Shadows of the Western District

The Geelong story of the Schefferle and Muhlebach families begins with the relationships between three Swiss immigrants. Catherine Schefferle came to Geelong as a young Swiss women, Kilian Schefferle was her first husband and Xavier Muhlebach was her second. Catherine and Kilian arrived in Victoria in 1869, traveling together from northwest Switzerland to Geelong as newlyweds. When she arrived Catherine was only eighteen years old and had yet to start a family, while her husband Kilian was twenty-five years of age.

Xavier Muhlebach was somewhat older, and originally came from northern Switzerland. He reached Geelong in 1855 when he was twenty years old, nearly fourteen years before Catherine and Kilian Schefferle arrived. He was in his mid-thirties and well established at Geelong when he first saw Catherine.

Xavier Muhlebach was one of many non-British subjects living in the Geelong district. As a non-British subject, he was a foreigner in British colonial society. He undoubtedly spoke with a Swiss German accent. Up until 1863, non-British “foreign” residents could not own land in Victoria. Xavier’s right to own land was restricted until he obtained his certificate of naturalisation, which he did in 1873.

From 1865, those applying for naturalization had to recite the following oath: “I sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty Queen Victoria, as lawful Sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and this Colony of Victoria – So help me God.” In 1882, Kilian Schefferle would also obtain his Victorian naturalization certificate, allowing him to vote, stand for election and to own property. There was thus a tangible incentive for many Swiss immigrants and other “foreigners” to take out Victorian naturalization.

Xavier remained single until he was middle-aged when he married Catherine. By then he had established himself as a leader among the Swiss German vine growers and orchardists of the Geelong District. He successfully operated his own farm in the Clyde Valley, on the Moorabool River, and enjoyed considerable local renown as an agriculturalist. James Lowndes and family lived on their farm at Russell’s Bridge, just a couple of kilometers further upstream.

In many respects, the tale of the Schefferle and Muhlebach families is at odds with the prevailing trajectory of our immigrant forebears. At the time he married, Xavier Muhlebach was not a member of an underclass of servants and laborers. Xavier had skills, education and drive which enabled him to rise to a position of some relative local prominence in his adopted country. Catherine appears to have been a very determined and ambitious young woman who arrived in the colony with little more than her husband. Information regarding Kilian is scant, but he would appear to have been a working man of modest means, likely dependent on others in the community for his livelihood.

Catherine, Lionel’s maternal great grandmother, is the continuing thread in this triangular tapestry. Both of her husbands have a place in this narrative by dint of their intimate relationship with her. While still married to Kilian Schefferle, Catherine at some stage embarked on a romantic partnership with Xavier Muhlebach, by then a prosperous and accomplished leader within the Swiss German community around Geelong.

Catherine had ten children who survived infancy, and twelve overall. Her children were known either by the Schefferle or Muhlebach surname, with some using both surnames at various points. This dual surname usage complicates the task of tracing Catherine’s family. Ernst Schefferle, Lionel’s grandfather, was Catherine’s ninth child. It is unclear whether Ernst’s father was Kilian Schefferle or Xavier Muhlebach, as the evidence is somewhat contradictory. Regardless, both of Ernst’s parents were German-speaking Swiss migrants who settled north of Geelong. They were part of a farming community that worked land along the Moorabool River, primarily growing grape vines and deciduous fruit trees.

Adding to the complexity of Catherine’s story is the inconsistent spellings of the names Schefferle and Muhlebach in historical records, a common challenge in the colonial era when clerks often struggled with foreign-sounding names. Catherine’s first name is also subject to considerable variation in spelling. For consistency, this account uses “Catherine Schefferle” as her name during her first marriage and “Catherine Muhlebach” during her second marriage. Her maiden name, most frequently listed as Lang, appears to have been her mother’s surname, while her father’s identity is obscure.

Catherine arrived in Victoria in 1869 aboard the immigrant ship “Charlotte Gladstone,” a substantial vessel that carried four hundred and fifty-five immigrants. The ship departed for Australia from London and then Plymouth. According to shipping news published in the “Melbourne Argus” in December 1869, the “Charlotte Gladstone” entered Hobson’s Bay on 24 December 1869. The Victorian government’s online “Unassisted Passenger Lists” show that an eighteen-year-old woman named Katherine Schifferle was aboard the vessel. She was with her twenty-five-year-old husband, Kilian Schifferle. Little has emerged regarding Catherine and Kilian’s lives in Switzerland prior to their departure for Australia, although the Swiss authorities might have certificates of their births and marriage.

Switzerland is landlocked, and so many Swiss immigrants began their sea voyage to Australia at the northern German ports of Hamburg and Breman. From northern Germany, many immigrants went to English ports and then took a British ship to Australia. Historically, the German ports were commercially linked with English ports such as London, Plymouth and Portsmouth. British vessels were often preferred over German vessels due to their perceived superior management and regulatory oversight. Other ships laden with continental immigrant sailed directly to Australia from Hamburg, in particular, but some travellers opted for British vessels due to the supposedly better standards.

In 1882, Kilian Schefferle was issued his Victorian Naturalization Certificate. On the certificate Kilian’s place of origin is noted as Dittingen. This place is a small rural town in the Canton of Basel, in the Laufen district, near the large town of Basel. Dittingen is a predominantly Catholic and German speaking community whose economy was based on agriculture at the time Kilian emigrated. Basel is near Switzerland’s northern border with Germany and France. The surname Schifferle or Schefferle, though uncommon even among the Swiss, is primarily associated with this part of northern Switzerland, although it has been documented in parts of the United States and Australia.

Kilian was born in 1845 and Catherine around 1851. Given Kilian’s marriage to Catherine when she was still a teenager it seems likely she also hailed from Basel Canton, although no actual record of her birthplace in Switzerland has emerged. Throughout her marriage to Kilian, Catherine’s name appears variously as Katherine Schifferle, Catherine Schefferle, or Catherine Lang. Her maiden name, Lang, is a common German name, and burial records from Bannockburn Cemetery list her father as unknown and her mother as Mary (Lang) Schefferle. When she married Xavier Muhlebach, Catherine is recorded as Katherina Schifferle, born in Switzerland, with Jacob Lang, butcher, listed as Catherine’s father.

Catherine’s story can only be pieced together from the fragments of other people’s lives, and she emerges from this scant detail as a pragmatic and determined woman. This opaqueness is a common reality when researching colonial-era women, who often appear in the archive primarily as wives or mothers to the male figures in their lives.

After arriving in Victoria, Catherine and Kilian Schefferle first lived in the district of Maude. The couple subsequently appear in the vicinity of Sutherlands Creek and Russell’s Bridge, southeast of Bannockburn. These rural localities are close to each other, situated along the Moorabool River, with Surtherlands Creek on the east side of the river and Bannockburn on the west side. Maude is their earliest known Australian address, then the couple moved closer to Xavier Muhlebach’s farm further down the Moorabool River.

The parishes of Darriwil and Wabdallah were both surveyed during the mid-1840s, and are both situated partly along the Moorabool Valley. Darriwil Parish lies on the eastern side of the Moorabool River, on land between the Sutherlands Creek and the Moorabool. Wabdallah Parish covers the western side of the river, and includes Russell’s Bridge and parts of Bannockburn. The James Lowndes family farm was in Darriwil Parish, on the eastern side of the Moorabool, not far upriver from Xavier Muhlebach’s first farm, which was also in Darriwill.

