Box Hill Walking Tour

1

The Town Hall Site

The earliest known buildings on this site were those erected and owned by Councillor and real estate agent William Ellingworth, and were part of a large parcel of land that he bought from pioneer settler George Sim in the early 1880s. The buildings consisted of shops and houses, and in 1885 one was rented to the police department for a yearly rental of £40. It was used both as a police station and residence, and, judging by the repeated complaints from the local constables, was quite unsuitable and inadequate. Apart from damp walls, there were only two exterior doors, one opening into a bedroom. Because of faulty chimneys, every time a fire was lit to provide some heating, the doors had to be opened to get rid of the smoke.

The government promised new premises, but the economic depression of the 1890s caused delay, and it was not until 1914 that a police station was finally erected, on the northern side of Whitehorse Road.

In the following year, nurse Christina Coe registered her midwifery hospital in the former police premises. By now the building had 6 rooms, a vestibule, bath and conveniences, and she planned to take no more than 2 patients at a time. Christina was a daughter of Peter Wagner, the manager of the Box Hill brickworks, so the family were known in the area. Less than a year later, her husband Harry died after falling from his hansom cab and fracturing his skull. Around the same time as this happened, their only son Leonard joined the armed forces and was sent abroad. He died of his wounds overseas in 1918, leaving a fiancée, Jean Cameron behind.

Christina kept up the hospital, aided by her daughter, until forced to vacate when the Council planned the current town hall. She moved to a nearby property and is mentioned in our Albion Road tour.

The Dundas ladies college was also located on this site. It was established about 1895 by Mrs Helen Sergeant, following the early death of her husband John in 1894. With a large family to support, she took one of the very few options open at the time to women with some education – she opened a school. Her husband, a son of pioneer Stewart Sergeant, had at one time been the MLA for Dundas in the Western District, and it’s believed the name came from there. The school seems to have closed soon after the 1902 marriage of her daughter Adelaide, who had assisted in its running.

The Story of the Town Hall

In 1872 the Shire of Nunawading was formed, and by 1875 plans were underway to build its first official meeting place; the site chosen for this was on what is now the former Council Pound site in Canterbury Road. A more substantial building, including offices, was erected on the northwest corner of Station and Cambridge Streets, in the early 1890s, with a second storey being added in 1921. It too soon proved inadequate.

In 1925 Box Hill split from Nunawading to become firstly the Borough of Box Hill, and then, in 1927, the City of Box Hill. In 1928 Council acquired 8 blocks of land, on this site, but the depression struck in 1929, so building plans were deferred before being eventually announced in 1934. Keeping things in-house, the floor plan was designed by the town clerk, assisted by the Shire engineer and the Council architect J.C. Aisbett, with the external design prepared by Councillor and architect J.S. Gawler. The building tender was let to the Rispin Bros for £40,424.

The Governor of Victoria, Lord Huntingfield, officially opened the building on 15 April 1935. More detail about the town hall will be revealed at the end of the tour.

Please walk towards Whitehorse Road and the city centre. The site next to the town hall, the Salvation Army building, is our next stop.

On the median strip to the right is a small red brick building erected by the Box Hill Council in 1925 for an infant welfare centre. This was a new area of care in which Councils were becoming involved. The building is now the home of the Box Hill Ballet Group.

2

1010 Whitehorse Road

What is now the site of the Salvation Army has had many occupants. The earliest resident on the site was Dr William Miller Dickinson, a man with a scandalous past, probably not known to the worthy Councillors who appointed him as their Health Officer in April 1887. He was not to serve for long, dying of TB nine months later. The three surviving members of his family – his widow, a son and a daughter, were all to die of the same disease within 4 years. He features in one of the Society’s cemetery tours.

In 1871 a branch of the Rechabites temperance movement was established in Box Hill, with several prominent men, including William Ellingworth, as members. A double-storey temperance hall was built here in 1889, and used for local social gatherings, called tea meetings. In 1900 the name was changed to Federal Hall, in line with the new Australian federation. It continued in use until 1925 when it was sold to a Ford motors dealership, and became a garage. A subsequent owner was Macal Motor Wreckers, and a photo of the then somewhat dilapidated building can be seen below.

Walk to next building, which is of red brick.

