my previous email went into the ether so here is a copy I agree with Kerry in her descriptions. On leaving Porepunkah the first area about 6 mile up the Valley around Devil’s Creek was known as Brookside. The Brookside School was on the rise just over the bridge. Brookside area probably covered up to the first cutting past Lumsden’s.Lower Buckland probably covered the area from the bridge up past the cemetery. Most of the stores and hotels at lower Buckland were around the flat near the river before the rise to the cemetery.  The original Joss house was on this flat between the road and the river. When one of the dredges went through that area the Joss house was moved to the right hand side of the road up the hill and this is the area that I know as Joss house hill. Upper Buckland probably stretched from the junction of the right and left branches of the Buckland river upstream including Beveridge’s paddocks. I will check my Uncle’s hand drawn map for “lower flat”.( He was a Davidson fromBrookside)  In my younger days  even those terms (Brookside, upper and lower Buckland) were rarely used for the areas, rather areas were identified by the names of the owners of the farms by the road or by the name of the creeks that joined the Buckland   Ian Payne

Many thanks to all who replied to my query on Buckland, especially Ian. I'll ask the forbearance of the list for a final clarification - as I mentioned, my visit up the valley was unexpected and a bit rushed so I'm working from memory and a bunch of photos I took at likely looking spots. I assume "the bridge" referred to by several listers is the one at the end of the bitumen road about 200 m (from memory) before the cemetery, and not another one further back towards Porepunkah that I may have zoomed over without really noticing :-) Going back to my original query, it seems to me that the general (lower) Buckland area (mining, and presumably where people lived as well) was where this bridge crosses the river and extended up towards the cemetery (one assumes they didn't plonk the cemetery in amongst the settlement) and presumably upstream for as far as the lode was paying. "Lower Buckland Flat" thus seems to be the area down by the river below the cemetery or there abouts. Ian, not quite clear on your description of Joss House Hill. The hill behind the cemetery is quite substantial - is this what you meant? Or one of the knolls or just a general area on the slope? Ann Shakespeare died at "Lower Flat, Buckland" in 1863 and was buried at "Joss House Hill" according to her death certificate. Certainly not Chinese, so I can't imagine that she would be buried anywhere other than the "usual" burial area. So, final queries - Was the Buckland cemetery visible today established in 1863? If so, would it be reasonable for it to be described as "Joss House Hill" then? Or does "Joss House Hill" conjure an area quite away from the present cemetery? Again, I'm most appreciative of the local knowledge. If anyone has a map or sketch of Buckland from the early days and is able to send me a copy, please contact me direct (see below) - I'll gladly pay costs, of course. Regards Malcolm greatbedwyn@bigpond.com > -----Original Message----- > From: hillhouse2@bigpond.com [mailto:hillhouse2@bigpond.com] > Sent: Thursday, 16 September 2004 5:56 PM > To: AUS-VIC-HIGH-COUNTRY-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [HC] Buckland area > > my previous email went into the ether so here is a copy > I agree with Kerry in her descriptions. > On leaving Porepunkah the first area about 6 mile up the Valley around > Devil’s Creek was known as Brookside. The Brookside School was on the > rise just over the bridge. Brookside area probably covered up to the > first cutting past Lumsden’s.Lower Buckland probably covered the area > from the bridge up past the cemetery. Most of the stores and hotels at > lower Buckland were around the flat near the river before the rise to > the cemetery. > >  The original Joss house was on this flat between the road and the > river. When one of the dredges went through that area the Joss house > was moved to the right hand side of the road up the hill and this is > the area that I know as Joss house hill. > Upper Buckland probably stretched from the junction of the right and > left branches of the Buckland river upstream including Beveridge’s > paddocks. > I will check my Uncle’s hand drawn map for “lower flat”.( He was a > Davidson fromBrookside) > >  In my younger days  even those terms (Brookside, upper and lower > Buckland) were rarely used for the areas, rather areas were identified > by the names of the owners of the farms by the road or by the name of > the creeks that joined the Buckland > > > > Ian Payne