Beyond Kew.

The development of the country beyond Kew had its influence upon the business and scenes of the main street. In the sixties great herds of bullocks from the rich grazing lands of Yering and St. Hubert's were brought through Kew to the Melbourne market, often resting for a day or so in a paddock in Glenferrie Road, now occupied by "Tarring" and the adjacent houses. Afterwards vineyards were started on the Lilydale hills, and huge wine vats and casks, conveyed by patient bullock teams, were no uncommon sight. Flocks of sheep also, numbering several hundreds, frequently passed along! Cotham Road. Then in the later sixties Wood's Point became prominent as a gold field. Diggers with pack-horses bearing shovels, cradles, &c., often passed through Kew, while huge waggons, drawn by eight, ten, or a dozen horses, conveyed merchandise from town, returning in a few weeks' time with loads of splendid paling s split from the magnificent mountain ash trees of the Black Spur and adjacent ranges. In those days Lilydale was far from being the place of importance it now is, for in 1862 tenders were called for the conveyance of mails from Kew to Lilydale, via Doncaster and Warrandyte, on three days a week. About 1864 a three-horse coach to «32» Lilydale began to run through Kew, and as the road improved so the ride became more popular, and morning and evening coaches were needed. The "Bay of Biscay," a terrible part of the White Horse Road, between Balwyn and Union Roads, lost its terrors, and the Brushy Creek portion was so improved that long before the railway was opened in April, 1883, six coaches were passing through Kew daily, generally well loaded with passengers, and at holiday times so packed that the sight was one worth witnessing. In the seventies the Cave Hill lime kiln was started, and two four-horse waggons daily passed through Kew conveying bags of lime to town.

All this traffic did not go through Kew without having some effect on the business of the place, many of the shopkeepers having customers at various points along the road. Consequently, when it was displaced by the railway in 1883, the activity of the township fell away considerably. The railway also began to supplant the wood carter, and instead of strings of fifteen to twenty wood carts passing through at a time, now seldom more than two or three are seen together. But the four-wheeled waggon of the fruit grower is more in evidence now, and while these pages are passing through the press those who dwell in High Street will have as an accompaniment to their midnight dreams the rumble of dozens of these vehicles conveying early cherries to the Melbourne market. Again, the milk waggon has taken the place of the hay cart, it being found more profitable to turn the hay into milk on the farms along the Yarra than cart it to the city. With the development of the fruit growing industry beyond Kew, so have the townships of Doncaster, Box Hill, and Ringwood increased, hence Kew does now only a small fraction of the business it once had with those districts.

From the very earliest settlement of Port Phillip the Yarra valley, from its fertility and ample supply of water, naturally attracted land seekers. Heidelberg by 1840 had become a favored spot, and soon the rich flats on the other side of the Yarra were taken up for grazing and farming. «33»

In order to attract settlers to Port Phillip, the British Government in 1841 announced that persons paying £5,000 down in London would have the right to select a corresponding number of acres anywhere they pleased in the district. Two of these selections, or special surveys, as they were termed, were made in the immediate vicinity of Kew. Elgar's survey extended from Burke Road to Elgar Road, near Box Hill, and from the Koonung Creek to Canterbury Road, covering about eight square miles. The other, known as Unwin's, was the same size, and extended along the Yarra from the Koonung Creek to Templestowe, including much of what is now Doncaster. But even before this the land had been occupied, for an old map, dated 1838, names the Koonung Creek "Woods' Creek," after Messrs. J. and W. Woods, who had founded a cattle station there.

Early in the forties Messrs. Laidlaw and Kerr became settlers in the district, the latter having a sheep station on the land afterwards purchased by Mr. Thomas Ragg, at the junction of the Bulleen and Doncaster Roads. Mr. Jas. Kennedy settled on the Koonung Creek, not far from where it is crossed by the road to Doncaster, hence this part of the creek is often called Kennedy's Creek.

About 1843 Mr. Alexander Duncan settled on the flat land between the creek and "Springbank." At first the land was devoted to growing wheat and potatoes, but of late years dairying has been found the most profitable use for it. In the forties reaping was done by hand with the sickle, and it was no uncommon sight to see thirty or forty men thus employed at harvest time. The grain was carted by bullock teams to Dight's mill on the Yarra, opposite Studley Park, and as there was no bridge or punt the teams had to be driven through the stream at a shallow part.

When Bulleen, as this part of the district was called by the aboriginals (the meaning of the name seems to be unknown), was first occupied, the numerous lagoons abounded with eels and water «34» fowl. Here the aboriginals found a happy hunting ground, and a party of about two hundred would frequently camp on the creek. They early developed a liking for the settlers' dogs, and soon had a numerous following of their own. On the flats grew immense numbers of red gum trees, which were cut up for buildings and other purposes by means of cross-cut saws. One of the saw pits can still be traced in a bend of the river. The road or track in those days was much nearer the river than the present road. As the country was drained and brought under cultivation the dug-out canoes of the natives were often found sunk at the bottoms of the lagoons, and were used by the settlers as feeding troughs for their stock. A gum tree in "Kilby," visible from the road, bears a huge scar indicating from where the bark was removed years ago to form a blackfellow's canoe.