These show the Western District in detail with property owners named . The fire maps have properties which are numbered.western district maps, belfast, brucknell, caramut, cooramook, framlingham east, framlingham west, garvoc, laang, kangertong, meerai, minjah north, minjah, minhamite, nullawarre, narrawaturk, nirranda, paaratte, panmure, purnim, quamby north, tallangatta, quamby, timboon, wangoom, willatook, woolsthorpe, yangery, yarpturk, ecklin, yeth- youang.western district maps, belfast, brucknell, caramut, cooramook, framlingham east, framlingham west, garvoc, laang, kangertong, meerai, minjah north, minjah, minhamite, nullawarre, narrawaturk, nirranda, paaratte, panmure, purnim, quamby north, tallangatta, quamby, timboon, wangoom, willatook, woolsthorpe, yangery, yarpturk, ecklin, yeth- youang.

These are four letters and a document regarding the proposal in the 1940s by the Victorian Department of Lands and Survey to acquire sections of the property, Rose Park, to establish several Soldier Settlement farms. Rose Park, near Willatook, was owned by Stan Baulch (1897-1980), the son of Samuel and Eliza Baulch. Samuel Baulch had acquired the property of Dunmore, between Macarthur and Hawkesdale, in 1893 and Stan had inherited portion of this property after his father’s death. He named his portion Rose Park. The Soldier Settlement Commission wanted to acquire 1500 acres of Rose Park but Stan Baulch argued successfully that the management of his farm could not withstand the loss of so much land and eventually 300 acres of Rose Park land was sold for closer settlement. Stan Baulch was a prominent member of the Warrnambool and District Historical Society for many years and contributed many articles and booklets on local historical matters. This correspondence is of interest as an example of the establishment of Soldier Settlement farms in Victoria post World War Two and the difficulties faced by some property owners opposed to the acquisition of their land. These items will be useful for research. .1 A six-page letter written in pencil .2 A two page letter in black typing ( contents as in .1 above) .3 A one page letter, typed, with a handwritten signature .4 A sheet of paper containing a statement re purchase of land with some inserted handwritten material .5 A two page letter with handwritten material baulch family, western district, victoria, history of warrnambool