First published by Bend of IslandsPress in 1992 as "Once around the Sugerloaf : the transformation of a Victorian landscape & the story of its people".
Contents include: a list of Parish of Sutton selectors.
Contents: Geology: The making of the landscape p15. Aborigines living in the landscape p21: First contacts p22. The Wurundjeri p23. Social structure p24. The Dreamtime Beings p26. Living in the environment p27. How William Thomas saw them p29. Confrontation on Ryrie’s run p31.
Squatters bringing in the stock p35: Arthur, Gardiner, Dawson Selby, Watson, Murray – squatters all p36. Along came a squatter mounted on his thoroughbred p37. The Yering homestead p38. Penelope(s) rustic home by the creek p39. James Watson: venture capitalist p40. James Murray: a shadowy figure in a black man’s world p41. Joseph Stevenson: Scottish squatter of Christmas Hill p42. The shepherd who strayed and lost his way p44. The ballad of David Christmas p47.
Pastoralists settling down on the land p51: The Kangaroo Grounds: an oasis in the Stringy- bark Forest p53. Henry Dendy: The honest yeoman farmer who lost his inheritance p55. Black Thursday when the sun failed at noon p57. A farmer named McPherson in search of land for his stock p59. Hugh Glass: the hovering grey eminence p60. The McPherson children growing up in a lonely bush world p61. Once around the Sugarloaf p62. The brief reign of the squatter passes and a new world arises p64. Miners digging up the gold p65: McPherson makes the most of his pre-emptive right p75. Selectors fencing the forest p81: Pioneer selectors: The first eleven make their choice p85. Cohesion: Building a community p97: The melancholy tale of Eliza Hughes and her children p105. William and Jane Cleave run the Watsons Creek Hotel p107. Two American brothers set sail in search of gold p108.
Fragmentation: top and bottom enders fall apart p113: The Mechanics Institute and free library on the hill p121. The Christmas Hills Church between pub and hall p124. Farmers making ends meet p129: The tanning of hides was Mr Schofield(s) occupation p133. And on the map James Page wrote ‘this is what I want’ p134. The Haughton family were outdoor people p138. Romeo and his bees, his goats and his flowers p139. Navies: the wild colonial boys p141. The Calwell(s) lead the bureaucrats a merry dance p149. Enhancement: finding new ways and means p157: The new world that emerged after the rail came to Yarra Glen p159. The guest houses of Christmas Hills p161. Creating myths around the Mystic lake p164.
Transformation: Bushland into farmland p171. New directions: Highways and byways p183: Ned Haughton: a man with grand ideas p184. The Christmas Hill Mechanics Institute and Free Library p191. Lifestyles: the way it was p195: The games people played and the clubs they formed p197. Remembering those who fought and died p199. The Christmas Hills School in the twentieth century p200. Julia Flynn comes to town and everybody sits up straight p201. Conflagrations (fire) and scorching summers p205.
Experiences: life on the farms p219: Bonny Irwin p219. Stanton Bishop p220. The Ashmore p221. Bruce Elliott p221. Mrs Brinkotter p222. Len Parker: Fire & flood and a lifetime on the land p225. More stories from the Shaw(s) p226. The Bone family and Wallace family on gold p227. Experiences: everyday life in Christmas Hills p229: High jinks as old Isaac brings his circus into town p230. Fred talks about stormy nights patrolling the aqueduct p231. Progress: Moving forward, standing still p235. Metamorphosis: Fire and water see a new world emerge p243.