Berwick, Victoria

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Berwick
city = Melbourne
state = vic


caption =
lga = City of Casey
postcode = 3806
pop = 36,420 (2006) Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC21077|name = Berwick (State Suburb)|accessdate=2007-09-15|quick=on]
area = 23.6
propval = $306,750 cite web |url=http://www.domain.com.au/public/suburbprofile.aspx?suburb=Berwick&postcode=3806 |title=Berwick suburb profile @ domain.com.au|accessdate=2007-09-15 |work= [http://www.domain.com.au Domain.com.au] ] (Q3 2007)
stategov = Gembrook
Narre Warren North
fedgov = La Trobe
near-nw = Narre Warren North
near-n = Harkaway
near-ne = Upper Beaconsfield
near-w = Narre Warren
near-e = Beaconsfield
near-sw = Narre Warren South
near-s = Clyde North
near-se = Officer
dist1 = 45
location1= Melbourne

Berwick ("pronounced Berrick") is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located convert|43|km|mi|0 south-east of Melbourne. Its local government area is the City of Casey.

History

The town of Berwick was originally part of the Cardinia Creek Run, and was named by an early leaseholder after Berwick-on-Tweed in Northumberland. Subdivision commenced in 1854 and a store, post office, hotel and other businesses were established. Wheat, barley and potatoes were grown, with a flour mill in operating for several years. Dairy farming and cheese making later became the main activities. The Berwick Agricultural Society, originally started in 1848 as the Mornington Farmers' Society, is one of the oldest farmers' societies in Victoria. [cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20041119085059/www.arts.monash.edu.au/ncas/multimedia/gazetteer/list/berwick.html|title=Australian Places - Berwick|author=Monash University]

The area grew with the construction of a coach road between Melbourne and the Gippsland region, the Post Office opening on 18 September 1858. Citation
last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&country= | accessdate = 2008-04-11 ]

A quarry opened in 1859 to supply ballast for the railway line along the same route, which opened in 1877, and a spur line was constructed to Berwick railway station to transport the metal. The site of the quarry is now occupied by Wilson Botanic Park. From 1861 until 1902, Berwick was also the headquarters of the Shire of Berwick, originally formed as the Berwick Roads Board.

Berwick's census populations have been 60 (1861), 636 (1891), 887 (1954), 25,461Census 2001 AUS|id=SSC21077|name = Berwick (State Suburb)|accessdate=2007-09-15|quick=on] (2001) and 36,420 ] (2006).

The poplar trees lining the High Street and on into Beaconsfield were planted as an Avenue of Honour to commemorate the fallen in the First World War. Originally name plaques were supposed to have been mounted at the foot of each tree but this was never carried out, despite the plaques being produced.

The Berwick Inn

The Berwick Inn, known locally as "the Bezza" on the corner of High Street and Lyall Road, was licensed at Berwick in 1857 as the Border Hotel. The original one-storey section is now the bar. The two-storey section was added in 1877 as the railway approached. The western section was built later in the century. The first licensee was Robert Bain who owned the town's first store/post office and donated the land on which the shire hall was later built.

The Border Hotel was an important local centre in the early days. Aside from being the first pub on the townsite it was also a stopping place for coaches en route to Gippsland ,as it involved climbing the hill in Berwick the horses were watered and rested then they stopped at Beaconsfield over the hill to rest after the climb and descent. Bain was the first secretary of the Berwick Roads Board and its initial meetings were held at the hotel from 1862 to 1865. The first local police court was held at the hotel in 1865 and it also served as a licensing court.

Education

The town's first school, Berwick Primary, was originally established in an old shepherd’s hut near the old Berwick hospital in 1857.cite web |url=http://www.berwickprimary.vic.edu.au/ourhistory.htm |title=Berwick Primary School - Our History|accessdate=2007-09-14 |author=Berwick Primary School] It was the first school in the Berwick area and school number 40 in Victoria. ] School buildings were later built on a triangular parcel of land between Peel Street and Harkaway Road. The school operated from this site until 2003 when a new school was built in Fairholme Boulevard. Subsequently, the Peel Street site was redeveloped as Pioneer Park, a community open space. The original school buildings were retained during the redevelopment and now operate as a restaurant.

As well as the State School, a Boys' Grammar School operated from 1882 to 1922. St Margaret's Girls' School (originally called Berwick Presbyterian Girls' School) opened in 1920 with Junior boys being admitted during the 1960s. It ceased providing boarding placement in 1978, being one of the first of the St Margaret's Schools in the world to change.

One of the new schools built in South Berwick is Kambrya Secondary College. This is an increasing school in terms of population and general growth of the school.

port

The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League.

Famous residents

The Berwick Mechanics' Institute and Free Library was built in 1862 at the corner of Peel and Edward Streets. In return for a nominal rent Robert Bain agreed, in 1878, to lease a block of his land to the library for 500 years, so long as a library remained on the property for that period. In 1880 it was moved to its present site in the main street and extended the following year.

Berwick was also the home of Edwin "Teddy" Flack, Australia's first Olympian and Olympic gold medal winner (800m and 1500m at the inaugural Athens Olympic Games). He was laid to rest in Berwick Cemetery, and is commemorated by a statue in the main streetcite web |url=http://www.casey.vic.gov.au/olympic/ |title=Edwin Flack - Our first Olympic champion|accessdate=2007-09-14 |work=City of Casey] . The "Edwin Flack Reserve" includes several sporting grounds, such as the Edwin Flack Oval, Edwin Flack Athletics Track and Edwin Flack Netball Courts, all named in his honour. They are located alongside Berwick Secondary College, a local public high school.

Possibly Berwick's most famous resident was Richard Casey, later Baron Casey of Berwick and Governor-General of Australia. His home of Edrington has now been converted to an aged care facility.

Scott Mcdonald, Australian International football player, striker for Celtic FC in Scotland and top scorer in the Scottish Premier League in the 2007-08 season also grew up in Berwick. [ [http://www.starnewsgroup.com.au/story/55781 Star News Group - Casey pitches for A-League team - By Callan Date ] ]

ee also

*Berwick railway station

References

;Books
*Beaumont, N.E. "Early days of Berwick and its surrounding districts of Beaconsfield, Upper Beaconsfield, Harkaway, Narre Warren and Narre Warren North". 3rd ed. 1979.
*Berwick-Pakenham Historical Society. "In the wake of the pack tracks: a history of the Shire of Berwick, now the City of Berwick and the Shire of Pakenham". 1982.
*Wells, J.C. "Berwick: some aspects". 1980.

External links