This is a File note written by Professor Miles Lewis, of Faculty of Architecture, University of Melbourne on Happy Hollow Farm, reputed to be the home of Emmett Whatmough and his family and subsequently by Charles Partington and his family and at time of compilation (1994) home of Dr. Christopher Bell. His examination was intended to assist in determining the age of the building, with a view to seeing whether it be nominated for inclusion on the Historic Buildings Register5 page photocopy of typescript, with house plan.happy hollow farm, christopher bell, whatmough, partington, betty bell

A photograph taken at the June 24 2017 meeting of Greensborough Historical Society. This framed collection of Happy Hollow memorabilia is owned by Jacinta Crealy.Digital copy of colour photographgreensborough historical society, jacinta crealy, robert whatmough, happy hollow farm

Photographs of Happy Hollow Farm in as a bark hut in the 19th century and a cottage the early 20th century(circa 1934). Digital copies of 2 views of Happy Hollow Farm..robert emmett whatmough, parks victoria, happy hollow farm

In 1997, Bell's Cottage at Happy Hollow Farm was included in the Nillumbik Heritage Overlay HO59.The cottage was built by Robert Whatmough and associated with the pioneering orchardists Frederick and Theodore Flintoff and William Verner. It is technically significant for its wattle and daub construction, vertical slabs and bark roof. It was destroyed by fire in 2003.3 p. typescript, one black & white photographhappy hollow farm, bell family

The land surrounding Happy Hollow farm at Plenty was purchased by Francis Wickham in 1840. The land was later subdivided and held by various owners including Charles Partington (1875) and John McLaughlin who leased the property in 1892 to Robert Emmett Whatmough who erected the first dwelling on the property. The land was later owned by Mrs Betty Bell and was purchased by Parks Victoria in 1994 to form part of the Plenty Gorge Parklands. This plaque was laid by Plenty Historical Society.Happy Hollow was an example of early settlement along the Plenty River.Digital copy of colour photograph. Plaque at Plenty Gorge Parklands.plenty river, happy hollow, happy hollow farm, robert emmett whatmough, betty bell, john mclaughlin, charles partington, parks victoria

Robert Emmett Whatmough leased the Happy Hollow site from John Cully McLaughlin in 1892 and built a bark house there. This was retained by later owners, the Bell family. Original photographs were taken prior to 2003, as the building was destroyed by fire in 2003Copies of four coloured photographs on one pagewhatmough family, happy hollow farm, bell family

Articles on natural history submitted by a young Christopher Bell of Happy Hollow to the Weekly Times.3 p. photocopy transcripts of newspaper articleshappy hollow farm, christopher bell

Obituaries of three residents of Happy Hollow, Francis Oxley, John Henry Daymond and May Daymond2 p. transcription of newspaper articleshappy hollow farm, francis oxley, daymond family

Information about Robert William Whatmough b. 1815 in Heywood, England and his son Robert Emmett Whatmough b. 1842 in Greensborough, d. 1924, who leased the site of Happy Hollow in 1892.1 p. typescript, 1 black and white photograph Notes on Whatmough family handwritten on bottom of page.whatmough family, happy hollow farm

A group of 4 photographs taken in 1994 and an early photograph of the same building for comparison.Happy Hollow farm was located on the Plenty River about 4 km upstream for the Greensborough township. It was originally built in the late 1840's and was rented by the Whatmough family at one time. It is now lost as it was taken over by Parks Victoria, left derelict and burnt down by vandals in the early 2000's.A group of photocopied photographs on A4 size paper. There is a black and wihte copy as well as a colour copy of 4 photographs with transcriptions on the rear of the sheet. The other sheet shows the building in the mid 1800's.Details on the reverse of 2 sheets about the photographs on the obverse.happy hollow farm, bell family, plenty river, whatmough

Newspaper article from 1994 recording the history of the Bell family at Happy Hollow.Happy Hollow was built in the late 1840's about 4 km north of Greensborough on the Plenty River. The article informs us that the Bell family moved there in 1943 and lived without power or running water at that site until March 1994 when Betty moved out.A copy of a black and white article from The Age newspaper. Includes text and photograph of Betty Bell at Happy Hollow farm.Biro inscriptions in title and highlighting throuhgout..happy hollow, plenty river, bell family, betty bell, .

