PRINCIPAL'S FOREWORD

Already, many of our former pupils have had the opportunity to re-acquaint with old friends and reminisce about days gone by.

In the first hundred years of its history, Hurstville West, Dumbleton and Beverly Hills has remained a centre of learning for its community.

As the school has changed, so has the nature of its students. From the rural setting of its origins, the school has become truly a cosmopolitan society reflecting the changing nature of the community and the nation.

Beverly Hills is a family school where the welfare of the students is paramount and where highly professional and motivated teachers link with an interested and involved community to provide outstanding educational opportunities for the children.

Planning and preparation for the Centenary have occurred over the last two years and special thanks must go to all who have been involved in the preparation of the Centenary activities.

This publication endeavours to link the past and the present and to mark a time in the history of the school when the two are united.

It has been my privilege and pleasure to be the Principal of Beverly Hills for the last five years. I look forward to leading the school into its second century of community service.

WITH THANKS

The organisation of any function relies upon the good graces of those who give of their time selflessly to assist. At Beverly Hills we are fortunate indeed to have so many willing to be of service to the community.

While almost all of our community has contributed in some way to the Centenary Celebrations, a special group of people have worked tirelessly, over a long period, to make the various events a reality. Our special thanks are extended to them and to all who have made the Hurstville West, Dumbleton, Beverly Hills Centenary the success that it has been.

Lyn Bambagiotti, Margaret Chandler, Betty De Gunst, Sue Elhindi, Janet Everett, Michelle Fitzgerald, Jan Hearne, Vince Lagana, Elaine Lees, Ted Parker, Trish Rees, Karen Rice, Judy Sewell, Sue Shirlaw, Karen Smith, Vanessa Swan, Geoff Tye, Liz Thompson.

Dennis J. Jowett
Principal 1988-1992

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History of the Beverly Hills area

THE EARLY YEARS

It appears that the first land grant in the area was made to Mrs Hannah Laycock in 1804, who was granted 500 acres by Governor King, which she called "Kings Grove Farm." Later, John and Robert Townson were granted 4 000 acres by Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1808-9, which grant included Penshurst and Hurstville districts, the largest grants being separated by the present King Georges Rd. At that time, the whole area was considered unsuitable for cultivation and grazing, as it consisted mostly of thick forest. John Townson’s Grants were sold in 1812 to Simeon Lord, an emancipist, who was troubled by trespassers on his property, as they were removing large quantities of timber which was used for building purposes, charcoal burning and shingle splitting. As Simeon Lord was then the largest landholder in the area, his holding became known as Lord’s Forest.

OATLEY

Another emancipist, James Oatley, was granted 175 acres at Kingsgrove, for services rendered to Governor Macquarie as Official Clock-keeper in the Colony and he later acquired land facing King Georges Road and there established a farm called Snugborough. It has been suggested that Broadarrow Rd, owes its name to the use of convict labour on Oatley’s property, as clothing worn by the convicts was stamped with a broad Arrow head, to identify government issue. The suburb of Oatley was named after James Oatley and he was responsible for the installation of the clock in the facade of Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney. This clock may be seen from Queen's Square and still shows correct time. Oatley’s grave was sited in the vicinity of Ponyara Rd, at some little distance from King Georges Rd. The headstone was located in 1925 and is now in the possession of Hurstville Historical Society.

Oatley’s old home, on the crest of Canary Hill (later Belmore Rd, then Dumbleton Rd, and finally King Georges Rd) and opposite Broadarrow Rd, was later occupied by a member of the Judd family who divided the land into five farms, one of which bordered Canary Hill and was let to spaniards who cultivated various crops. This particular farm was adjacent to thick forest called Gardiner’s Bush. There was also a windmill in this area, but the position of this mill is now uncertain although from all accounts, it existed at the turn of the century.

Simeon Lord’s holding was purchased by Michael Gannon, an emancipist, in 1850, and the present Hurstville district became known as Gannons Forest, and consequently, the main road to Lugarno and the Illawarra Coast, became known as Gannons Forest Rd.

