Upper Regions

Out in the country looking for school sites, I came across the 'Upper Regions Cemetery'.

The Cemetery Reserve site was gazetted in November 1877.
It's first Trustees were appointed in August 1881, and you can see the German Lutheran heritage of the area reflected in the names - Peter Koop, August  Petschel, John Menzel, Gustav Stephen and August Janetski.

 They obviously had grand plans for a huge population boost back then, which wasn't realised, as the plots are concentrated in a back corner.

Despite its overgrown state, you can make out the grand central corridor of pines dividing the site into the northern half which houses the occupied graves, and the southern half bordering Petschels Road.

The cemetery's Rules and Regulations of 1882 includes some gems -

Cemetery fees in 1882

• A drawing of every stone, tomb, pedestal, and a plan of every monument or tablet proposed to be erected, and a copy of every epitaph or inscription to be submitted to the trustees for approval, who may withhold permission and prevent the erection of any monument which shall appear to them inappropriate or unbecoming, and shall determine and fix the position of any monument which may be preferred  to be erected according to the description, size, and character thereof, having reference to the general plan for ornamenting the said cemetery in an appropriate manner. 
• No grave to be of less depth than 6 feet, except in the case of still-born children 3 feet. 
• Family vaults to be limited to 10 feet frontage by a depth of 8 or 16 feet.

Time stands still

In March 1845 William Patterson took up the license for the Upper Regions station by the right bank of the Wimmera River, adjoining Dimboola. The name referred to its location in the up-country district, part of Dimboola developed on the station site. The station was subdivided in December 1856 into Upper Regions and Lochiel, Upper regions was further subdivided in April 1858 into Upper regions and Bonegar. The Upper Regions license was cancelled in November 1884, and Lochiel cancelled in September 1881.  

Like a Rock

This November sees the celebration of 50 years of climbing at Mount Arapiles.

The Horsham Library is fortunate to have Keith Lockwood - who's family first settled in the Natimuk Lake area in 1871, and who has roamed the Mount since he was a boy - deliver a talk on the history of the mountain before its 'discovery' as a rock-climbing Mecca, and as one of Australia's best known cliffs.

Keith is the author of the book 'Arapiles : a million mountains'. This popular book details Arapiles from its ancient geological origins, its role in traditional Aboriginal life and culture, its discovery by Major Thomas Mitchell's Australia Felix Expedition and settler history, its flora & fauna and inspirational images in paint and film, and finally as the pinnacle of rock-climbing in Victoria...Australia...the World.

The program begins at 7:30pm on Wednesday 20th November at the Horsham Library. Bookings are essential, Phone 5382 5707 or visit the Library in the Mibus Centre.

They wrote what?

The Public Record Office of Victoria is conducting a number of free tours and information sessions (see their events calendar).

A list of signatures

Of particular interest is the "Reading 19th century handwriting" session. It can be particularly difficult to decipher the elaborate handwriting of times past, especially if you are only viewing a copy and not the original document.

 Are you baffled by the handwriting on 19th century documents? Is that a J or an F? An S or a D?

Stop tearing your hair out in frustration - PROV are here to help.

Come along to their information session on Thursday 21st November and they will show you how to interpret the handwriting of our forebears.

The "Reading 19th century handwriting" session commences at 1:00pm and finishes at 2:30pm. the session is free, but bookings are essential (follow the links from the events calendar to register). 

A selection of different handwriting styles

And why not make a day of it and attend the "Tour of the archives" in the morning (11:00am to 12 noon). A guided tour that ventures beyond the Get Smart security doors, through the air locks and into the purpose-built Repository - a collection of 180 years of our history in 90 kilometres of records (bookings are necessary for this free walking tour).

There are a number of other information sessions run by PROV, so check out the calendar.

The Victorian Public Records Office is located at 99 Shield Street in North Melbourne (off-street parking is via Macaulay Rd).