A quarry was transformed into the Blue Lake. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p179 The dramatic steep-sided Plenty Gorge lies along the divide of two geological areas, and separates the Nillumbik Shire and the City of Whittlesea. On the Nillumbik side are undulating hills and sedimentary rock, and in Whittlesea, lies a basalt plain formed by volcanic action up to two million years ago. This provides the Plenty Gorge Park with diverse vegetation and habitats, making it one of Greater Melbourne’s most important refuges for threatened and significant species. The park, established in 1986, consists of around 1350 hectares, and extends 11 kilometres along the Plenty River, from Greensborough to Mernda. It provides a wildlife corridor for around 500 native plant and 280 animal species. The area’s plentiful food and water attracted the Wurundjeri Aboriginal people and then European settlers. By 1837 squatters had claimed large runs of land for their sheep and cattle. The Plenty Valley was among the first in the Port Phillip District to be settled - mainly in the less heavily timbered west - and was proclaimed a settled district in 1841.But by the late 1880s, the settlers’ extensive land clearing for animal grazing, then agriculture, depleted the Wurundjeri’s traditional food sources, which helped to drive them away. Many Wurundjeri artefacts remain (now government protected), and so far 57 sites have been identified in the park, including scarred trees, burial areas and stone artefacts. Pioneer life could be very hard because of isolation, flooding, bushfires and bushrangers. Following the Black Thursday bushfires of 1851, basalt was quarried to build more fire-resistant homes. Gold discoveries in the early 1850s swelled the population, particularly around Smugglers Gully; but food production made more of an impact. In the late 1850s wheat production supplanted grazing. In the 1860s the government made small holdings available to poorer settlers. These had the greatest effect on the district, particularly in Doreen and Yarrambat, where orchards were established from the 1880s to 1914. Links with a prominent early family are the remains of Stuchbery Farm, by the river’s edge bounded by Smugglers Gully to the north and La Trobe Road, Yarrambat, to the east. The Stuchberys moved to the valley in 1890, and the family still lives in the area. In 1890, Alfred and Ada first lived in a tent where four children were born, then Alfred built the house and outbuildings around 1896. They planted an orchard, then a market garden, and developed a dairy. The family belonged to the local Methodist and tennis communities. Their grandson Walter, opened the Flying Scotsman Model Railway Museum in Yarrambat, which his widow, Vi, continues to run. Wal was also the Yarrambat CFA Captain for 22 years until 1987. Walter sold 24 hectares in 1976 for development - now Vista Court - and in 1990, the remaining 22.6 hectares for the park. Remaining are an early stone dairy and remnants of a stone barn, a pig sty and a well. Until it was destroyed by fire in 2003, a slab hut stood on the Happy Hollow Farm site, at the southern end of the park. The hut is thought to have been built in the Depression around 1893. This was a rare and late example of a slab hut with a domestic orchard close to Melbourne. Emmet Watmough and his family first occupied the hut, followed by a succession of families, until the Bell family bought it around 1948. There they led a subsistence lifestyle for 50 years, despite encroaching Melbourne suburbia. The Yellow Gum Recreation Area includes the Blue Lake, coloured turquoise at certain times of the year. Following the 1957 bushfires, this area was quarried by Reid Quarries Pty Ltd for Melbourne’s first skyscrapers, then by Boral Australia. However in the early 1970s water began seeping into the quarry forming the Blue Lake and the quarry was closed. The State Government bought the site in 1997 and opened it as a park in 1999.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, blue lake, plenty gorge park