The hamlet of Maude was not far from the Steiglitz goldfields and the southern Brisbane Ranges. Gold was discovered at the headwaters of the Sutherlands Creek in 1853, and initially extracted by hand washing gravel in the creek. By 1856, quartz crushing technology was introduced, leading to the rapid expansion of Steiglitz, the township laid out along the creek’s hillsides. At its peak, Steiglitz had one and a half thousand residents. In the early 1870s, the production of gold greatly declined, prompting a population exodus. Today, Steiglitz remains as an interesting ghost town frequented by small numbers of tourists.

It was common to encounter German speaking people on the Victorian goldfields. There was a massive increase in the number of immigrants from German-speaking countries commencing in the early 1850s. By 1861 there were 10,418 German-born people in Victoria, and Germans were the fourth-largest national group on the goldfields after the British, the Irish and the Chinese. In addition to those from what became Germany, there were considerable numbers of German speaking Swiss immigrants.

It should be borne in mind that prior to 1871, the modern German state did not exist. Instead, in the first half of the nineteenth century the German speaking regions were a collection of independent kingdoms, duchies, and principalities, loosely connected by a shared language and culture. Not all German speaking regions would join the German federation. Austria and German speaking parts of Switzerland remained outside the German Empire, for example. Also, at the time, Ireland was not independent and China was divided into colonial spheres of influence.

Swiss German immigrants were drawn to the Geelong district not only by the promise of gold but also by opportunities in agriculture, particularly vine growing and orchards. From the early 1840s, Superintendent Charles La Trobe actively encouraged Swiss vine-growers and orchardists to settle in Victoria. Charles La Trobe’s wife, Sophie de Montmollin, was of Swiss origin, and he himself had spent considerable time in Switzerland prior to his marriage in 1835. La Trobe was well-acquainted with Swiss wine production and he considered Geelong to be a region where vines might flourish with skilled cultivation. The wine industry started to develop from the 1840s, and expanded in the 1850s, particularly with the arrival of a new influx of Swiss vignerons such as Xavier Muhlebach.

David Pettavel, James Dardel, and John Belperroud were all Swiss born vignerons who emigrated to Geelong in the 1840s. The early vignerons were mainly from the French-speaking cantons of Neuchatel and Vaud. David Pettavel leased land on the Barwon River on the Meltham estate of the squatter James Riley, near Pollocksford. Pettavel called his enterprise the Neuchatel Vineyard, after his Swiss home. It was the first commercial vineyard in the Geelong region and produced its first wine in 1845. Another Swiss man, John Belperroud rented land from Captain Charles Swanston and his son-in-law Edward Willis to form the Berramongo Vineyard, which had 150,000 vines at one time.

The cultivation by Swiss vignerons of land they leased from the squatters initially centred on the Barwon River Valley and was then expanded to the adjacent Moorabool Valley. A shortage of skilled labour, exacerbated by the gold rush, became a major constraint to the expansion of the wine industry, and so various Swiss vignerons tapped networks in their homeland to recruit new workers. Patterns of chain migration are clearly evident in the history of the Swiss vine growers of Geelong.

James Lowndes would have watched this grape growing industry expand in the hills surrounding his modest home on the Barwon. A number of Swiss settlers planted vines on leased land on the slopes of the Barrabool Hills not far from where the Lowndes family farmed at Ceres Bridge. Later, when the family moved to Russell’s Bridge, there was a considerable number of vineyards in the vicinity of their new farm. By 1869, there were over four hundred hectares of vines planted in the Geelong region, making it the largest wine-producing region in the state. By the 1870s, there were over one hundred vineyards and the wine was selling well in the Australian colonies.

At Ceres in 1849, a German vineyard was established on Barrabool Road by the Seidel brothers. It was situated high above the Barwon, looking out across both the Moorabool and Barwon Valleys. In 1856, the famous landscape painter Eugene von Guerard, a friend of the Seidels, painted his well-known “View of Geelong” from the hills behind the Seidel farm. This von Guerard painting was purchased in 2006 by the City of Greater Geelong for $3.8 million and now hangs in the Geelong Art Gallery. It is a wonderful depiction of what Geelong looked like at the time. A bullock team is depicted prominently in the scene, on the track going past the Seidel farm. James Lowndes very likely traversed this track in those days, given that he was living close to this location and worked locally as a bullock driver, and so it is easy to imagine James and his bullock team as the figures in this beautiful von Guerard painting.

The year before von Guerard painted “View of Geelong,” the Geelong Advertiser published its report of the ploughing match in the Barrabool Hills organised by the Geelong Agricultural Society in May 1855. James Lowndes Junior participated in this event, held not far from where the Seidel vineyard was located. When von Guerard put brush to canvas, Xavier Muhlebach had recently arrived in Geelong. James and Xavier were subsequently to be connected through the marriage of two of their children, the grandparents of Lionel.

Swiss vignerons also established vineyards in the lower valley of the Moorabool River, at Batesford, Bannockburn, and Lethbridge. At its peak, the Clyde Valley, as it was called, had over twenty Swiss vignerons until the devastating phylloxera disease decimated the industry in the late 1870s. Among these grape growers were Xavier Muhlebach and his longtime friend and associate Jacob Deppeler. These friends arrived together from the Canton of Aargau in 1855. Until regulation changed in 1863, they were prohibited by law from owning farming land, forcing them to lease. Restrictions on ownership were eased as a result of the changes, provided naturalisation was obtained.

It would appear that Kilian and Catherine Schefferle were part of a late influx of Swiss workers to the Geelong region, although the circumstances leading them to emigrate remains unclear. It is known that there were ongoing chains of Swiss migration throughout the 1850s and 1860s.

A clear indication of Kilian Schefferle’s involvement in the wine industry comes from several notices published in the Geelong Advertiser from March and April 1872. In mid-March of that year, there is a “Notice of Application for a Publican’s License,” sought under the “Wines, Beer and Spirits Sale Statute of 1870”. The notice reads: “I, Kilian Shefferle, of Maude, do hereby give notice that I desire to obtain, and will at the next licensing meeting, apply for a publican’s license, for a house situated at Maude, containing five rooms, exclusive of those required for the use of the family. The 12th day of March a.d.1872. Kilian Shefferle.”

The outcome of these license applications was noted in the Geelong Advertiser the following month. On April 24, 1872, the Advertiser reported on the decisions made by the Bannockburn Licensing Court. According to the report, Frederick Chapman was granted a publican’s license for the Maude Hotel, while Kilian Schefferle’s application for the Junction Hotel was denied due to inadequate accommodation. However, Kilian was successful in obtaining a colonial wine license, which was renewed later that year, in December 1872. Additionally, it was noted that Xavier Muhlebach had secured a license to operate a still on his vineyard, likely for producing brandy.

In the same edition of this newspaper, Kilian also placed a separate notice to apply for a “Colonial Wine License,” using similar wording. It is doubtful whether Kilian wrote this proforma text himself, so soon after his arrival. While he may have had some education in German, it was unlikely he could write formal English. He may well have been acting in association with someone else, perhaps Xavier Muhlebach. Notably, Xavier Muhlebach also identified his place of residence as Maude in the early 1870s.

Kilian and Catherine did not stay long in Maude. An advertisement placed in the Geelong Advertiser of 17 October 1873 indicates that Kilian and Catherine were trying to let or sell their property at Maude. The advertisement is as follows: “TO LET or FOR SALE. —A three roomed house, with detached kitchen and stable, one acre of ground, well fenced, in the centre of the Township of Maude, on the Steiglitz road, about 18 miles from Geelong, very suitable for a store. For particulars apply at the Clyde Valley Farm, Wabdallah, Kilian Shefferle.”

