By Children for Children

In a section of the George Pentland Botanic Gardens at Frankston is this sign.
(The sign for the gardens is HERE on my MP Daily post today!)

Peace in a garden
For children of the future
Sense of living hope

Linking to Signs Signs

Celebrate

A small section of the crowds celebrating Australia Day 2012 last January near Dromana pier on Port Phillip Bay.


Australia Day
Spirit of identity
Celebrate being


Linking to:
Sensational Haiku Wednesday - Celebrate

Night Light

Night light over Dromana


 Watchful night light eyes
But one night of shooting stars
Is a chance to dream


Linking to:
Tackle It Tuesday ~ Shooting Stars

Sherlock Life

This headstone appears at Mornington Cemetery (once known as Moorooduc Cemetery) on the Mornington Peninsula


DEATH OF MR. SAMUEL SHERLOCK, SENR. - fascinating article in Trove 
6th September 1900

On Thursday last there passed away at his residence, Mornington, one of the oldest residents of the Peninsula in the person of Mr Samuel Sherlock, senr. The deceased had suffered from asthma for many years past and about a fortnight ago was conflned to his bed. Dr Somers was called in, and by skil- ful treatment, he so far recovered as to be able to ride into Mornington and vote on polling day. However, on return- ing home, he again took ill, and des- pite all that medical aid could do, he expired about 6 p.m. on the evening abovementioned, the immediate cause of death being syncope, supervening on mitral valve disease. The deceased was well-known and very highly respected throughout the whole of the Peninsula, and ample evidence of his popularity was given on Sunday, when 60 vehicles and over 40 horsemen followed his remains to their last resting place, the Moorooduc cemetery, where a most impressive burial service was read by the 
Rev Jas Caldwell, Presbyterian minister - mentioned in my last Taphophile Tragics post.  He leaves a widow, two sons (Lieutenant Samuel Sherlock, Veterinary Surgeon with the Bushman's Contingent in South Africa - Australian Veterinary Corps is discussed in my post HERE and Andrew, who is a storekeeper at Mornington) and three daughters (Mrs W. Baxter, Sarah and Aggie) to mourn his loss, and the greatest sympathy is expressed on all sides for them. [Mr Sherlock, who at the time of his death was 64 years of age, was born at Launceston, Tasmania, 1836, and came to Victoria in 1840, being then only 4 years old. His father had a small run at Yarraville, but died four years after he arrived. His sister and her husband (the late Mr Stenniken) then had charge and they stayed at Yarraville for another 4 years, when they purchased the late Mr Kenyon's property at Tootgoorook, now called Rye, which was in those days good grazing country and not overgrown with ti-tree as it is now. They moved their stock to this property in 1848, Mr Sherlock stopping with them as stockkeeper for a number of years. He was afterwards with Mr Burrell, senr., of Arthur's Seat and Mr Barker, senr., of Cape Schanck (both of these gentlemen being dead some years) stockriding, and he used to tell many amusing stories of that life in the early days. The stockman's work at Arthur's Seat in those days was to round up the wild cattle, shoot the bulls and brand the cows and calfs. It was while he was at the latter station that he, along with Mr Robert Anderson (the only two there at the time) had to entertain the two notorious bushrangers, Brady and O'Connor, who had got away from Tasmania on a craft, and when off Cape Schanck tied up all hands, took two of the sailors and the boat, tried to sink the vessel, made for the shore, and landed safely through the surf with a broken boat. They then made the sailors walk in front of them up the cliff, to Mr.Barker's station, got some food, made a stock of bullets, gave Mr Sherlock a powder flask and the boat, and departed without doing any mis- chief. These two men were shortly afterwards captured and executed. He was next with the late Mr A. B. Balcombe, of "The Briars" (who had a good portion of the now Shire of Mornington as his run, before there was any township) stockkeeping, horse- breeding, etc. From Mr Balcombe's place he married a young lady named Janet McLellan in April 1859, and settled down at Green Island. Before the days of coaches, he used to carry the mail on horseback from Rye to Cheltenham and from King's Creek (Hastings) to the same place. He was also a contractor for roads, bridges, etc, and carried on farming in a small way. He was married, lived and died in the house he built for himself. Although for the last 20 years he suffered greatly from asthma, he always had a colt its hand, and, in fact, was never happy unless amongst horses, of which he was passionately fond. His last job was breaking in a pony, which he handled and rode himself, although very ill at the time.]


