Christine et al, A detailed history of Mewburn Park is given by Wal Vardy in "Beneath Blue Hills - a History of Mewburn Park, Tinamba and Riverslea." (Bairnsdale, 1994), pp 5-12. Selected extracts are as follows:: Page 5: "Johnson was granted the licence for Mewburn Park in April 1847. It included all the land between the Macalister and Thomson Rivers. The boundary ran north and south between the two rivers, just south of Heyfield and enclosed some 38,000 acres - most in the Parish of Tinamba. Captain John Johnson-Boe was a seafaring man and owned a number of vessels trading around Australia in 1840. He lived with his wife and family in Hobart Town, Tasmania. Maffra's main street is named after him. Born at Bergen in Norway, Johnson-Boe was christened 'Knud Olia Boe' ... His eldest son John Canute Johnson died in December 1870, aged 29 years ..." "In 1854 John Johnson under his preemptive right to purchase a square mile on his run for freehold land, acquired 640 acres of Mewburn Park. The area was west of Maffra on the northern side of the Maffra-Tinamba Road where he built his home and out-buildings, all from bricks made on the property." Page 6: " In 1856 some of the workers at Mewburn Park included: ... Neil Weir (carpenter) ..." Vardy makes no mention of the presence of Vandemonians or the notorious Orton alias Castro at Mewburn Park. Patrick Morgan in "The Settling of Gippsland", states: Page 75: "During the trials readers of the English and Australian press were regaled with detailed descriptions of daily life on the Boisdale and Mewburn Park runs where the claimant to the Titchborne title worked in the 1850s." Page 77: "Thomas Castro claimed to be the missing aristocrat ... He went to England, was accepted by his mother but rejected by the rest of the family. In May 1871 ... he sued to have the estates returned to him. After a trial lasting 10 months he was unsuccessful. He was immediately charged with perjury and another marathon trial, the longest in English legal history at that stage from April 1873 to February 1874, ensued. The claimant was found guilty and sentenced to fourteen years' imprisonment.. These long trials and their preliminaries kept England and Australia engrossed for a decade ..." Walter Savige

Owen Conlley b.1869 attended school Thorpdale - his father Francis was a selector. While I have traced most of the Conlley (also spelt Conley & other derivatives) family, Owen is a bit of a mystery. He married Kate Allen at Abbotsford in Sept.1983. Both gave their usual address as Thorpdale and current address as Trafalgar. Kate's occupation is given as "dressmaker" and her father is listed as "Gentleman" of Coop Coop near St.Arnaud. Kate's mother Elizabeth (nee Allen) - had previously been married to a Henry Ord and had three children. Her husband Henry died in 1865 and she married George Allen in 1866. Kate was their only child. I can find no trace of Owen or Kate after their marriage. I note they married in a Presbyterian Church, while Owen was from a staunch Catholic family - perhaps the reason they married in Abbotsford? Has anyone come across any information on these folk? What did the description "Gentleman" denote?? Would appreciate any tidbits! ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

Kim wrote > Mewburn Park is at Tinamba, near Maffra. It was owned by the Glassford family around the 1880's but I don't know if it was always owned by them. My gggrandfather, was employed by John Johnson of Mewburn Park (in 1856 I think) & the following entry appears in the . Gippsland General Directory - 1866 Colin McLAREN Mewburn Park, stockman wages 100 pounds per annum, Johnson Pam Manning

Christine and Kim, There are many references in the literature to Mewburn Park, a pastoral run taken up by John Johnson in the 1840s. (1) The Tinamba Parish Map shows the position of the pre-emptive right (640 acres or one square mile) granted to the pastoralist following the 1869 Lands Act when the pastoral leases were broken up during the selection era. (2) Billis and Kenyon "Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip" is an excellent reference for pastoral runs such as Mewburn Park. (3) John Wells, in "Gippsland" (1977), p 55, states: "In the mid-1960s, there were three large runs sending between them about a thousand head a week to Melbourne.". (4) Patrick Morgan, in "The Settling of Gippsland" (1997) refers to Mewburn Park a number of times. A sketch on page 46 shows the position of Mewburn Park Run surrounded by Boisdale, Heyfield, Snake Ridge and Fulham Runs. p.45: "Eight historic runs were taken up between 1841 and 1843 including Mewburn Park (Johnson).. In pages 75-80 there are lengthy references to the "Titchborne case" - the longest trial in English legal history, which became a cause celebre in England. It involved a man named Orton alias Castro who worked at Mewburn Park in the Colony of Victoria in 1855-56.. p 75: - "During the 1840s and 1850s the Vandemonians moved north to the central plain to work on squatting properties owned by fellow VDL colonists like John Foster and John Johnson. These were Hobart entrepreneurs ... Their main properties were at Boisdale and Mewburn Park near Maffra on the central plain." p.77: "In late 1855 the businessman John Johnson employed Orton, among many other VDL workers ... as a butcher and rider on his Gippsland property Mewburn Park. Orton remained there till December 1856 ... Orton -Castro ... had been charged with horse stealing ... and there were dark hints of murder in the background..." Walter Savige

