From the Geelong Advertiser Monday 16th February 1891
A disastrous fire broke out at Mount Duneed at two o'clock on Sunday afternoon 15th February 1891. It started in Mr Andrew White's property, a few chains south of his residence, and quickly formed itself into a tongue-like leader, with an attendant on either side, increasing in width every minute. It soon left 70 or 80 acres of that gentleman's property black and smoky, besides demolishing half a mile of fencing. On it went, until the mount was enveloped in flames. Driven across the reserve by the fierce hot winds, the cemetery soon fell a prey to the devouring element, scarcely a vestige of the acacia fence surrounding it being left, wooden tombstone railings destroyed and nothing being left but the white marble tombstones that give a weird appearance to the black desolation. The fiery tongues swept on, attacking the dwelling house of Mr Thomas Preston. In a very short time all hope of saving it was lost; stables, stacks, sheds, and a brand new buggy and harness, waggons, drays, pigs, fowls and the two beautiful horses horribly burnt, are a sickening spectacle. Not a particle of the comfortable home is left; no clothes saved but the light garments the family stand in. On it swept, across the road, and Mr Purdie's wine cellar, stored with wheat, was soon lost in the flames; by desperate fighting they were warded from the house. Through Ganley's wattle plantation, down the valley, and up the hill on the opposite side the merciless leader travelled with fearful velocity. Mr Brown's house was right in the way. His wife, paralysed with fear, was dragged from the burning mass. A high hedge close by assisted the flames, and nothing saved from the sheds but a waggon. Over twenty tons of hay was consumed, and fowls lie everywhere about roasted. Nothing is insured, which makes the loss heartrending. Preston is uninsured, all but the implements for £100. Mr Bell's paddocks were saved with difficulty, and the fire swept on for a full mile, licking up fences and everything in its way, the neighbors, by strenuous efforts, kept it from the dwellings of Messrs Trigg and Johnston...
From the Geelong Advertiser Monday 16th February 1891
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
SponsorsLinksThe Bluestone Cottage at Marshall
Together They Served Torquay Museum Without Walls Barwon Blog Geelong and District Database Geelong Cemetery Index Australian War Memorial Trove Public Records Surf Coast Early Schools Victorian Places Barwon Heads History |