Of further note, Janet (Jessie) McLellan was one of the few survivors of the ship Ticonderoga, on its 1852 voyage from Birkenhead to Port Phillip Bay.
(The ship has a website HERE!)
The ship had a shocking death rate and was quarantined at Point Nepean near The Rip - entrance to Port Phillip Bay.
It became known as the fever ship.
Janet survived, and, like others, ventured further north on the Mornington Peninsula.
She found work with the Balcombe family at The Briars.
Janet met her husband first at the Quarantine Station where Samuel supplied meat from John Barker’s property at Cape Schanck.  Ref: HERE
Her details on the passenger list:
McLELLAN Janet (18); Lanark, domestic servant, Presbyterian, read & write

Pioneering skills
Turned his hand to many trades
Enterprising man

Linking to:
Taphophile Tragics

Yellow By the Pool

School swimming carnivals are a great opportunity to wear some colour!

A scarf of yellow
A fanciful yellow clip
It's fun to dress up

 Linking to Mellow Yellow Monday

Just a Touch of Shadow

I have always been fascinated by letterbox styles.
Here is one - Cresswell Cottage - at Bittern on the Mornington Peninsula

Humble letterbox
Parading some unique styles
Begs to be noticed

Linking to Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Pearl Beach Resort

What was once a restaurant in Dromana, with views of Port Phillip Bay, has now been converted to an office for selling the yet to be constructed Pearl Beach Resort, a new up market project in Dromana.

Progress with some style
Glamour in a coastal town
Not everyone's thrilled

Linking to Weekend in Black and White

Another Autumn Rose

A gentle sweet rose
Like a soul weeping in rain
Like last summer tears


Linking to:
Floral Friday Fotos
Flowers on Saturday
Today's Flowers
Nature Footstep Blo-Ma
Weekend Flowers

21st Century Wilderness

This sign appears at the front of a property on Main Street, Mornington

Sad sign of the times
A space waiting to be loved
Modern wilderness 

Linking to Signs Signs

Drift

Boats waiting round a pier at Schnapper Point, Mornington


Boats, dreams, memories
Drift on the whims of the tides
Like waiting for chance


Linking to Sensational Haiku Wednesday
Prompt - Drift

Frog

Construction site in Dromana



Rain tumbling for days
Water-logged construction site
Just a frog's Eden




Linking to:
Tackle It Tuesday ~ frog

A Minister's Rocky Road

This headstone is to be found at Mornington Cemetery on the Mornington Peninsula.
Rev. James Caldwell, a loved Mornington minister, has two public histories.
One history involves being one of the longest serving ministers on the peninsula - about 28years from 1874.
The other involves an unbelievable tragedy.
In 1892 there was a football disaster.
At 6pm Saturday May 21st, 15 members of the Mornington Football Club (3 fishermen and the rest were members of the football team) were returning from Mordialloc to Mornington  in a boat after a draw in a football match.
The boat sank and all lives were lost.
Three of the lives lost were the sons of Rev James Caldwell:
James 21, William 19 and Hugh 17.
In a region of only about 900 people, this tragedy was devastating.
No surprise that Mornington became known as Mourningtown.
More details of this story may be found at TROVE and HERE and HERE


This is another Mornington Cemetery memorial to a young life involved in this same tragedy
- another 17 year old.
The headstone testifies that this family was struck by another loss of a young life only 11 years after the 1892 tragedy.
I can't trace the reason for this one.


Here is a memorial to all the lives lost in 1892.
The memorial is near Mornington Park overlooking Port Phillip Bay.

And Rev James Caldwell?
Before this football tragedy, his wife drowned in a boating accident on the Yarra River, Melbourne in 1883.
He lived in a 2 storey Victorian mansion Glenbank (built 1875) in Mornington.
It is now on the Morven Mansion Retirement Village site - 107-109 Barkly Street, Mornington.


What was James Caldwell's church from his arrival in 1874 has now been converted?? to two popular Mornington restaurants.
The Beaches website claims they are using an old church hall built in 1923 (built after James' death).
Others say this is part of the Presbyterian church.