The connection with Clyde Valley Farm is interesting. Two months prior to the placement of the above advertisement, the Clyde Valley Farm had itself been advertised in the Geelong Advertiser of 20 August 1873, as follows: “TO LET, by Tender, the Clyde Valley Farm, Moorabool River, one and a half miles from the Leigh Road Railway Station. For further particulars apply to MR. HENRY CAPRON, Proprietor, on the Farm. August 20th, 1873.”

A further advertisement regarding the letting of Clyde Valley Farm appears in the Geelong Advertiser of 9 September 1873, as follows; “TO LET. —The Clyde Valley Estate, containing 350 acres, more or less, either as one farm or, if preferable, in two; together with from 30 to 40 head of dairy cattle, if so required by the party taking the same. Full particulars may be obtained on any day, by applying to the owner, HENRY CAPRON. September 4th, 1873.”

There is evidence that Kilian and Catherine Schefferle were living together at Clyde Valley Farm in 1875. The death notice of a little girl, Josephine Therese Schefferle, was placed in the Geelong Advertiser of 29 December 1875, as follows: “Shefferle. On the 8th of December, after a lingering illness, Josephine, aged 5 years, eldest daughter of Mr William Shefferle, of Clyde Valley Farm, Wabdallah.” William is the angelised version of Kilian. It seems that by late 1875 Kilian and Catherine had moved from Maude to the Clyde Valley Farm, part of which may have been rented from Henry Capron. In the Bannockburn district, Wabdallah is a both the name of the local parish and also the name of an original squatter run in the Moorabool valley, first held by the Clyde Company. Clyde View Farm, the property of Xavier Muhlebach, was close to Clyde Valley Farm, where Kilian and Catherine lived.

Clyde View Farm would stay in the Muhleback family until 1916. In that year, Catherine was the sole owner of the property. She had married Xavier Muhleback in 1884 following the death of her first husband, Kilian Schefferle. In 1908, Xavier died and the farm passed to Catherine. She sold the property in 1916 and moved to a comfortable residence in a nice part of Geelong.

Catherine arrived at Geelong as a near penniless teenager in 1869, nevertheless she eventually died a wealthy woman in 1938 in comfortable surroundings at an advanced age. While there are few details known about what she was like as an individual, one has to admire her grit and guile. For all her triumph over adversity, her remarkable life is not without its fair share of heartbreak and tragedy.

When Catherine and Killian lived at Clyde Valley Farm in the late 1870s, Xavier Muhlebach lived close by on the adjoining Clyde View Farm. Henry and William Capron owned Clyde Valley Farm next door. George Capron, a son of William, was to later marry Mary Jane Schefferle, a daughter of Catherine and Kilian. This marriage was well celebrated in 1897, when Catherine was married to Xavier Muhlebach. Clyde View Farm was on the Moorabool River at the lower end of Muhlebach Road, and the Clyde Valley Farm was adjacent, also in the vicinity of the river.

In 1873 when Henry Capron advertised in the newspaper that his Clyde Valley Farm was available for lease, perhaps it was Kilian and Catherine who took out the lease, as it appears this was where they lived. It seems possible that it was Xavier Muhlebach who took out the lease and then sub-leased the property to Kilian and Catherine. Xavier was a man of some means and he may have been a benefactor of Kilian and Catherine in some way. Xavier obtained his naturalisation certificate in 1873 and it is possible that all three in this triangle moved from Maude at this time. It is notable that in 1873, on Xavier’s naturalisation certificate, he lists Maude as his place of residence, perhaps indicating that he lived there prior to purchasing Clyde View Farm.

When Kilian Schefferle obtained his own naturalisation certificate in 1882, the year after Ernst was born, he listed his residence as “Darriwil near Geelong”. This corresponds to where these farms were located, along the Moorabool River to the south of Russell’s Bridge. Even though Kilian was married to Catherine, Xavier Muhlebach evidently thought he was Ernst’s father, as acknowledged on Ernst’s birth certificate. Kilian Schefferle and Xavier Muhlebach both list Darriwill as the location where they lived. Darriwill Parish encompasses the lower reaches of the Sutherlands Creek down to where the creek joins the Moorabool River near Baker’s Bridge Road. In the nineteenth century, the area immediately north of Geelong was a rural farming community, with many modest farm cottages and tiny hamlets dotting the landscape, together with a few more substantial homesteads of better off landowners.

Xavier Muhlebach had long been a prominent figure among the Swiss grape growers and orchardists of the Moorabool Valley. He was one of the pioneers of this industry in the lower Clyde Valley, having arrived when he was around twenty years of age. The evidence suggests that Xavier travelled to Geelong in 1855 with his long-term associate and close friend Jacob Deppeler, another leading Swiss German vigneron of the Geelong region.

From research undertaken by the Deppeler family, Jacob Deppeler is known to have arrived in Melbourne aboard the “Louise,” which sailed from Hamburg in October 1854 and arrived at Melbourne in February 1855. The one hundred and seventy-eight passengers on board the vessel were mainly German or Swiss German immigrants. Xavier Muhlebach’s obituary notes that he came to Australia with Jacob Deppeler around this time.

From the late 1860s, Jacob Deppeler grew grapes at Gheringhap, on the west side of the Moorabool River, south of Bannockburn. In the mid-1880s, he took up residence at “Lynnburn”, near Batesford, on the property first developed by Dr. Robert Hope. This move to a gentleman’s residence on an established estate indicates Deppeler’s rise to local prominence. The bluestone residence was erected for Robert Hope around 1857. Geelong architect Walter Sheridan designed the building as a single-storey double fronted gentleman’s house with a fancy slate roof and a two-storey rear kitchen wing. This fine old residence on acreage remained with the Deppeler family until 1954.

Prior to Kilian Schefferle’s arrival in 1869, he may have had a relative already living in the Geelong district. Leo Schefferle, also from Switzerland, arrived in Victoria around 1861 when he was eighteen, a few years earlier than Kilian. It is unclear if Killian and Leo Schefferle were actually related, but Leo was an associate of Xavier Muhlebach. In fact, Leo was a pall bearer at Xavier Muhlebach’s funeral. Like Xavier, Leo was initially a viticulturalist who farmed along the Moorabool River. Leo Schefferle settled on a small property near Meredith, a small town on the Moorabool River just north of Bannockburn. Leo and his wife had a large family. When researching the Schefferle families living north of Geelong in the late 1800s, one has to be careful to distinguish the children of Leo from those of Kilian, especially because some of the first names in the two families are the same.

The Swiss German farmers living along the Moorabool River formed a tight knit community with many common economic and social interests. Nevertheless they were not a closed group, and they lived and worked with a diverse range of other people within a multi-cultural colonial society. There was an evident aspiration to assimilate into the wider Victorian community. The leaders of this migrant community, such as Deppeler and Muhlebach, were active in civic associations and in social clubs. They organised a wine producers’ association and a Swiss Society fraternity. Their Swiss Australian children went to local government schools and participated enthusiastically in the district’s sporting clubs. Their children’s education and socializing meant they likely spoke with the broad vernacular colonial accents of the district, a trait perhaps somewhat disconcerting to their parents.

While living at Maude, Kilian and Catherine commenced a family. A little girl born in 1871 was named Josephine Schefferle. It was her death notice that appeared in the Geelong Advertiser in December 1875.

In 1872, the year after the birth of Josephine, and while still residing at Maude, Kilian Schefferle was born, named after his father. This child, later in life, would become a very prominent farmer, orchardist, and stud owner. From his late teens, this child usually went by the name William Joseph Muhlebach, but at times he was also known as William Joseph Schefferle. He was never referred to as Kilian in the wider community, although perhaps within the family he may have been.

