Ballarat History35mm B&W Kodak Plus X Pan Film.ballarat, ballaraat, pitfield, bridge, woady, yalloak, river

Identified by inscription on the back of the photograph as "Early Pitfield", and the buildings as "Matthew Hamilton Baird's . . . hotel & store". Information from Joan Hunt (see 'Pitfield/Kaleno' file) says the Emu Inn or Pitfield Hotel was at Pitfield/Wardy Yallock township on the road from Skipton to Geelong. Part of this area - foreground, to the left, was called "Buncle's Flat", named after John Buncle, a carpenter who lived in a cottage there with his family. An early timber inn on the Wardy Yallock Creek was owned first by Peter Hardie and then by Edward Langhorne/John McNamara in the 1840s and a mail run from Geelong was established to it in 1846. Matthew Hamilton Baird was the lessee or owner from 1852, and Benjamin Fernald from about 1860. In 1853, the nearby store, at that time owned by William Whitecross, caught fire. The fire spread to the hotel and both buildings were destroyed. The hotel was replaced by the brick or stone building seen in the photograph.Small black and white copy of original photograph which shows trees, fencing and farm buildings in foreground, and in the background a large stone or brick building plus smaller timber buildings (dwellings?) situated along a roadway. On the right of the photograph the road goes over a large bridge of timber construction.On back of photograph: "Early Pitfield showing Matthew Hamilton Baird's store (stone?) & hotel & store".pitfield bridge, pitfield hotel, pitfield township, buncle's flat, emu inn, buildings, hotels, matthew hamilton baird, benjamin fernald, edward langhorne, john mcnamara, william whitecross

Ringbound publication of 212 pagesnon-fictionBev Chatham suggested tha tCommerlghip referes to Wtering holes and underground springs found in the Little Woady Yallok and Mt Misery Creeks. Rokewood Junction was proclaimed a township in 1885, originally known as a gold-mining township called Paddy's Gully Diggings. rokewood, rokewood junction, chatham, kurus-a-ruc, henry pitman, elizabeth pitman, william henry pitman, rokewood junction state school, commeralghip, paddy's gully bridge, illabrook, conereyalk, woady yalloak creek, mt misery creek, paddy's gully diggings., dereel, pitfield, wadawurrung, william rutland, squatters, aborigines, aboriginal, charlotte walsh, maurice walsh, julie pitman, ben liston, sheep and wool, george hawkins, natthew wakeling, christopher moody, mt misery goldfield, john bower, mary bower, hyslop's hotel, cumberland store, jane hyslop, edward collyer, jospeh gladstone, lucas's bakery, henry batty, william young, ellen rigby, chinese, joseph anguey, eliza anguey, murder of thomas ulick burke, william achultze, william schiltze, nicholas grenfell, tomas bramley murder, emily malhoff, drowning, ah lin, eliza richards, luisa bupell, eleanor holmes, rachel holmes, joseph holloway, noah holloway, thomas faulkner, robert eli hearn, george todhunter briggs, john robinson fairweather, rokewood common, edward bussell, louisa bussell, irving rachinger, john chatham, doris chatham, peter chatham, jack chatham, imogen chatham, domenico rizzoli, mary rizzoli, rokewood junction railway line, illabrook football and netball club, cape clear, red cross, keith annear, fire brigade, rokewood junction post office, len aarons, dereel pre-emptive right, rokewood junction avenue of honour