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AN ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF

EVANS CARGILL EVANS Alf ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF PHILLIP ISLAND

RESEARCH ESSAY FOR HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE AND TO CONll'.E110RATE THE CENTENARY OF OPEN SETTLE¥£NT ON PHILLIP ISLAND AND FROM 1868 TO 1968

BY MAURICE BVANS, NEIL EVANS, AND lWSALIE CARGILL DEPART~iliNT OF ARCHITECTURE, UNIVERSITY OF ~lliLBOURNE.

AUGUST 1967. "), , AIM

It is the intention of the authors to ~ather and record the architectural and the relevant historical information of the resort- rural couwunity of Philli Island . The study ai' building from the beginning of the Island ' s recorded history, in both its archi tectural and social si nificance till the :lllodern eriod) has this essa as its end product.

SynOPSIS

In order to acLieve this aim, it is necessary to establish, throu~h history, a attern, and the social f&ctors inherent i~ aDd peculiar to, Philli~ Island , in addition to the study 01' its buildin s. 'rhi s requires the presentation of facts relatinE to the settling of the land, the motivation for buildin and the resultant effects on the building form and teclmiqu-e . It is also im.ortant . to study this in context . 'rhe obvious relationshi VoIi th the mainland and its herita e is funda ental to adequate appreciation of corresponding buildin on the Island , as is the context of internal industry. ACKNOWLEDGBNENTS

PRIME SOURC~S

DR K. BOWDEN, Cl./l.LINS STRr:;ET, I,lELBOURNE 11R GLIDDON SR., HISTORIAN OF PHILLIP ISLAND j\lR GLIDDON JR., "INNESHOWEN", PHILLIP ISLAND STAFF, LATROBE, BAILLIEU & ARCHITECTURE LIBRAHIES STAFF, C.DNTRAL PLANS OJ~'FICE, LANDS DEPARTr1ENT STAFF, J'I10RHINGTON SHIRE OFFICE STAFF, PHILLIE ISL~~D TOWN HALL LIBRARIAN, PHILLIP ISLAND LIBRARY ~~AGEYiliNT, CHICAORY ASSOCIATION

.PIUVATE DOCUkENTS & Il~FvH.lI.ATION

rill McLARDY, BUILDER, PHILLIP .l. SLA.l>J"D ERS CL~ELAND, WOOLAMAII, PHILLIP ISLAND Jliili & IvutS f'lcHA]'FIE, PARK ORCHARDS lVIRS THONPSON, CARISBROOK, PHILLIP ISLAND Iv:R WEST, GENERAL STORE, PHILLIP ISLAND lJJR JENNER, PHOTOGRAPHS OF PHILLIP ISLAND 1.\1R BETTS, "RHYLSTON PARK", PHILLIP ISLAND MRS BELL, FORlViEHLY OF "RHYLSTON PARK" PHILLIP ISLAND rvnss CAlilBELL, CHURCHILL ISLAND IVlR ANDERSON, PHILLIP ISLAND

.PRODUCT ION

LAWSTAFF & CO. lV10DERN PRINTING CO. ANNE J. BARwICK IViEREDITH B. IvlA.rtTIN CHAPTBRS

1 INTRODUCTION

2 "BLOCKHOUSE"

3 SEALERS

4 INT~RLUDE 1828-1844

5 hcHAFFIES 6 SUBDIVISION

7 i~EST 'S STORE

8 "INNESHOWEN"

9 II'I'i0OLAlvlAI I "

10 "GLBNISLA" AND ROBERT ili"J"DERSON 11 IV,cLARDY AND B;':';NAL, BUILDEliS

12 "TU.LLOCH GHEW"

13 CHURCHILL ISLAND

14 "BR.OADviATER", "CHA11hAN DhNE", "IONA", AND liST CLAIR"

15 "llHYLSTON PARK" 16 "TELOFA" 1-wD "HANILTON HOUSE"

17 CHICKO.H.Y AND CHICKORY KILNS 18 BUILDING IVJ.ATBiUALS

19 ~VALUATION BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY.

