Westgarthtown was established in March 1850 and is named after WILLIAM WESTGARTH (1815 -1889). This was Victoria’s first German settlement and had a number of names during the 1850’s: Keelbundora, the German colony, Dry Creek, Neu Mecklenburg and Germantown. The German and Wendish settlers finally renamed it Westgarthtown in recognition of Westgarth’s assistance both prior and after their arrival into...
(Melways Map 183 H8)Entry is gained from Gordon’s Road. Hawkstowe Park is managed by Parks Victoria and is open all year round from 8.00am to 5.00pm except during daylight saving time when the gates are open until 8.00pm. Hawkstowe Park was once the home of the Le Page family. It was built in the 1850’s and consisted of the homestead,...
Historically the area around Whittlesea was blessed or should I say cursed, whichever way you look at it, with having an abundance of stone in the landscape. The Germans when they first arrived in Thomastown quickly mastered the rocky terrain, utilising the stone for buildings and fences. The English, Scottish and Irish immigrants who settled nearby at Epping, Wollert, Woodstock...
The Castle Hill farm was originally owned by John Bear who had bought the land on the 24th November 1842, under a “Deed of Grant Purchase”. Section 20, Parish of Yan Yean, County of Bourke, lot 52 consisted of approximately 932 acres. John Bear died in 1851 and in 1855 John’s son, Thomas Hutchings Bear entered an indenture under which...
The Suburb, and more particularly the Railway Station of Keon Park which is in the City of Whittlesea, was named after Keon Park Pty Ltd., a land development Company formed in 1924. The Directors were Joseph CHALEYER, Henry Isaac COHEN, John James LISTON, John Wesley McCOMAS and John Edmond TAYLOR. A very interesting bunch of people, but Mr COHEN is...
The Yan Yean Reservoir is the oldest water supply for the city of Melbourne. Work began in 1853 at the height of the gold rush, and it took four years to construct at a cost of £750,000.
At the time of its completion in 1857 it was the largest artificial reservoir in the world.