In the years following the births of their first two children, Kilian and Catherine had several more children, born in the years after the couple moved from Maude. Edwin was born in 1874, Mary Jane in 1875, and Charles Alfred in 1876. Further tragedy struck with the death on 22 March 1877 of an infant son. This son, John Henry, was just five months old. Another son, Peter Alphonso, was born in 1878. Lastly, Louie James was born in 1880. The children who survived infancy went on to live long and productive lives.

Kilian Schefferle died on 5 February 1883, aged thirty-eight. Catherine would have been around thirty-three years of age. Kilian’s death certificate lists the cause of death as dyspepsia, a condition he had been suffering for eighteen months according to the certifying doctor. The term dyspepsia was used for various unspecified and undetermined ailments of the abdominal region. It is not a well-described disease and is usually dropped these days in favour of some more specific diagnosis. Kilian’s illness could have been a form of cancer or something else entirely. Whatever it was, it was serious enough to cause Kilian’s death after a long decline.

On his death certificate, Kilian’s father is noted as Lippeler Schifferli, Seaman, and his mother as unknown, perhaps indicating that Kilian’s family background was modest. A Swiss seaman is something to conjure with, as Switzerland is far from the sea. The certificate notes that Kilian had been in the colony for fourteen years, had arrived when he was twenty-six and that his wife’s maiden name was Catherine Lang. This information correlates with other details in the archive. Kilian’s death certificate lists his children and their ages as “William, 10; Edwin, 8; Charles, 6; Peter, 5; Louie, 3; and Albert, 1”. These were all healthy boys, which is significant in the context of a farming community in the nineteenth century.

Notably, the only surviving female child of Kilian and Catherine was Mary Ann, born in 1875, between Edwin and Charles. Her name is not on the death certificate list for some reason. On Mary Ann’s birth certificate, her mother Catherine signs with her X mark, indicating that perhaps Catherine could not write.

The inscription on the burial headstone for Kilian in the Catholic section of the Bannockburn cemetery, reads: “Sacred to the memory of Catherine in memory of her beloved husband Kilian Schefferle who departed this life February 5 1883 aged 38 years native of Switzerland. Also, Josephine, died Dec 7 1875 aged 5 years, and John Henry, died March 22 1877, aged 5 months.” The headstone was probably erected by Catherine some years after Kilian’s death, as a memorial to the two children who died young, as well as for Kilian, her first husband.

Louie James Schefferle, born in 1880, was the last of Catherine’s children to have Kilian Schefferle listed on the birth certificate as the child’s father. The next four children all have a birth certificate with Xavier Muhlebach listed as the father.

The first of these four younger children was the last son, christened Albert Ernst Muhlebach, born 12 July 1881. He is Lionel’s maternal grandfather. Confusingly, on his birth certificate, Albert Ernst’s father is listed as Xavier Muhlebach, yet on Kilian Schefferle’s subsequent death certificate, Albert is included on the list as one of Kilian’s children. This child seems to have been known for all his life as Ernst Schefferle, even though the birth certificate says Albert Ernst Muhlebach.

It is a matter of conjecture as to whether Ernst’s father was Kilian Schefferle or Xavier Muhlebach. To add to the confusion, on Albert Ernst’s birth certificate, his mother is referred to as Catherine Muhlebach, maiden name Schefferle, even though at this stage Catherine and Xavier had yet to marry. Xavier Muhlebach is listed as the child’s father and, more strangely, the names of the children Catherine had with Kilian Schefferle are listed as being the “issue” of Xavier Muhlebach. It seems that in terms of this official document of the colonial era, the implication is that while women might bear children, men have issue.

There are a number of ways this confusing situation might be explained. Either the clerk who made the entries on the form was confused by the names and accents of those he interacted with, or he was misguided by his interlocuters in some degree. In the margin of the entry is the following note: “For correct copy of this entry see Sept. 22, 84” which likely indicates that this certificate was considered questionable in its accuracy and an attempt was made to rectify the information once Xavier and Catherine had legally married. Unfortunately the amended entry has not come to light.

A little over a year after Kilian Schefferle’s death, and three years after Ernst was born, Catherine married Xavier Muhlebach, on 17 April 1884. Ernst was no doubt walking and speaking by that stage. At the time of her second marriage, Catherine had quite a few surviving children from her first marriage, ranging in age from eleven to three years of age.

A girl was subsequently born to Xavier and Catherine in 1884, the year they married. This child was named Emma May Muhleback. Another girl, Eda Florence Muhlebach was born in 1886, and the last child, yet another girl, Nellie Adelaide Muhlebach, was born in 1889. In all, Catherine had twelve children, ten of whom survived into adulthood. This level of childbearing was not so uncommon for rural women of the time.

Catherine’s bevy of healthy male children may have been viewed as an asset by Xavier, given the labor required to manage his fields. By the time of their marriage, Xavier was no longer a young man, and he had likely known Catherine for many years, most likely from soon after she first arrived in the district as an eighteen-year-old. Catherine and Xavier lived on neighbouring properties from around 1873, and at some stage he evidently came to feel very well disposed towards her.

Ernst Schefferle would have had little memory of Kilian Schefferle, if any. Throughout his childhood, Ernst was raised in a mixed family household headed by Catherine and Xavier. There was a contingent of other children in the household, some of whom were born during Catherine’s first marriage to Kilian Schefferle and some of whom were born in the years of Catherine’s second marriage to Xavier Muhlebach. Ernst was born in 1881, in the period when Catherine was still married to Kilian, even though his birth certificate lists his father as Xavier. Catherine eventually married Xavier in 1884, some years after Ernst’s birth. Kilian had been unwell for some time before he passed away in 1883.

It is little wonder that this combined Schefferle and Muhlebach family has been difficult to untangle for those who have tried to establish the details of these relationships. It is impossible to confirm every aspect as correct, partly due to evident contradictions. Perhaps some details of the personal relationships were known just to Catherine, nevertheless the evidence points to the conclusion that there was a time when she was intimate with both men. Such a situation is, of course, not particularly unusual in human affairs of heart and hearth.

From Catherine’s point of view, from the day when it became evident that Kilian was seriously ill she would have been concerned about the future of herself and the five surviving children from her marriage with Kilian. The children were all quite young at this stage. There was no social welfare system such as that now in place. At that time, widowed women with young children had fewer economic options in comparison to women of today. A single woman with children could easily find herself very hard up and dependent on charity. It was common for a woman’s children to be taken from her by the authorities. This happened to Patricia’s mother after the death of her first husband. Lionel, whose own father was absent from the family, recounted that when he was a child, his mother and grandmother were concerned that the governmental authorities might remove the children from a home not headed by a man.

By forming a relationship and eventually marrying Xavier Muhlebach her own future and that of her children was as secure as she could hope for in the circumstances. He was a well-off farmer and leader of the community and could exercise some leverage. It may well be that Xavier and Catherine both were of a mind that they should marry as soon as they were in a position to do so. At the time of her marriage to Xavier, Catherine herself was still relatively young, and she and Xavier went on to have several more children. There is every indication from the record that Xavier Muhlebach was a generous partner to Catherine, and generous to all of his children, including those from Catherine’s first marriage. All the children born before Ernst have Kilian Schefferle listed on the birth certificates as their father and we are in no position to doubt the accuracy of these records.

It remains unclear why Ernst Schefferle always seems to have been known by that name, even though Xavier Muhlebach is clearly listed as his father on the birth certificate. It is notable that in the years after Xavier’s marriage to Catherine, several of Ernst’s older siblings from Catherine’s marriage to Kilian Schefferle came to be generally known by the Muhlebach surname. However, this was not the case with Ernst. It may be that Xavier over a few years came to a realisation that Ernst may not have been his biological son. He may have sought to amend the original birth certificate, judging from a note on the certificate, seemingly added later in September 1884. This note references an additional document. If this record of amendment still exists, it has not come to light.

