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| Livermore Farm 1947 (Picture Victoria) |
Prior to the first European colonialists, the landscape was thickly timbered
bushland, occupied by the Wurundjeri, Indigenous
Australians of the Kulin nation, who
spoke variations of the Woiwurrung language
group. They were hunters and
gatherers, camping near the creeks and gullies of the area now known as
Bellbird Dell. The creek flowed from immediately north of the Dell, through it
and on to join the Dandenong Creek.
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| Livermore Farm 1947 (Picture Victoria) |
1850s
The first settlers, who were woodcutters and charcoal burners, came before
land sales. Selectors followed and they marked out, leased and improved
allotments, which would enable them to gain freehold titles from the Crown.
Temporary wattle and daub huts were erected and later substantial timber
cottages.
Apart from some general farming, orchards dominated the landscape until the
1950s when the demand for new housing areas led to the
subdivision of orchards. Nunawading
Council (now Whitehorse Council) began the acquisition of property in
1966, with the purchase of a large block (7.26 hectares) from
local orchardist Cecil Rhodes to form Bellbird Dell.
In the early years, .land allotments of about 50 to 200 ha were offered to
settlers. The first primary school in the district opened in Mt Pleasant, near
the present Uniting church in Canterbury Road at the border between Forest Hill
and Vermont. In 1872 a permanent school was functioning in
Vermont proper, and the single room structure remained in use 100 years
later.
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| The Farm - 1947 (Picture Victoria) |
Vermont was also known as L.L. Vale, after the model farm owned by Dr L.L.
Smith, medico and parliamentarian. The name persisted for a while, despite the
school being named Vermont: the post office was L.L. Vale from its opening in
1881 until 1885.
By 1913
Vermont had a general store and post office, a school, an Anglican church, a
mechanics' institute and a public hall. It was described as a prosperous
fruit-growing district. The area's relative remoteness from land-subdivision
activity kept it a mainly rural area with local organisations such as the
football club, scouts and a horticultural society (1937). Its population in
1933 was 711 when described in the Victorian municipal
directory:
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| Aerial view of farm in 1945 (Whitehorse Digital Maps) |
One of the larger properties in the distriot during the
1940s was the Livermore Orchard. This was 28 acres, (11.3 ha)
occupying the flat and undulating and bounded by the Dandenong Creek and Morack
Rd. It was primarily a supplier of apples. It was managed by Clem Livermore and
his sons, with the main entrance on Morack Rd opposite is now East Rd...
The orchard was known for its innovative use of new irrigation technology,
which included overhead sprinkler networks.The orchard closed down around the
mid-1970s – the Morack Public Golf Course was opened in
1984 on land previously used by the orchard.
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| Aerial view 1945 - Whitehorse Digital Maps) |
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| Morack Golf Course 2004 (SLV) |
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| Morack Golf Course (Google Maps 2020) |
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| Livermore Close 2020 (Google Maps) |
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| Livermore Close Reserve 2020 (Whitehorse Digital Maps) |
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| Livermore Close Reserve 2020 - (Whitehorse Digital Maps) |
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| Livermore arm and Orchard 1945 (Whiitehorse Digital Maps) | ps) |
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| Livermoe Close and Verona St 2020 (Google Maps) |
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Morack Golf Course (Morack Rd Golf Club 2020) Acknowledgements: National Library of Australia Trove State Library of Victoria Picture Victoria Morack Public Golf Course Whitehorse City Council DEWLP |