4

The memorial and drinking fountain

The memorial and drinking fountain was first erected in 1902, with funds raised by local residents. It was to commemorate the men of the district who had volunteered to serve in the wars in South Africa and China between 1899 to 1902. The lights mounted on each side were provided by the Colonial Gas Company, whose store was further west in Whitehorse Road. The first name on the memorial is that of Corporal Thomas Linsley, a local builder, after whom Linsley Street is named, and who features later in this walk.

Next to the memorial are two cast iron lamp posts, reminders of the lamps first used in 1914 to light Box Hill streets with electricity.

Another building in the median strip was the first home of the local returned soldiers association from WW1. Built in 1920, it was constructed in the shape of an octagonal field tent, and served the members until Upton House was purchased in 1952. The library service then used the hall for twenty years before it was demolished.

Continue along Whitehorse Road to the next building.

5

990 Whitehorse Road

Grocers Moran & Cato opened their local store here at No. 990 in 1897. Next door, for a brief period in the 1920s, was electrician Herbert S. Beattie, whom we will meet later on in this tour. After Moran and Cato moved out, the site was used by Spotlight, a clothing materials shop, and in 1978, the Venus adult bookshop [which closed down after 3 months following pressure from local churches]. These buildings were demolished in 1990 and a brand new Australian Tax Office erected in 1992. While the tax department has moved further down the street, the building continues as offices.

6

991 Whitehorse Road

To the north, No. 991, the block on the western corner of Whitehorse Road, and Watts Street, has had a variety of occupants. At various times it was Bamfords timber yard; the premises of coachbuilder W. F. Young; Hudson & Keen, plumbing supplies, with a billiard saloon upstairs; a theatre; and a coffee palace

The theatre was built for Thomas Mates, and opened in 1920 as the Box Hill Picture Theatre. In the 1930s it was owned by Eastern Theatres, who also owned the other theatre, the Rialto, which is further west in Whitehorse Road. Concerned about their rivals Hoyts theatres, moving into the area, they refurbished the building in an Art Deco style and re-opened it as the Regent Theatre in 1937. It closed in 1971 and was demolished soon after. Images of these buildings can be seen below:

Closer to Station Street, a timber band rotunda was built in the median strip in June 1911. The suggestion had come from a member of the local branch of the A. N. A. – the Australian Natives Association – and was enthusiastically supported by the Progress Association, the Council, and of course the local Box Hill Band, who provided musical entertainments for some years. Band rotunda.

7

Continue walking to Whitehorse Road Shops

On the southern side, the group of shops that you have reached all have a heritage overlay, and are recognized as part of the original commercial precinct. Look up at the roofs of some of the shop verandahs – you can still see the original Wunderlich pressed-metal panels. The businesses included at various stages, a newsagent, then post office and savings bank, run by William Ellingworth from 1893; saddler F. C. Ready, also from the 1890s; at No. 980 the Yangtse café, the second Chinese café to open in Box Hill; at No. 976 the Box Hill Furnishing Co.; at No. 972 Alexander’s men’s wear store; and at No. 968 the first American style milk bar, named Dairymeadow. Images from these stores can be seen below:

8

958 Whitehorse Road

The building on the corner, where you are now, was from about 1878 the wooden store of Alfred Serpell, a draper. The first bank in Box Hill, the ES&A, was opened in this building. Serpell was replaced by James Tait and later the Watkins family, also drapers. While 2-storey brick buildings replaced most of the timber buildings by the early 20th century, Serpell’s building remained until 1936, when it was finally demolished and replaced with the current building, described as an English Domestic Revival style. It contained six shops and residences, among them Ezywalkin shoe store and Trevor West men’s wear.

9

Payne & Boyland

Opposite, directly to the right on the north east corner of Whitehorse Road, is the double storey brick building first erected by grocers Payne & Boyland in 1899. Originally a wholesale and retail grocers, and general storekeepers, it also sold hay, chaff, wheat and oats, as well as bread, scones and buns of the best quality, and a selection from the American Chamberlain Medicine Co, including their Colic, Cholera and Diarrhoea Remedy. It has subsequently been Padbury’s funeral parlour, a disposals store and at different times, Indian and Chinese restaurants.

Originally vehicles travelled both directions on both sides of Whitehorse road; it was not until 1937 that one way traffic on either side of the median strips was enforced. With all this commercial activity going on, it is no wonder that the first traffic lights in Box Hill were installed on this corner, in 1948.

Turn left in Station St. and walk south to Bank St.