(A) HISTORY OF & .

"AUSTRALIA" CRAWFORD tfUTCHINSON mnv. PMSS 1960 "SB1ECT DOC UJ:...ENT 0 OF AUSTRALIAN HI STORY" CLARKE OXFORD PRESS 1960 LONDON "BARLY HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF VICTORIA" VOL 2. F.P. LABILLIBRE 1878 LONDON "VICTO£lIA - THE FIRST CBNTURY" HISTORICAL COi'JHTTEE - CENTENARY COUi~CIL "VICTORIA" CAPT. H. STONEY 1856 LONDON "R:6COLLECTIONS OF SQUATTING IN VICTORIA" "::D.iARD CURR 1888 LarmON "FIRST YEARS AT 1834-42" ROBERT BOYS 1959 ~~LBOURNE "NOTES ON AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE" R. I"lENZIES 1950 JVlELBOURNE "DISCOVERY A.ND SETTLEhENT OF PORT PHILLIP" J AI1ES BONWYCK

"TALES O~' OLD TI~lES" C.H. CHO~'_LEY PUB. 1903 8'

(B) DETAILED HISTOHIES

"EARLY HISTORY OF IVIORNINGTON PENIN.::'ULA AND " HUNT'::;R ROGERS HALLCHAFT 1966 l>lELBOURNE

"HISTORY OF BRIGHTON" WESTON BATB IVl.U.P. 1963

"PHILLIP ISLAND STORY" GJDDON8T AL.

(c) AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE

"THE EARLY AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTS ANt THEIR WORK" l'lORTON HERlYLAN AHGUS & ROBERTSON 1954 SYm~'EY

II AUSTRA1JIA 'S HOl,J:)" ROBIN BOYD M.U.P. 1961 r':ELBOURNE "THE WALLS AROUND US" ROBIN BOYD F.W. CHESHIRE 1962 lviELB0URNE

"HISTORIC BUILDING~) IN VICTORIA" D. SAJNDERS JACAJiANDA 1967 .\.ELBOURNE

"DATING HOuSES IN VICTORIA" BALIvIFORD ET AL. (ARTICLE IN "HISTORICAL STUDIES" 1961)

(D) PRIIviARY SOURCZS (PUBLISHED OR PRINTED)

LOG OF THE LADY ImLSON

DIARY OF MHS McHAFFIE

DIARY OF ~lli R. GALL (D) (CONT.)

PRIV/l.TE DOCUMENTS OF r-JR GLIDDON (P. I. ) 11R 'w' 3ST (p • I. ) NR ANDER~ON (P. I.) :rvlRS THC~PSON (P. I • ) MORNINGTON SHIRE OFFICE PHILLIP ISLAND TOWN HALL PHILLIP ISLAND LIBRARY ~~ JENNER (P.I.) (PHOTOGRAPHS) LAXDS DEPARTJ,\iBNT.