And the old church itself, St Andrews, is now known as God's Kitchen.
Both the above restaurants are "back to back" in Barkly Street, just off Main Street, Mornington.
The church was closed in 1966.

Also see The Ghosts of Australian Football - an ABC News presentation video + article

NOTES:
1. The Rev James Caldwell's brother Joseph died at Ballarat "after many months of suffering" on 4th October, 1891- Trove.

2. Ref: Mornington News May 3, 2012 - 5 of the Rev Caldwell's 8 children died in tragic circumstances;
- 3 boys involved in 1892 football tragedy.
- Jean lost at sea between England and Ireland, 5 years after her father's death.
- John, the youngest son, was fatally wounded in 1939 when climbing through a fence with a loaded gun.

3. Ref: Mornington News May 3, 2012 - Relating to the football tragedy - John Kenna, 18, telegraph operator, body found between Frankston and Mornington by Thomas Caldwell, brother of tragic Caldwell brothers.

4. Ref: Mornington News May 3, 2012 - James (Jim) Reid Caldwell (1910- 29th March 2012) - Last surviving grandchild of the Rev Caldwell.
He loved farming, cars, swimming and football.


Unbelievable
A divine spirit tested
Some food for deep thought


Linking to Taphophile Tragics

A Little Yellow Boat

Checking out a mini sail boat at Mornington before sailing on Port Phillip Bay


Lots of attention
One little boat draws a crowd
Sailing enchantment



Linking to Mellow Yellow Monday

It Was...It Is...

A deserted Autumn Safety Beach on the Mornington Peninsula


Space
Silence
Deserted
Faded summer
Pale waves of our yesterdays drift ashore


Linking to:
Real Toads - Tetractys - 1, 2, 3, 4, 10

Wonder of Mushrooms

Mushrooms at a park in Mornington


Wonder of mushrooms
Like designer feathered shapes
Like sacred cycles


Like sacred symbols
Dramatic in black and white
Almost mandalas


Linking to:
I Heart Macro
Macro Monochrome
One Single Impression - Black and White
Real Toads - Open Link Monday

Pine

A calm figurine on the Main Street of coastal Mornington


A bustling main street
Wheels and feet rush for time but
Pine for just being


Linking to:
Haiku Heights - Pine

Grounded

Touch of shadow links
Keeping connected with earth
Basking in sunlight

Linking to Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Flinders Memorial

Flinders Memorial near the Old Shire Offices on the Nepean Highway in Dromana on Port Phillip Bay.
This memorial commemorates the landing in the area by Captain Matthew Flinders R.N.
on the 27th April 1802.

Intrepid captain
Charting the unknown east coast
Of Australia

Linking to:
Weekend in Black and White
Shadow Shot Sunday 2

New Day

More morning Autumn skies in Dromana

A sense of newness
Like pulsing waves of colour
Glory of morning

Linking to:
SkyWatch Friday
Just One Pic

Night Shift

Sign outside one of the shops in the Tyabb Art and Craft Village, Mornington Peninsula

A dog's working life
Strict daily roster system
No time for coffee

Linking to Signs Signs

Fire in the Sky

 Fire-like sunset at Safety Beach, Mornington Peninsula

Lingering summer 
Like dying fire in the sky 
Like slowing heartbeats


Linking to Sensational Haiku Wednesday
Prompt - Fire

Magnolia

Poster design by BLT Communications, LLC

Tangled inner pains
Discordant lives and visions
Personal conflict


Personal chaos
Released to the whims of winds
Magnolia time


Magnolia truth
Relief for the soul set free 
Personal beauty


NOTE:
Magnolia, released in 1999, is a movie epic which exposes 9 lives connected by tensions.
A key scene takes place on Magnolia Boulevard.
Magnolia is a typical San Fernando Valley boulevard, wide, straight and long. From its easternmost end, at the foot of the Verdugo Mountains, it travels more than 10 miles, bisecting neighborhoods of postwar ranch homes one mile and gritty commercial stretches the next. Ref: Los Angeles Times 
The writer/director, Paul Thomas Anderson, had the title of "Magnolia" in his head before he wrote the script. "As he started writing, the script "kept blossoming" and he realized that there were many actors he wanted to write for and then decided to put an epic spin on topics that don't necessarily get the epic treatment."
 He also did research on the magnolia tree and discovered a concept that eating the tree's bark helped cure cancer. Ref: HERE
AND
More on the film's title HERE!