In the eyes of both the civil and religious laws of that time, Catherine should not have had a child fathered by a man other than her legal husband. This transgression of social and legal norms seemingly occurred with regard to Ernst’s birth, or at least Xavier thought this was the situation. Kilian was still alive at the time of Ernst’s birth, though perhaps in the early stage of his illness, and was thus still legally married to Catherine. Perhaps an extra-marital relationship between Catherine and Xavier was suggested by some in the community, and it was to protect Catherine’s reputation that Ernst was to be forever known as Ernst Schefferle.

The Lowndes family at Russell’s Bridge clearly knew their Muhlebach/Schefferle neighbours. When the births of Catherine’s children are compared against those of the Lowndes children, there is a general overlap in when they were born. For example, Anastasia Lowndes and Peter Muhlebach were both born in 1878, and so were likely in the same class at the Russell’s Bridge State School, which they both attended. Thomas and Martin Lowndes, born in 1873 and 1874 respectively, were roughly the same age as William, Edwin and Charles Muhlebach, who were born in 1872, 1874 and 1876 respectively. Ernst Schefferle, born in 1881, was just a little older than the youngest Lowndes son, Joseph, born in 1883.  

Most of these children evidently attended the newly constructed Russell’s Bridge State School. Following the introduction of free, compulsory and secular education under the Victorian Education Act of 1872, the local residents of the district petitioned the government for the construction of a new state school at Russell’s Bridge. In 1878 the site chosen for the school was purchased from the Presbyterian Church, which had likely been running classes locally for some time, as was their wont. The Presbyterian leadership in rural areas generally encouraged the development of universal state education, unlike the Catholic Church leadership which often sought to focus on denominational based schooling.

In 1880, a new red brick schoolroom and teacher’s residence was completed at Russell’s Bridge. The school was built to a standard Victorian Government design, with a single classroom and attached living quarters for the head teacher and his family. The school served the local community well until 1969, when it was closed due to declining numbers and the Victorian government’s financial rationalization efforts under the Liberal Party premiership of Sir Henry Bolte.

An examination of the football team-lists published in the Geelong Advertiser from the mid-1890s reveals that the names Muhlebach and Lowndes figured prominently in local sides. For example, the Geelong Advertiser of 2 June 1893 reports that there was a match between the Bannockburn Tradesmen versus Farmers, played at the Bannockburn oval at three o’clock in the afternoon. The Farmers’ team was Baker, Junod, Muhlebach, Lowndes, Pilloud, Armstrong, Churdon, Deppeler, Cahill, Kelly, Martin and McGrath. Several Swiss German surnames are on the list, alongside the English, Scottish and Irish names.

A decade later, the Geelong Advertiser of 26 July 1906 reports that a match was played at Inverleigh between Bannockburn and Inverleigh on the previous Saturday. The match resulted in a win for Bannockburn by one point. The Advertiser reports that “The weather was very unfavorable and a strong westerly wind blew across the ground, which spoilt the play. Bannockburn had the weakest team they had all season, being without the services of six of their best men, namely; Baker, Lowndes, the Muhlebach brothers, and Churdon.”

Further evidence that the Lowndes and Muhlebach families were well acquainted with each other in the years prior to Anastasia and Ernst’s marriage comes from the Geelong Advertiser of 11 October 1900. There is a report of a farewell banquet for the long-serving headmaster at the Russell’s Bridge State School. The article describes the event as follows: “A farewell banquet was given last week to Mr and Mrs Morrison, of Russell’s Bridge State school (Mr Morrison having been appointed to Cowie’s Creek school). A large number of friend and scholars, past and present, decided to give them a royal send off. On Friday evening last, Mrs Muhlebach, ably assisted by the ladies of Russell’s Bridge, the Misses Lowndes, Junod and Parker, laid out a sumptuous banquet in Mr Muhlebach’s barn. Friends assembled, numbering between 50 and 70, to participate in the gathering. After ample justice had been done to the repast, a short toast list was submitted. Mr Hannam occupied the chair, and proposed the health of Mr and Mrs Morrison in a neat speech, wishing them every happiness in their new sphere. Mr Morrison responded. The toast “To the ladies”, toasted by Mr J. Parker in a happy manner, was responded to by Mr Muhlebach. The health of Mr and Mrs Muhlebach was proposed by Mr W Russell in complimentary terms, and Mr Muhlebach responded. Mr J. Baker, on behalf of the pupils past and present, in a neat speech presented Mr and Mrs Morrison with a valuable travelling bag, suitably inscribed, also a travelling rug. Mr A Junod and Mr P Muhlebach spoke in high terms of their former teacher. Mr Morrison, who was deeply touched by the kindness of his friends, thanked them very feelingly. The young people then adjourned to the local schoolroom, and spent an enjoyable evening. Pleasant reminiscences of this occasion will be cherished for a long time. The members of the Board of Advice and friends wished them every success in their new sphere. On Monday, 8th, the children attending the school had an enjoyable treat at Mr Muhlebach’s in honor of the occasion, a half holiday being granted by the Board of Advice for the picnic.”

The Misses Lowndes referred to here would have been Anastasia and her older sister Harriet. The P Muhlebach referred to would have been Peter Muhlebach, Ernst Schefferle’s older brother. Peter was the same age as Anastasia, and they knew each other well. After Anastasia married Ernst Schefferle in 1909, the newlyweds lived at Ernst’s farm on the Moorabool River. Peter was Anastasia’s immediate neighbour on the adjoining farm, and it seems the farms were managed jointly by the brothers to some degree.

Several references to Xavier Muhlebach’s large barn are made in the newspaper reports of social events in the Bannockburn district. An example of a family celebration held in Xavier Muhlebach’s barn around this time was reported in the Geelong Advertiser of 23 November 1897, under the heading, “A Rural Wedding”. The occasion was the wedding of Mary Jane Schefferle, Ernst’s older sister and the stepdaughter of Xavier Muhlebach.

Mary Jane married George Capron, a neighbour, when she was twenty-two. The Capron family was well known to Xavier and Catherine. The Capron family had been the proprietors of the Clyde Vally Farm on the Moorabool River near Russell’s Bridge since at least the early 1860s and it seems likely Catherine and Kilian Schefferle in the 1870s lived on property leased from the Caprons. Thus, at the time of the marriage of their daughter to George Capron, Xavier Muhlebach and Catherine had been acquainted with the Capron family for many years.

The Caprons were a respectable local farming family. The fact that this wedding in 1897 received such prominent coverage in the Geelong Advertiser would seem to indicate that the Muhlebach family was relatively well-off and locally well-connected by that time. It is notable that Mary Jane Schefferle married George Capron in an Anglican church, rather than in a Catholic Church. Xavier’s friend Jacob Deppeler was the master of ceremonies, and he too would have known the young couple and their parents for a considerable time. Indeed, Jacob Deppeler was the witness at Xavier and Catherine’s own marriage a decade and a half earlier and he had known Xavier at least from 1855.