BEVERLY HILLS

The present district of Beverly Hills was included in the parish of St George which was gazetted in 1835 and the white population was quite small although a large increase occurred following the discovery of gold in the colony in 1850. Aborigines inhabited the area and the remnants of this tribe existed at Peakhurst up to the 1930’s. (The original tribe was the Giviyagal tribe.)

PEAKHURST

Peakhurst was named after John Robert Peake who became a landholder in the area in 1838 and the first public school in the locality was opened in 1871, to serve the farming community residing on the land thereabouts.

HURSTVILLE

Hurstville was officially named in 1881 following a suggestion in 1876, that the public school established in Forest Rd be known as Hurstville Public School. However, the present City of Hurstville really began with the coming of the railway in 1884 and following this event, Hurstville’s first Council was elected in 1887. Prior to the arrival of the railway, the village of Gannons Forest was near Hurstville Public School.

DUMBLETON

The original name of Beverly Hills was Hurstville West and this was the name of the public school built on the present site in 1891. Prior to the construction of the school building, the land formed part of an orchard named Dumbleton and it is recorded that the name of Hurstville West was changed to Dumbleton in 1915. It may be of interest to recall that in the early part of this century, it was rumoured that the steam tramline between Arncliffe railway station and the Bexley terminus near Mimosa St would be extended along Stoney Creek Rd to Dumbleton, but the proposal was put to rest finally with the decision to construct the East Hills railway line from Tempe, the line being built about 1931.

Later, following the opening of this line, the construction of homes in the area proliferated and apparently the new residents considered that the name of Dumbleton was "unpopular and inappropriate", possibly owing to it’s rural connotation. This opinion appeared to be confined to the new arrivals only, as the original members of the community seemed to be quite content with the old name. However, it is possible that the move to initiate a change was sponsored by developers and real estate agents who considered that a measure of prestige would enhance sales promotion, in having the name changed to Beverly Hills. Many original residents hinted that there was an element of snobbery involved in requesting a change of name, but finally Hurstville Council supported the petition and the suburb became Beverly Hills with official approval, in 1940.

Prior to the 1920’s, Dumbleton School was the only one in this area, the nearest public schools being at Peakhurst and Kingsgrove. Consequently, pupils attending Dumbleton school were drawn from the surrounding districts of Penshurst, Hurstville West, parts of Peakhurst, Lakemba and the present district of Kingsway. It is noted that two pupils with the surname of Peake attended Dumbleton School in the 1920’s and possibly, were descendants of the Peake settlers.

THE EARLY WAY OF LIFE

There were several small orchards in the area and as there were no fruit flies and few bulbuls existing at the time, the fruit required little attention or protection, apart from attacks from "silver eyes", the popular name for a small bird with a white edge around each eye. Blackberries proliferated on many lots of vacant land and when in fruit provided a free supply of the main ingredient for the making of jam, as well as being a toothsome delight for the pickers.

Flowers for the markets were grown by some residents and a typical example existed opposite the school. A Mr Humphreys occupied a two storey weatherboard house on the southern corner of the present King Georges Rd - Stoney Creek Rd intersection: his property extended down to Cambridge St and in the 1920’s when he was obviously a very old man, his property still produced jonquils in copious quantities although devoid of attention for many years.

Residents in the area were, in many cases, not "well off" by modern standards and although town gas was available for street lighting purposes and for domestic use, quite a number of homes continued to use kerosene lamps and candles for illumination and a fuel stove for cooking requirements. Although large farms had declined, some outlying households still maintained horses for transport purposes, together with their own cows, pigs, ducks etc. and produced household supplies of meat, bacon, soap, candles, with wine pressed from the grapes grown around the homestead verandas.

The busy area between Beverly Hills and Kingsgrove was frequently mentioned in the local press as having been raided by the police to arrest law breakers conducting and/or participating in a "two-up" school. The hideous game of cock fighting was also known to occur in these parts, but in all probability the organisers came from other suburbs to take advantage of this remote location.