Linking to:
Tackle It Tuesday - Prompt - Magnolia
Real Toads - Open Link Monday

Frederick Warburton Ellis

This plaque is at Mornington Cemetery near Port Phillip Bay on the Mornington Peninsula.
For me, the plaque was first interesting because the caption seemed unique, maybe unexpected on a grave.
But on further exploring, I found more intriguing detail.
Frederick Warburton Ellis belonged to the Veterinary Corps in World War I; a corps that seems to have slipped beneath the radar in most war stories.
(Though there is a book published in 2011:
 Title: Forgotten Men - The Australian Army Veterinary Corps 1909-1946 
Author: Tyquin, Michael)

First World War Embarkation Roll - Frederick Warburton Ellis
Service number: 243
Rank: Private
Roll title: Army Veterinary Corps - 2 Veterinary Section (December 1914)
Conflict: First World War, 1914-1918
Date of embarkation: 22 December 1914
Place of embarkation: Melbourne
Ship embarked on: HMAT Borda
Ship number: A30

                                  Photograph by Josiah Barnes at Port Melbourne 
Listing at the Australian War Memorial 

However, another listing HERE differs slightly (upgrades Frederick from private to sergeant):
Regimental number 243
Religion: Church of England
Occupation: Bricklayer
Address: 151 Primrose Street, Essendon, Victoria
Marital status: Single
Age at embarkation: 21
Next of kin: Father, H Ellis, 151 Primrose Street, Essendon, Victoria
Enlistment date: 13 October 1914
Date of enlistment: from Nominal Roll 13 October 1914
Rank on enlistment: Private
Unit name: Veterinary Section 2
AWM Embarkation Roll number: 27/27/1
Embarkation details: Unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board Transport A30 Borda on 22 December 1914
Rank from Nominal Roll: Sergeant
Unit from Nominal Roll: Australian Army Veterinary Hospital
Fate: Returned to Australia 26 November 1918
(NOTE: HMAT = His Majesty's Australian Transports
For the history of HMAT Borda see HERE!)

His headstone prompted me to seek out some information on the Australian Veterinary Corps.

The Australian Army Veterinary Corps was established in 1909 and lasted until the 1940's.
In World War I, two veterinary sections were formed, one centred in New South Wales and the other in Victoria.
They were sent to Egypt, Gallipoli, the Middle East and France.
At the end of the war, there were
approximately 25,000 horses, 8,000 mules and 100 camels. 
It was decided that for quarantine and economic reasons none of these animals would be sent to Australia. 
 Of the horses in France the best were given to British forces, other suitable horses were sold to French and Belgian farmers and the remainder sold for meat. 
In the Middle East the troopers had become very attached to their horses and did not want them to be sold to those who would not care for them. 
Because of this the Australians shot their own horses.
 For more details on earlier history (including a role in the Boer War) see HERE!


Animals of war
Trusting souls following man
Tethered to mayhem

And the caption on the plaque is an extract from a longer quote by Edwin Markham
(American poet representing social ideas at the turn of the 20th Century):

We all are blind until we see 
That in the human plan 
Nothing is worth the making if 
It does not make the man. 
 Why build these cities glorious 
If man unbuilded goes? 
In vain we build the world, unless 
The builder also grows.




Linking to Taphophile Tragics

Clump of Golden Foliage

Autumn foliage at Seawinds on the top of Arthurs Seat mountain, Mornington Peninsula

The Autumn season
Leaves dance in grand finale
The golden cycle

Linking to Mellow Yellow Monday

Morning of Mist

From Safety Beach, a misty view of Mount Martha, Mornington Peninsula

In a morning hush
Autumn mists carress the seas
The song of silence

Linking to Scenic Sunday

Autumn Rose in Monochrome

Rose just after Autumn rains

Autumn rains and chills
Despite grey skies and limp sun
Still kissed with beauty


Linking to:
I Heart Macro
Macro Monochrome
Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Art of Morning Shadows

Art of early morning shadows on a school building wall.

