, postmaster.(P.6, Argus, 23-4-1864.)

MARRIED.
By special license, by the Rev. Thomas Odell, James Purvis, of Tullamarine, to Christina Hendry, youngest daughter of Mr. James Hendry, of Perth, Scotland.(P.4, Argus, 4-7-1855.)

James Purvis was the four years younger brother of Mary who married John Beech. (Parents Henry and Margaret.)
Name James Purvis
Born 1832 Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Gender Male
Died 1915 New Zealand
Person ID I18688 Purvis Family Tree
Last Modified 24 Jun 2007
Father Henry Purvis, b. 1798, Cookstown, Derryloran, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland d. 10 May 1870, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (Age 72 years)
Mother Margaret Parkes, b. 1799, d. 1871, Victoria, Australia (Age 72 years)
Married 1817 County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Family ID F7455 Group Sheet
Family Christina Hendry, b. 1835
Married 1855 Victoria, Australia
Children
1. Child Purvis, b. 1856, d. 185?/6?
2. David Alexander Purvis, b. 1857, Tullamarine, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia d. 1927 (Age 70 years)
3. James Henry Purvis, b. 1859, Tullamarine, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia d. 1873 (Age 14 years)
4. William John Purvis, b. 1862, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia(Age 3 years)
5. Ellen Purvis, b. 1864, New Zealand d. 1866 (Age 2 years)
6. Mary Christina Purvis, b. 1866, New Zealand d. 1???
7. Annie Jane Purvis, b. 1868, New Zealand d. 1???
8. Minnie Purvis, b. 1869, d. 1???
9. Elizabeth Purvis, b. 1871, New Zealand d. 1???
10. Henry Thomas Purvis, b. 10 Aug 1873, East Taieri, Otago, New Zealand d. 1873, East Taieri, Otago, New Zealand
11. James Purvis, b. 1874, New Zealand d. 1874 (Age 0 years)
+ 12. Samuel Purvis, b. 1876, New Zealand d. 19??
13. Child Purvis, b. 187?/8?

WHO'D WANT TO BE A FAMILY HISTORIAN?
More may be discovered.

The Beech Tree was advertised for lease by tender in 1861 but the name of the owner was not supplied, more likely that of an agent. Every mention of the hotel in the 1860's apart from said advertisement was in relation to elections and did not mention the proprietor until 1866 when James Tenniel was running the hotel. James died in 1874 and his widow married Noah Holland, a drover who used to bring cattle from Lancefield to the Newmarket saleyards, spelling them overnight on his 6 acre block,a tad south of directly opposite the Beech Tree, which is now the 7 acre Melrose Drive Reserve, Handlen's acre block having been added at the north side of the reserve some time after 1971.

The owner in 1861 was John Beech who had started his move north according to his timeline. John's marriage in 1846 is not included. John's age at the time of each birth is given.

John Beech's Timeline
1822 April 1, 1822 Birth of John Frome, Somerset, England, United Kingdom

December 22, 1822 Baptism of John, Corsley, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom

1848 April 27, 1848 Age 26 Birth of Martha Groves

1850 October 24, 1850 Age 28 Birth of Robert Beech Brunswick, Moreland City, Victoria, Australia

1853 1853 Age 30 Birth of James Beech Victoria, Australia

1855 May 5, 1855 Age 33 Birth of John Beech Tullamarine, Victoria, Australia

1861 August 8, 1861 Age 39 Birth of William Edmund Beech Woodend, Macedon Ranges Shire, Victoria, Australia

1863 1863 Age 40 Birth of Sarah Louisa Bond Newham, Macedon Ranges Shire, Victoria, Australia

1865 November 18, 1865 Age 43 Birth of Henry Beech Newham, Macedon Ranges Shire, Victoria, Australia
(https://www.geni.com/people/John-Beech/6000000053386548151)

The "Beech, Purvis, Hendry" connection seems to have been maintained as there was a Hendry at Toolambra later and Sarah Louisa, born in 1863, married a Kiwi.

1861. TO LET, by TENDER, If any acceptable tender be sent in before the 16th February, the BEECH TREE HOTEL, Tullamarine, with an adjacent cottage, and with or without 25 or 55 acres of land. The hotel furniture to be taken at a valuation. J. B.Watson, 81 Elizabeth street, Melbourne.(P.1, Argus, 8-2-1861.)

