An Anglican church and school were built in 1855, with the first Frankston post office opening on 1 September 1857 and a pottery established in 1859. During the 1860s, there were estimated to be around 30 people living in Frankston, with about 200 others living in the surrounding area. In 1874, a state school was built in Frankston as well as a Mechanics' Institute and free library in 1880. The first savings bank opened in 1881, and two brickworks factories and a cordial manufacturer were operating by the 1880s.

The Melbourne railway came on 1 August 1882, which saw Frankston develop into a seaside resort

Glen Violet

The survey of the land being completed, Oliver Henry Potts was successful amongst eight applicants, in being granted by the Lands Board, Block 10B, Parish of Gracedale, Shire of Healesville, Victoria. The official lease was issued on 1st August, 1900, six years after a licence to occupy was granted. The area of land surveyed was an original portion of the Coranderrk Aborigine Reserve.

The area of the block was 17 acres by survey, but 20 acres land surface. It was centred on a hill which dipped down to creeks at either end.

Someone was foolish enough to say that there was gold on Block 10B. If this was so, it was never discovered.

The block faced the Don Road, had a southern frontage to Badger Creek. Madam's Lane (now Chalet Road) was at the northern boundary and on the west was the property selected by Mr. Newnham. He built a house at a later period and lived on the block with his wife and three daughters.

The Pickaninny Creek flowed diagonally through the northern end of the block.

The Badger (Coranderrk) Creek, was a beautifully clear, pure, fast-flowing stream. It had Its source In the mountains behind

Mount Juliet, and flowed between Mt. Riddell and Mt. Toolebewong down through the gorges, eventually meandering through the Yarra flats to spill Into the Yarra River. It was not made use of by the settlers, whose properties adjoined its banks. It was handy for stock and for those who lived close enough to cart water from It for domestic use. Irrigation was not an essential in the heavy rainfall area, and so the Badger flowed on uninterrupted by humans.

While Joseph Shaw was Superintendent of the Coranderrk Aboriginal Station, he supervised a water supply system, for the station. The aboriginals under his direction, dug a channel some two miles in length, taking the water from the creek, 'at the crossing near where the Sanctuary now stands. He siphoned the water under the Dairy Road, and at the station it flowed Into a small brick reservoir. The reservoir was kept continually full, the overflowing water running back into the Badger. Pipes from the reservoir were put In strategic points, close to the houses. This gave the settlement of some 100 souls a pure, fresh reticulated water supply. That was the only use to which the waters of Badger Creek were put. The channel was known to the aboriginals as the "purp".

We lived close to the creek, and carted our water in the early days in a barrel on a sledge (usually a forked tree trunk).

In later years, we cut a channel from the creek for about five chains to a point where it had a fall of 20 feet to the creek below. A pipe connected the water to a "ram" pump, which, worked by the water automatically, pumped it to the top of the hill, where the house was built. Thus we had the water "laid on," and the barrel and the sledge were done away with. There was a never-ending supply of pure, fresh water for the home and garden. When the district was reticulated from a weir in Blue Jacket Creek, a tributary to the Badger, from Mt Riddle, the pump was dispensed with.

The Badger Creek area was included In the Maroondah catchment when the Government transferred the whole area to the Metropolitan Board of Works, at the time of its inauguration in 1891.

A weir was constructed in the upper reaches of the Badger Creek by the Board, and the official opening took place on January 15, 1909. A pipe line of 15 inch diameter pipes conveyed the water to the Graceburn aqueduct - a distance of 31 miles. This work was completed in December, 1908.

In 1928, construction commenced for the construction of a new weir further upstream of the original one, to enable water to be diverted at a higher elevation. This aqueduct, which was being constructed at the same time as the weir, diverted the water to the O'Shannassy aqueduct.

The new diversion and aqueduct were completed in 1929, when the water went direct to the Olinda reservoir. The Silvan reservoir received both Coranderrk (Badger) and O'Shannassy after It was completed in 1931. Since the construction of these weirs the Badger Creek flow was greatly diminished, especially in the summer months.

RASPBERRY PATCH WASHED AWAY

Heavy rains in the mountains often made the Badger a roaring torrent. It often overflowed its banks and flooded adjoining properties. I can well remember going in a wagon, drawn by two horses, with Dad to Hatchwell's, who had a raspberry farm In the Don River valley. We loaded on 1000 young raspberry plants. These

were carefully planted on the flat alongside the creek. Before they had time to take root, along came a flood and the 1000 plants were washed away. That was the end of the raspberry venture at home. We went back to potatoes and pasture.

SETTLING IN ON THE NEW BLOCK

Now for the new block of land.

