Charles Grimes was one of the first known European explorers into the Maribyrnong area, land inhabited by the Wurundjeri tribe.

In 1803 James Flemming who accompanied Grimes wrote in his diary records On Wednesday, February 2, the land party encountered a salt lagoon at the northern tip of the bay, which they followed on shore for about a mile. They had discovered the mouth and estuarine reaches of the Yarra.

Early the next day, in a small boat, Grimes and his party went up the "Great River" [Yarra] and found it became two rivers. They took the left fork [called originally the Saltwater River, now the Maribyrnong and rowed upstream until rocks barred their way.

In 1851 the gold rush opened up the Moonee Ponds District with miners travelling along Mount Alexander Road to Castlemaine.

Mr Duncan Blair's memories as he travelled to the goldmines was printed in the Essendon Gazette in 1912 :

"I arrived in Melbourne in 1851. Of course gold had just been discovered, but I heard of that before I left Scotland, where I was working as an iron-moulder. I well remember the first time I passed through Moonee Ponds on my way to Mount Alexander, now Castlemaine. What is now known as Mount Alexander Road was then a mere bog. In the summer months from the cattle yards at the top of Elizabeth Street practically to the Black Forest represented a succession of dreary plains, and shortly after I landed, two men perished of thirst while trying to get to the diggings. In the winter the road was a series of mud-holes, and it was painful to see the bullocks straining to pull their loads through the sticky mire.

"I can scarcely realise that the beautiful reserve, now known as Queen's Park, is the watering place for cattle we used to make our first camp after leaving Melbourne.

"I passed through Flemington and Moonee Ponds about a dozen times altogether, going to, and coming from the diggings, and was always camped at this spot. Many is the time I have wished for a days shooting in the vicinity for their was plenty of sport - waterfowl and possum especially being plentiful near the lagoon - but I was always too busy and could not spare the time to indulge my fancies in this direction."

In 1860 Burke and Wills spent their first night in Essendon. Burke went back to Melbourne to say a final farewell to Julia Mathews an opera singer in Melbourne at the time for whom he had a burning and unrequited passion!

In 1862 169 residents sought the formation of the Borough of Essendon and Flemington.

"In the 1880's, Essendon showed a determination to hold aloof from the rest of the Western suburbs. The local Council energetically resisted industrial development in the form of cattle saleyards and brickworks. It aimed to prevent the further despoliation of the Maribyrnong by noxious industries and to create, in its upper reaches, a playground for rowers, fisherman and swimmers. The successive attempts to beautify the river are an interesting episode in Melbourne's environmental history. The attitude of Essendon residents contrasts strongly with that of their neighbour across the river in Footscray where, almost from the beginning, councillors and industrialists and residents seem to have agreed that the river should be treated primarily as an industrial, rather than a recreational, reserve. In fact, the histories of Footscray and Essendon make an instructive contrast and it is perhaps not incidental that in the 20th century they became strong football rivals - it used to be said that victorious Essendon barrackers making their way home from the Western Oval risked being pelted with road metal by the angry Footscrayites."

Information on these and many other aspects of Essendonian history are available from the Essendon Historical Society Museum, corner Kellaway Avenue and Mt. Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds, open Sundays from 2.00 to 5.00 pm or by appointment.

Judy has been a member of the Essendon Historical Society since 1980 and has written a number of publications for the Society:

"Maribyrnong Record: Past Images of the River"
by Judy Maddigan and Lenore Frost

"The Essendon River League"
by Judy Maddigan

"A Hospital for Essendon"
by Judy Maddigan

"The Moonee Ponds Courthouse"
by Judy Maddigan

"Queens Park"
by Judy Maddigan

"The Essendon River League"
by Judy Maddigan