Among the many shops based here over the years, was Charles Franklin and Edward Lloyd, butchers; Ah Louey, Loo Quong and Sing Lee, laundries; hairdressers and grocers, and later, Patersons, who opened their 50th furniture store here in November 1959; Crofts grocers, and Edna Barnett, who was a purveyor of ladies undergarments.

10

Stop at the corner of Bank Street

An impressive building was erected here by the ES&A bank in the 1880s.

In May 1904 the local newspaper reported a sensational robbery that happened here. The bank teller was fast asleep in his bed when robbers forced a rear window, entered the building and persuaded him, with a gun at his head, not to give the alarm. They tied him to the bed, and pausing only to pinch a few coins from his trousers which were hanging up beside the bed, they blew up the safe with nitroglycerine and took nearly £1,700 in bank notes and coin.

Before leaving they ripped up his bike tyres to prevent him riding for help straight away, then took the bank's horse and buggy and sped away. The horse and buggy were found later that day in Fitzroy, but the robbers were never discovered.

Another attempt was made to rob the bank six years later, but the sleeping manager, once disturbed, reached under his pillow, grabbed a loaded revolver and shot at the would-be robber. He fled without getting any money, dripping blood; he too was never apprehended, despite an extensive police investigation.

Reports of the offences were detailed in the Victoria Police Gazette, and can be seen below:

Where once the railway divided Bank Street and Rutland Road, undergrounding of the railway has enabled easier access.

The railway to Lilydale, through Box Hill, opened in December 1882. The original line ran across Station Street, and hand-operated gates had to be opened and closed for each train. As train traffic increased, another line was added, and the gates increased to six, plus six pedestrian wicket gates. A signal box three storeys high was built in 1891, and levers operated the gates. As both street and rail traffic increased, so did complaints about the delays at the crossing. One complaint was that babies were often born without the attendance of the doctor because the baby was on one side of the gates and the doctor on the other! Residents wrote to the council, who wrote to the railway commissioners, but nothing was done. In the 1920s the council wrote to the railway commissioners, inviting them to visit Box Hill and see for themselves the incessant delays and traffic jams that were common. Upon the commissioners accepting, the council worried that the traffic might not come up to expectations, so it asked people to turn up with all possible vehicles and drive back and forth across the crossing at the appropriate time. The turn up was magnificent, but no traffic jams occurred, because the commissioners had taken the precaution of cancelling several trains! Power operated boom barriers were finally installed in 1968, and the underground system we now have was finally opened in 1983, 101 years after the first train.

11

Look straight ahead to Rutland Road

The double storied building that can be seen on the corner of Rutland Road and Station Street has been a landmark since it’s erection in 1911. It has a heritage overlay. It was built by local builders Garrett and Mawson for Cr. John R. Ellingworth, (the eldest son of William and Rose), who was a real estate agent. The building had space for rooms to be rented out. An image of the building in its early days can be seen to the right:

The double storey building behind, at No. 6-10 Rutland Road, housed, from 1932, the Box Hill and District United Friendly Societies’ Dispensary for many years. In the days before universal health care, people who became ill and unable to work faced the bleak prospect of having to rely on friends or charity to support them; many became destitute. Friendly Societies were set up as co-operatives that protected workers and their families. Members paid a small fortnightly contribution and, in return, received free medical care for their whole family, a funeral benefit to avoid a pauper’s grave and sick pay if they were unable to work.

As mentioned at the beginning of the tour, the first Friendly Society formed in this area was the Independent Order of Rechabites. The Rechabites were a temperance society, but others did not restrict membership on those grounds. Branches were usually known as Lodges or Tents. As well as arranging for a local doctor to service their members, some branches combined with other Friendly Societies to establish a dispensary, [known as a U.F.S. Dispensary], where prescriptions could be provided at a cheap rate, and medical items purchased.

Turn into Bank Street

12

Bank Street

Bank St itself has changed dramatically over the years. Originally a number of small shops were based here, later the sites were consolidated.

The Box Hill Businessmen’s club, as it was first named, was formed in 1948, with the plan to create club rooms in which to provide accommodation, meals, recreation and entertainment for its members. Originally meeting in one of the town hall rooms, in 1958 they purchased a property at No. 5 Bank Street, and set about creating a commercial kitchen and a hall in which to hold functions. Renting out the property for social occasions such as weddings and 21st birthdays, would enable them to cover their costs. The club’s name was also changed to the Box Hill Club, given the increasing number of women in business, including the glamourous Adrienne Cook, whose yoga studio was only a few doors away. The club later moved to Rutland Road and finally closed in 1994.