My apology for the error in the dates of Mewburn Park.....Mr & Mrs John and Julie Vardy bought Mewburn Park in 1986 not 1886....how one figure can change so much. Margaret

re Mewburn Park question From: Margaret <meander@i-o.net.au> To: <bcstone@netlink.com.au> Subject: Mewburn Park Date: Thursday, 9 March 2000 6:03 PM Dear Christine Mewburn Park is one of the oldest properties in Gippsland it wasd settled 5 years after Melbourne in 1842. Angus McMillan was sent by Lachlan Macalister and James Macfarlane (that is its correct spelling) to investigate the grazing prospects og the Gippsland Plains. A lease of 38,000 acres (£10 annually was the fee paid to the crown on pastoral runs, regardless of size) was taken up by Dr. Arbuckle and squatters Lachlan Macalister and Thomas Mewburn Macalister(came to Australia in 1837-38, named Mewburn Park after his fathers father-in-law, Thomas Mewburn. This pastoral run took up the area between the Macalister and Thompson Rivers. The Macalister River was named on the 22nd January 1840. In 1847 Captain John Johnson-Boe of Hobart acquired the lease and developed it. In 1854 Capt. Johnson bought the leased land for £4,500. It was approximately this time that he built the homestead and later the stables. The buildings were built of bricks made on the property. Cattle from Mewburn Park provided markets interstate and New Zealand. During the Maori wars he shipped cattle and other provisions to feed the imperial forces. Capt. Johnson Boe was elected to parliament in 1857 as the Member for North Gippsland and in 1862 he resigned and became Member for South Gippsland. Capt Johnson's son John Canute James Johnson-Boe returned from studies overseas and took over the running of Mewburn Park with Henry (Harry) Glassford and they were sending between 4000 and 5000 head of fat cattle to the Melbourne market. John C. J. Johnson-Boe died of inflamation of the lung aged 29 and Capt. Johnsons' daughter Martha Bertine (Tina) inherited the land. Capt. Johnson-Boe died in Tasmania in 1875. In 1903 Mewburn Park had diminished in size to 5400 acres due to land being sold off in 1882 and 1903. Mewburn was reduce in size yet again to 652 acres when there was a huge auction in 1906 where 500 people attended at the Mechanics Hall. The Glassfords continued to breed cattle and horses. In 1917 Robert Gilder purchased the property. In 1919 the golf course was built. In 1886 John and Julie Vardy purchased Mewburn Park from the Estate of R. Gilder. Hope this information is of some use to you. Most of it as provided by the present owners John and Julie Vardy. Margaret

Hi List, All interested history and heritage type people in the Wellington Shire (and anyoine else who feels like travelling) is invited to the launch of the Wellington Shire Cultural Heritage Bibliography at 10am next Tuesday in the Council Chambers (Wellington Room) at Sale. This massive bibliography of historical publications in teh shire was compiled by Linda Kennett and Meredith Fletcher at the request of Liz Clay. While it is not going to be generally available in a paper format (it is very big), it will be available in libraries and very soon on the net. You can bet there will be link from AVG home page. If you would like to come for a cuppa and a sneak look at it (and to impress councillors and officers with how many people are interested in history and heritage in the shire, you will be most welcome and a powerful message that this is an area in which people are most interested. If you would like to be there, please e-mail Lisa Wooltorton on LisaW@wellington.vic.gov.au or phone her on 5142 3326 so she can work out how many cups to put out. Cheers Linda Barraclough Briagolong List Owner: AUS-VIC-GIPPSLAND email: kapana@netspace.net.au http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~surreal/AVG/

Meander wrote: I have to disagree with this slightly, Mewburn Park is an area of its own and not necessarily a part of Tinamba. Mewburn Park is now owned by Mr John Vardy and his wife Julie and they have kept it beautifully maintained since it has been in their posession. The property begins about 3 kilometre's from Maffra and is run as a dairy farm although until recent years it was run as a beef property. The first local golf course was at Mewburn Park and we can still see evidence of the 9 hole golf course and pidgeon house, caretakers cottage etc. It is situated on the Serpentine Creek which is not your normal creek for it now has an olympic water ski course and jump which has helped to produce a couple of National champions. In the very early years it held rowing regattas there also. Mr Vardy purchased the property from the Gilder family. I lived and worked on the property for 9 years from 1989 Meander Meander, Thank you for your reply. I found it very interesting. But now my mind is reeming! If Anna Maria HARBECK worked there as the Nanny I would have expected her to have been living there. And she clearly gives her place of residence as Tinamba. I would also have thought that Tinamba was the closest town. Her parents were at the time of her marriage living at Cowarr.... My mind is definitely working overtime on this one - Any other helpers as to where Mewburn lies exactly? Cheers Kim Harbeck Steiger Switzerland. Can't wait to see Serpentine Creek and the Golf course - Mmm definitely feeling homesick this morning.

