This absorbing local history spans exploration of the Diamond Valley area in the 1830s to the time of severance of the Valley from the Shire of Heidelberg in 1964. The Valley, an area with an unusual and beautiful landscape, is to some degree still a rural frontier. It is bounded by the Plenty River, the Yarra River, the Christmas Hills ridge to the east and the Great Dividing Range to the north. The Shire of Diamond Valley includes the townships of Bundoora, Diamond Creek, Eltham North, Greensborough, Plenty, St Helena, Watsonia and parts of Hurstbridge and Wattle Glen. [also these places: Arthur’s Creek (Hazel Glen). Caledonia Goldfields. Caledonia Station. County of Evelyn. Heidelberg. Janefield. Kangaroo Ground. Parish of Keelbundoora. Kinglake. Lower Plenty. Parish of Morang. Parish of Nillumbik. Pine Grove Farm. Plenty River. Watson’s Creek. Whittlesea. Yan Yean. Yarra River. Yarrambat. Yering (Billanook Flats)].

CONTENTS
Natural history p3. Explorers and squatters p6. Sawyers, splitters, woodcutters p15. Survey p16. Land sales p17. Major Anthony Beale p18. Grantees and lessees p22. Gold p37. Public Hall and Literary Institute, Diamond Creek p53. Agriculture p64. Early attempts p64. Farming methods p67. Conditions on farms p71. Selection p73. Orchards, fruit growing industry p77. Farming p85. Bushrangers p92. Aborigines p97. Land tenure p101. Lifestyle p101. The Fixed Establishment 1850s to 1900 p111. Greensborough p111. Diamond Creek p116. Lifestyle in the 1850s and 1860s p121. Bourke the bushranger p124. Women and work p128. Entertainment, leisure p130. Sport p133. Communications p133. Newspaper (Evelyn Observer) p133. Telegraph p134. Railways p134. Population influx and the 20th century p143. Artists p143. Excursionists p149. Early twentieth century development p155. Leisure p159. Sport p160. Crime p160. Two wars, war p162. The Depression p165. Health p166. The dumping ground p166. Post Second World War and the Diamond Valley today p175. Suburban element p175. Shire of Diamond Valley p179. Severance movement p179. Separate index in back pocket.

SURNAMES from the index:
Alison. Allen. Anderson. Andrews. Anstey. Apted. Armstrong. Arthur. Ashley. Bage. Baily. Bakewell. Bannon. Barber. Barr. Batman. Batt. Baxter. Beale. Bear. Bebe-jan. Bell. Benson. Bill. Billi-billeri. Bills. Black. Blay. Boadle. Bonsak. Boston. Boswell. Brackenbury. Bradley. Britnell. Brock. Brown. Buck. Bungerim. Burke. Burrows. Butler. Caldwell. Cam. Cameron. Cameron and Sutherland. Cantrill. Carolin. Chadd. Chamberlain. Chapman. Charlton. Christian. Cobb. Cole. Collins. Connolly. Cooper. Cordner. Cottle. Coulstock. Coventry. Cowin. Creighton. Croll. Cummings. Danson. Davey. Davies. Davis. Davison. Day. De Castella. Delany. Dimmick. Donald. Donaldson. Draper. Drew. Drinkwater. Duff. Dunkerly. Edgley. Edmonds. Elliot. Ellis. Ely. Emms. English. Evans. Everett. Everitt. Ewart. Falconer. Farmer. Finlay. Fisher. Fleming. Flintoff. Fogarty. Foley. Fowler. Fox. Fuller. Gain. Gardiner. Garthwaite. Gellibrand. Gibson. Gilbert. Gilding. Godfrey. Gomm. Gosstray. Gourlay. Graham. Grandy. Grant. Gray. Greaves. Green. Greenaway. Grierson. Grietzner. Grimes. Grimshaw. Grogan. Grundel. Gunn. Hale. Hales. Haley. Hall. Handley. Hargraves. Harrington. Harris. Harrison. Hart. Hawkins. Haye. Heathershaw. Heddle. Helwig. Herbert. Hessett. Hewitt. Hilton. Hirt. Hobson. Hoddle. Holland. Holloway. Hovell. Howitt. Hude. Hue. Hume. Hunniford. Hunter. Huntley. Hurlestone. Hurst. Inglis. Iredale. Jacky-Jacky. Jakka-Jakka. James. Jameson. Jenkins. Jepps. Jessop. Jolley. Jonas. Jones. Kaye. Keand. Keenan. Kellett. Kidd. King. Kirkbride. Knapsey. Knight. Lacey. Laidlay. Lardner. Larimour. La Trobe. Laurie. Lawford. Lawrey. Leach. Lecky. Limmer. Lindsay. Lines. Lister. Lobb. Lockington. Long. Lonsdale. Love and Lewis. Lovitt. McClelland. McCombie. McCubbin. McDonald. McDougall. McElroy. McInnes. Mackenzie. McKenzie. McKillop. McKindlay. McLaughlin. McLean. McLeod. Macleod. McNamara. McWiggan. Maggs. Mann. Marjery. Marshall. Mason. Mayger. Medhurst. Meglin. Merriman. Meynell. Michel. Middleton. Miller. Millet. Milthorpe. Mitchell. Morgan. Moss. Muller. Mundy. Murphy. Murray. Nell. Nelson. Norcott. Nutt. Oakden. Orme. Pane. Panelli. Panton. Parish. Partington. Passey. Patterson. Peers. Pepper. Phillips. Phipps. Pizzey. Porter. Poulter. Power. Pratt. Price. Prior. Pryor. Pugh. Purcell. Quinn. Quirk. Reeves. Reid. Reynolds. Rider. Ritchie. Roberts. Robertson. Ronald. Rose. Rosier. Ross. Rossiter. Rowe. Roy. Rumboldt. Russell. Rustin. Ryan. Ryrie. Santon. Sault. Schultz. Schuster. Scott. Sergeantson. Seymour. Shanhun. Sharp. Sherwin. Shillinglaw. Shirlow. Shore. Sims. Sinclair. Smeatham. Smith. Smyth. Smythe. Snodgrass. Soady. Spark. Splatt. Stanton. Starling. Stevenson. Stone. Stooke. Streeton. Studley. Sturt. Sutherland. Swanston. Sweeney. Tanck. Taylor. Templeton. Theodore. Thomas. Thompson. Thornton. Turnbull. Vale. Verso. Vickers. Wadeson. Walker. Walsh. Watkins. Watson. Watt. Webster. Weller. West. Whatmaugh. Whicker. White. Wickham. Wilkinson. Williams. Willis. Wills. Wilson. Wingrove. Withers. Woodfield. Woodward. Worfolk. Worn. Wraight. Wright. Yates. Young. Zahn. Zelman.

Full index available on library computers.