Why did John want to move? The road to Bulla had been THE GREAT ROAD TO THE DIGGINGS until Samuel Brees' bridge was built at Keilor in 1854. By 1861, the road to Bulla was splendid but seldom used and the destruction of the Lady of the Lake by fire prior to October 1861 may not have been accidental. Farmers carting hay and drovers such as Noah Holland sustained the hotel that John built (and its replacement after the 1892 fire) for another 50 years until it was delicensed but the regular turnover of proprietors shown in rate records indicated that it was not hugely profitable.

1866. Broadmeadows. — At the Broadmeadows police court, yesterday, James William Baker was charged with stealing a saddle and bridle, the property of James Tenniel, of the Beech Tree Hotel, Tullamarine, on the night of the 15th inst.(etc.) (P.6, The Age, 26-9-1866.)

1892. FIRE AT TULLAMARINE. The Beech Tree Hotel, at Tullamarine, was burned to the ground yesterday morning. (etc.) (P. 6, The Age, 3-2-1892.)

1889. BOND–BEECH.—On the 10th October, at the residence of the bride's mother, Mrs. John Beech, Malvern-road,Prahran, by the Rev. John Burton, of Box Hill, Geo.Huntley Bond, eldest son of G. B. Bond of Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand, to Sarah Louisa, daughter of the late Mr.John Beech, of Toolamba, Victoria, and granddaughter of the late Mr. Beech, Wiltshire, England.(P.44, Leader, 26-10-1889.)

1929. SELLING AGENTS' REPORTS. 58 crossbred and comeback, G.Y.Hendry,Toolamba;(P.8, The Age, 10-4-1929.)

It's a fair bet that G.Y.Hendry, who served in W.W.1, knew Noah Holland fairly well.

HENDRY.—On February 9 (suddenly),George Young Hendry, 87 Athol st.,Moonee Ponds, beloved husband of Blanche, loved father of Gordon,Hugh, Margaret, and Rosemary. —At rest.(P.12, Argus, 10-2-1949.)

Stockman Dies at Sale Yards
Mr. George Hendry, of Athol-street, Moonee Ponds, collapsed and died during sales at Newmarket stock yards yesterday. Mr. Hendry, who was a stockman employed by Quiney, Mawbey and Co., was assisting at the sale of a pen of bullocks. He has been a well-known figure at Newmarket yards for the past 30 years.(P.3, The Age, 10-2-1949.)


John Beech died in 1882. James was the eldest son and had probably inherited his father's farm which John Snr. seems to have selected in 1872.
The following transfers have been registered at the Office of Titles- :....;James Beech,Toolamba West, to John Beech, farmer,Toolamba West.(P.2, Riverine Herald, 19-2-1883.)

71. Beech, John, Toolamba, 229a 2r 10p, on Winter's run. Recommended.(P.2, Riverine Herald, 24-2-1872.)

A SAD TALE.
GEORGE YOUNG HENDRY, according to his enlistment details, was not a member of the Tullamarine family but was probably related. There was a youngster named George Hendry at Tullamarine and it seems that his father had died by 1873.

INQUESTS.
A melancholy accident, resulting in the death of a boy seven years old, named George Hendrie, occurred on Friday last, at Tullamarine, near Broadmeadows. At an inquest begun by Mr. Candler on the 18th, and concluded on the 20th inst, evidence was given to the effect that at about 4 o'clock on the afternoon of Friday, the 17th inst., the deceased boy returned from school, passed the house of his stepfather, James Cousins*, went into the paddock of a Mr. Evans, and got upon top of a stack of hay which was being built, and busied himself taking hay off the top of a fork, with which Mr. Evans was reaching the hay to the top of the stack.