CRlLPT I R ON I TRODUCT Ion HISTORY - AN INTRODUCTION

1. DISCOVERY OF PHILLIP ISLAND "Captain Cook in April 1770 , at Pint Hicks saw the east coast of Austral ia for t he f i rst t ime . Co ok was . uncertai n whe t her this part of Australia extended sout h to join •..•• so f or the next 28 years , Tasmania was shown as part of the ma inland of Austra lia " (1). It was in this light that Phi llip I sland in Wes tern Port Bay was event ually discover ed as expl orers s t umb l ed upon i t whil e attem t ing to est a blish t he existence of a strait betwe en the ma i nl and and Tasmania . 1796 saw the ship " Cove " , bound for Por t Jackson f r om Ca l cutta, roun ing the southern-mos t poi nt of Van Di emen ' s Land (Tasmania) . Havin s truck a s t orm, t he vessel was f orced to r un a s hore on an island off t he coast (Ca t a i n Hamilton l a ter na ed t hi i s l and , a member of the Furneaux Group , "Preservation I s l and " ). The ma te of t h e "Sy ney Cove " set off for Port Jackson i n a longboa t wit h a crew of seventeen. Agai n. this crew was wrecked at sea. The survivors attemJt ed t h e remaining 500 mil e j ourney on foo t, with only three f inally r achi ng Port J a ckson. Go vernor Hunter , on rece iving news of the l i ght of t h e " ", sent t he ves s el "Francis " to r escue Capta i n Hami lton an d his crew . This voyage of mercy having been complet ed , Hamilton reviewed his obs ervations and spe cul ated t h e exist ence of a s t rait betwe en Van Diemen ' s Land and the mainland . Governor Hunt er was i m re sed by t hi s t heor an commis ion ed an inves t i a tory expedi tion 1 d by Geo r ge Bass, a sur eon, officer , an e xperienced expl orer and na vigat or. To gether with a crew of six, Bass left Port J a ckson on De cember 3rd , 1797 i n a 28 ft. Aust ralian built wha leboat, wh i ch Hunter had put at hi s di posal. Bass had been ins tructed t o settle the specula tion as to t he exist ence of a s t rait or otherwise. Bass foll owed t h e eastern coast to t he s outh, but a f t er passing a poi nt , which was to be later nam ed Wils on ' s Promontor , on J anuary 2, 1798 , t he expedition met heavy stormy s eas . 0 r event t he a l ready leaking ves sel from II st r a ining one of its l anks, " (2 ) t h ey put i nto shore to shel t er in the "lee 0 . the headlan d . " ( 2 ) On an i land nearby, Bass came a cross seven convi ct s bu t he could only as ist t hem with f ood. After t e s torm, he continued on westward t o iscover alar e break i n t he c oastlin e. On Janua ry 4th or 5t h (3), Ba ss found himself "in a very exten s ive harbour" wh ich he named Hestern Port Bay beca us e of i t s ge ocrr aphi cal pos ition in rela tion to "ever-g oth er lrnown harbour on the c oa s t." He entered the bay through t he East ern channel naming Ca pe Woolamai, and shelter ed near yl l on Philli p Island. He r e he s t ayed t o ex lore and repai r t he small craft . He n oted in hi s log t ha t fresh wa t er was di fficult t o procure a s he faun n one on the i sl and bu t a s t ream (Bass River ) was discovered to wind i nland f rom t he East er n sh ore of t he Bay . He stayed a t the islan for 12 days explori ng on f oo t an d s ke tchi ng; while doing s o he mistakenly took t o b e part of t he ma inl an an sh owed t his on h i s map. Le av i ng by the East ern passage , Bass and his crew set out f or Por t J a ckson on 18th J anuary 1798, rea ching t here only a fter a per ilous jour ney on 25t h day of the same month . Although Bass ha d not prov e d that a s t r a it exist ed , t he exped it ~ o n had reinf or ced his convictions. Hav ing given his r eport to Gov ern or Hunter on his r eturn, Bass was t o f ind hims elf wi t h Capt a in Flinders of t he ve ssel "Norf ol k " s ever a months l a t er c ircumnav iga ting Van Di emen ' s Land t hus est a bl i sh ing bey ond doubt t he exi s tence of a passage .

