MORNINGTON. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Mr Vale had his Mt. Martha paddocks burnt off last week. About 1000 acres of grass and undergrowth were burnt. Mr T. Male had the contract.(P.2, Mornington Standard, 22-3-1902.)

Mr Vale's property was "Dalkeith" on the north side of Bruce Rd at Mt Martha. He had leased it out to such as Alf Head of Fern Valley (straddling Stony Creek Rd at Red Hill)but it later became the property of his daughter and her husband.
Dalkeith adjoined The Briars at Range Rd at the top of Jacksons Hill.

The executors of the late Robert Watson have sold the two farms, Dalkeith Park, and St. James Park, Mt. Martha of 1280 acres to Mr W. Vale, Auctioneer, Melbourne. (P.2, Mornington Standard, 1-8-1901.)
(Watson Rd in Mt Martha is named after Robert Watson.)

Extract from my THE FEMALE DROVER.

DALKEITH.
Most people driving though Mornington probably do not even notice the sign pointing to the street named after one of the areas most influential people. He opposed a proposed site for the towns school because it was a swampy wasteland; today it is Alexandra Park! He was a member of Parliament and a prominent auctioneer. W.F.Vale and Co. auctioned the Stenniken grant on the west corner of Truemans Rd at Tootgarook at their rooms (412 Collins St) on 4-2-1920.
A member of this wealthy family bought much land north of the Sea Lane (Bruce Rd.) It was his daughter Phyllis and her husband, Herbert A. Jackson who lived on the property, thus giving the name of Jacksons Hill to the steep climb starting near the homestead. The northern boundary of their land was Range Rd. The south boundary was Ellerina Rd (Bruce Rd), the boundary between Moorooduc and Kangerong parishes, which was known in those days as the sea lane.
Phyllis and Shirley had a common love of horses and competed all over in horse shows, travelling as far afield as Lilydale. As well as show horses, Phyllis owned racehorses, one of which was Helion, 2nd in the 1954 Melbourne Cup; no shame in being beaten by the great Rising Fast! One of her workers, Sue Knight, was placed in the Garryowen in 1950 on one of Phyliss horses.
In the Garryowen during the Royal Melbourne Show in 1941, Mrs Herbert Jackson was mounted on Devon. Another to be involved with the Moorooduc area, Mrs Ken Moore of Clover Cottage, Berwick, won several events; Ken, involved in the Two Bays Nursery, owned Tuerong Park for a time. (Argus 6-9-1941.)
On March 2nd 1950, at St Andrews Hospital, East Melbourne, William Frederick Vale of Ardoyne, 54 Sutherland Rd, Armadale passed away. He was the devoted husband of the late Eliza Margaret and loved father of Fred (deceased 1st A.I.F.) and Phyllis (Mrs Herbert A.Jackson of Dalkeith, Mt Martha.) (Argus 3-3-1950.)
The Argus of 23-9-1954 had a long article, with photos, about Phyllis introducing the European system of training horses and riders at Dalkeith. This involved tutelage by a Hungarian expert and a narrow lane leading to jumps to prevent the horses from baulking. Bill Bull, who trained and rode for Phyllis, could not believe the improvements although he was a leading show rider. (On 28-1-1948, the engagement of Bill Bull, son of George, to Kath Rollason of Eaglemont was announced in the Argus.)
The History of Dalkeith appears on page 275 of the Shire of Morningtons Heritage Study. The Moumt Martha Run was occupied by Dallymore and then Aitken before James Hearn took it up. Hearn acquired the pre-emptive right as well as over 1100 acres between Hearn and Bay Rds and 850 acres to the west, north and east of the P.R. The last of these allotments, 29A, encompassed the Tubbarubba diggings.
Robert Watson purchased 3000 acres in 1876 (stated elsewhere in the study as 1871) and set up a homestead block near Lempriere Ave, building a house called Melrose. (I think this is a mistake; it was probably Melville.) He sold 1300 acres in 1888 but retained Melrose and pastoral holdings around Dalkeith, which he leased to such as Thomas Appleyard and Alfred Head. (Both men were grantees in the parish of Balnarring and Appleyard in Kangerong too.) William Vale, a Mornington farmer and Real Estate Agent bought Dalkeith in about 1901. (Heritage Study, Balnarring and Kangerong maps.)
Watson, after whom Watson Rd in Mt Martha was named, probably did not do much farming, as the study said that his main reason for settling in the area concerned his health. The Argus of 28-4-1881 carried the following advertisement:

GRAZING MT MARTHA ESTATE, NEAR MORNINGTON.
Tenders are called for the grazing on the following parts of the Mt Martha Estate, either together or separately and for one or a term of years:
Clarendon Park (321 acres; St James and Waverly Parks (510 acres with station and stockyards); Dalkeith Park (about 760 acres).
For conditions or to view, apply to the proprietor, Robert Watson, Melville House, Mornington.
As Moorooduc was consistently referred to as being in Mornington, it is unclear whether Watson was actually living in the township of Mornington. If he was living on his estate at Mt Martha, Graeme Butler may have been wrong calling his house there Melrose, unless the Argus got it wrong.
Alfred Head was on Dalkeith Park at about the time that Vale bought it, as reports of fat sheep sales in the Argus of 21-3-1900 and 5-8-1903 show. Alfred was the returning officer for elections in the Shire of Flinders and Kangerong. A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA P. 111.
The Aitken who leased the Mt Martha run was probably John Aitken after whom Mt Aitken on the Calder Highway west of Sunbury was named. He was the first to have sheep on the Mornington Peninsula; when the Chile ran aground off Arthurs Seat in March, 1836 with 1600 of his sheep aboard. After such a traumatic experience for his sheep, he probably rested them nearby, perhaps on Dalkeith, before undertaking the long trip to Melbourne. It is highly likely that Mr Aitken of Kenyer Park, Moorooduc, who had married Miss Dyer, was a descendant of John Aitken; they celebrated their Ruby Wedding Anniversary on 19-4-1945. A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA P.12,24. BULLA BULLA I.W. Symonds.

RANGE ROAD.
As mentioned earlier, this was known by pioneers as Whites Rd. Shirley told me that the land across Three Chain Rd from the Bourne farm (Melway 151 G9) was a rifle range and the most direct route there from the Balcombe army camp (151 C1) was along this road. The soldiers used to take a short cut through the Bourne farm to the rifle range.

Was William F.Vale the chap who wrote the letter in 1855 extolling the virtues of the parish of Moorooduc,that led to my journal about the TANTI HOTEL? This is debatable. It was more likely to have been:

Vale, William Mountford Kinsey (18331895). (See Australian Dictionary of Biography.)
W.M.K.Vale settled in Castlemaine with his brother,Richard,and their parents. William moved to Ballarat, as Richard also did later and they were both prominent in public life. Richard remained in Ballarat but William moved to Melbourne in 1872 and might have been the father of William F.Vale.

This is the letter.

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956) Thursday 27 December 1855 p 7 Article
... of coming progress in a Bri- tish colony-that is, according to Chateau- briand, a public house, has ... c Mahen, Liardet and Carr. The Bay frontage of Mount Eliza forms the pr ... 1098 words

W.M.K.Vale was a bookseller which makes his knowledge of statements made by the French author, Chateaubriand, easy to understand. W.M.K.Vale was also the grantee of land in the Township of Mornington. Allotment 7 of 32 acres 3 roods and 8 perches was bounded by Vale St, Tanti Rd, Elizabeth St and Main St. Allotment 31 of 21 acres 3 roods and 37 perches was directly across Main St to the line of Bull St.
Lot 11 consisted of 10 acres 2roods and 24 perches and was in the present heart of Mornington. The boundaries of lot 11 were Main St, the line of Franklin St (not including the Ross St frontage), the Gordon/Murray St midline, and a mirror image of Empire St on the south.

The boundaries of the TOWN OF MORNINGTONseem to have been Canterbury St, Queen St-Ross St-Franklin St,and Cook St. The Town may have been originally called GRAVESEND.

THIS DAY.land, Land, Land, In the new township of Gravesend, Snapper Point,near Mount Eliza.
R BYRNE will sell by public auction, at his rooms, Bay street, Sandridge, on Friday, 24th inst, at twelve o'clock,203 quarter acre allotments in the new township of Gravesend.(P.3, Argus, 24-11-1854.)

W.M.K.Vale might also have bought land in the TOWN of Mornington at about the time he wrote the letter.The Moorooduc parish map does not give details of purchasers in the TOWN of Mornington or dates re grants in the larger TOWNSHIP.

P.S. Shirley Walter(nee Bourne) of Frankston was a female drover and inspired my THE FEMALE DROVER:A HISTORY OF MOOROODUC which started with her oral history and was completed courtesy of trove,David Shepherd, Murray Gomm, Leila Shaw,the Mornington Heritage Study, Joan Downward, THE BUTCHER, THE BAKER THE etc.