A BRIEF HISTORY OF NORTH CAMBERWELL AREA
The area of North Camberwell includes the communities within the boundaries of Koonung Creek to the north and Burke Road, Mont Albert Road, and the Municipal Boundaries of the City of Camberwell to the west, south and east.
This area was one of the last parts of the now City of Camberwell to be subdivided for residential use, mainly because of its isolation from the main road in the early 19th century. The area to become known as North Camberwell was in 1841 purchased by Henry Elgar as part of the hills of Boroondara, bounded by what are now Burke Road, Canterbury Road and Elgar Road and the river Yarra and its tributary, Koonung Creek. The price paid for this eight square mile block was 5,120 pounds and after being held for grazing land for sheep and cattle, much of the land was offered for sale in December 1843 for 3 and 4 pounds an acre.
The area also concealed some grains of gold. Near the present Hill Road in North Balwyn a long quartz reef two feet wide was explored by two Cornish mining engineers who sank a shaft to develop it further. The mine proved unproductive and the shaft vanished, reappearing exactly a century later in the middle of a suburban street.
In 1896 foxes were still plentiful in North Camberwell, such that the council allowed landowners to shoot them ‘provided such firearms consist of an ordinary fouling-piece or shot gun’.
Around 1920 the electric tram was to reach the western boundary of North Camberwell at the intersection of Burke and Doncaster Roads, but was to wait nearly 20 years for the nearby area of North Balwyn to grow. The tram terminus was then moved to Balwyn Road, finally establishing the area as we know it today.
THE CLUB BANNER
Our club boundaries meander through a series of parks and green belts which once comprised the northern section of the Outer Circle Railway. Featured on our front cover and banner, Rowan Car No 2 first ran through our club’s zone on the 2nd October, 1892. Our club was chartered on 2nd October, 1984, 92 years later.
The Victorian Railways purchased the Rowan Steamcar in 1883 from Capt. F.C. Rowan of Melbourne. The vehicle comprised a small engine unit with a passenger compartment for 40 people. The front 4 wheels provided the traction, driven by a 2 cylinder steam engine with a vertical boiler. The first Rowan cars were found to be impractical due to the lack of turntable facilities in the Camberwell section. The spare parts are known to have been built into a separate unit known as Motor 2. Its accompanying 4 wheeler passenger carriage (AB118) was built with first & second class compartments separated by a partition to the ceiling and it was fitted with reversible seats and a booking office. Access was by means of the end platforms. The little train was commissioned to help save the dying Outer Circle Railway system, but to little avail as the whole system was closed in 1893. Rowan Car No.2 commuted through our club’s boundaries from Camberwell to Fairfield for just under a year. The train’s fate is unknown, but it lives on in perpetuity on our banner and the cover of our Bulletin and reminds us of a vital community link with the past, according with the thrust of Rotary ideals.
The Final Crunch:
Late in 2004 a Review Committee was set up to identify the needs of the Club to ensure survival into the future. Membership was at an all time low and the Committee found that as members wanted the Club to stay a breakfast club, a re-branding of the Club was needed. This meant a new name (the Rotary Club of Boroondara Sunrise) and a new venue (Kew Heights Sports Club – central to the Boroondara area). Both were implemented in April 2005 along with a local advertising campaign to attract new members. Although some enquiries resulted, no new members were forthcoming.
With a very active year covering many major projects, key members were beginning to tire with the workload and needed more assistance that was not available through current membership. By May 2005 a merger with another club seemed the only way to go. While we celebrated Rotary’s 100th Anniversary, sadly the writing was on the wall for our Club.
During May 2008, members visited a number of Clubs in the Boroondara area, including Boroondara, Kew East and Canterbury with the view to exploring a possible merger. Although these were very friendly and active clubs we found that the Canterbury members were of a similar “ilk”, cheeky, keen and with a streak of larrikin!
At the end of June, 2008 the Rotary Club of Boroondara Sunrise (formerly North Camberwell) formally merged with the Rotary Club of Canterbury with the blessing of Rotary International.