2. FIRST GOVE ~ffiNTA L DEVELOPMENT OF HI LLI P ISLAND On the basi s of t h e r esults of t h e expedi t ion by Bass and Flinders, in the yea r 1800, Lt. R. N. was given command of a small bri g of 60 ton s especial ly de ~igned and built i n En l an d by Capt. Schank for explora tion i n shallow wa ters. Gov ernor King , s ucceeding Hunter , sent Grant and hi s shi p , t he "La dy Nelson" , to carry out further investiga tion i n Western Port i n 18 1. In Ma rch of tha t yea r, Gran t' s Log r ead , "..• At p.m. of 21st, we had si ht of t he isl nd whi ch forms the Southern head of We s t ern art." He cont i nued on and entered t hrough the We s t ern Pas sage, disc overin -two smal i s l ands situated a t t he a s sage e t r ance and naming them Seal I s l and on t he we st and Snapper I s l a d on t h e east. Bass put to shore to anchor in a "li ttle c ove with a fin e sandy bea ch " which he named El i zabeth Cove." ( Thi s poin t i s jus t north­ east of McHa f f i e ' s Point.) On 28th March 1801, Grant came upon an i s l and of some 140 a cr es t o t he east of El i za bet h Cove. He named t h i s Chur chi l l Island a fter John Churchi ll who ha d s upplied the expedit i on wi th seeds and lants. Ground was cleared and prepared , and s ome wheat, onions, potatoes, r ice, peas , cof fee, maize , and vari ous fruit trees were s own . Churchi ll Island was t he site of the fir s t cultivati on of Vi ctorian ' s oi l. But more import ant i s the f a c t t hat t he fir s t recorded building was erected here. Grant built a "Bl ockhouse" on t he i s l and for defen ce a a i n st t he na t ive s . I t was built a t Pt. i kersgil l but the exact loca tion has not been es t abli shed . ( The a uthors and many other r e searchers a nd historians have spen t c onsider able lengths of t i me exploring and searching for tra ces and references to t he exac t loca t i on. 'here are n o vis i ble r ema i ns of t h i s structure as it i s t h ought t ha t t hey have been e i ther wa s hed away or rot ted. ) The onl y refer ence to it is in Grant' s Lo g of t he "Lady Ne l son" .. . . • "wi t h the t runks of t he t r ees I f elle d , I r a ised a blockhouse of 24 ' x 12 ' which wi l l pr ob ably r emain s ome years, the suppor t ers being we ll fi xed in the eart h .• • . • round t his skelet on of a mansion house I pl anted st ones and f ruit trees." He f urther r epor t e d ...•. "Western Po r t i s ca pable of c ontaining s ever a l h1L.'1dred shi ps in perfect security f r om s t orms and wi l l a it to bei ng :fo rtified .. ••. i t i s sit ua ted in a c ountry which may be i mpr oved by cultivation and is an excellen t c i ma te. ( Thi s l atter s t a tement i s i n c ont radicti on t o the f indi ngs and conc lusi ons of an ex edi t i on in 1827.) On his r eturn to Port J a ckson in 1 y 1801, a disint ere t ed Grant resigned a s ma s ter of t he "Lady Nelson" and Lt. Murray , formerly her first officer was a ointed ca tain to continue expl oration and char t i ng. Leavi ng ydney on 12 t h Nov ember 1801 , Murr a y a r riv ed back in Western Port on 7th De cember . He a. chored t h e "Lady Ne l s on " a ga in in Elizabeth Cove a nd sent a party acro s to Churchill I sl and onl y t o discov er " every t hi n as we l eft i t - I mean t he r emains of our fires and huts - the whea t and corn as i n full vigou r, 6 f e et high an a l most r i p e ..••. " So t he Bl oc khouse was rec overed to a poi n t . An other expedit ion "f ound remai ns of fires, a number of bamboo pegs and a cl ub on ea l Island" ( 5) on the 18th December. The Lo os t ulates t hat a smal l trading v ,ssel, t he "Harri ngton" , belongi ng to a Madras firm must ha ve been t h r , as s everal items from t he s hiV we r e i ent ified (no evidence of anchorage was found ). Seal ing had begun on a commercial scale from Sydney in 1798 , ther efore the a uthors feel t hat it is possible to s t a te t hat t he earliest white inha bitants of \'/est ern Port :Bay ~~d probably Phillip Island were members of sealing angs. £he hi s t or ' of sealing cannot be writ ten here as neither c.ccurate 10 s nor an a.uth ority could be found . Further inv es tigations by Murray, uncovered an important spring from whi ch he easily obt ained a hundred al lons of go od wa ter. "Nearby there was a better spring wi t h enough water for a battle ship of t he line. A good road was mad e t o t he spri ng . •••. ., ( 6 ) Murray a l s o rovide d the ini tial s timulus for the idea tha t French Island was a arcel of I an separ a ted from t he ma i nland . Altogether , Murray sen t a bout a month a t Wes tern Port , leaving on 5th J anua ry 1802 to travel furthe r west as f ar as Cape Otway 5 discovering and naming Port Phillip en route.

