History Spot

HISTORY SPOT Henr y Buckhurst

By Jan Morris, Anglesea and District Historical Society There is almost no sign left of where Henry Buckhurst once had two houses and an orchard at Urquhart Bluff. At age 54, Henry selected Lot 20a of 309+ acres at Urquhart Bluff in 1889.

In 1896, Henry selected Lot 20c of 10+ acres situated on the western side of Sunnymead Road. He fenced this site and planted an orchard. He brought his two youngest daughters there, while the remainder of his family stayed in Melbourne. Henry was described as a selector, a farmer and an orchardist. His holding included an additional 70 acres of Crown Land under lease along the foreshore. His daughter Catherine (Mrs George Cutler) and her young son Osbert lived with him for some years after her husband George died in 1899.

Henry Buckhurst was born in 1837. He died at Caulfield on 4 March 1911, aged 74. He spent 40 years in Victoria after coming from Stoke in England. He was aged 34 when he arrived here in 1871. His wife, Sarah Susan (nee Hicks), was born in 1846 in Canada. She died at Caulfield in 1909 aged 63. Sarah Susan was aged 23 when she arrived in Australia.

Buckhurst children

Elizabeth Raymond (Walters) born 1866 (aged 23 when Henry went to Urquharts). She married Herbert Henry Walters at Hobart in 1886. Their only child Herbert Henry, born 1887, died aged 10 months. Frank born 1869 (aged 20 when Henry went to Urquharts). Chemist at Mutual Store Melbourne, and later at Burke Road Camberwell. He married Edith Mary Simpson in 1897. Frank died at Hawthorn in 1929, aged 60. His wife Edith Mary died in Melbourne in 1954, aged 85. Orpha Catherine (Cutler) born 1873, died 1930, aged 57, at Malvern East.

Henry Buckhurst She married George Cutler at Melbourne South in 1890 when she was 17. She came to live at Urquharts when her husband died in 1899. Her son Osbert Cutler was born 1891. He attended Aireys Inlet school, and he worked at the Aireys lighthouse. Osbert died in 1956, aged 65, at Wangaratta. Florence Mabel (West) born 1874 at Emerald Hill. She died at Windsor in 1964, aged 90. Gertrude Ethel born 1875. Gerte listed at Aireys School 1892 as aged 13 years (actually aged 17). She married William Henry Smith at Port Melbourne in 1903 (aged 28). She died in 1921 at East Melbourne, aged 45. Ermine Eva born 1877. Eva was listed at Aireys School in 1892 as aged 12 years (actually aged 15). She died at Malvern in 1969, aged 91. Henry Buckhurst’s block Lot 20a 309+ acres was immediately east of Oscar Brandt (later C.J. Lane) Lot 2a, and ended a couple of hundred metres east of Urquhart Bluff. It stretched from Gilbert Road back to the ocean. He selected this in 1889 and utilised only a small portion of the large allotment. This land was transferred to his name on 26 May 1904. Henry was chairman of a group of locals who approached the Education Department for a school at Aireys in March 1892. At that time, he had two children Gertie and Eva. The school roll shows their ages as 13 and 12 years respectively. Their birth index shows their ages would have been 17 and 15! Henry was also a Commissioner for taking affidavits. His widowed daughter Catherine entertained friends at Urquharts on 10 June 1905. It was reported as Music by ‘The Captain’ (Carl Carlgren).

Following Henry’s death in 1911, the land that was transferred to his name on 26 May 1904, went to the name of his son Frank Buckhurst, a chemist in the Mutual Stores building in Melbourne and later at Burke Road Camberwell. After the 1919 fires, Frank Buckhurst sold the property to C.J. Lane. Ivan Roadknight moved the two cottages on the property into Aireys Inlet.

It remains a mystery as to why Henry Buckhurst came to Urquhart Bluff and arrived there with only his two youngest children, leaving the rest of his family in Melbourne. They all visited Urquhart Bluff regularly.

Written and illustrated by Kaye Traynor

Singing Honeyeater

Gavicalis virescens

Length: 175 – 190 mm Other names: Black-faced Honeyeater, Forrest’s Honeyeater Probably more widespread than any other honeyeater, this breed is found over much of the inland areas of Australia. It also occurs on the southern and western coasts. In fact, it is quite common along our coastline, especially in the clifftop vegetation. Often walkers on bush tracks are alerted to the presence of a Singing Honeyeater by their loud calls. More often than not, they can be seen perched conspicuously on top of a bush or a high branch while calling. Generally it is a bold and inquisitive bird, being adaptable to any type of habitat except dense forest. While it hardly lives up to its popular name of ‘Singing’, it does have a varied series of calls. It can be melodious with drawn-out calls, especially at dawn, however, other calls can be a loud ‘terrick, terrick’. Another is a hoarse creaking call, others rattling, and a series of rapid ‘criks’ when alarmed. Appearance: Crown, greyish-brown, with the rest of the upper parts brownish-olive. The wings and tail are brown with an olive-yellow wash on their margins. A broad black line runs from the bill through and behind the eye. The ear-covets are yellow with a narrow white patch behind them and, beyond the white, a larger patch of grey. The chin, throat and remainder of the underparts, yellowish, with the abdomen and undertail covets brownish-white, streaked with pale brown. Eye, brown. Bill, black. Legs, blue-grey. Food consists mainly of nectar, fruit – wild and cultivated –insects and spiders. Insects include beetles, weevils, moths and caterpillars, wasps, flying ants, house flies and lerp scales.

Breeding season is between July and January. The nest is rather untidily built with grasses, rootlets etc, consolidated with cobwebs. Lining may be plant down, fur, wool or hair. The clutch consists of two or three eggs, buff-white to salmon in colour with a few chestnut-red specks at the larger end, which is usually darker in shade. (Ref. Australian Honeyeaters by Brigadier Hugh R. Officer)

By Mayor Libby Stapleton, Anglesea Ward It’s a great honour to have been elected mayor for a second year, and I thank my fellow councillors for their support and vote of confidence in me to continue leading our Council. Particular thanks to my fellow Anglesea ward Councillor Mike Bodsworth, who has helped me enormously in responding to the needs of our local community. Thanks also to you, our community, for your support and guidance in what has been a rather challenging year for us all. Needless to say, COVID threw us another curve ball in 2021 but the dedication of our Council officers and the ability of our community to persevere has been inspiring. As the pandemic took hold for a second year, we threw around words like adapt and pivot, as we navigated our new normal. And although the impacts of COVID will linger and challenge us for some time – years in fact – I am proud of the way our community has responded. You have continued to engage, to encourage and to excel in all that you do to help make the Surf Coast such a fantastic place to live, work and visit. Despite the challenges of COVID, our Council has achieved much over the past year – from the big ticket items like People Place Future, development of our four-year strategic plans and the appointment of our new CEO, to really significant moments like the launch of our Reconciliation Action Plan, releasing our climate emergency corporate response plan, securing the final stage of funding for the aquatic centre, and the declaration of a key-worker accommodation crisis on the Surf Coast.

There have been moments of laughter and joy, and moments of tears, but all these moments have combined to make this a great year of learning and achievement.

Surf Coast is a terrific place, and one that I am so grateful to represent again as mayor. I really am hopeful that the next year will allow me to do more of the things that I love – like getting out and meeting with people in our community, while also working hard to help Council deliver on our Council Plan and fulfil the vision of our community. I look forward to seeing more of you in person during 2022.