The Gurdies Conservation Reserve. Photo: Dick Wettenhall Mr Bonney's friends jokingly called it The Wilderness but this settler made a wise choice when he selected scrub-covered land at The Gurdies in the 1880s.
The Koo Wee Rup Sun, Lang Lang Guardian and Cranbourne Shire Record, Wednesday, October 2nd 1918.
One of the oldest settlers on this of Westernport is Mr G. E. Bonney, who has for the past 33 years been residing at the historic spot commonly known as “The Gurdies”, about four miles from Grantville. Mr Bonney is one of the best known and respected settlers in this district.
Prior to taking up his present selection he was manager of the Yallock Estate for the late Mr H. Beattie and is well acquainted with the earliest settlers. He can tell some interesting tales of the trials and of the hardy and persevering men and women who came to this wilderness, for it was so then. Little by little the forest primeval has had to give way to the axe and the plough wielded by the conqueror, until today Yallock is bidding fair to become one of the most fertile and prosperous of South Gippsland’s arable areas.
When Mr Bonney took up his present holding he was asked why did he ever go into such a wilderness. He often joked about it, until the name stuck and the farm was always alluded to as “The Wilderness”. There were thousands of kangaroos and wallabies and in fact they were so bad that in many cases they ate the settlers out. Kangaroos are specially distinctive in this regard, and no ordinary fence will stop them.
It is strange fact that most of the settlers who came here first took up the worst of the land. They did this because they generally went for the spot where they would have to do the least clearing. As time wore on they awoke to the fact that the land that would not grow scrub would not grow anything else except trouble and disappointment and that the land which was with luxuriant scrub was the land most likely to grow something else. Accordingly Mr Bonney’s turned out to be a wise choice.
The traveller who curses the Grantville road nowadays would think he was on the St Kilda road in comparison if he knew the track in the pre-historic days. As our representative drove along Mr Bonney was reminiscent of the early coaching days. One particularly bad spot – called “The Gluepot” – was a fearful trap. Three of Cobb and Co’s coaches have been stuck there at once and such was the tenacious nature of the clay that bullocks had to be fetched 15 miles to haul the vehicles out with a long line.
“The Wilderness” is hardly a fitting title to apply to the compact little farm as it is today. From the neat and comfortable farm house the land slopes gently down to the Bay which sparkles in the bright sunlight. It is a beautiful day, the warm rays of the sun are tempered by the fresh sea breeze, and the place looks its best
Some fine sleek coated calves tame as kittens regard the visitor inquiringly, as they recline on the carpet of green grass, and some juvenile white hogs in an adjacent sty squeal their never-ending cry for food. A couple of canines are lying in the grass lazily indifferent of the stranger. In fact there is a general air of comfort and content about (with the exception of the hogs which are never content). It would only be a hog who would be discontented with this place
170 acres or so which constitutes this farm are all well cleared fit for the plough, but little of it has been turned and the majority is virgin land. At the bottom end there is an acre or so which is used as a vegetable plot. Vegetables grow splendidly here, the soil being loose and with just enough sand to make it so. Tomatoes do particularly well and as an example of what it can produce is remarkable.
The sequel to the whole story is that Mr Bonney is about to sell his farm. The sale takes place on October. Alex Scott and Co are doing the selling. There is a fine opportunity here to acquire a top little dairy. The situation is picturesque and the land of fine quality. The house is in first class order, clean and comfortable, and there are all the necessary outbuildings in good condition.
A host of things are to be sold including a good quantity of galvanised iron, nearly new, now almost impossible to obtain. The dairy herd is to be sold, and everything about the place, except the little bay pony, Trooper.
From the archives of the Bass Valley Historical Society. First printed in The Waterline News.
One of the oldest settlers on this of Westernport is Mr G. E. Bonney, who has for the past 33 years been residing at the historic spot commonly known as “The Gurdies”, about four miles from Grantville. Mr Bonney is one of the best known and respected settlers in this district.
Prior to taking up his present selection he was manager of the Yallock Estate for the late Mr H. Beattie and is well acquainted with the earliest settlers. He can tell some interesting tales of the trials and of the hardy and persevering men and women who came to this wilderness, for it was so then. Little by little the forest primeval has had to give way to the axe and the plough wielded by the conqueror, until today Yallock is bidding fair to become one of the most fertile and prosperous of South Gippsland’s arable areas.
When Mr Bonney took up his present holding he was asked why did he ever go into such a wilderness. He often joked about it, until the name stuck and the farm was always alluded to as “The Wilderness”. There were thousands of kangaroos and wallabies and in fact they were so bad that in many cases they ate the settlers out. Kangaroos are specially distinctive in this regard, and no ordinary fence will stop them.
It is strange fact that most of the settlers who came here first took up the worst of the land. They did this because they generally went for the spot where they would have to do the least clearing. As time wore on they awoke to the fact that the land that would not grow scrub would not grow anything else except trouble and disappointment and that the land which was with luxuriant scrub was the land most likely to grow something else. Accordingly Mr Bonney’s turned out to be a wise choice.
The traveller who curses the Grantville road nowadays would think he was on the St Kilda road in comparison if he knew the track in the pre-historic days. As our representative drove along Mr Bonney was reminiscent of the early coaching days. One particularly bad spot – called “The Gluepot” – was a fearful trap. Three of Cobb and Co’s coaches have been stuck there at once and such was the tenacious nature of the clay that bullocks had to be fetched 15 miles to haul the vehicles out with a long line.
“The Wilderness” is hardly a fitting title to apply to the compact little farm as it is today. From the neat and comfortable farm house the land slopes gently down to the Bay which sparkles in the bright sunlight. It is a beautiful day, the warm rays of the sun are tempered by the fresh sea breeze, and the place looks its best
Some fine sleek coated calves tame as kittens regard the visitor inquiringly, as they recline on the carpet of green grass, and some juvenile white hogs in an adjacent sty squeal their never-ending cry for food. A couple of canines are lying in the grass lazily indifferent of the stranger. In fact there is a general air of comfort and content about (with the exception of the hogs which are never content). It would only be a hog who would be discontented with this place
170 acres or so which constitutes this farm are all well cleared fit for the plough, but little of it has been turned and the majority is virgin land. At the bottom end there is an acre or so which is used as a vegetable plot. Vegetables grow splendidly here, the soil being loose and with just enough sand to make it so. Tomatoes do particularly well and as an example of what it can produce is remarkable.
The sequel to the whole story is that Mr Bonney is about to sell his farm. The sale takes place on October. Alex Scott and Co are doing the selling. There is a fine opportunity here to acquire a top little dairy. The situation is picturesque and the land of fine quality. The house is in first class order, clean and comfortable, and there are all the necessary outbuildings in good condition.
A host of things are to be sold including a good quantity of galvanised iron, nearly new, now almost impossible to obtain. The dairy herd is to be sold, and everything about the place, except the little bay pony, Trooper.
From the archives of the Bass Valley Historical Society. First printed in The Waterline News.