Books

Personal stories about Mansfield's sons and daughters who were involved in World War 1.

Saddling Up
By Dillon Mason, Sue Gardner and Geoff Webb.
Featuring Geoffrey Ritchie, Val Kirley, Robert Friday and Oliver Sladdin.

Homefront
By Natasha Hosny, Lois Neely and Ann Ware. Featuring Bill Griffiths, Bruce Bingham and Margaret Adcock

Honoured, Free and Home
By Wendy Jubb Stoney and Michael Shaw.
Featuring Gavin Dundas, Enid O'Brien, Mick Heam and Wendy Jubb Stoney.

The Widow of Wappan
This story, of Anne Fraser Bon and her 80 yea association with Aboriginal people in Victoria has been the subject of folklore and numerous chapters in local history books. What was not written, is the extent to which Mrs Bon championed the rights of Aboriginal people, leading to a grand gesture before her death in 1936.

This is the story of Mrs Anne Fraser Bon and her relationship with William Barak, ngurungaeta or head man of the Wurundjeri people. It is also the story of the hidden history of the Mansfield district, the fate of the Yeerunillum (Broken River) people, part of the nine clans which made up the Taungurung tribe.
The story is firmly based on historical acts and letters.

Pages 12 = A4 Printed & Stapled

It is nearly 100 years since James Barclay was gunned down at Wonnangatta Station and his murderer or murderers, are long since dead, but who were they? What was their motive?
These questions and the names of the murders are answered in this book for the first time.
Wally Mortimer has made more than 200 trips into the Wonnangatta valley and has spent more than 40 years researching its history.
In 1989 he initiated the rebuilding of the cemetery fence and in 1991 began 'The Friends of Wonnangatta Valley' group.
The friends group maintain the cemetery and the site of the old homestead.

124 Pages
140mm x215mm x 10mm

Tolmie... The First 100 Years complied and published by The Tolmie Sports Committee. No date but likely 1980s.

In the early days the area was known as Wombat but later when the name was changed to Tolmie it was supposed that it was named for Ewen Tolmie. If that is the case we have included a short resume about him.
Ewen Tolmie was born in Scotland and migrated to Australia in 1838 where he landed in Sydney; he is purported to have travelled overland arriving in Melbourne in 1840. He held licences to the Bird-In-Hand and also the Robert Burns in Melbourne.
• In 1854 Ewen Tolmie took his family back to Scotland to be educated. He returned briefly to Australia in 1857 but finally returned in 1859 having completed the children's education.
Ewen Tolmie acquired 'Dueran' and 'Hollands Creek' properties as repayment of an overdue debt, in December 1880 but he stayed on part of it and died there on February 9, 1883.
During the time of his residence he did some gold mining in the area and for this purpose he registered 'Tolmies Quartz Tunnelling Co." He is also credited with a cure for scab in sheep.

100 pages A5 soft copy
210mm x 145mm x 5mm

The Mansfield Historical Society’s Family History Book Volume 3 records the authentic narratives of the following local families: Perrin, Amor, Bostock, Buckland, Calvert, Davies – Merrijig, Davies – Storekeepers, Redfern, Ross, Smith, Greenway, Stilborn, Handford, Highett, Klingsporn, Lakin, Lovick, Maud, and McCaskill.

155 pages soft cover
300mm x 210mm x 10mm

The Mansfield Historical Society’s Family History Book Volume 2 records the authentic narratives of the following local families: Peachey, Parsons, Pollard, Adams, Murphy, Bullock, Neely, Purcell, Ritchie, Gough, Green, Hearn, Hermiston, Hill, and Howie.

146 pages soft cover
300mm x 210mm x 10mm

The Mansfield Historical Society’s Family History Book Volume 1 records the authentic narratives of the following local families: Arbuthnot, Close, Comerford, Crockett, Cummins, Dundas, Reardon, McMaster, McCormack, Mcintosh, McMillan, O’Halloran, Powell, Friday, Gear, Gilmore, Shanks, Stewart, Griffiths, Stoney, Tehan, Thompson, Todd, Walsh, and Mahoney and histories of the following Properties: Changue, Merrijig, Maindample Park, Targai, The Circle, and Tonga.

194 pages soft cover
300mm x 210mm x 11mm

THE HOWQUA HILLS STORY

EDITION 1 AND 2 (1840-1993)
By Chris Stoney
The author of the original school project and the first two editions (covering 1840 to 1993)

EDITION 3 (2020)
By Graeme Stoney
Includes revision of Editions 1 and 2 with additional information and photos.

INTRODUCTION
Edition one and two (Revised)
Howqua Hills is a small pocket of land enveloped by miles of rugged and mountainous terrain.
It is approximately twenty-five miles by timber road from the town of Mansfield, and fourteen miles as the "crow flies" to the now small town of Jamieson.
Cattle are run in the High Country beyond the valley by Mountain Cattlemen from Mansfield and Merrijig. Some parts of the upper valley have been logged by sawmillers from Mansfield. In the past two decades, the upper Howqua valley has witnessed thousands of visitors, being a haven for fishermen, bushwalkers and campers.
Recognising its special significance, the Land Conservation Council, in its final Alpine Area Report in 1979, recommended that Howqua Hills should be declared a historic area, and that such areas be managed to promote public awareness of goldmining and the settlement of the land.
It is the chimney, mine shafts, water races and tunnel that suggests that there is more to the history of the area than cattle, logging & tourism.

