WikiNorthia

As a result of a greatly increased crime rate in Victoria due to the gold rush, the government decided to establish a number of penal stockades and also make use of abandoned ships. One of these stockades was set up at Pentridge (the old name for Coburg) to receive, in December 1850, sixteen prisoners from the overcrowded Melbourne Gaol. Pentridge was thought to be a good place for a prison, being near Melbourne, yet isolated from it. Moreover the village reserve was the only Crown Land left unsold. The purpose of the stockade was to provide labour for the construction of the newly proclaimed Sydney Road. There was a lot of bluestone in the area so the prisoners could do 'hard labour' breaking up the stone and working on the unmade road.

Residents were frightened and angry because the stockade consisted only of log huts on wheels behind a low 1.2 metre wooden fence with prisoners guarded by an inadequate number of overseers. Because it was so insecure, mounted aboriginal troopers ...

Opening of the Viewing Platform at Kangaroo Ground

Nillumbik Council has advised that the viewing platform at Kangaroo Ground 27km NE of Melbourne is to be opened to the public on Wednesday, March 26th 2008 (Melway 271, G10)

The function of the platform is to provide shelter adjacent to the War Memorial Tower whilst allowing all people to enjoy the stunning panoramic views.

From the platform you can see the Dandenongs, the city of Melbourne, the You Yangs, Mount Macedon, the Kinglake Ranges and the Mt Baw-Baw Ranges where the Yarra River starts. This landscape covers all the ancestral lands of the Wurundjeri and some of the wider Kulin nation land.

The platform has been given the name Moor-rul, a name which described the fertile soils of the Kangaroo Ground area in contrast to the poorer (Silurian) country of its surrounds, which the Wurundjeri knew as ‘Nillumbik’ or less rich country.

The full 360 degree view can be seen from the adjacent Tower ...