Grasshoff & Melchior Daguerrotypists

Early Victorian Hand-Coloured Daguerreotypes(Photographer Unknown – State Library of Victoria Collection) One of the earliest types of photographs were daguerreotypes. A light sensitive plate was produced by coating a copper plate with silver and iodine. After...

Hoosum: Blatherum

BATTLE OF VIMEIRA (Wikipedia) One of the most colourful characters in the Port Phillip District was Joseph William Hooson. He arrived in 1836 and was a resident here until his death in 1852. A head injury he received during his military service caused him to babble...

John Wroe Founder of the Christian Israelites

Christian Israelite Sanctuary in the Melbourne Suburb of Fitzroy- – – – o – – – –  In the 1840s an English religious sect under the leadership of John Wroe established itself in the Port Phillip District. They called...

My Almost Forgotten 3G Uncle John Wheeler

The New ‘Kilmore Inn’ Which John Wheeler Had Built.( George Vinge Was Licensee From 1859 to 1862 ) John Blunt Wheeler’s parents were Captain William Oliver Wheeler, born May 1778, and Mary, daughter of John Helsham of Legget’s Rath. They had...

German Migration to the Port Phillip District

The flow of German immigrants to Australia was advantageous both to them and to Australia, but only a small number came – 5,600 from 1847 to 1850. Many of the men were trained vinedressers and agriculturists. There was a depression in the Port Phillip District...

Michael Hogan and the Two Gum Trees

I located the following article written about my great-great-grandfather, Michael Hogan. It appeared in the “Farmer’s Journal and Gardener’s Chronicle” (Melbourne, Vic.: 1862-1864), Friday 29 July 1864, page 4...