In the early years of Murchison settlement, paddle steamers ventured into the Goulburn River from the Murray, transporting produce to markets and delivering supplies to farmers at Mooroopna, Murchison, Tahbilk and Seymour, when the river levels allowed. In times of flood the river would flow rapidly and rise to alarming levels; the power and volume of the water caused trees to be dislodged and logs were washed into the stream. These trees and logs in the river caused dangerous snags that could damage or impede passage of any water craft, large or small and were a constant problem for paddle steamers.
Due to the disruption of river transport by the snags, both in the Murray and Goulburn, the government of the day imported a paddle steamer specifically to de-snag the rivers. It was a ‘stern-wheeler’, 26 metres long which allowed for greater manoeuvrability, with a shallow draft of about half a metre. It was assembled at Echuca and given the name of PS Melbourne. Captain James Hill, who qualified as a Master Mariner at Cornwell, England, was appointed in charge of the vessel when it was launched in 1865.
The PS Melbourne cleared snags along the Goulburn as far up stream as Seymour. It was dangerous work as explosives were sometimes used to displace large snags. The log-book recorded monthly totals of 300 – 400 snags removed, the size of one tree having a girth of 10 metres and another log 37 metres long. It must have been difficult to manage such large timbers, and two men lost their lives when crushed by logs.
Captain Hill’s wife Grace sometimes accompanied her husband and can be seen on the top deck of PS Melbourne along with the notable pot-plant flower garden on board in this 1875 photograph, taken near the site of the obsolete Punt crossing in Murchison.
With a cable from the winch on board PS Melbourne threaded through a pulley attached high up in a study tree on the bank, then placed around a snag in the water, the winch would drag the timber up onto the bank. The photo also shows the crew on the river bank and cables used to winch the logs well away from the water-line. (If viewing on-line, zoom in for detail).
With the arrival of the railway in 1880, demand for paddle steamer transport along the Goulburn diminished and then ended in 1891 once the Goulburn Weir was operational.
Kay Ball, Murchison & District Historical Society. Details provided by Fergus McPherson, great grandson of Captain James Hill.
Our Annual General Meeting was well attended and we all enjoyed hearing from Felicity Macchion, CEO Goulburn Valley Libraries who has had a wonderfully broad career. Felicity told us about her background, and perhaps the highlight of her experience was being selected by The Bill Gates Foundation (only 2 chosen from Australia) to join a world-wide group of 30 Librarians to travel to many countries learning about innovative Library services and programmes.
KAY PRESENTED FELICITY WITH LOCAL PRODUCTSAS A THANK-YOU
We have some changes to our Executive Team following the election of Office Bearers. Warwick Gregory has taken leave from his position of Vice President and we welcomed 2 new members to the Executive Committee, Jackie McLean and Gordon Ewart. Jackie has already been making a great contribution to improvements at the Heritage Centre by working enthusiastically on several projects and Gordon, who is very keen on family history, will be a great representative of our pioneering families that have contributed to the development of Murchison over many years.
L to R: Rob Cornelious, Jackie McLean, Gordon Ewart, Kay Ball, Rob Jones, Katrina Campbell, Janet Clarke, Marg Lock and John Ball.
Tuesday the 19th of March will be our 2023 – 2024 Annual Meeting for the Murchison & District Historical Society, 7pm start at the Heritage Centre. After reading of reports and election of office bearers for the coming year, our guest speaker will be the CEO of Goulburn Valley Libraries, Felicity Macchion. Super to follow.
All welcome. Come along and hear about Felicity’s very interesting career and the increasingly broad delivery of Library Services across the region and changes to Library Services in Murchison.
Kay Ball, Murchison & District Historical Society Inc.
The history surrounding Prisoner of War (POW) Camp 13 Murchison, is a significant part of Murchison’s history and when it was functioning during World War 2, had considerable impact on the local population and town. Enquiries about Camp 13 via emails to Murchison Historical Society and contact on our web-site, are nearly as popular as the interest shown in the Murchison meteorite! Camp 13 Murchison was the largest purpose-built POW camp in Australia and was headquarters and point of control for all the POW camps across the nation. It was able to accommodate 4000 prisoners and over time held German, Italian and Japanese military personnel and merchant seamen. A recent visit from descendants of an Italian gentleman who was a POW in the Camp has revealed even more interesting history of those who spent years in Camp 13.
