Kangaroo Ground, Victoria
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Kangaroo Ground is a town in
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, 26 km north-east of
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
's
Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
, located within the
Shire of Nillumbik The Shire of Nillumbik ( ) is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It contains outer northern suburbs of Melbourne and rural localities beyond the urban area. It has an area of 432 square kilometres and at th2021 census the Shire had ...
local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
. Kangaroo Ground recorded a population of 1,208 at the 2021 census. There are two sources for the origin of the name. The name arises from the extraordinary richness of the locality with kangaroo grass before it was settled. It is a descriptive term, apparently coined by
William Ryrie William Ryrie (1805—1856) was a Scottish-born Australian pastoralist and pioneer settler colonist of the Braidwood district of New South Wales and the Port Phillip District (now Victoria). Early life William Ryrie was the eldest son of Stew ...
but first formally recorded in February 1838 by
Robert Hoddle Robert Hoddle (21 April 1794 – 24 October 1881) was a surveyor and artist. He is best known as the surveyor general of the Port Phillip District (later known as the Australian state of Victoria) from 1837 to 1853, especially for creation of ...
in his diary: "Crossed a creek nearly dry and entered some forest land distant from Melbourne called Kangaroo Grounds.... It abounds in kangaroos, hence its name."


History

An agricultural district, Kangaroo ground was considered one of the oldest and richest in the early
History of Victoria This article describes the history of the Australian colony and state of Victoria. Before British colonisation of Australia, many Aboriginal peoples lived in the area now known as Victoria. A couple of years after the first Europeans settled t ...
, due to the extraordinary richness of its soil. It was on the road to the
Woods Point Woods Point is a small town in Victoria, Australia and is located on the banks of the Goulburn River. At the , Woods Point and the surrounding area had a population of 37, down from 94 in 2006. History The town began as a general store built b ...
gold diggings. The Kangaroo Ground Post Office opened on 4 October 1854. In the centre of the district stands a high knoll, known as Garden Hill occupied by Kangarooo Ground War Memorial Park. In 1874 views could be seen of the
Kew Asylum Kew Lunatic Asylum is a decommissioned psychiatric hospital located between Princess Street and Yarra Boulevard in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Operational from 1871 to 1988, Kew was one of the largest asylums ever built in Australia. ...
and ships coming up
Hobson's Bay The City of Hobsons Bay is a local government area in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the south-western suburbs between 6 and 20 km from the Melbourne city centre. It was founded on 22 June 1994 during the amalgamation of l ...
. The earliest settler in the area was Mr Donaldson who purchased land when it part of New South Wales holdings. Kangaroo Ground is one of the earliest settled areas of the Shire of Nillumbik. At one time it rivalled
Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...
as the major centre of the former
Shire of Eltham The Shire of Eltham was a local government area about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1856 until 1994. History Eltham was first incorporated as a road district ...
."Kangaroo Ground General Store" /> A sugar gum tree on a road reserve in the centre of the township is an especially large specimen and is considered significant as a rare example of this species of
eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...
commonly planted elsewhere in the early 1900s. Similarly a very mature remnant
manna gum ''Eucalyptus viminalis'', commonly known as the manna gum, white gum or ribbon gum, is a species of small to very tall tree that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, sometimes with rough bark near the base, lance-shaped to c ...
of the former indigenous landscape is a local landmark tree of significant size and age and considered significant. Hawthorn
Hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoini ...
s (or crateaegus monogyna) were planted about 1860s to the 1870s in the area, reflecting the adoption of Eue. In 1878 while on a trip to England, John Donaldson visited
Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for many ...
where he collected some acorns. He returned to Kangaroo Ground and planted them on his property ''Kangaroo Hall.'' The
quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus ...
or oak tree was estimated to be 110 years old in 2004. In 1878 the Presbyterian Church was constructed of polychrome brick and is attributed to the architect C. W. Maplestone. In 1892 a weatherboard vestry was added at the rear of the church. It is considered historically, architecturally, aesthetically, socially and spiritually significant to the Shire of Nillumbik. The ''Pigeon Bank'' residence and garden commenced in the 1860s includes mature exotic site plantings and is considered historically and aesthetically significant to the Shire of Nillumbik. The house is associated with Francis Rogerson, an early pioneer, and politician
Ewan Cameron Ewan Cameron (31 July 1922, in Dumbarton – 21 March 1991) was a Scottish physician who worked with Linus Pauling on Vitamin C research. He received his medical degree from the University of Glasgow in 1944, and immediately joined the British Ar ...
who lived at the property from 1874 until 1915. Cameron farmed one hundred acres or forty hectares on this property opean farming techniques by European settlers. Some hedges remain and are considered historically and aesthetically significant to the Shire of Nillumbik. The Wippell Farm complex consists of a surviving timber slab farm building representative of the complex Victorian and Edwardian-era farming at Kangaroo Ground. Rare mature planting remain on the site which is considered significant to the Nillumbik Shire and are listed on the Victorian Heritage Database. He married Agnes Bell, daughter of John Bell, a farmer also of Kangaroo Ground. They had eight sons and three daughters. Cameron died at Kangaroo Ground on 27 September 1915. The nineteenth century ''Garden Hill'' weatherboard house and its associated shearing shed are historically and aesthetically significant to the Shire of Nillumbik. It was modest accommodation for local pioneer Andrew Harkness. The house is also historically significant for its association with industrialist and philanthropist Sir Henry Gepp and his association with a Canary Island palm on the property. The home is near the
Kangaroo Ground War Memorial Park Kangaroo Ground War Memorial Park is located at 385 Eltham Yarra Glen Road, Kangaroo Ground, Victoria, Kangaroo Ground in the Shire of Nillumbik. in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The site includes the war memorial, with a firespotting ...
and affords a view extending to Kinglake. A building which accommodated the
Evelyn Observer __NOTOC__ The ''Evelyn Observer'' was a weekly newspaper released from 1873 to 1942 in the north-east area of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It was first published on 31 October 1873 from a school house at Kangaroo Ground. Andrew Ross, the d ...
newspaper was built on top of a local hill about 1874. After the transfer of the newspaper to an office in
Hurstbridge Hurstbridge is a town in Victoria, Australia, 28 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Nillumbik local government area. Hurstbridge recorded a population of 3,554 at the 2021 census. Hurstbri ...
, Eltham Shire Council purchased the property. It was subsequently used as the building for the Eltham Shire Offices. It was destroyed in a fire in 1934. In 1892 the Kangaroo Ground Fire Brigade was formed. Members have fought in a number of fires including the
Black Saturday bushfires The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were among Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. T ...
. In 1980 a new station was built. It has been extended a number of times since. In 2017 it had about 70 members. In 1964 local families established the Kangaroo Ground Pony Club. In 1988 land was purchased which was developed into an equestrian facility of six arenas, a mount rig, a cross country course, sheds and clubhouse. Kangaroo Ground Adult Riders also ride on these grounds.