Another activity, largely practised on Sundays, was greyhound racing which took place on flat land near Kingsgrove and was allegedly conducted as "training" exercise, but only the naive would have believed that betting did not accompany these events. The "hare" consisted of a stuffed rabbit skin mounted on a skid which was pulled by a cord attached to the specially adapted rear wheel of an upturned bicycle and when the pedal cranks were turned at high speed, the "hare" just kept ahead of the hounds, finally disappearing into a long wooden box at the end of the straight track.

The stormwater creeks in the low lying areas gouged out, in places, deep holes up to a metre or more in depth and the local boys often used these places to indulge in "skinny dipping" after school or on week-ends. Some of the local lasses also followed this practice, but less frequently. Generally speaking, in the absence of towels, getting dressed involved putting clothes on wet bodies and some mothers were quite perplexed wondering why their hopefuls arrived home with wet heads and mud stained clothes.

The average home could order and have delivered groceries, fruit, vegetables, meat, ice and grain for the poultry, in addition to wood, coal and coke for the kitchen stove and the laundry wash boiler.

There were many dairies in the area, each with their own cows, cow bails, milk separators, feed sheds, delivery cart and horse. One such dairy existed in King Georges Rd opposite the school. Whilst the cow paddocks have gone, the house is still there, sideways to the road.

At the intersection of King Georges Rd and Stoney Creek Rd, on the western corner , stood a wooden Presbyterian Mission Church for some years. However, the Elders decided that the church would be better served if the church were moved to a site in Penshurst St, Penshurst. Accordingly the whole building was moved on wheels to the present location in Penshurst, where the building was used for a long time before being eventually demolished to allow the construction of a new brick building which on completion was opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Lord de L’Isle.

On the northern corner of the same intersection, there was a water trough for the convenience of thirsty horses and a tall stand-pipe and hose for the filling of water carts, tanks on steam lorries, radiators of motor lorries, etc. Immediately behind the trough there was a large area of trees and scrub called Gardiner’s Bush and this thickly wooded area was home of many kinds of flora and fauna, including bird life, lizards, goannas etc. Mistletoe grew on the eucalypt trees in profusion, while the creek, winding its way through the area to Wolli Creek, was alive with tadpoles, frogs and eels.

Following a disastrous fire that swept through the bush in the twenties, only scrub remained and re-grew. Eventually rough roads cut through the land and the area was subdivided, with kerbing and guttering provided for drainage purposes. The first two houses constructed in the middle of this area were without gas, electricity, water supply and probably garbage service so that they depended on tanks situated to collect rainwater from the roof for their requirements. In contrast, most other houses in the district boasted a supply of town gas, or/and electricity, when available, town water supply, garbage and sanitary service. Sewerage was not available until the 1930’s.

On the whole, there was very little kerbing and guttering as we know it to-day and a "made" footpath consisted of house bricks bedded on sand. In some areas nearer Hurstville, the kerbing consisted of block of dressed stone, many of which may still be seen.

Shops in the area were few and far between and are listed as follows:-

1. Mr Holmes had a general store in King Georges Rd opposite Young St.
2. Mr Henery Gibb’s butchers shop stood in King Georges Rd opposite Gardiner's Bus.
3. Mrs Evans' General store stood on the corner of Stoney Creek Rd and Dora St.

Many roads were unmade and those that were made were surfaced with blue metal (basalt) and earth: thus, because of the rough nature of the surface most horse drawn vehicles and some motor cars and trucks were driven on the soft sides of the roadways, producing clouds of dust in dry weather and sloshy mud on rainy days. Under the latter conditions many cars became bogged.

There were few sedan cars in existence, most cars being open tourers with a collapsible hood. Larger vehicles such as delivery vans and motor omnibuses were fitted with hard rubber tyres and up to the mid-twenties, acetylene headlights were still in use on some lorries, cars and motor bikes.

