SQUATTERS 2 Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Cache replaced once again, 15/1/22. Cache replaced 31/07/2020 after it was pinched! The cache is a 1 litre container containing the usual swaps, logbook, and pen. Do not cross any fences into private property.
The township of Drysdale in Victoria, Australia, is situated on the Bellarine Peninsula which runs easterly from the large regional centre of Geelong and ends at Point Lonsdale, one of the heads at the entrance of Port Phillip Bay. Drysdale in the 1990s Drysdale today retains some of its former rural character but has, along with its adjoining township of Clifton Springs, become a commuter and retirement township. This change of demographic character of Drysdale has led to a vast expansion of the shopping centre, perhaps at a speed greater than is supported by sustainable demand. The township was the administrative centre of the former Bellarine Rural City (previously the Shire of Bellarine) but is now included in the City of Greater Geelong, being about 91 kilometres south west of Melbourne via Geelong. The name 'Drysdale' The township of Drysdale takes its name from Miss Anne Drysdale who had owned farming property in Scotland prior to migrating for health reasons to Port Phillip where she arrived in March, 1840. Miss Drysdale and her business partner, Miss Caroline Elizabeth Newcomb, had a licence to occupy 'Boronggoop', a "squatting" run situated between the Barwon River and Corio Bay, which was later extended to Leep Leep near Lake Connewarre. In 1843 these ladies obtained a lease of Coriyule (sometimes spelt Coryule) in the district now known as Drysdale but previously known as McLeod's Waterholes and Bellarine. In 1848 they were able to purchase 1,357 acres (approximately 550 hectares) which included Coriyule on which the still existing stone homestead was constructed in 1849. Many locals refer to the dwelling as “The Mansion” or “Coriyule Mansion”. It is currently under preservation and is a private dwelling. Anne Drysdale died in 1853 at the age of 61 years. She was buried at Coriyule. Caroline Newcomb then became the sole owner of Coriyule and in 1861 married the Reverend James D. Dodgson with whom she left Drysdale in 1864 as he moved around circuits in his ministry in the Wesleyan (Methodist) church. She died at Brunswick (Victoria) in 1874 and was buried at Coriyule. In 1887 the vault which contained the remains of the two ladies was moved to Eastern Cemetery at Geelong just prior to the sale of Coriyule by Rev. Dodgson. ________________________________________ Early Land Settlement The Kooris had a number of camps on the Bellarine Peninsula. They were of the Wathaurong tribe whose territory stretched between Geelong and Mount Buninyong near Ballarat. Mr. R. Gallop who arrived in Drysdale in 1855 wrote in an article for the Drysdale Messenger in 1900 that aborigines had camped at the Water Holes in 1855 but had disappeared by 1900. It has been reported that there was a Koori coroboree ground near where the present Uniting (previously Methodist) church is situated near the top of the rise in High Street. British colonial explorers, although passing through rather than settling in the Drysdale region played a key role in its permanent settlement. The first British party to see the Bellarine Peninsula was that led by Captain John Murray in 1802 who wrote a favourable report of the land around Swan Bay (near the present township of Queenscliff). In the same year Captain Matthew Flinders also entered Port Phillip Bay and landed at Indented Head to the east of present day Drysdale. Following these discoveries, Governor King in Sydney in 1803 sent a survey party led by Charles Grimes to assess the potential for settlement of the Port Phillip area. This survey showed that good agricultural land existed in the district now known as Drysdale. In 1803 William Buckley and two others escaped from the settlement at the present site of Sorrento which was under the control of Lieutenant Colonel David Collins. Buckley's two companions turned back towards the Sorrento settlement but Buckley continued on until he was adopted by a koori tribe near the mouth of the Barwon River. In 1835, Buckley met and made himself known to members of John Batman's party which tried unsuccessfully to obtain land by purchase from the kooris, and remained on the peninsula for several months. The next occupiers of the Bellarine peninsula were squatters. In the Australian historical context, the term "squatter" applied to a person or group of persons who occupied land without owning the freehold thereof. At first these squatters acted without legal sanction but from 1836 Governor Bourke (of New South Wales - which then included the Port Phillip District later known as Victoria) began issuing licences for the occupation of unalienated Crown Land at a price of 10 pounds ($20) per year. By the time squatting occupation of the Bellarine Peninsula took place this legalised system of squatting was in operation. Squatters who occupied land near Drysdale included Thomas Sproat and Edmond Steele (who occupied Coriyule until its transfer to Drysdale and Newcomb in 1843.) Land near Drysdale was first sold by the Crown in 1848 and all crown land available for sale was sold by the early 1850s. Thereafter except for township allotments, which were sold by the Crown until the 1880s, sales of land around Drysdale (mainly for farming) were on behalf of private owners who usually subdivided the large Crown allotments in the Parish of Bellarine. This meant that the district was not subject to selection of large areas of land under the Selection Acts of the 1860s as were districts more distant from Melbourne. For further information please refer to - Richardson, John. The Lady Squatters : Miss Anne Drysdale and Miss Caroline Elizabeth Newcomb : 'Boronggoop' and 'Coriyule', Bellarine Rural City Council, Drysdale, 1986.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Funec pbeare bs cnqqbpx, orjner oneof.
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