An Italian named Dante Giovanni VERRI, had a dramatic arrival in Australia in June 1940, and, as he had been captured only 2 days after Italy entered the War, he was to spend 6 ½ years of captivity in Australia and endure a great number of moves from one Camp to another.
Dante was a Baker on the Italian passenger liner SS Romolo, a ship used to transport migrants to Australia. Once Italy entered into WW2 on 10th of June 1940, HMAS Manoora, an armed merchant cruiser that was patrolling the Australian coastline, was ordered to capture her as the ship was considered a desirable prize. The Romolo had fled the port of Brisbane a few days before and was heading north east with Manoora in pursuit. Romolo’s Captain was ordered to scuttle the ship rather than be captured. Life boats were lowered over the side and crew set fire to the engine rooms. With smoke billowing from the listing ship, Manoora fired the 6-inch gun to hasten the demise of the ship. This was the first Australian Naval engagement with the enemy in World War 2. No lives were lost as the Manoora rescued the passengers and crew, who disembarked at Townsville.
SIGHTING OF ROMOLO
MANOORA FIRES ON THE ROMOLO
RESCUE OF CREW AND PASSENGERS
Being civilians, they were classified as Enemy Aliens. They were placed under guard with Internees who were residents of Australia but because they were of German or Italian descent, were considered a threat to Australian security. All were accommodated in large vacant buildings such as old goals and mansions across Australia. As time went on numbers grew, and with Military prisoners being shipped to Australia as well needing accommodation, purpose-built Camps were erected across the country.
Dante was 43 years old at the time of his rescue from the Romolo. He came from the village of Castelletto d’Orba, Alessandria, Northern Italy. He was married to Anna and they had 2 sons. He was at first held in Army Barracks at Gaythorne, Brisbane, then over the years spent time in Hay (NSW), Loveday (SA), and in Victoria at East Whorouly near Myrtleford, and Camp 13 Murchison. It is unclear why he was moved around so much; maybe it could have been that his skills as a Baker were in demand. His family report that he did not write one letter home to Alessandria in all the time he was in Australia. He signs his name on official documents quite clearly, so it was unlikely he was illiterate but perhaps just not a letter writer. In 1941, Merchant Seamen were re-classified from Enemy Aliens to Prisoners of War, which would explain some of his moves, as POW’s were generally held in different camps to Civilians. As a POW he could receive better financial support.
Dante was repatriated to Italy in December 1946 on the ship Moreton Bay, the reason for the delay from the end of the War to that point in time, was the shortage of suitable ships.
The Verri family who visited Murchison recently related that when Dante walked into the family home, Gianfranco, Dante’s son, who was 7 years old, did not recognise him as he had only been a baby when he last saw his father. Gianfranco had thought that his brother, who was 13 years older than him, was his father. That first meeting made a deep impression on Gianfranco, and he still has a strong mental picture of his father standing in the doorway wearing a red woollen coat. This coat would have been the Australian army issue ‘great coat’ – died a burgundy colour to identify POW’s. It would have been very necessary as he arrived in Italy mid-winter, after leaving Murchison in the Summer.
CARTOON DRAWING BY VON GRUENEWALDT, SHOWING THE ARMY ISSUE ‘GREAT COAT’ DIED BURGUNDY TO IDENTIFY POWs
It was a delight to meet 3 generations of this family, to share with them our local history about the World War 2 Camps in our area, to supply some more information about the experience Dante would have gone through and to learn his personal story.