INTRODUCTION
Edition three
Since 1993 much has happened in the Howqua Valley.
There has been a major bushfire. Bluff hut was burnt down and was rebuilt.
There has been a flood that took the Sheepyard Bridge and it was rebuilt. the Howqua Track was taken over by the Shire of Mansfield and improved.
The numbers of visitors have significantly increased from 1993.
The numbers of modern four wheel drives (complete with all the latest gadgets!) has escalated.
The Howqua Hills Progress Association has been very active including establishing an emergency repeater (UHF CH 5)
There is now limited mobile phone service in sections of the valley.
Logging has ceased.
Grazing in the Alpine National Park has been stopped by the Government. A few old cows still graze the remaining State Forest licence called Narboorac. They can be seen in the summer around Sheepyard and Frys, keeping the fuel loads down.
Sambar Deer numbers have significantly increased, creating widespread attention from hound hunters and stalkers. Hunting is the only present method available to control exploding deer numbers.
If this trend is not checked impact from the deer will seriously affect the environment.
Trout fishing is not what it was in the 1970's and 1980's, with various theories being put forward including overfishing or more likely warmer water in the summer. The carp have arrived from Lake Eildon and can be seen cruising the river
Koalas were re-introduced by Parks Victoria about 1998 and can be seen around the valley.
Despite all the changes, Howqua Hills is still a wonderful and magical place.
It's loved by thousands of people and will continue to be so.

177 Pages
210 mm x 297mm x 12mm

Wally Mortimer was born in Melbourne in 1927 and educated in West Wyalong and Sydney. After leaving school he went to his uncle's farm near Wodonga and in 1952 took up a dairy farm at Whitfield in the King Valley. Going to reside at Milawa near Wangaratta in the early 1960s, he then found he had the time to pursue his interests of trout fishing, bush walking, camping and four-wheel driving.
Even today the Wonnangatta Valley still remains his favourite hideaway.

142 Pages
137 mm x 215mm x 10mm

Memories from the sawmills of the Delatite Valley

"Tales from the High Country" is perhaps not a "history" at all.
Rather it is a collection of stories voluntarily told and memories shared. Taped orally, it is the personal narratives by people whose connections to, and love of this place called Sawmill Settlement are strong and passionate. They depict the next wave of pioneers - the sawmilling families (sadly too few left to include many stories) and those who bought land and built homes in the Settlement once it became available.

Pages 124 = A5 Printed & Bound
245mm x 190mm x 10mm

SAWMILLING IN THE MANSFIELD DISTRICT
Sawmilling has long been a part of Mansfield's way of life. The sawmilling industry has boosted Mansfield's economy, providing many valuable jobs.
This, however, was not always the case. Once the timber around the Mirimbah area was thought useless, and farmers were compelled by law to ringbark trees on their land, with the object in view of clearing the whole of the area for agricultural purposes. Thus, the Australian Government unwittingly threw away a substantial amount of money in the form of timber. After this error was corrected, a prosperous timber industry grew.

With the timber industry once being of such importance in the Mansfield area, we have decided to once again record a selection of stories and histories of the industry, by former sawmillers and their families.
The only changes made to the original have been made for the purpose of updating the material. Spelling of "Mirimbah Mirrimbah" has been left as it appeared in the original stories.
We hope that you enjoy reading this valuable collection of material.

35 pages = A4 Printed & Bound

Mansfield, 1879.
The widely-extended and generally expressed horror and detestation of the police murders which have been displayed through this colony, renders more prominent the sympathy and admiration for the Kellys, that, by the larrikin class, are not only barely disguised in some cases, but openly vaunted in others.
This is more noticeable among the youth in various large centres of population, where, not content with openly avowing their feelings in simple conversation, they congregate occasionally at street corners and elsewhere to sing ballads - hymns of triumph, as it were - in their praise. We have not been informed whether these lyrics have yet taken shape in print, but we have succeeded in obtaining the words of a few by taking them down from dictation.
They are, for the most part, wretched doggerel, void of point as a rule, and in the metre - if metre it can be called - adapted to the universal Irish street-ballad tune, if we except one, which is an attempted parody on the The Bould Sojer Boy.
It seems to us that the majority of them are from the same pen, and we should imagine that the writer would find himself more at home in a "thieves' kitchen', a St. Giles' ballad-mongery, or one of Her Majesty's jails, than at either a missionary meeting or the gathering together of a Young Men's Christian Association - unless, indeed, he attended with the intention of picking the pockets of the audience.

Pages 33
146mm x 212mm x 4mm

These poems are of historic value, as they describe the thoughts, the values, the beauty that surrounded the Mansfield people of the 19th Century.

They have entertainment value too, they are good to read.

The poems were published in Mansfield Newpapers from 1869 to 1899.
44 Pages = A5 Printed and Stapled
146mm x 212mm x 4mm

Colourful Characters of The Victorian High Country.

Of Pioneers & Perseverance is the fifth in a series of six books exploring the fascinating lives of many of the colourful characters who have once called the Victorian High Country "home."
Their stories are told mostly through the recollections and writings of the older mountain people who knew knew of, the various characters in one way or another.
This material has been collected and the interviews recorded over a period of nearly 30 years. Hairy-Chested History tells the stories of the snow-country pioneers of the Hotham and Harrietville area, From Fraser's to Freezeout explores the pioneers of the Dargo High Plains, From Drover's to Daisy-Pickers focuses on the colourful characters of the Bogong High Plains, and Weatherbeaten Wisdom draws on characters from all over the rest of the high country. This fifth book concentrates on a whole range of mountain pioneers whose stories all have one thing in common - they each demonstrate a remarkable and often almost unbelievable capacity for endless, dogged perseverance.

306 pages hard cover
250mm x 185mm x 27mm

300mm x 210mm