The marriage festivities were clearly a local social event of some prominence with two hundred guests attending the reception. Under the heading, “A Rural Wedding,” the report reads: “The marriage of Mr George Capron, eldest son of the late Mr. W. Capron, of Clyde Park, and Miss Jane Schefferle, stepdaughter of Mr X. Muhlebach, occasioned a pleasing stir in the Maude district on Wednesday last. It was celebrated in the English Church by the Rev. R. B. Scott, of Steiglitz and the popularity of the contracting parties was evidenced by the large gathering of their respective friends. The bride was radiant in a costume of white lustre, the trimmings being of lace and chiffon and she wore the usual wreath and veil. The bridesmaids were Misses Mary and Marion Capron, and Edith and Emma Muhlebach, who, like the bride, carried rustic shower bouquets, supplied by Miss Stinton, of Geelong. The bride was given away by Mr Muhlebach, and Mr Joseph Schefferle, brother of the bride, was best man. Messrs C. Schefferle, J. Gallagher, and Walter Capron being groomsmen. About 200 of the residents of the district subsequently met with a hospitable reception at the residence of Mrs and Mrs Muhlebach and the wedding breakfast was served in a spacious barn, which had been elaborately decorated. The happy couple left for Ballarat by the evening train, and the festivities of their friends concluded with a ball in the State school, Russel’s Bridge, Messrs A. Capron and J. Deppeler carrying out the duties of M.C.”  

Catherine and Xavier went to considerable expense to celebrate the family’s connection through this marriage to the Caprons. The newspaper report of the event seems to show that the children of Catherine by her two marriages were on good terms with each other and operated as a cohesive family unit well integrated into provincial colonial society. William Joseph Schefferle, the oldest of Catherine’s surviving children, was best man at the wedding and Charles Schefferle was a groomsman. The daughters of Xavier Muhlebach were bridesmaids. Ernst’s marriage to Anastasia Lowndes, some years later, does not seem to have been similarly reported in the press. Perhaps the social standing of the Lowndes family was somewhat lacking in comparison to that of the Caprons.

The field in which the extended Muhlebach family excelled was agriculture. Xavier Muhlebach and some of the boys were renowned as excellent farmers. By the time Xavier married Catherine in 1884, he had already been in the Geelong district for many years and was well established as a successful orchardist.

Although a passenger arrival record for Xavier has not been found, evidence suggests that he arrived in 1855, when he was about nineteen or twenty years of age. When Xavier eventually died in 1908, his obituary states that he “came to Victoria 54 years ago in company of Mr Jacob Deppelar”. His long-term friend Jacob Deppeler arrived in Melbourne aboard the “Louise,” which sailed from Hamburg and arrived at Melbourne in February 1855. The passengers on board the vessel were mainly German or Swiss German immigrants so it is most likely that Xavier was one of the continental passengers on the ship.

Xavier Muhlebach’s naturalization certificate, dated 8 December 1873, notes that he became a subject of her Majesty in the British colony of Victoria at the age of thirty-eight. The document records his “Native Place” as Canton Aargau, Switzerland, which is also the native canton of Jacob Deppeler, his longtime friend and colleague. At the time of his naturalization, Xavier’s address was recorded as Maude, and his occupation was listed as “vinegrower.”

Xavier Muhlebach was thus approximately nine years older than Kilian Schefferle and about fourteen years older than Catherine. When Xavier married Catherine in 1884, the marriage certificate transcribed her name as Katarina Schifferle of Geelong. It was noted that she was a housekeeper aged thirty-two, although she was actually slightly older. She was noted as being a widow since 1883. The marriage took place at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, with Jacob Deppeler attending as witness. Catherine’s father’s name was Jacob Lang, a butcher. Lang is a common German language name. Xavier’s father’s name was also given as Xavier Muhlebach, and he was described as a farmer.

Although Swiss immigrants to the Geelong district, such as Xavier Muhlebach and Jacob Deppeler, were pioneers in grape cultivation starting in the early 1850s, they were by no means the only men in the local wine industry. The prominent Hope brothers, known for their staunch Scottish Presbyterian values and considerable wealth, established substantial vineyards and orchards on their expansive estates. George Hope’s Darriwill Estate, positioned near the confluence of Sutherlands Creek and the Moorabool River, and Robert Hope’s Lynnburn Estate, situated further down the Moorabool near Batesford, became centers for successful viticulture. It is likely that the Hope brothers relied on the expertise of Swiss vignerons such as Muhlebach and Deppeler to assist in developing their vineyards. Gentlemen proprietors such as the Hope brothers would not have done much of the actual work.

Wealthy British investors such as the Hope brothers had access to substantial British capital and had the resources to purchase extensive freehold property in the mid-1840s. After their arrival in the district, the Hope brothers began purchasing land on the former squatter runs that had been established along the Moorabool River and the Sutherlands Creek. By this time, original squatters such as the Sutherland, Manifold, and Russell brothers had largely vacated their runs in the Clyde Valley to seek new opportunities on the extensive expanses of Crown land further out from Geelong which were unlikely to be alienated for some time. The first set of squatters understood that land near Geelong would soon be surveyed and sold as freehold at government land sales. When the land sales duly occurred, the Hope siblings acquired numerous freehold blocks that had once been part of runs originally taken up by squatters such as the Sutherland brothers.

Sutherlands Creek is named after Joseph and Robert Sutherland, who were Scottish born squatters who arrived from Van Diemen’s Land with sheep in 1836. They took up a run between the creek and the Moorabool River adjoining the larger run of George Russell of the Clyde Company. At the time, this country was still on the frontier. The old herdsmen’s hut of the Clyde Company at Maude still stands. It has gun slits in its walls that could be used to fire through in the event of attack by Wadawurrung clansmen.

In March 1837, the Sutherland brothers were visited at their home station by Sir Richard Bourke, the Governor of New South Wales, when he visited Geelong. Not long after, having been shown the green light, Robert Sutherland then moved further out and took up a larger run on the Native Hut Creek. His brother, Joseph, moved to a run near Kilmore. They also purchased several freehold town allotments in Geelong once government land sales commenced.

Joseph Sutherland served in the Victorian Parliament in the early 1860s. His obituary, published in the Melbourne Argus in May 1875, is illustrative of the deference accorded many squatters. An extract from his obituary reads as follows: “He was a coffee planter in India, but came to Tasmania in the early days, and was one of the earliest followers of the late J. P. Fawkner to Port Phillip, landing at Point Henry, near Geelong, 1836. He brought over a limited number of sheep and started as a squatter near the old Bell Post, in the west, where he, with other early settlers, had much trouble with the blacks, who stole sheep and otherwise gave annoyance. Afterwards, he moved to Kilmore, where he had a station. He gave up squatting, however, a long while ago, and having a fair amount of capital and property lived very comfortably, visiting the old country more than once. He was a native of Sutherlandshire, Scotland. A brother of his, Mr. Robert Sutherland, owner of a large extent of station property in the colonies, is now living, and has for many years resided at Windsor, England. The deceased gentleman for some time represented the Southern Province in the Legislative Council, but retired from Parliament towards the close of 1862.”

Sutherland shared traits with many other squatters. He was born in Scotland, had a career in British India, came to Van Diemen’s Land as a free settler with capital to invest, and then crossed to Port Phillip with sheep at a time when the land was being usurped. After success as a squatter, he became a politician. This pattern is repeated numerous times in the obituaries of such “pioneers.” If Joseph Sutherland had married, which he never did, he would likely have wed a cousin, or perhaps the sister of a fellow squatter.

By the early 1850s, the Hope brothers had substantial land holdings in the Moorabool Valley, purchased as freehold after government survey. Vines and fruit trees were planted, and their grape-growing enterprises flourished. Their vineyards produced award-winning wines, earning accolades at local exhibitions and gaining widespread recognition. George Hope’s Darriwill Estate possessed a thriving vineyard until the phylloxera outbreak of 1877, which ruined the industry at Geelong. Similarly, Robert Hope’s Lynnburn Estate, situated further down the Moorabool at Batesford, was home to substantial orchards and vineyards. Jacob Deppeler was subsequently to purchase Lynnburn in the 1880s. It is quite likely that Xavier Muhlebach played a role in the development of George Hope’s vineyards and orchards on the Sutherlands Creek, especially given that Hope’s Darriwill estate bordered the riverfront property which Xavier came to own.

