Shire of Mt. Rouse

Decisions of Council to celebrate the Centenary of the Shire of Mount Rouse throughout the year and throughout the Shire townships of Chatsworth, Dunkeld, Glenthompson and Penshurst were put into effect in the 1964 financial year.

Origin of the Shire

At the request of the president, Crs. B. I. Murrie and E. H. Kruger gave a brief outline of the origin of this Shire.

MOUNT ROUSE ROADS BOARD FIRST STEP

Councillor B. I. Murrie said that on 2nd October, 1860, the Mount Rouse Roads Board was constituted by proclamation of His Excellency Sir Henrv Barkly, Knight Commander of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the Colony of Victoria, and Vice-Admiral of the same. The District as proclaimed comprised an area of 548 square miles and apart from one or two minor alterations this area constitutes the present day Shire.

The creation of this District was brought about for the same reason as many other Districts, which was the desire for greater and speedier improvement of local conditions by means of more localised and compact self government. The western half of the District was formerly in the large Belfast Roads District.

The first Roads Board to administer the District was elected at a public meeting on l4th November; 1860, at Aaron Lane's house in the township of Penshurst. The members were elected in the following order:

Terence O'Brien of Springfield, Penshurst. Daniel Ritchie, J.P., of Blackwood, Penshurst. John Twomey of "Kolor," Penshurst. David Hutton of "Cheviot Hills," Penshurst, Joseph Sharrock of "Lovely Banks," Penshurst, Malcolm McIntyre, Penshurst.

Harry Eddington, Penshurst. Daniel Ritchie was appointed by the Board as Chairman and held office until and after the Shire was constituted. At the first Board meeting in 1860 the rate for the ensuing year was fixed at 1/- per acre on cultivation land, one penny per acre on alienated lands (that is to say, freehold land) and one farthing per acre on unalienated lands. Mr. P. D. Baxter, formerly a Ships Master, and from 1858 the School Master for the Penshurst National School, was appointed Secretary for the time being.…

In December, 1863, consideration was given to a letter from the Commsssion of Roads and Bridges concerning the naming of the Shire. It was found impracticable to carry out his suggestion of a native name and after various proposals it was decided to adopt the name of the Shire of Mount Rouse.

SHIRE PROCLAIMED 1864

Councillor Kruger told the meeting that by notice in the Government Gazette of 26th January, 1864, the Shire of Mount Rouse was proclaimed by His Excellency Sir Charles Henry Darling, Governor and Commander in Chief of the Colony of Victoria.

The first meeting of the Shire of Mount Rouse was held on 3rd February, 1864 and Daniel Ritchie became the first Shire president. A design for the Common Seal of the president, councillors and ratepayers submitted by a Mr. Twentyman was accepted. The first Councillors were:

Daniel Ritchie, J.P., Shire President, John Twomey, David Hutton, Joseph Sharrock, Malcolm McIntyre, John Earls of Penshurst, James Alexander of Woodhouse.

A special meeting was held on 11th February, 1864, for the laying of the Foundation Stone of the Shire Hall. A Sovereign and 1/2 Sovereign (English Mint), a Sovereign and 1/2 Sovereign (Sydney Mint), a Crown, a Crown a Florin, a Shilling, a Sixpence and Fourpenny and Threepenny bits and a copper Penny were deposited in a sealed container under the foundation stone of the building, together with an Illuminated Scroll, a copy of the Hamilton Spectator of 5th February, 1864, and a Public Works Department circular relating to the proclamation of the Shire. A watch was kept during the subsequent night to ensure the items were not removed.

In 1865 the subdivision of this Shire into the Chatsworth, Dunkeld and Penshurst Ridings necessitated the increase from seven to nine councillors. Robert Fraser and Charles Gray were the Councillors to fill the vacancies. The same year saw other well known families represented by the election of H. M. L. Beggs of Bushy Creek and Richmond Henty of Warrayure to fill extraordinary vacancies. In 1877 major additions to the Shire Hall were effected in the form of a Council Chamber which in 1962 was converted into the existing chamber and the engineer's offices.…"

Comments: 1. The booklet, entitled "In the Centre of the Fertile Western District of Victoria" belongs to Mrs. Chris Keneally. The name Charles Gray, referred to above, is also of interest to us as the author of a manuscript "Reminiscences of a Pioneer…", available at Mt. Rouse & District Historical Society, and previously published as a serial at this website.

2. The Shire of Mt. Rouse was 'amalgamated' with adjacent shires in 1994, to form Shire of Southern Grampians, centred in Hamilton.

II. We are presently waiting for permission to Publish "Penshurst Botanic Gardens...10. History", in which for obvious reasons the emphasis is on the availability of water. E-mails remain unanswered (21/4/00).

Comment: There is by necessity some overlap between "Penshurst - the First 150 Years", "Centenary Celebrations ...", "Penshurst Botanic Gardens...", "Aim Was Preservation", and "Two Tribes Shared one Area..", all considered too important to merge (Ed.).