Walk past the group of shops and the old tax office site to the first car park.

Further along the street, Vespa scooters were sold in the 1950s, a youth club was established, as was a community centre at No. 17, and a children’s library. Images of these can be seen below:

Walk to end of car park. Look directly to the right, across the rail line to the office building.

13

30-32 Rutland Road

At No. 30-32 Rutland Road was a double story pair of terrace houses, the only example of their kind in Box Hill. They were demolished in the 1970s, but an image can be seen below.

Continue along Bank St to rear of the town hall.

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Rear of Town Hall

The substantial changes to the original town hall can be seen here. A second floor was added in 1961, and a new administrative wing opened in 1983. With Council amalgamations in 1994, and the proclamation of the City of Whitehorse, administrative functions were transferred to the Civic Centre in Nunawading in 1996. There were short-lived plans by the new Commissioners, to sell the building, but community opposition prevailed. As an indication of the quality of materials used in the building’s construction, the original interior tiles and some of the timberwork are still in place.

The administrative wing was redeveloped in 2006 as a community hub and now houses about 15 community groups, including the Box Hill Historical Society. The main halls are used regularly, as venues for many functions. A dedicated Art gallery and storage area was established in 2007, and regular exhibitions showcase work from the Whitehorse Art Collection as well as works by artists who reside within Victoria.

Tours of the town hall are conducted regularly, details can be found here.

Just after the town hall, the small red brick building on the left is St Peter’s kindergarten, the first in Box Hill, and erected in 1947. It closed in 2023; the site continues in church use.

Walk to the park, past the library carpark.

15

Linsley Street Park

What is now a pleasant park was once Payne’s box factory, and a hive of activity, as these images show. What sort of boxes were made here? Fruit boxes mainly. Box Hill and surrounds, including Doncaster, were full of orchards, and the boxes were used to transport fruit.

At the end of park, at the corner of Linsley Street, look to the left.

16

Linsley Street

A small hall on the eastern side of Linsley Street, since replaced by the expanded fire brigade service, initially served as a clothing manufacturing factory for Edmund Wilson Greenwood. He later donated the hall to the Wattle Club, which he had helped set up in 1911. The club name was nothing to do with a tree, but rather came about at the initial meeting when someone said ‘what’ll we call the club?’ and the answer was ‘that name is as good as any. Call it the Wattle Club’. Greenwood was a staunch Methodist, and the club provided ‘mutual improvement’ and entertainment for young men to keep them away from the evils of alcohol. The club had its own cricket, tennis, lacrosse and football teams, formed an orchestra to provide entertainment for local charities, held debate nights, conducted picnics, and flourished for a number of years, before it faded away in 1926 amid Greenwood’s bankruptcy and sale of the building. The historical society has a collection of documents and photographs from the club.

Horton Girls Grammar using Linsley St Hall In 1922 use of the hall was shared with Horton Girls Grammar School, which had moved from the Methodist hall, and two school rooms were added at the rear. The school remained there until closure in 1946, when the owners, the Girl Guides Association, wanted to occupy the whole building. The building was damaged by fire and later demolished.

Cross Linsley St – named after the Boer War volunteer, and continue along Bank Street. Turn left at Miller St, walk as far as Bishop St.

17

Bishop Street

What is now a block of flats on the northern side, was once No. 1 Bishop Street, and was the home of Herbert S. Beattie, mentioned earlier, who was not just an electrician, but a keen amateur radio enthusiast, who won competitions and demonstrated the effectiveness of his equipment for a number of charitable causes. In August 1923 he was instrumental in having a performance by the local Brass Band broadcast through the equipment in his home here in Bishop Street. The event received extensive newspaper coverage, as it was an Australian first.

Unfortunately, Mr Beattie’s domestic life was not a happy one, and both he and his wife returned to NSW a few years later, only to appear subsequently in a divorce court, where each accused the other of desertion.

Walk along Bishop Street to No. 17.

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No. 17 Bishop Street

Edmund Wilson Greenwood lived in a house on this site, from at least 1915 to 1925. He was elected to the State Parliament in 1917, campaigning on a platform of Local Option, that is, for local voters to be enabled to choose whether hotels and licensed grocers could operate in their district. In 1920 such a poll was held, and the Nunawading and Boroondara districts achieved the required 60% in support of the measure. On the 1st January 1921 the Whitehorse, Railway and Royal hotels closed their doors, never to re-open. The move was not popular with everyone. A group of local men, who had been drinking at Blackburn one evening, gave vent to their feelings when they arrived at Greenwood’s house and proceeded to drink his health in loud and abusive terms.