Facilities

A school has operated in the district since 1851. The first school master was Andrew Ross. His diaries of that time have been published. The School was established circa 1878 with a school room to the west established circa 1887. The School includes a residence built circa 1879 with a small room built on the front verandah of the residence in the 1920s. This served as a State Savings bank agency until 1934. A bathroom and rear porch were built about 1937. The School and residence are considered historically, socially and aesthetically significant to the Shire of Nillumbik and are on the Victorian Heritage Database. The residence was used by the Eltham District Historical Society and subsequently by the Andrew Ross Museum. The house is used for displays and houses a collection which focuses on the first schoolmaster Andrew Ross and the region's farming history Kangaroo Ground Pre-School operates on the same site as the Kangaroo Ground Primary School. The General Store and Post Office has a long association with Kangaroo Ground and has been an important centre of community life since about 1900.
Shire of Eltham The Shire of Eltham was a local government area about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1856 until 1994. History Eltham was first incorporated as a road district ...
council meetings used to be conducted in the front room of the store. The store is considered socially and historically significant and is on the Victorian Heritage Database. Its post office is reputed to be the only one in Australia which is also a winery. Winemaker Ken King integrated the post office into his winery. The Kangaroo Ground Emergency Operations Centre was constructed in 1988 of
mudbrick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also bee ...
, a version of the "Eltham style" and features a central entry with a tile mural. It is considered architecturally, aesthetically, socially and historically significant to the Shire of Nillumbik and is registered on the Victorian Heritage Database. Weller's Hotel was built in 1872 and is considered historically significant to the Shire of Nillumbik. It has served as a hotel, store and staging post for
Cobb & Co Cobb & Co was the name used by many successful sometimes quite independent Australian coaching businesses. The first was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name Cobb & Co grew to great prominence in the late 19th ...
coaches bound for the goldfields. The restaurant is now known as Fondata 1872. The first burial at the Kangaroo Ground cemetery was a child Judith Furphy, who died 17 May 1851. Early pioneering families represented in the cemetery include Armstrong, Barr, Bell, Harkness, Jardine, Johnston, Rogerson, Stevenson, Thomson and Walters. Others buried there include feminist and journalist Irene Frances Taylor. Kangaroo Ground is the Australian headquarters for Wycliffe Australia, part of the
Wycliffe Global Alliance Wycliffe Global Alliance is an alliance of organizations that have objective of translating the Bible into every language. The organisation is named after John Wycliffe, who was responsible for the first complete English translation of the whole ...
. Volunteer translators work to translate the Bible. In 1967 donated land and money was raised to develop a national centre.
Mudbrick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also bee ...
architect
Alistair Knox Alistair Samuel Knox (8 April 1912 – 30 July 1986) was an Australian designer, builder and landscape architect who used recycled materials and mudbrick in his constructions and is considered to be a pioneer of modern mudbrick building, having de ...
designed the centre at no charge. Volunteers made mudbricks and planted thousands of native plants on the property of 11 hectares. A mobile library operated by
Yarra Plenty Regional Library Yarra Plenty Regional Library (YPRL) provides a public library service to the local government municipalities of the City of Banyule, Shire of Nillumbik and City of Whittlesea in the northeast of Melbourne Australia and located on the lands of ...
regularly visits the township.


See also

*
Shire of Eltham The Shire of Eltham was a local government area about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1856 until 1994. History Eltham was first incorporated as a road district ...
– Kangaroo Ground was previously within this former local government area.


References


External links


Andrew Ross Museum

eMelbourne Kangaroo Ground
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) Shire of Nillumbik