George Hope built his impressive Darriwill homestead on his Dariwill Estate, which extended to Bakers Bridge Road. Just to the north of this road lies Muhlebach Road, named after Xavier Muhlebach. Xavier’s farm, Clyde View, was situated here, adjoining the northern section of the Darriwill Estate. Muhlebach Road stretches from the banks of the Moorabool River to Steiglitz Road, and today the area is home to the vineyards which were planted there during the 1990s.

Xavier later expanded his agricultural holdings by acquiring additional farming properties along the lower reaches of the Moorabool River. In the early 1890s he purchased a substantial block of farmland along the Moorabool River at Batesford which quickly became noted as a model farm. Two of Xavier’s oldest sons, William and Charles, became the mainstays in managing this property.

It is worth noting where power and capital lay in the Geelong district during the middle decades of the nineteenth century. While Swiss immigrant farmers like Xavier Muhlebach achieved a degree of success and recognition in local agriculture, their achievements were dwarfed by the wealth and influence of the Hope family and other members of the squattocracy. The Hope brothers had overlanded to Geelong from New South Wales, where they owned land and maintained elite professional and social connections. In fact, George and Robert Hope had married sisters who were granddaughters of the Reverend Samuel Marsden, one of the most influential and controversial evangelical clergymen in early Sydney. As well as owning considerable freehold property just outside Geelong, the Hope brothers acquired from earlier squatters, the leasehold runs of Bolangum near Navarre, and the Barwonleigh and Native Creek runs near Inverleigh. The brothers had other investments in the Western District as well.

In the 1850s Robert Hope built a flourmill at his Lynnburn Estate on the Moorabool River. He also built the Carrah flour mill on his Barwonleigh estate on the Barwon River near Inverleigh. This country was usurped from the hands of its Wadawurrung clanspeople in the late 1830s by the East India Company affiliated squatters of the Derwent Company. Men such as Thomas Learmonth and Captain Charles Swanston had been the Company’s agents responsible for taking up these runs. In the 1850s, when the Hope brothers established their mills and their exclusive houses, Wadawurrung claims to the country were in no way acknowledged. The clanspeople were largely absent, or noted merely as fast declining fringe dwellers on the margins of European life.

According to the 1853 census, just nine women, seven men and one child remained of the Wadawurrung clans in the entire Geelong district. In 1861, a Victorian government census of Aboriginal people living in the Geelong region shows only seven Wadawurrung left in the region. Willem Baa Niip, a traditional man said to be the last Wadawurrung clansperson, died at Geelong Hospital in 1886 after living alone for fifteen years since the last of his companions died.

It has been estimated that in 1835, the year the Port Phillip Association arrived at the mainland from their base in Van Diemen’s Land, perhaps some seven hundred Wadawurrung clanspeople had lived in the Geelong region. Needless to say, pre-contact First Nations population estimates are a matter of considerable debate to the present day given the political implications surrounding what happened to these people, and who or what was responsible for such a precipitous decline. Whatever the figures, the precipitous drop in population in the decades after 1835 is indicative of the disaster which clearly did occur.

Prominent among the shareholders of the Port Phillip Association was the lawyer Joseph Tice Gellibrand, who on behalf of the Association drafted John Batman’s Treaty document. Gellibrand was well aware of what might happen at Port Phillip based on his earlier experience in Tasmania. There, as reported in the Hobart Colonial Times of 24 September 1830, Gellibrand warned that, “we are about to enter a war of extermination, for such I apprehend is the declared object of the present operation and that in its progress we shall be compelled to destroy the innocent with the guilty”.

Gellibrand had been a speaker at a public meeting in Hobart held on 22 September 1830 that was called to discuss the proposed mobilisation of the male population of the town in support of the government’s military campaign in the interior of Tasmania against its First Nations people. The educated gentlemen of the colony were well aware of what would happen when a new colony was set up, but of course it did not stop them, although some among them did try to hide their tracks.

That extreme strategies including campaigns of extermination could be adopted as a means of countering Aboriginal resistance, openly discussed at public meetings attended by some of the most advanced gentlemen of the colony, indicates a willingness to at least tolerate violence when land was taken up. Gellibrand was a competent lawyer and he advocated that all care possible should be taken to maintain the appearance of due process.

The Hope brothers had access to capital through their links to the British imperial financial system and they had political connections due to their birth and education. As might be expected from a man of his class and social standing, Robert Hope entered Parliament and became a prominent conservative politician devoted to supporting the rights of squatters. He took a stand against every attempt to reduce their privileged position. He served as a member for South-Western Province from 1856 until 1874. According to his entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, “In the council he quickly won repute for his conservatism.”

At every turn Robert Hope fought against any move to allow small farmers better access to land already leased from the Crown by the established squatters. It was this system of leases over Crown Land, coupled with strategic parcels of freehold title around homesteads and crucial water supplies, which enabled a small number of squatters and their families to control much of the land of the Western District. Eventually many of the squatters were able to gain freehold title to much of the extensive tracts they originally leased, often utilising dummy bidders to claim title at the expense of legitimate selectors.

Robert Hope was a medical doctor trained in London and was one of the leading professional men in the Victorian colony. He was a committed Presbyterian and was among the founders of Geelong College, where his four sons attended school. The founders of Geelong College reads like a “who’s who” of the Presbyterian squattocracy of the inner Western District.

Russell’s Bridge State School, which the Lowndes and Muhlebach children attended, did a solid job of educating local children, some of whom were the first generation of their families to attend any school at all. However, it could never provide its pupils with the advantages gained through attending Geelong College, which was established on squatter money. Geelong College’s counterpart school for the Anglican community, Geelong Grammer School, was similarly founded.

By 1870, the arduous work invested in establishing vineyards along the Moorabool River was evidently paying dividends for Xavier Muhlebach. The success of the wine producers is illustrated in an article in the Geelong Advertiser of 10 Sept 1870, which reads: “In the vineyard our vignerons are busy turning up the soil between the vines, which are coming on rapidly. As a proof of the excellence of the wines grown in this district, it might be stated that at the recent Exhibition held in Melbourne, when all the colonies competed, no fewer than five prizes were awarded to Geelong. Mr Muhlebach won the first prize offered for a full-bodied red wine, and Mr Deppeler the first prize for a full-bodied white wine, and the second prize for white wine not older than ’68. Dr. Hope gained two prizes for light wines. Muhlebach and Deppeler’s wines have been sent by Mr Hudson, one of our colonial wine merchants, to the Sydney Exhibition.”

However, the wine industry at Geelong was soon confronted with a major problem. The vineyards established in the Geelong region by the Swiss viticulturalists were hit by a pest disease known as phylloxera. The decline of the Geelong wine region is mostly attributed to the arrival of a tiny insect. The decline in the fortunes of the “foreign” wine growers was undeniably exacerbated by the government’s response to that threat. Once phylloxera had been identified in district vineyards, regional politics in Victoria became involved in decisions taken concerning the most appropriate control measures. Other wine growing regions lobbied the government for the uprooting and destruction of vines at Geelong. Competitors in other regions did not want the pest to spread to their localities. As a result, legislation was passed that called for the complete eradication of all vines around Geelong, which was virtually finished as a winemaking region by 1883, to the benefit of other grape growing districts in Victoria.