Greenwood served as the local member until 1929, when he made way for Robert Menzies to run, successfully, for the seat of Nunawading.

Walk to No. 42

19

42 Bishop Street

This house, one of the first to be constructed in this area of Box Hill, is believed to have been built by Thomas Linsley in 1891. Thomas became well known locally due to his involvement in the South Africa War. After his return in 1901, he lived with his wife Annie in Machadodorp, which we will see later in the tour. No. 42 has a heritage overlay and is currently occupied by a leading botanical artist.

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Original Box Hill Cemetery Entrance

You are now in the original entrance drive to the Box Hill cemetery, which opened in 1873 on an area of 12 acres.

21

Box Hill High School

One of the first schools in Box Hill was built on the site of what is now the high school in 1865. The school was known as Seagoe Common school, and named after a village near Armagh in Northern Ireland. This was the birthplace of Box Hill pioneer Stewart Sergeant, whose children attended the school. The school operated here until 1889, when the pupils transferred to the new primary school near the town hall, which was mentioned earlier.

The school site remained vacant until 1897 when the Council firstly rented, and later purchased it. In 1906 the newly formed Doncaster and Box Hill Horticultural Association persuaded the Council to lease them the land. The Association raised funds, and commissioned local builder Thomas Linsley to construct a pavilion of 150ft x 50 ft. The first show in the new premises in 1907 attracted 1,400 entries of fruit, flowers, vegetables, poultry, livestock etc., – and record crowds. The show was accompanied by a merry-go-round, side shows, Bioscope pictures, a temperance stall by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and open-air concerts at night.

In 1913 the pavilion was rented out to the Defence department as a drill hall and the shows were suspended from 1915 to 1919 because of the war effort. They resumed in 1920, but the Defence department remained in control of the building. Finally, in 1923 the Association’s committee decided to relinquish their lease and requested the Council to take over the pavilion. A detailed history of the Horticultural Association is contained in the historical society’s archives.

In 1921 Box Hill residents commenced lobbying for a high school in the district. Subsequently, in 1926, the Council offered the vacant 4 acre showgrounds site for a school, with the hope that an adjoining reserve of seven acres (2.8 hectares) could be used for sports purposes. The government agreed in 1927 and planning for a new high school commenced.

In 1930 the Box Hill High School for boys was officially opened. It was one of only 36 high schools in Victoria, and the only one between Melbourne and Lilydale. The first headmaster, Joseph Henry Charles, who continued in the role until 1947, built a strongly academic educational facility, which attracted boys from a wide area. Matriculation classes, ie Year 12 level, were introduced in 1954, and the enrolment reached nearly 800. In 1961 the J H Charles Assembly Hall, with the capacity to hold 900, was opened. A new wing was constructed in 1968. The school became co-educational in 1977. The historical society has a collection of photographs and school magazines within its holdings.

Walk north to Whitehorse Road, passing two shelters and a horse trough, originally part of the cemetery land. There is an historical marker on the trough.

The original cemetery entrance gates can still be seen in Whitehorse Road. The historical society runs regular tours of the cemetery, now much enlarged to 30 acres.

Back on Whitehorse Road. Turn left, pass Sagoe Lane (named after the original school, but with a slight variation in the original spelling), and walk to No. 1100 Whitehorse Road.

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1100 Whitehorse Road

This house is believed to have been designed and built in 1907 by Edward Bishop, a local builder, Councillor and Shire President, for William Fielding. It has a heritage overlay. The polychromatic brickwork, including contrasting cream and red bricks in horizontal bands and diamond shaped patterns in the apex of the gable, on chimneys and as a wall motif, is a decorative treatment popular from the Victorian period onwards. There are also four single green tiles in the front facade which highlight the brickwork design. It has a slate roof and decorative ironwork, another element of late Victorian design.

William Fielding first leased, then sold the house to Stephen and Georgina Prior. The house was then number 71 Whitehorse Road. The couple were married in 1887 and had five children, one of whom was killed in action in WW1. Stephen Prior, a retired livestock dealer, died in 1930, Georgina in 1953. She had served as both president and secretary of the local branch of the Australian Women’s National League, a conservative organization, and as secretary of the Box Hill Relief Society. One daughter, Georgina Eleanor Prior, a teacher, opened a private girls’ secondary school called Chalgrove at the property; at the time there was no local high school for girls. A timber outbuilding at the rear of the residence was used for the schoolroom. The school operated from c.1950 to 1964 under Miss Prior’s tuition.