There was a short ladder against the stack,and Mr. Evans placed the fork against the top of the ladder. The boy then began to descend, and tried to reach the top of the short ladder with his feet, while he endeavoured to regulate his movements with the hay fork. Mr. Evans, who was standing at hand, went to the foot of the stack, and warned him to be careful, but the boy did not succeed in reaching the ladder, and fell. Mr. Evans caught him in his arms, and the boy as he fell cried out, "Oh dear!" Mr. Evans saw blood coming from the mouth of the boy, who died immediately. The mother and stepfather heard the boy was hurt, and rushing up in a state of great excitement, accused Mr. Evans of having murdered their boy. When examined at the inquest they said they had no reason to suspect that any injuries had been inflicted wilfully. Dr. E. Barker, made a post-mortem examination, and stated that there were two punctured wounds in the left breast of the deceased, such as would be caused by the prongs of a hay fork. One of the wounds had penetrated the aorta and had caused death. The jury found that the deceased died of a punctured wound of the aorta, and that there was no evidence to show how he came by it, but that in their opinion the wound was accidentally sustained.(P.21, The Australasian, 25-1-1873.)

*Other appointments are made as follow -Bernard Cousins, Tullamarine, to be electoral registrar for the Tullamarine division of the electoral district of West Bourke, and deputy electoral registrar for the Broadmeadows and Bulla and the Merriang and Darebin divisions of the Southern Province, vice J.Hendry, resigned.
(P.5, Argus, 20-1-1883.)

HENDRY. — On the 1st inst., at Tullamarine, Mr James Hendry, aged forty-two. Perth papers please copy.
(P.7, The Age, 25-4-1866.)

I'd first seen the above tragic tale three years ago, probably when I wrote my journal about hotels near Tullamarine or Robert George Ely, a pioneer of Keilor, who was teaching at Tullamarine, obviously the one in the present Cherie St bend which had started as a Wesleyan school in the 1850's. In 1884, this school, which was right across Bulla Rd from the Junction Hotel, was closed along with the Seafield School and replaced by Tullamarine State School 2613 at the Conders Lane corner. John Blanche, who'd taught at the school near the junction for many years offered the block he'd bought from Foster (volume 179 folio 880), between today's Trade Park Drive and the south boundary of Trade Park Reserve, as a site for the new school, but the inspector Mr Ware, said it was far too close to the Beech Tree Hotel.

The two Hendry lads in the following article were almost certainly brothers of the ill-fated George. They were obviously not Methodists like the Nash and Parr families and had lacked the steadying hand of a father as they approached manhood.

PLEMINGTON COURT.
MONDAY., 1st OCTOBER.
(Before Messrs. Davies (chairman),Puckle, Swan, Bellair, and Filson,J's.P.)
Alexander Hendry, James Hendry and Joseph Jackson were charged with using obscene language on the 30th September at Tullamarine.

Richard Glazer, licensee of the Bench Tree Hotel and Richard Craven of the Junction Hotel stated the prisoners
came to their respective houses at one o'clock on Sunday morning and called for drinks as they were travellers. They supplied them. They then left and went towards the State school.Michael Robert Nolan, constable stationed at Broadmeadows, gave evidence as to the arrest of the prisoners on their way to Moonee Ponds. The Bench
considered the case had not been proved and discharged prisoners.

A second charge of wilfully destroying State school property at Tullamarine was preferred against them by Constable Nolan. Richard Craven, Junction Hotel stated the prisoners came to his hotel at one o'clock in the morning, had drinks and then went away in the direction of the State school. He saw them close to the school and afterwards heard hammering in the school. Had no doubt the three men he saw cross the road were the prisoners.

Robert Ely, State school teacher, at Tullamarine, informed the Bench that he left the school at 3.30 on Friday. He locked the door. When he returned on Monday morning found the doors burst in and the school disarranged.
Some of the copy books were written on and torn. He assessed the damage at 11s.

Constable Nolan said on the Sunday he was told that the prisoners had been at Tullamarine creating a disturbance. He then went to the school and foundthe door had been prized open and the copy books strewn about the floor. Some of the books were torn and disfigured by writing, he also found the reading books on the main road outside the school. He afterwards arrested the prisoners near Moonee Ponds, they were all under the influence of liquor at the time.

The prisoners who pleaded not guilty, on being asked if they had anything to say,declared they had never been near the school and called at no house till they reached Parr's on the way to Melbourne.Mr. Davies said they were of opinion that the case had been proved, and fined each 20s. with 5s. costs and 12s. compensation.
(P.3, North Melbourne Advertiser, 5-10-1883.)