AT the August meeting of the Combined Probus Club of Whittlesea, Deidre Hawkins of the Kinglake Historical Society had volunteered to give members an overview of Kinglake and its history.
But on the morning of the meeting, Deidre was taken ill. A local saviour in the form of Jeanette Caffyn, a friend of Deidre and a Probus member, made the round trip from Whittlesea to collect the prepared presentation. On arrival, Jeanette hopped right into the task at hand and gave a professional resume of the prepared document and slide show.
Gold was discovered in 1861 on Mount Slide to the east of the locality at an area which became known as Mountain Rush. A Mountain Rush Post Office opened on May 7, 1862, but closed in January 1863 as the miners moved to other locations. Kinglake Township was established in 1879 and the Post Office opened on May 14, 1883. There were actually several other post offices in the district.
The Kinglake district now stretches for about sixteen kilometres along the ridge from west to east which necessitates three schools, churches and post offices having been established since the early settlers took up residence. The Probus Club heard about the history of these establishments and the often-pitiful conditions the early settlers endured.
One councillor rode his horse to Eltham Council meetings at Kangaroo Ground. Many photographs of early settlers’ home and properties were shown reinforcing the “pioneering spirit” of the Gold Miners, Raspberry Growers, Timber Cutters and later potato farmers.
Timber was hauled on a privately built timber railroad down the mountain to Whittlesea railhead. These timber railroads were common and necessary to allow transport of heavy loads throughout the state as populations increased and building increased. The motive power was a horse team.
It was not until 1929 that the location had a sealed main road, which coincided with the establishment of Kinglake National Park which was started at 14,000 acres but today is 57,000. The aforementioned Masons Falls is a favourite picnic area with falls and natural flora. Layered sediment forms the valley, containing fossils from when the area was once covered by the sea. Natural fauna includes wallaby, kangaroo, wombat, possum and echidna. It also includes varieties of birds including cockatoos (sulphur-crested, black and red-headed), king parrots, the rosella and the lyrebird.
Historical societies often have “skeletons in the cupboard” and Kinglake has one real and one imagined. In 1931 the mail plane Southern Cloud failed to arrive at Essendon. A search along the route including the Kinglake ranges, failed to locate the wreck. But its wreck was finally found in the Southern Alps some 27 years later by a worker on the Snowy Mountains Hydro scheme. The real one was in 1937 when an abandoned truck was located, and the body of the driver found buried nearby.
A developing new industry is rewriting history. Fires have been a major part of Kinglake history, but the recent history is still a sensitive subject and will not be elaborated upon except to mention. Kinglake’s history about fires is true and unembellished.