Stuchbery Farm was situated on the Plenty River bounded by Smugglers Gully to the north and La trobe Road, Yarrambat, to the east. Alan and Ada Stutchbery moved to the valley in 1890, first living in a tent where four children were born. Alfred built a home and outbuildings around 1896. They planted an orchard, then a market garden and developed a dairy. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p179 The dramatic steep-sided Plenty Gorge lies along the divide of two geological areas, and separates the Nillumbik Shire and the City of Whittlesea. On the Nillumbik side are undulating hills and sedimentary rock, and in Whittlesea, lies a basalt plain formed by volcanic action up to two million years ago. This provides the Plenty Gorge Park with diverse vegetation and habitats, making it one of Greater Melbourne’s most important refuges for threatened and significant species. The park, established in 1986, consists of around 1350 hectares, and extends 11 kilometres along the Plenty River, from Greensborough to Mernda. It provides a wildlife corridor for around 500 native plant and 280 animal species. The area’s plentiful food and water attracted the Wurundjeri Aboriginal people and then European settlers. By 1837 squatters had claimed large runs of land for their sheep and cattle. The Plenty Valley was among the first in the Port Phillip District to be settled - mainly in the less heavily timbered west - and was proclaimed a settled district in 1841. But by the late 1880s, the settlers’ extensive land clearing for animal grazing, then agriculture, depleted the Wurundjeri’s traditional food sources, which helped to drive them away. Many Wurundjeri artefacts remain (now government protected), and so far 57 sites have been identified in the park, including scarred trees, burial areas and stone artefacts. Pioneer life could be very hard because of isolation, flooding, bushfires and bushrangers. Following the Black Thursday bushfires of 1851, basalt was quarried to build more fire-resistant homes. Gold discoveries in the early 1850s swelled the population, particularly around Smugglers Gully; but food production made more of an impact. In the late 1850s wheat production supplanted grazing. In the 1860s the government made small holdings available to poorer settlers. These had the greatest effect on the district, particularly in Doreen and Yarrambat, where orchards were established from the 1880s to 1914. Links with a prominent early family are the remains of Stuchbery Farm, by the river’s edge bounded by Smugglers Gully to the north and La Trobe Road, Yarrambat, to the east. The Stuchberys moved to the valley in 1890, and the family still lives in the area. In 1890, Alfred and Ada first lived in a tent where four children were born, then Alfred built the house and outbuildings around 1896. They planted an orchard, then a market garden, and developed a dairy. The family belonged to the local Methodist and tennis communities. Their grandson Walter, opened the Flying Scotsman Model Railway Museum in Yarrambat, which his widow, Vi, continues to run. Wal was also the Yarrambat CFA Captain for 22 years until 1987. Walter sold 24 hectares in 1976 for development - now Vista Court - and in 1990, the remaining 22.6 hectares for the park. Remaining are an early stone dairy and remnants of a stone barn, a pig sty and a well. Until it was destroyed by fire in 2003, a slab hut stood on the Happy Hollow Farm site, at the southern end of the park. The hut is thought to have been built in the Depression around 1893. This was a rare and late example of a slab hut with a domestic orchard close to Melbourne. Emmet Watmough and his family first occupied the hut, followed by a succession of families, until the Bell family bought it around 1948. There they led a subsistence lifestyle for 50 years, despite encroaching Melbourne suburbia. The Yellow Gum Recreation Area includes the Blue Lake, coloured turquoise at certain times of the year. Following the 1957 bushfires, this area was quarried by Reid Quarries Pty Ltd for Melbourne’s first skyscrapers, then by Boral Australia. However in the early 1970s water began seeping into the quarry forming the Blue Lake and the quarry was closed. The State Government bought the site in 1997 and opened it as a park in 1999.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, ada stuchbery, alan stuchbery, dairy, stuchbery farm, farm buildings, yarrambat, plenty gorge park

Photograph of descendants of the Whatmough family. The Whatmoughs settled and farmed along the Plenty River in Greensborough. Pictured are Denise Anderson and sister Barbara, Steve Whatmough, Faye Fort (nee Partington) and Brian Poulter. Photograph taken at the unveiling of a plaque at the site of "Happy Hollow".Digital copy of colour photograph.happy hollow, poulter, partington, whatmough