Landscape

Surveying and Subdivision

The centenary of Plenty was celebrated in 2013, 100 years after the first large scale-subdivision and sale of land. But the real history of Plenty begun thousands of years prior to this. Tribes of the Wurunjerri-Baluk nation had occupied the land for thousands of years before European settlement. These tribes roamed frequently over wide areas of land according to the availability of food sources, and their life patterns changed according to the seasons. They had a wide knowledge of their environment and the availability of plants and animals in the area. The roaming was always kept within the boundaries of their own ‘country’ and today there exists widespread evidence of their occupation on the land.

As early as the 1830s, there was evidence of squatters and other European explorers in the area. Among them was john batman, acting on behalf of a group of 15 wealthy and influential men, known as the Port Phillip Association, who signed a treaty with the Wurundjeri people, whereby, for the gift of some blankets and some other trinkets, they acquired some 600,00 acres of land. The Port Phillip Association had drawn up a tentative subdivision of land, allocating to each member, his particular share. The land extended from Port Phillip in the south to Plenty in the north, and it understood the northern part was set-aside for Batman himself. This was not to last as the British authorities in Sydney were forced to act regarding the Batman Treaty. Initially known as the Port Phillip Region (later the Colony of Victoria, and now the state of Victoria) was added to the colony of New South Wales under Governor Burks. Batman’s Treaty was then declared null and void by the Governor, and a direction given for an area on the banks of the Yarra River to be surveyed, and a sale of some land arranged.

He appointed surveyor Robert Russel and two assistants, D’Arcy and Darke, to set out the new township. Like most government schemes of the time, there was insufficient planning and Russell, who would not complete the required survey on time and produce a satisfactory plan due to lack of resources, became the scapegoat. Robert Hoddle, a competent and experienced surveyor, who had extensive experience in South Africa had set out the township of Goulbourn, replaced Russell. Hoddle completed his survey on the bank of the Yarra River and held the first land sale in Melbourne on 1st June 1837. It was enormously successful. Governor Burke had envisaged a sale that would generate sufficient money to establish a permanent magistrate, a few police and a permanent survey office. The result, whereby a sum of three thousand pounds was amassed, made him revise his plans. He directed the Surveyor General, Thomas Mitchell, “to organise the orderly survey of the Port Phillip Region.” Mitchel, who was more of an explorer than a practical public servant, delegated the job to his deputy, Samuel Augustus Perry. Perry’s instructions were that the survey of the region be based on the English system of dividing firstly into Counties, and then Parishes.

So just as England had her counties such as Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and Suffolk, there are now 37 counties in Victoria. The region embracing Plenty is the county of Evelyn. He further directed that the Parishes be approximately 25 square miles (40 square kilometres) in area, be bounded, if possible, by a natural boundary, such as a river or mountain range, be as near as possible to a square in shape and be named after an aboriginal word. Plenty is in the Parish of Morang: it is 23 square miles (37 square kilometres) in area and is named after the aboriginal name for a native tomahawk. In fact, “morang” is one of the suggested aboriginal words for a Parish specifically mentioned in Robert Hoddle’s survey field book. A Parish was divided into 20 crown portions.

Originally the Parish of Morang was divided into 20 crown portions with a proposed village reserve on the banks of the Plenty River. While Robert Hoddle has signed the first survey plan made in November 1839, it is believed that most of the fieldwork was carried out by his assistant, David Kemp, who was employed as a draftsman. On 15th April 1840, the Port Phillip gazette advertised the twenty Crown Portions for sale by Public Auction. Ten portions were sold, deposits paid on another two were forfeited, and no offers were received on the remaining eight. It was not until 1853 that the remaining blocks were sold at public auction. The proposed village reserve did not eventuate, and the area was further subdivided in 1857. The land relating specifically to Plenty is contained in Crown portions 3,4 (Sections 1,2 and 30, and 5).

In the 1840 auction, Alexander McKillop (father of Mary McKillop – Saint Mary of the Cross) purchased 820 acres at a cost of 553pounds 10 shillings ($1,107.00). In terms of present-day boundaries, the Northern alignment of the land is Kurrak and Clark Roads, the western boundary is the Plenty River, the southern boundary is a line running east to Heard Ave through the Plenty Golf Driving range, and the eastern boundary is Heard Avenue. The next sales did not take place until 1853 when Patrick Mornane purchased 528 acres, at a cost of 1,054 pounds ($2,108). This parcel abutted the southern boundary of Alexander McKillop’s property in the north, the Plenty River in the west, memorial drive and Howell Road in the south, and Heard Avenue in the East. On the 23rd June 1853, Richard Charles Luscombe purchased some 308 acres at a cost of 662 pounds and 4 shillings ( $1324.40). this land followed the line of Howell Road/memorial Drive in the north, Oatlands Road to approximately happy Hollow Drive in the west, then a line bearing east to the corner of Diamond Creek/Yan Yean Roads intersection in the south, and north along Yan Yean Road to the corner of heard avenue and Howell Road in the east. The remaining portion was purchased by James Lawler in 1853 and comprised some 351 acres. The allotment was bounded by Oatlands Road on the east, then in the south from Oatlands Road by the previously indicated line running westward from the intersection of Yan Yean Road and Diamond Creek Road to the Plenty River, following the river north to Memorial drive, then the northern boundary along Memorial Drive to Oatlands Road.

These allotments remained in the same large holdings but different ownerships, although there were a small number of sales of smaller allotments in the 1890s, until three large subdivisions took place in 1907, 1913 and 1917. It appears that the main subdivision took place in 1913, which was when the Plenty township originated, but significant growth did not occur until the 1980s.

The records show that early in its establishment, the pioneer settlers in Plenty had by 1925 developed a school, a church and a social club. By 1931 a hall had been added to the mix. This clearly demonstrated that a strong sense of community had been evident amongst those early residents. Plenty was slow to develop, and it is evident that it was quite sporadic. Like a number of small townships, the sense of community at times waxed and waned and following the closure of the post office in the 1970s, the church in the 1980s and the school in 1993, this sense of community was perhaps at its lowest ebb.

In the new century some areas of land were rezoned, and a number of further subdivisions were approved.