Poowong

After a cursory inspection, Mr. Alex Gillan lodged an application with the Land Board at Melbourne on 1st. January, 1878, for "License to Occupy" three hundred and twenty acres in the Paris of Poowong. (Later to be Allotment 42)

After what appears to have been a considerable delay a license was issued on 1st. April, 1879.

This action could well have led to Richard Gregg's introduction to South Gippsland.

From the file pertaining to Allotment 42, 1 have found that at on stage Mr. Gillan had not fulfilled the conditions of the residential clause; being for the six years of the license, the Head Teacher at th Cattle Station Hill school.

In a letter of explanation to the Department of Lands and date 30th. July, 1885, Mr. Gillan stated in part that he "had a m residing on the ground for the first three years and the same party Richard Gregg - who has now a selection himself, has been looking after it up to the beginning of the present month".

We know that Richard registered the birth of their daughter Euphemia on 12th. May, 1879, at Glendonald, and it is now fairly obvious th he came to Poowong shortly afterwards.

It was on 25th. August, 1879, that Richard made an application for a "License to Occupy" under Part 2 of "The Land Act, 1869"

amended by "The Land Act, 1878" and being for one hundred an sixty acres, Parish of Poowong.

This application was considered by the Local Land Board held Warragul on 11 th. November, 1879, which recommended that it be granted, subject to special road conditions.

The License (Number 10673) was approved by the Governor Council on 5th. January, 1880.

Poowong, which was the first settlement in this region of Gippsland was still in its infancy, with the first selection being made on 17 April, 1874.

After three months of living in the area and five years of operation by the earlier selectors to guide him, Richard would have had ample opportunity to gauge the potential of this district, but by the same token, almost all of the Bluegum country had, by this time, bee selected. However, there was one parcel of land of three hundred an twenty acres which had been applied for twice, in relation to "License to Occupy", and had twice been forfeited.

This land adjoined Allotments 50 and 10 on the South by 32 chain; Allotments 11 and 12 by 951/2 chain on the East; Allotment 44 and 46 by 321/2 chain on the North, with the Western boundary of 103 chain fronting open land - Messmate country.

The limit of area to one selector was three hundred and twenty acres but under the 1862 Land Act Richard had already selected, obtained the grant, and sold one hundred and sixty acres at Lake Buloke, an was therefore restricted to one hundred and sixty acres in his venture at Poowong.

Richard chose the Southern half of the block which contained the last stand of Bluegum, of any significant acreage, to be selected in the Parish of Poowong. An area of approximately eighty acres on the Eastern side is strong Bluegum, with the balance being a mixture on Gum, Messmate and Blackwood.

When we look at Allotment 49 on the Parish plan today, which shows the Poowong-Drouin Road on the Western boundary an Timms Road on the North, it would appear to be a simple operation to select and farm this land. But such was not the case. Although each selection fronted, and was sometimes surrounded by, a Government road, practical access was another thing.

When Allotment 49 was selected, roads, as such, were non-existent and the surveyor has shown a track following the ridge and adjacent to where the Poowong-Drouin Road is now.

The first official evidence that 1 found to confirm that this road ha been defined and the Parish Allotments numbered, was May, 188 Other bridle tracks were shown and one selector, when stressing point in relation to a particular situation, wrote that "the selector could not travel without trespassing on each others land".

In February, 1884, William Aitken (Allotment 11) wrote to the Secretary for Lands requesting a road from the North-West corner

his block to the Poowong-Drouin Road. This letter is published in full, as also is a letter from Surveyor John Lardner. These letters are self-explanatory in relation to the road system of that time. (0 24th. October, 1879, Benjamin Matthews had selected Allotment

48 and A. Mitchell was on Allotment 13.)

On 2nd. March, 1886, Mr. Matthews accepted an offer of £62 compensation and on 13th. December, 1886, this road (now Timm Road) was shown on a plan of Allotment 48.

Over the years the roads and their condition have been one of constant concern, firstly to the early settlers, who had been known to walk to Drouin in less time than it would have taken to go by coach; and today the Grants Commission accepts that the cost of road reconstruction in the Korumburra Shire is in the top bracket.