I n 1bOO a French expe dition, of "Le Geo r aphic II under Captai n Ni chol as Baudin and "Le Na t ura liste " under Captai n Emaneul Hamelin, lef t France to explore Aus-t r a l ia and ' asmania . The vessel s sailed South a bout the same time as Kurray , but by ear l y 1802 ( some sources indicate January, others Ma rch) they wer e near the eastern entr ance to Bass St rait . A s torm resulted in a separat ion of t he t wo ships, wi t h Ca t . Hamelin hea ding for the shor e. Hameli n found hims elf in We s t ern Por t , and spent days carryi ng out some explora tion. He was mos t impr essed wit t h e pot entia l of t he harbour but his sta y wa s cut short by scurvy whi ch f orced h i m t o sail f or Sydney . Aft er reuni t ing with Capt. Baud i n, t he Fren ch eX})ed i t ion I e ft S dney in No vember 1802 leavi n behind t hem i n tense rumours of Fr ench int erest in fest ern Por t and hint s t hat t he French had a car e f ul ly drawn chart. Concern f or s uch a French set t l ement provoke d Lord Bathurs t ~nd others i nto thought s of colonizing t his r egion. Governor Kin _' S fears f or Port Philli a nd V es tern Port i ns t i gated a furt her survey of the sui t a bi l i t y of this a r ea fo r s ettlemen t, by Robbins and Oxley. Their re ar t was unfavoura ble , based on t he l a ck of fre s h w t er and t h e resence of swampy Ian s . With t he defea t of the Fr ench by Nelson , f ears less ened, a s di d t he i mpe t us to s et t l e a t We s t ern Port. It i s t hought t ha t only sea lers r emaine d during t he ensui ng period.

3. ~CON D GOV RNMENTAL NT OF PHI LL I P ISLAND Stimulated by the news t hat the French er e outfit ting I' L' As t r olabe" f or a v oyage t o the South ~ ea s, a reviva l of intere st in establ i shing a colony wa s brought t o a head in the 182 IS by Lord Bat hurst. I n hi s ins tructi ons to the new Governor, Lt. Gen . Darling , Bat urst ordered t he i mmedi a t e prepar a tions for t h e founda t ion of a sett lement a t Western Port, eit her by sendi ng yet another surveyor an expedi t i on of convict fo r tune s e ttler s . Darlin ' s r epl y t o Lor Bathurs t , dated March 26t h 1826 , r-e ads in part •• . • . "I applied to Mr . Oxley ( Surveyor General) for any i nformation .... • Wes tern Port oe s n ot hold out any of those adva ntages whi ch under ordi nary circumstances would i nduce a settlement a t t hat place. I have a l s o seen Messrs . Bume and Rovell, t h e ersons who ex lored from hence to Wes t ern Port . ...• I t does not however appea r t hat any i nforma t ion was affor ded r especti ng t he or t or its eligibil it as a settlement. I shall, not withstanding, send a smal l expe dition under Capt a i n Wr i ght of t he "Buffs" and Captain Wetherall of the "Fly" t o es t ablish set t l ement . " An other despatch from Governor Dar ling t o Lor d Ba t hurst dat ed ~ o v emb er 24t h 1 26 announced .... "Hi s Ma jes ty' s Shi p "Fly" and the Colonial Bu s "Amity" and "Dragon" s et sail on t he 9th of l ast mon th f or We s t ern Port a d King George s Sound." Darl in ha d inst ructed Captai n Vright to consi der s election of site, natives , fo al possession, issue of provi s ion, etc. with s eci a l atte tion t o French shi ps r epari g to est a blish a settlement. Wright ' s expediti on compri ed 2 of icers , 18 rank a n d f ile crew, and 20 convic t s "who have been s e t f or the pur os e of a ist ing i n est abl ishing t he s ettlement", together i th 6 months ' provis ions and suppl i es. The party e t a blished the