An interesting post-script: Dante’s son, Gianfranco was also a seaman and met his wife Rosemary, an American, on board a ship and they now live in Boston, USA. Their daughter, Giovanna met her husband, Spiro, of Greek ancestry while travelling around the world and they now live in Sydney. Their two lovely daughters, Giulia and Valentina accompanied their parents and grandparents on their family history journey.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: ROSEMARY VERRI, GIULA PAPPAS, GIOVANNA PAPPAS, VALENTINA PAPPAS, GIANFRANCO VERRI, SPIRO PAPPAS WITH KAY BALL (IN FRONT) AT MURCHISON HERITAGE CENTRE
After leaving the Murchison Heritage Centre, the family drove to the site of Camp 13 to view some of the remnants that can be seen from the road and the next day visited Myrtleford, to meet with locals and learn about POW Camp 5 at East Whorouly Camp Dante spent 3 years of his Australian captivity.
Kay Ball, Murchison and District Historical Society
It was announced that Judy Revell was the Citizen of the Year for 2024 at the Australia Day event at Murchison Swimming Pool on January 26th this year, but Judy was unable to attend on the day to receive her Award.
The presentation of the Award Certificate and a superb floral arrangement from Avonlea Flowers, were made to Judy by Helen Newton who had compiled the submission, at an afternoon tea party held at Wybalena on Saturday 3rd February. Judy and husband John have recently moved from Wybalena Retirement Village to live at Rodney Park as needing a higher level of care, so it was also an occasion to wish them well and to say a farewell from their friends in Murchison.
Judy, nee Muir, was born in Murchison and grew up on an orchard in Tatura. Most of her married life has been spent in Murchison. Over the years, Judy has made an enormous contribution to the Murchison community, perhaps most impressive of all her achievements was her role for 25 years as a Swimming Instructor. Without exaggeration it is true to say that Judy had 100’s of candidates and through the 1980’s and 1990’s all children in the district which included Dhurringile, Toolamba and Moorilim learnt to swim with Judy and her close friend, Elaine Kenyon teaching them this important skill. Our rivers, dams and channels are treacherous for non-swimmers, and so teaching the ability to swim, in the safety of the Murchison Swimming Pool, was the driving motivator for Judy.
From 1973 to 2019, Judy was an active member of the capable group of ladies who provided catering for local events. This was originally a Ladies Auxiliary of the Bush Nursing Hospital and when that establishment closed, became an Auxiliary of DPJones Nursing Home and so distributed raised funds to those organisations. Events catered for varied from weddings, Masonic Lodge Installations, funerals, 21st birthday parties, and many other celebrations often for more than 100 people.
Judy has an excellent singing voice and a true ear for music, able to provide tuneful harmony and alto parts to songs. For many years, Judy was a member of the talented theatre group Turaton Music Company.
Another interest was her role as an Assistant for the Girls Guides in Murchison and as a member of the Uniting Church Judy was involved in the Fellowship, Worship and Music aspects.
Judy has, over her life-time, been committed to the improvement and well-being of the Murchison community and is a very well-deserving recipient of the 2024 Australia Day Citizen of the Year Award.
Kay Ball, President, Murchison & District Historical Society Inc.
In 1866 with no rain for 10 months, the Goulburn River at Murchison was described as ‘a string of waterholes’.
Then in great contrast, a record flood in 1870 washed away houses located near the river. In recent memory, October 2022 caused damage and inundations and threat to the commercial area of the town.
Hard to imagine very little water in the river during 1866, after seeing the massive volume and rapid current of the flow in 2022.
Early in January 2024 there were anxious times again as the river level rose but fortunately, did not cause damaging floods. A short time later, the river level had dropped down dramatically as shown by the river height under the bridge in this right hand image.
Oh, the ups and downs of the river!
Kay Ball, Murchison & District Historical Society Inc.
ENJOY WALKING THE SOLAR SYSTEM LABYRINTH IN METEORITE PARK, MURCHISON
“The labyrinth is one of the oldest of symbols;
it depicts the way to the unknown centre,
the mystery of death and rebirth, the risk of the search,
the danger of losing the way, the quest,
the finding and the ability to return.”