23

The Mates Estate

In 1912 Thomas Mates, a stock and station agent who lived locally at Towong in Whitehorse Road, built a group of houses now known as Nos 1060 to 1070 Whitehorse Road and Nos 3 to 5 Miller Street. The brick houses were named Mantua, Medina, Marmora, Macedonia, Maloja, Moldavia, Mooltan and Malwa, the last two listed being the houses in Miller Street. There are no other known developments of Federation semi-detached houses in the City of Whitehorse. In the 1920s a dairy was established in the corner houses and by the 1940s the brick dairy in Miller Street had been built, with the name Moldavia inscribed at the top of the building. All have a heritage overlay.

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Box Hill’s First Fire Station

Box Hill’s first fire station was established in 1893 in Watts Street and was manned by volunteers. The current station was built in an art deco style in 1935. Originally the main doors faced Whitehorse Road, but in 1992 the station was modernized and extended with a new safer vehicle exit into Linsley Street. The fire service has now taken over the former site of the Wattle Club, Horton School and girl guides building, and erected a modern facility, which was opened in 2023.

Cross Linsley Street.

As we’re already heard, orchards and farms were prominent in the area, and this site was where the Daniel Harvey foundry operated from 1911 to 1962. The factory produced agricultural machinery which was widely used across Australia. In 1963 Le Pine & Son, funeral directors, purchased the site and built a cream brick building which was modernized in 2000.

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Box Hill Library

As was mentioned earlier, the Box Hill library opened in 1951 in the former RSL club rooms in the median strip, a little further to the west, beyond the town hall. Two years later it commenced the first mobile library service in Victoria, using a 2 ton Chevrolet truck. In 1963 the library service expanded to include the city of Doncaster and Templestowe, and formed the first regional library service in Melbourne, known as the Box Hill Doncaster Regional Library. The library moved to this site in 1973.

The interesting sculpture in the front of the library is known as Three thirds and is by Matt De Moiser and Blair Long. Representing puzzle pieces, it was commissioned in 2003 and is made of stainless steel, concrete, glass and fibre optic.

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St Peter’s Anglican church

St Peter’s Anglican church has had a long history in Box Hill. The first church was built near Middleborough Road in 1883. It was dismantled and rebuilt built here in 1889. That building was replaced in 1908 by a handsome timber structure, but it was destroyed by fire in 1949. Rebuilding commenced in 1951, with a second stage in 1971. The glass extension to the front of the church was added in 2006.

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Machadodorp

The modest building on the northern side of Whitehorse Road and the eastern corner of Kangerong Road has a heritage overlay, and an interesting history. Thomas Linsley has been mentioned several times already. Volunteering to serve in the South African war, he played a significant role in the rescue of soldiers from the notorious Machadodorp prison camp there. On his return home he received a hero’s welcome. If legend is correct, locals helped to build this house for him on the ruins of a derelict building, and he lived here with his wife Jessie and her three daughters from a previous marriage. The name Machadodorp is engraved in the steps leading onto the property. Linsley died suddenly in 1920.

In 1951 the house became the office premises of local solicitor Kenneth McIntyre. Councillor and twice mayor of Box Hill, McIntyre was a founder of local co-operative housing societies in 1945, and later founder and inaugural president of the Box Hill Historical Society. He received an OBE in 1962 for his service to the local community.

McIntyre is also remembered for his passion for Portuguese history, and believed that the Portuguese discovered Australia before Cook. His book The secret discovery of Australia was published in 1977, and he was made a Commander of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator by the Portuguese government in 1983.

In addition McIntyre was known for devising, in 1931, the system of Victorian football league finals games, known as the McIntyre system. It was used by the AFL until 2000. After his retirement in 1972, Machadodorp operated for some years as a nursery, and subsequently as a number of different restaurants.

The modern police station opposite, on the western corner of Kangerong Road, was completed in 2010 on land previously occupied by a Court House on the corner, and a police station directly behind it. An earlier building was erected in 1957, and as we’ve heard, in the 19th century a police station was located on the present town hall site.

Civic Box Hill Walking Tour

Route: