William Batten was a Whittlesea pioneer from the well known Batten family of the Whittlesea district. One of twelve children born to Richard and Mary Jane Batten (nee Hazard), he was born at the “Cellar House” in Yan Yean on 7 November 1859, the fourth of their children. Siblings included Charlotte, Richard, Agnes, Albert, Mary, Maria, Robert, Leonard, Florence and...
The McCoy family of Thomastown and Woodstock Peter McCoy was one of the earliest Europeans in Thomastown, his family arriving there in the 1850s. Peter is remembered as the publican of the the Belmont, which was constructed in about 1855 by his father. He also served for many years on the local roads board and several terms as Shire President...
HALL John Thomas Punch John Thomas Punch Hall was born in 1894 in Yan Yean and married Mabel Isobel Cordell who was also born in Yan Yean in 1900. They married in 1921 and had 9 children.
GIBBS Charles Carlisle Charles was born in 1865 in Manchester England. He came out to Australia and married Ella Maria Harriet Dowsett in Victoria in 1890. They moved to Whittlesea and had two children John Carlisle born in 1890 and Rita Hazel born in 1905.Charles died in Whittlesea in 1935.
GIBSON Robert Robert and his wife Sarah arrived in Melbourne in 1848 aboard the ship “William Stewart” from County Cavan in Ireland. Robert was born in 1808 but died in Yan Yean in 1871. They raised quite a few children who remained in the area.
FOREMAN John Campbell He was married to Priscilla and lived in Whittlesea at the turn of the century around 1900.
FORBES W. His family had come out from England and he worked on Mayfield Farm with the horses.
Cr. Walter Thomas, J.P. Walter Thomas was born at Collingwood in 1844 and moved to Morang at age 7. He attended the state school there, under the tuition of Mr. Noble and Higgs, afterwards completing his education at Scotch College. Walter took up farming in the Morang District, where he remained until his death. He represented the Morang Riding of...
Peter Le Page Peter, born in the Island of Guernsey, resided in at South Morang from around 1868 having first purchased Hawkestowe, Mr. J. H . Walker’s farm. He married Emily, daughter of the George Hawthorn. Peter spent many years dairying at Hawkestowe and other properties. He was noted as being a quiet, straightforward man, a good neighbour, a kind...
Moses Thomas Moses Thomas was born in 1825 in Perthshire, Scotland. He arrived in Australia in 1842, and a year later married Janet Grierson. Moses purchased the ‘Bridge Inn’ hotel and 400 acres of land in Morang, naming his farm ‘Mayfield’. He donated land and built the first school in the district, the Mernda State School, and it is believed...