Industry in the area was non existent but two establishments may be mentioned viz:-

1. Ferguson's Nursery now occupied by Kingsgrove High School.
2. Shaw and Smith-Furniture removalists, whose horse drawn pantechnicons stood at the rear of the premises in Hampden St.

Stock feed and grain were also sold from this yard. Houses standing on large estates were quite often bordered with pine trees grown inside the boundary alignments, possibly to act as wind breaks; one such example being the Sandbrook estate (now Gifford Park) in Young St.

Public transport in the early days was scarce. There was a bus service from Lakemba to Penshurst Station and another bus ran between Hurstville and Lugarno, but residents in the Narwee area usually walked to their destination, some walking morning and evening to and from Penshurst railway station.

Up to the late 1920’s, an occasional bullock team could be seen hauling a jinker loaded with tree trunks along King Georges Rd, accompanied by a "bullocky" with a long greenhide whip and a raucous voice.

There was plenty of vacant land in the district and the local children were bare footed. "Bindies" were an ever present problem.

Telephones were installed in a very small minority of homes and these, together with public phones, were connected to a manual exchange at Kogarah. When using a public phone, the caller would lift the receiver and wait for the operator to say "number please?" On stating the required number, the caller would wait for the operator to say "Put your two pennies in please," and on hearing the coins drop through the slot into the receptacle, the operator would connect the caller to the listener at the receiving end.

A Community Hall euphemistically called a "School of Arts" was established in Thomas St about sixty years ago and this timber and fibro structure was officially opened by Mr Clive Evatt K.C., M.L.A. This building was later removed to a site in Edgbaston Rd near the Beverly Hills railway station.

Electricity supply came to the residents after the formation of St George County Council in 1923. Evidence of this facility was provided by the erection of a pole type substation on the footpath outside Dumbleton School in 1925.

One sport practised in the late 1920’s and 1930’s was baseball: the Dumbleton Baseball Club was affiliated with the St. George Baseball Association and used Penshurst Park as its home ground, although practice sessions were held at an allotment of vacant land facing Burrell St at Kingsway, This club was successful in winning five premierships in its existence, but it was never fully recovered from the effect of World War II when the membership was greatly depleted.

Delving into the history of any district, very often results in the revelation of some unexpected aspect of the investigation: the history of Beverly Hills is no exception and the following account is still well remembered by many in the community. The central figure in the narrative was one, Thomas John Ley, who resided in Hurstville and practised as a solicitor before being elected to the State Legislative Assembly as the National Party member for Hurstville electorate (which included sections of Beverly Hills) during the closing stages of World War 1.

Ley was an imposing, heavily built man who was always seen as an elegant example of sartorial splendour, and being a fluent speaker with a legal background, he was made Minister of Justice, a post which in hindsight, was ironic. Opposing him for re-election in the 1920’s was a Labour candidate, Mr. F. McDonald, who stated that at a forthcoming political meeting he would divulge damaging information reflecting on the character of Ley. McDonald never had the opportunity to reveal this information as he mysteriously vanished and his disappearance has never been solved. After another incident of this nature, Ley returned to his native England where he was charged with being involved in a murder, and after being convicted, he died in an asylum for the criminally insane in 1947.

The foregoing is an abridged version of some of the people and practices occurring in the Beverly Hills area in the early days, based in many cases, on my own recollections, following my birth year of 1916.

Obviously it is far from complete owing to the difficulty of contacting older members of the community with their countless experiences and memories. Also the space available in this publication is necessarily restricted and consequently many happenings from the past must remain untold.

My thanks to Mrs Margaret Murphy of Hurstville City Council’s Library Staff who provided the following publications from which much of the early history of the area is gleaned:-

• "The Hurstville Story" by Pedr Davis.
• "Hurstville 1770-1850" by D.J. Hatton.
• "Hurstville History" by Hurstville City Council.

Edward J. Parker. J.P., M.I.E. Aust., C.P.Eng
(at Dumbleton School 1921-1926.)
Publication Committee

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