It was untouched by the hand of man, and thickly covered with a lovely stand of timber and scrub. It was given the name of "Glenviolet," and was thereafter known by that name.

NEW VENTURE IN LIFE

With the six children-Violet, Olly, John, James, William and Jabez -together with the adopted ones - Bert and Pearl Thomas - Oliver and Elizabeth set out on a new venture In life. Oliver was 32 years of age and Elizabeth 36 years.

TREES CUT DOWN FOR WAGON TO ENTER

So thick was the forest of trees and scrub that a path had to be cut to get the wagon and buggy on to the property.

A further area was cleared and tents erected. This was a real pioneering experience. Cooking was done over an open fire, with a camp oven, plus cast iron saucepans and kettles.

MOVE FOR A HOUSE

Having settled temporarily in the tents, the next move was to build a house. There was an abundance of material on the property in the tall, straight timber, but no method or machinery to saw them into weatherboards or even rough planks. So, with the American background of his father, Oliver Potts decided to build a log cabin.

Messrs. Ruddle (carpenter) and Donnelly (shipwright) were engaged to build the home.

The tallest and straightest of the trees were cut down, and had the bark stripped from them in six feet lengths. This bark was smoke dried by leaning the sheets, sap inwards, against a tree and lighting a fire under them.

The building was 33 feet long and 18 feet wide. It was not necessary to join any of the logs as each one used was 33 feet in length. Such was the beautiful stand of timber on the block.

The logs were adzed into shape, and placed one on top of the other to a height of 10 feet, with interstices cut at the end to give them stability. Wooden pegs were used for further security. Large log beams were placed across from wall to wall. Doors and windows were cut out of the solid walls.

The house faced the east, and a large log fire place was built at the southern end. It had two large hobs and a log chimney about 20 feet high. Cooking was done over the open fire and bread baked In a camp oven, held over the fire by wire hooks suspended from chains fastened to an iron bar, as were other cooking utensils.

Huge fires were built up in the winter nights and these kept the room warm. It was not possible to sit closer than four feet from these fires!

The cabin was divided into two rooms, logs being used for the

division wall kept in place by stout uprights. The gable roof was built with sapling rafters, over which were placed the flattened smoke-cured bark. This bark was held in position with wire tied to large heavy logs. The roof never leaked, nor was the bark displaced by strong wind storms, even at gale force.

The joins between the log walls were filled with clay daub. which was smoothed off with a trowel.

Thus by ingenuity and hard work, was a comfortable house built for the family to move into.

That log cabin was the only one of its kind In that part of the State, and became of great historic interest.

In later years a one-fire stove was Installed to replace the openfire cooking.

PAYMENT BY BARTER

Money was almost an unknown commodity In those old days. They were years of depression in which the banks had closed and disrupted the financial economy of the State of Victoria.

Thus Dad made payment to Mr. Ruddle for his work on the house by dragging logs and carting wood on his block, which was where the Military School of Health is situated in what was known as Ruddle's Lane. To pay Mr. Donnelly, Dad did some ploughing for him. He had a single furrow plough drawn by two horses, and ploughed many hundreds of acres for various settlers, in an endeavour to raise some money to feed and clothe the large family.

WATTLE AND DAUB ADDITION

A two-roomed wattle and daub house was built about 50 feet from the log cabin on the western side. One room had a stove Installed and became the kitchen, the other room a bedroom.

This was a useful addition to the home, but some few years after it was built, a spark from an old tree, which was being burnt down near the bottom of the hill, and some hundreds of yards away, set alight to the gable end of the building. It was burned to the ground, with all its contents. A great loss and financial blow to the family.

Dad and Mum were away at a Band of Hope meeting at the Badger Creek School at the time, and no one was home.

Mum held these Band of Hope meetings at the School once a week for many years.

NEW WEATHERBOARD HOUSE

Pioneering days were being left behind and to replace the loss a three-roomed weatherboard dwelling with galvanised iron roof was erected in front of the old log cabin.

Dad and Mum did not know which way to turn after the fire, and prayed incessantly that God would show them the way out. Their prayers were answered when Mitchell & Hurlstone, timber and grain merchants at Healesville (for whom Dad used to work), came to their aid. Mr. Hurlstone, a fine Christian gentleman, visited the home one day and offered to donate the timber and Iron for a building. This was gratefully and readily accepted.

The new rooms were built by Mr. "Boggy" Smith, a master carpenter.

Dick Harrison, a settler on Boggy Creek, was a plumber, and he came over and put on the roof and spouting.

The addition was built on the eastern side of the old log cabin.

If ever there was a case of answer to prayer this was one.