The first bluemetal to be spread on the Southern section of the Poowong-Drouin Road was in 1914 and it was in intermittent sections on the hill bordering "Woodland Park". The material was carted, as spalls, by tip dray from the quarry on Timms Road, to a stockpile nearly opposite the gateway to "Woodland Park". Here, it was a one man operation to break the stone to the required size, with a hammer.

A short time later a mechanical crusher was installed at the quarry and this created quite a lot of interest.

Although 1 do not have one word of written evidence as to when the remainder of the family moved from Maryfield to Poowong, 1 accept what has been handed down verbally and that it was some time in 1880. The mode of travel was by train to Drouin and then by dray to Mr. Gillan's selection, with the last part of the journey being between that selection and Allotments 43 and 44.

When Mr. Gillan's six year "License to Occupy" had run its, time and he applied for a lease on 8th. April, 1885, the application was showing a hut valued at £5 and a five-roomed house of slab and shingle valued at £24.

As Richard worked this land for six years and lived on it for the first three years (batching for the first year), 1 would expect that this house would have been ready for occupancy when our Grandmother and their eight surviving children arrived, and would have been their home for the next two years. From there it would have been a move to "Woodland Park" in 1882.

In March, 1881, Richard sold the land at Maryfield and when we pause and sum up the position at this point, we find that Richard would have had a reasonable look at Victoria over the previous twenty years. When he, in 1886, answered a question "have you at any time held land under lease or license from the Crown?" the answer was "Yes .. . . . .. Do you still hold it?" - "No. Didn't like the locality". 1 take this as referring to the Lake Buloke selection. And so I take the view that the choice was to be between Maryfield and Poowong.

With Poowong being double and more reliable as regards rainfall, more productive on a per-acre basis: a young district with a vast potential and therefore better suited to a growing family, and perhaps climate-wise also, more akin to Moneylagin.

So Poowong it was and still is for many of the Gregg Family!

By mid-1882 the family would have a work force of Sarah age eighteen years and three boys of fourteen, fifteen and seventeen years with "Mater" and "Pater" at forty-one and forty-three respectively.

The building of a five-roomed slab and shingle house should not have presented many problems, so I would assume that the house the possessed in January, 1886, was the one they moved into in 188

On 25th. August, 19 79, it is our intention to unveil a plaque on th road reserve, adjacent to the gateway of "Woodland Park-, and plan a tree on the site of this first home, it being approximately two chain to the East of the plaque.

On 25th. January, 1886, Richard applied for the Lease which was granted on 3rd. August and to take effect from I st. February, 188 The term was fourteen years and the area one hundred and seven three acres.

A copy from inter-department files is as follows:

Recommend that Gregg's License for 160 acres be revoked and that new License be prepared bearing the same date for 174 acres. The alteration is necessary owing to road deviation.

24.3.86 Jas Thomas.

At some later time Allotment 48B of twenty-seven acres on th Northern boundary was added to "Woodland Park".

The following information shows what improvements had been made during the six years of the License: -

Richard Gregg transferred this property to Angus N. Gregg on 27th. January, 1899, at 2.22 o'clock in the afternoon.

The selectors, like Richard, were governed by the Land Act, and possibly its most important clauses, in relation the them, would have been:

The Shire of Buln Buln was constituted on 20th. September, 1878 and a perusal of the rate books show that the first rates paid on "Woodland Park" were 18/- for the year ending 30th. September, 1880. For the year ending September, 1888, Richard paid rates of 8/- on six hundred and twenty-five acres, being Allotments 62B, 62C, 62D and 62E. The Shire rates on this same land in 1978/79 were approximately $2,800.

This land would have been leased under the 1884 Land Act, when a "License to Occupy" was not needed for this grazing type country.

Richard paid the rates the following year and Sam Gregg from the until 1894.

The shire of Poowong & Jeetho was constituted on 29th. May, 1891 and the rate books are not available after 1892, so 1 am not aware who was the occupier over the years except that Angus N. Gregg occupied most of it for a couple of years until 1909. This was still leasehold as the first titles were issued in 1914, 1917, 1923 an 1940.