Scattering shadows
Collage of tiered canvases
Like wand'ring minstrels


Shadow Shot Sunday 2 is hosted by Magical Mystical Teacher, Chubskulit + Gemma Wiseman

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Old Farm Machinery

Old farm machinery displayed at Coolart, Mornington Peninsula

Shapely old machines
A strange cumbersome design
But practical art


Hosted by Dragonstar
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Gentle Autumn Sunset

Autumn sunset over Port Phillip Bay as viewed from Dromana beach

Whispering sunset
Far from the flames of summer
Autumn wistfulness

                                                        
 Hosted by Sandy Wren Sylvia

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To suffer?

These rather weathered signs appear at Tyabb on the Mornington Peninsula.
They amused me, suggesting a tension of choice between wrecking or repairing your car.
Not sure that having both extreme options in the one place assures me that quality work will be done. Perhaps only for one option.

That is the question
To wreck or not to be wrecked
To suffer or not



Signs, Signs is hosted by Lesley
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Landscape of morning...

A view of a misty Autumn morning at Dromana beach with Mount Martha in the background.

Landscape of morning
A misty Autumn affair
Like a fading love


Sensational Haiku Wednesday is hosted by Jenn
CLICK on the badge to view MORE! - Prompt - Landscape

Crib Point Cemetery

Crib Point Cemetery is a tiny cemetery.
It is bordered by Morradoo Railway Station not far from Westernport Bay, Mornington Peninsula.
No fancy graves are here.
No fancy statues are here.
It is easy to believe that no fascinating stories may be associated with such a simple place.
But this cemetery does have a story.

Clem Kleinig, long-serving member of the Cemetery Trust, is the caretaker.
He knows many of the people who lie here and mows the property by hand.
There is the local doctor who was called out to attend a car accident, only to find out that the victim was his wife. 
There is Colin Joseph Whiston – the first Australian serviceman killed in Vietnam, at the battle of Long Than. 
Pte Whiston, Colin J Unit: 6RAR; Age: 21;
National Serviceman Born: Sydney, NSW
Civ: Postman; Single
KIA - Gunshot wounds
Commem: Garden of Remembrance, Vic
Buried at: Crib Point Cemetery, Vic

But there is a particularly beautiful story attached to this place.
Because the Trust is purely voluntary, it is the cheapest cemetery in the state, which means that they get the state trustee funerals – people who die with no money and no family.
See more of this story HERE!

The cemetery is behind the trees on the left of the photo.

 And now to turn to the name of the nearby railway station.
From 1960-1996, Morradoo railway station was simply SP 15 (stopping place 15).
The area was still in the Crib Point region, so there seemed to be no haste to give it a name.
Morradoo appeared to be a suitable choice because it was the original name of Crib Point, meaning "powder and shot".
More details HERE!
(Cerberus, a major naval base is nearby.)
This fact seems to further enhance the idea of the cemetery being almost without identity.
Unvalidated!


This is the only other photo I have of the cemetery.
(Notice the uniform style of the "raised bed" graves!)
I took both photos in 2008, thought that the place held no real interest and drove on.
Not till creating this post did I know the background of this cemetery.
Now I am sorry I did not spend more time here.
I must go back!!!!

A small special place
Crying for identity
Seeking some wonder

P.S.
1. Notice the blue sign to the left back of the photo.
It reads BITTERN - the name of the next suburb.
2. In Julie N's database I found this note in her Crib Point Cemetery listings:
463 ANDERSON Gustav       no dates              Swedish Seaman           Erected by his Shipmates

I must go back!!!!!!!


Taphophile Tragics is hosted by Julie

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Hints of Autumn Golds

Hints of Autumn golds reflected in a pond at Seawinds, a garden atop of Arthurs Seat mountain overlooking Port Phillip Bay

Leafy reflection
Sprinkled with Autumn magic
Touch of red and gold


Hosted by Drowsey Monkey

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Amazing what drifts by the shadows!

I was aiming for the palm shadows on the old Dromana shire council walls.
Then into the focus arrived this bike rider.
Not an advisable way to ride "hands free"!
But it added some character to the photo!

A free riding soul
Little thought for being safe
Trusting on instinct



Shadow Shot Sunday 2 is hosted by Magical Mystical Teacher, Chubskulit + Gemma Wiseman

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Hastings Wetlands

A view of the wetlands at Hastings on Westernport Bay

Like strange sheaves of wheat
Eccentric wetlands beauty
Nature's quirky art



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