An Arthur George Lewis was born in Pearson Street, Sale in 1881. Was there a hospital in the area then? or if he was born at home would anyone know where the house is/was? TIA Joan Researching: TRAILL Orkney > Aus, BULLEY Eng > Aus PELLING, Sussex > Aus, McMAHON Ireland > Aus HOPPNER, Prussia > Aus, WALPOLE, Ireland > Aus DAVIE, Scotland > Aus, SHOVE, Surrey > Aus McKINLAY Scotland > Aus THOMPSON Ireland > Aus In difficult moments, behave like a duck. Keep calm and unruffled on the surface, but keep paddling away like crazy underneath

Hi Christine, Mewburn Park is at Tinamba, near Maffra. It was owned by the Glassford family around the 1880's but I don't know if it was always owned by them. It was/is a large estate boarded by the Macalister and the Thomson, apparently commanding great views of the GD Range .... I have posted on this before and received not alot of info - so let's hope there is more info out there now. It would be interesting to know if anyone knows whether the records of Mewburn have been preserved... ?? Is Mewburn still an estate today?? and if so who owns it? My ggrandfather's sister ANNA MARIA PHILIPINA HARBECK was the Nanny there in the late 1870's and her future husband SAMUEL ANDERSON was the Groom. Cheers Kim Harbeck Steiger Switzerland

For all the new people to the list to help get you started AVRI = Australian Vital Records Index (a set of searchable Genealogy CD's) BDM = Birth, Death, Marriage BTW = By the way BVRI = British Vital Records Index (a set of searchable Genealogy CD's) DIGGER INDEX - CD's of AVRI DPS = Dead Persons Society FAQ = Frequently asked questions FHC = Family History Centre (Genealogy Centre's operated by the Mormon Church) FRC = Family Records Centre GRO = General Registry Office IGI = International Genealogical Index (on line at http://www.familysearch.org) IOW = Isle of Wight LDS = Latter Day Saints (Mormon) PRV = Public Record Office SKS = Some kind soul TIA = Thank you/Thanks in advance TTYL = Talk to you later WHO = World Health Organization W.D.T.L. = Who Departed This Life g> means grinning/smiling Words written in CAPITALS (other than names, places etc.) represent SHOUTING and should be avoided if possible. Hope these abbreviations help. Regards, Mary of Melbourne Researching, FOSTER, Coventry >Aust - PRITCHARD,Coventry>Aust GEOFFREY,Bloomsbury, Middlesex>Aust - ORCHARD, Warminster, Wiltshire>Aust STUART,Aberdeen, >Aust - EDWARDS,England>Aust GREATZ,NSW>Aust - PFITZNER, Prussia>Aust CUNNINGHAM, HUMPHREYS,MULVAHILL >Aust ,

Looking for any information on Mewburne Park near Maffra. My husband's ggggrandfather, Neil Weir, worked there as a carpenter and one of his children was born there in 1856. Researching WEIR/STONE Thanks Christine

Hi, Have spare details for births in the District of Richmond: 29 April 1863 ROBERT KERR Parents: ANDREW KERR b. Paisley, Scotland JUNE KERR (formerly POLTON) b. Paisley, Scotland 20 April 1863 MARY LYNCH Parents: TIMOTHY LYNCH b. Limerick, Ire. MARY LYNCH (formerly MOORE) b. Limerick, Ire. 26 March 1863 SARAH ANN LORD Parents: JOSEPH LORD b. Berkshire, England MARY LORD (formerly BLACKFORD) b. Berkshire, England 10 April 1863 HELEN HAYES Parents: STEPHEN HAYES b. Tipperary, Ire. JOHANNA HAYES (formerly CROSS) b. Tipperary, Ire. 28 April 1863 FLORENCE MARY HERBERT Parents: WILLIAM HENRY HERBERT b.Leitrim, Ire. ISABEL ELEANOR HERBERT (formerly EADES) b. Dublin, Ire. Hope these can help someone, if you need further details, please email me privately. Regards, Julie from Cairns muffin@cairns.net.au Researching: WILLIAMS, MCGINNIS (and other spellings), HAYES, BURKE, CASEY.

