Hi Susan, I never thought to check "Pastures of Peace" from Mortlake. There is a mention on page 47 of Thomas Dowling - "In 1888, an Ararat to Warrnambool Railway League was formed to urge the contruction of a line through Mortlake linking those two towns. A branch of this league in Mortlake included the following people, J.A. Webster, Wells Brumley, Rev. Alexander, Thomas Montgomery, Thomas Dowling and Messrs. Small, Jackson, Whitson, Manson, McInnes and Dr. Sweetnam. The League brought to bear all the pressure it could exert and in 1890 a branch line from Terang to Mortlake was opened. In 1888, it took two hours to travel by coach to Terang; two years later, it took half an hour to travel that distance by train. The contractors for the line were Bloomfield Brothers. As an aid to construction, they built a tramway along Webster Street to Mill Street, along Mill Street to the Ararat Road and thence to the scoria pit. Some ratepayers wrote to the Council expressing their concern that the tramway engine could cause an accident in places where it was difficult to see it coming. When the Railway was completed this tramway was removed." On page 191 - JELLALABAD (17,438 acres, 8,000 sheep) 1839 Keth King and John Down 1849 Edward Robe Bostock 1852 J.G. Ware 1853 Thomas Dowling 1909 Subdivided: I Jellalabad: 1909 Thomas Dowling, 1915 G.W. Dowling and Gerald Cumming 1961 Dowling family sold its interest On page 206 - Parliament of Victoria Legislative Council Members Representing the Mortlake Area 1856-1984 Date of Redivision: 1881(First election held 1882) Province: Nelson (3 Members) Name of Member: DOWLING, Thomas Term of Office: 1886-1892 and again Date of Redivision: 1888 (first election held 1889) Nelson (3 Members) DOWLING, Thomas Term of Office: 1892-1904 On page 208 - DOWLING, Thomas Bought Jellalabad 1853, Mortlake Shire President 1865 and twenty other years. 1856-1872 On page 215 - Shire of Mortlake Presidents 1863-1985 1863-68 Cr. T. Dowling 1874-78 Cr. T. Dowling 1881-95 Cr. T. Dowling Don't know if any of the above helps. Regards, Trish. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Patterson" <aapatterson@bigpond.com> To: <AUS-VIC-WESTERN-DISTRICT@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 3:49 PM Subject: [AUS-VIC-WESTERN-DISTRICT] W.D Roads Boards