Edward Whitmont – ‘The Symbolic Quest’
If you haven’t already seen it or walked it, Murchison’s solar system labyrinth located at the rear of Meteorite Park in Stevenson Street is an interesting place to visit. It is sure to inspire you, as you will see all the planets positioned on the labyrinth at the time the Murchison meteor landed at 10.58am on 28th September 1969. An interpretative sign near the labyrinth’s entrance also tells you more about the planets and the origins of a labyrinth. With summer holidays coming up, this would make an ideal walking activity for families and friends.
A recent working bee saw several members of Murchison & District Historical Society spring-cleaning the surface of the labyrinth, sprucing it up for visitors to enjoy.
Listed below, you will find several hints about walking a labyrinth:
Walk with intent, not expectation.
There is no wrong way to walk the labyrinth.
Find your own pace – simply focus on the path and put one foot in front of the other.
Pass other walkers when necessary – simply step aside and then rejoin the path.
You cannot get lost in the labyrinth – if you miss the path you will end up either back in the centre or back at the beginning.
Use anything that happens in the labyrinth as a metaphor for what is happening in your life.
Murchison Heritage Centre is open again after our Christmas / New Year break and as part of City of Greater Shepparton’s,Home for the Holidays: Summer Campaign, you are very welcome to visit and enjoy our award-winning Centre. Free entry and a give away show-bag for school children! Adults $5 entry.
Lots to see and learn about, videos to watch, quizzes to answer, books to explore and quality souvenirs available. Murchison meteorite always popular! Adults can enjoy a cuppa too!
BOOKS BY MARGARET LOCK – ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MURCHISON METEORITE !!
For further activities happening with Home for the Holidays: Summer Campaign click here
See you soon in Murchison!
Kay Ball, President, Murchison & District Historical Society Inc.
The Heritage Centre will be closed after Saturday 23rd December until Saturday 6th January so our hard working volunteers can have a break. Apologies if this causes any inconvenience. Please email if needing to get in touch.
Very best wishes for a safe and happy Christmas from members of Murchison & District Historical Society, and a happy New Year.
Kay Ball, President, Murchison & District Historical Society.
Residents of Stanhope in central Victoria, have commemorated the sinking, on 1st of July 1942, of the ship Montevideo Maru with an impressive mural and interpretive signage.
The ship was unmarked and an American Submarine torpedoed this Japanese ship, unaware it was transporting over 1,000 Australian Prisoners of War and civilians, captured at Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. All on board drowned; it is recorded as Australia’s worst maritime tragedy. The location of the wreckage was only discovered in April this year, 81 years after the disaster, off the coast of the Philippines. It is lying at a depth of 4,000 metres, deeper than the wreck of the Titanic and although the location is now known, it will not be disturbed.
Amongst those that perished were men with Stanhope connections, and near the mural are interpretive signs telling each of their stories and the background to the event.
Two men from the Gregory family of Murchison were also on the Montevideo Maru.
Henry Anthony Gregory, who had been working as a County Court Judge in New Guinea for about 20 years, was lost when the ship sank. His wife Amy, evacuated to Melbourne when War was declared, only knew of his certain fate when records uncovered after the war ended, revealed he had been on the Montevideo Maru. Henry Anthony was the nephew of E J Gregory, prominent citizen of Murchison and proprietor of Gregory’s Bridge Hotel, a very notable icon for the town. His wife Amy, was E J’s daughter. Henry Anthony’s father, also named Henry, who was E J’s younger brother, had relocated to Western Australia and became a notable Member of both State and Federal Parliament.
Gregory’s Bridge Hotel, now Thornebridge, Murchison
Another member of the Gregory family was on the ill-fated Montevideo Maru. Norman Gregory, a gunner in the Army and only 23 years of age, also lost his life that day in 1942. Norman was the grandson of E J Gregory and youngest brother of well-known Murchison identity, Keith Gregory.
And so, the sorrow of the sinking of the Montevideo Maru touched many Goulburn Valley people. Take a drive to Stanhope and while you are there, have a look at the mural, read the well-presented information on the panels located across the road to find out more about this part of Australian War history.
Kay Ball, President, Murchison & District Historical Society Inc.
Murchison and District Historical Society Inc. 