Hi, Have details from another marriage on page for EAGLEHAWK: 7 July 1877 # 101 WILLIAM STIRLING, miner, b. Edinburgh, Scotland Parents JAMES STIRLING and ISABELLA GOWRIE to ANNASTASIA CROCKENBERG b. Sandhurst, Vic Parents FREDERICK CROCKENBERG and MARY MURPHY Hope this helps someone. If you need further details, please email me privately. Regards Julie from Cairns "The No. 1 choice for Cyclone Steve!" muffin@cairns.net.au

Hi We have inherited quite a few photos that were taken of family and friends. There are quite a few based around the Wonthaggi area. Do any of these names fit into your tree? Tilly Caple Wonthaggi Kitty Crombie Kathleen Pettit Edith Mitchell Gladys Crombie Mary McCallum Fred Biggins Wonthaggi Jesse & Thelma Warne Lou Strong (wedding) I am as yet unsure whether they are family or friends probably the latter. Any information welcome. Regards Michele Deering http://www.vic.australis.com.au/sdeering/index.htm EMAIL sdeering@vic.australis.com.au ICQ.# 46641156

I would appreciate if anyone could advise me if they have a ERIC HOOD WALKER in their family. He was a survivor of the air crash at Cowombat Flat in 1954. Reunion being held on the 15 & 16 of March, 2000. ~%%~%~%~%~%%~%~%~%~%%~%~%~%~%%~%~%~%%~ Dianne Carroll Historian, Author & Genealogist Omeo, Victoria, Australia http://www4.tpgi.com.au/users/omeo/

Hi Mary and List, I think this will be the Tarra Survey, near Port Albert. Especially if you are going from a modern re-type of old records, as I have seen it incorrectly written in that way in the Pioneer Index. I don't THINK it would be used much after the 1850s, if then. Linda Barraclough Briagolong List Owner: AUS-VIC-GIPPSLAND email: kapana@netspace.net.au http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~surreal/AVG/ At 11:19 PM 3/03/00 +1100, you wrote: >Hello listers, > >Would anyone know what "Yarra Surv" Gippsland means on a birth >entry. > >Regards, >Mary of Melbourne >

Good Morning List, Just to catch up on a few things. :) We had an excellent day cleaning up at The Springs yesterday, 30km north of Seaton, up McEvoy's track. We ended up with two large trailers full, the most unusual being a number of lengths of logging cable and a shot-up prefabricated chimney. We are still looking for cars to fit the car bonnet and car door. And heaps of bottles and cans. We did, however, leave the remains of a building there intact. Thanks to the Deputy for everything he did to organise the day, and thanks to Jeremy and Jeanette, Wemyss, Jane and Alan, Marion, Betty and Margaret from the Stratford and Maffra Historical Societies who came along and worked really hard. And thanks to the Wellington Shire for the bin at the end. Where should we go next year??? However the Deputy, after that, got the bit between his teeth and re-organised the AVG Home Page. Most of you will not notice the difference, unless you have saved pages other than the home page as favourites. This means it you have your favourites set up to go, for example, straight to the war memorials page, those links will no longer work, and you will have to go in again from the home page at http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~surreal/AVG/ and follow the links to the page you want and save it again. And, while he was at it, he uploaded my index to Gippsland Teachers who served in World War I - you can find it from the main war memorials page. And, lastly, the South Gippsland Shire Resources page has just been uploaded. If someone haas access to the "Red Book" they might care to give me a list of cemeteries in South Gippsland, along with where transcriptions are held. Or maybe someone from the family history groups down there can just give me a list of what transcripts they hold???? That page is http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~surreal/AVG/Resources/Res-sgs.html Cheers Linda Barraclough Briagolong List Owner: AUS-VIC-GIPPSLAND email: kapana@netspace.net.au http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~surreal/AVG/

Dear Listers many thanks for all your advice I will follow through on them all. Regards Bev

Hi Linda As you know, the Sth Gippsland Hist Soc had a joint project some years ago with the former Shire of South Gippsland, the Foster Apex Club and the Hist Soc. The project was to mark all schools in the old shire that had closed. We made up a leaflet with a map and a potted history of each school. In all 34 markers were placed on former school sites. Many areas have had "back to's" and an unveiling of their markers. I will endeavour to get you one of these leaflets. I cannot remember the details of Cliffy Is (even tho' I did the typing for the leaflet!). The Prom light house had a school for 3 months. The cut off point for the Is that belong to Tassie is Rodondo Is. We brought our kids up to know that you can see Tassie from the Prom. It's always very impressive to tell visitors that we take out in our small boat from Tidal River that they are looking at Tassmania when Rodondo comes in to view. Cheers Margerie -----Original Message----- From: AUS-VIC-GIPPSLAND-D-request@rootsweb.com [mailto:AUS-VIC-GIPPSLAND-D-request@rootsweb.com] Sent: Sunday, 5 March 2000 2:16 To: AUS-VIC-GIPPSLAND-D@rootsweb.com Subject: AUS-VIC-GIPPSLAND-D Digest V00 #51