One interesting snippet from the rate books was on 4th. June, 1883 when Charles Brown, Splitter, at Longwarry, paid rates of 2/6 for bark hut on Crown Land.

Allotment 45 of fifty acres was selected by Mr. Henry Kimberly Splitter, and single, in October, 1878. When the Lease was approve in June, 1882, the improvements were:- House 18x10, Palings an Shingle Roof; half an acre grubbed and laid out; five acres English Grass. On 17th. June, 1884, the Leasehold was transferred to Richard Gregg with the Title being issued to him on 14th. January 1899, following the discharge of a mortgage.

This block on the Pheasant Creek is more than half Bluegum and was Richard's place of abode at the time of the 1898 fire. I feel sure that Richard would have retained the Lease on Allotment 62D of thirty eight acres, as on 23rd. March, 1914, Mr. S. J. Kenny was issued with the Title to this land, together with the transfer from Richard on Allotment 45.

An interesting feature of the Pheasant Creek, between the Poowong - Drouin Road at Allotment 42 and Timms Road at Allotment 48, is that it is the abrupt line of demarcation between the Messmate an Bluegum countries. Before the advent of superphosphate, probably some time in the 1920's, the Messmate on the Western side had very little value. Jack Wuchatsch (1880) has told me how, in its natural state, it was possible to drove cattle through the Messmate, but no the Bluegum, because of the dense undergrowth.

The early selectors pegged their blocks by the nature of the timber The best of Bluegum is generally regarded as some of the best hi country in Australia, and although this is a big statement, 1 could believe this to be true.

Another Allotment which Richard had owned was Number 43, three hundred and twenty acre parcel of Messmate country Poowong North. Richard obtained this Title on 1st. July, 190 On 6th. October, 1919 the Title was transferred to John Gregg who later sold it in four subdivisions in 1920, 1924, 1937 an 1950. When this Allotment was selected by Benjamin Tribe on 23rd. January, 1879, there were no made roads but a track ha been cut, roughly diagonally, from South-East to North-West.

Shire rates paid in 1892 and again in 1893 were ... Sam Gregg 609 acres - 20/-, Richard and Sam (jointly) - 224 acres (Allotment 49 and 45) - 50/- and 100 acres (Allotment 48) - 30/-.

Allotment 44 is another block with a part Gregg history. From 1st. January, 1878 until 2nd. December, 1878, the allotment ha twice been applied for and was twice forfeited. On 20th. January 1879, James Geo. Tribe selected and was granted the License to occupy on I st. May, 1879. The Lease, for fourteen years, to James Geo. was approved on I st. June, 1885. On 20th. February, 1886, h transferred the leasehold to James Tribe, Builder, of South Melbourne who obtained the Certificate of Title on 25th. May, 1899.

On 4th. September, 1903, James Tribe transferred fifty acres at the Southern end to John Gregg and the balance to Sam Gregg. John transferred his portion to Sam on 2nd. February the following year.

Later, on 7th. September, 1908, Sam transferred two hundred an twenty-four acres of the Northern section to Robert Henry Kidman and the balance to John Beverly.

The Beverly section (and more) is still with that family and a large weatherboard house, which was built by Sam, is presently the horn of grandson, John Beverly, his wife Faye and their four young children.

Sam and John Gregg appeared to work together, as research show that on 4th. April, 1894 they leased four hundred and forty acre (Allotments 36 and 28) from John Bee ("Avondale" today). cannot find further time evidence re Allotment 36, but Allotment 2 was until 17th. May, 1899 ... the same day that the Title was tranferred to Christina R. Alway.

A letter giving details of The Great Fire of early February, 189 confirms that Sam and John were dairying together at that time, so I take the view that it would have been on this land.

The fire was possibly the greatest disaster to happen in the district and our father had told me how, because of the dense smoke, it was impossible to tell where the fire was for most of the time. He told how they were virtually blind for days afterwards.

The previous Spring had been a good one, with the resultant dry grass in February, but the real danger factor was the tremendous number of dead trees that had been ring-barked some fifteen to twenty years previously. With a strong, hot, North-Westerly wind catastrophe such as this, was bound to happen.