In the 1970s, Eily and Lionel both mentioned the story of their Swiss German forebears who had the unfortunate experience of having vines destroyed by the government. Eily maintained that local politics was as much to blame as the threat posed by the disease. She had likely inherited these views from her mother, Anastasia. Eily’s recollections would have drawn upon her childhood experience growing up on the family’s orchard north of Geelong before they moved to Kirkstall.

Granny Anastasia would have been a child when the vines were destroyed on the local farms in her Sutherlands Creek neighbourhood. The vines of her husband Ernst’s Muhlebach family had been substantially affected. Eily would have had childhood memories of her father Ernst and his extended family. Eily, in particular, was very proud of her Swiss German heritage and loved big Carl Ditterich, the renowned Saint Kilda footballer, known as the “blonde bombshell.” She also said that Hitler had done great things for Germany until he went too far.

The vines around Geelong were destroyed by government order, but growers did eventually receive some compensation. Xavier Muhlebach and Jacob Deppeler organized the growers and lobbied the authorities for this compensation. By the late 1870s, both men were key members of the Geelong Vinegrowers Association, which addressed various issues including the phylloxera outbreak. How to respond to the phylloxera outbreak was clearly the Associations greatest challenge. Some growers used the compensation payments to switch to orchards and other types of agriculture.

The upshot of the lengthy political wrangles surrounding the phylloxera outbreak was that from the early 1880s Xavier Muhlebach concentrated more on tending fruit trees and growing fruit for local markets. His apple and apricot crops came to be a feature of the district, and he diversified into animal husbandry as well.

It was around this time that Xavier travelled to Europe for a return visit to his homeland. Perhaps his parents or siblings were still there and he wanted to pay them a visit. It is recorded that he left Victoria in July 1879 on the steam powered “Aconcaqua”, which sailed to Britain via Adelaide. On the journey to Europe it traversed the Suez Canal, which opened in 1869 and greatly reduced travel times for ships going between Australia and Britain. The journey would have cost him a pretty penny and shows that he was a man of some private means. The “Aconcagua” was a cutting edge vessel built in Scotland’s Clyde Estuary in 1872. Xavier would have had a great tales to tell his Swiss mates upon his return in Geelong.

Xavier was back in Geelong by the last part of 1880. Ernst was born in July 1881 and Ernst’s birth certificate indicates that Xavier thought he was the child’s father, although Kilian was still on the scene while Xavier had been away. Kilian was Catherine’s husband, after all. In 1884, Xavier and Catherine married, following the death of Kilian in 1883.

By the early 1890s, with a large family of ten children to provide for, Xavier Muhlebach decided to add substantially to the land he owned. The eldest boys were approaching full adulthood and were assisting with the farming activities. Xavier already owned the Clyde View farm at Sutherlands Creek and in 1893 he purchased additional land lower down the Moorabool Valley. The Argus of 27 March 1893 reports that “a valuable farm in the valley of the Moorabool River, near Batesford, consisting of 214 acres of rich agricultural land, was disposed of at public auction by Messrs R Brown and Co. The property, which is admirably situated for the establishment of an orchard and vineyard, was sold to Mr Xavier Muhlebach, of Russell’s Bridge, Moorabool, for £20 an acre. The purchaser intends to form an extensive orchard.”

This farmland along the Moorabool River at Batesford quickly became noted as a model farm in the district. Two of the older sons, William and Charles, took the lead in farming this property. The younger boys of the family, Peter and Ernst, concentrated their farming activity on the original Muhlebach property at Clyde View, located further up the Moorabool River towards Russell’s Bridge. Xavier was by that stage getting on in years and had commenced the process of handing over day-to-day management of the land to the children.

By 1904, Xavier was sixty-eight years old and his sons were working the family’s farms. This allowed Xavier and Catherine to visit Switzerland again. It is not known if they had relatives still living in Switzerland, but it is possible that they knew people there and had some final family matters they wished to settle. Passenger records show that they returned to Victoria aboard the “Scharnhorst” in October 1904. Catherine was fifty-three years old at the time.

The “Scharnhorst” was a German passenger liner and mail ship launched in May 1904 and completed in August that year. Xavier and Catherine were on the vessel’s maiden voyage. She departed from Bremen on 31 August 1904 and traveled to Australia via the Suez Canal. In all, she made nineteen round trips to Australia prior to the First World War, at which point she was used as a German troop transport in the Baltic Sea.

Catherine’s youngest son, Ernst Albert Schefferle married Anastasia Lowndes in 1907. The marriage certificate is notable from a number of perspectives. The wedding was held at the Darriwill Catholic Church on 24 July 1907 with Father Michael Murphy officiating. This small bluestone church, known as St John’s, was built in 1858, and was located at Sutherlands Creek, with the original address listed as the corner of Loundes Road and Steiglitz Road. After falling into disrepair, the building was relocated to the campus of Deakin University in the 1990s. Even though the church was originally located in the countryside away from houses, the church likely had special significance to the Lowndes and Schefferle/Muhlebach families as it was close to properties where members of these families had lived in earlier days. The marriage was witnessed by Ernst’s brother, Charles Alfred, and by Anastasia’s sister, Mary Ann.

Perhaps most interestingly, Ernst’s parents were listed as Catherine Lang and Kilian Schefferle, rather than Catherine and Xavier Muhlebach, a detail which just adds to the intrigue regarding Ernst’s paternity. Anastasia’s parents were noted as James Lowndes and Anastasia Donnelly. Both Ernst and Anastasia are listed as having been born in Darriwill, where both were noted as living at the time of their marriage. The couple were thus born in Darriwill, lived in Darriwill at the time of their marriage, and got married in the Catholic church of Darriwill.

Anastasia’s mother, Anastasia Senior, was still alive in 1907, and would probably have attended the wedding if she was well enough. Xavier Muhlebach was also still alive, although quite elderly by that stage, and he was to pass away the following year. There seems to be no reference in the press to this marriage, which is surprising given that many of the other Schefferle/Muhlebach weddings were well noted in the Geelong Advertiser and other local newspapers. It seems to have been strictly a local wedding attended by family and perhaps a few friends.

Xavier Muhlebach died on 10 August 1908. Catherine Muhlebach buried her second husband some twenty-five years after Kilian Schefferle died in 1883. By 1908 Catherine was already fifty-seven years of age and her surviving children were all adults. The gravestone erected in the Catholic section of the Bannockburn cemetery reads: “Xavier, the beloved husband of Catherine Muhlebach who died at Clyde-View 10 August 1908 aged 72 years 5 months. Native of Switzerland. May his dear soul rest in peace.”

There was a report of the funeral published in the Geelong Advertiser of 13 August 1908. In particular, the Swiss German community seems to have turned out in force. The notice reads: “The funeral of the late Mr. Xavier Muhlebach, of Clyde Valley, Bannockburn, took place yesterday, afternoon, and was the largest seen in the district for many years, showing the esteem in which the deceased was held. Friends came from all parts of the district to pay the Iast tribute of respect. The hearse was drawn by four horses, and the remainder of the cortege consisted of four mourning coaches, a procession of private conveyance reaching over a mile in length, and 36 horsemen. Many beautiful wreaths were laid on the coffin, including a handsome one from the Geelong and District Swiss Society, made of red and white flowers; the society’s colors. The pall was supported by Messrs A. V. Just, Jacob Deppeler, F. Marendaz, F. Weitnauer, E. Keller, J. Gugger, J. Favre, L. Schefferle, E. Rognon, L. Imer, G. Martin, V. Roth, R. Tribolet and R. Gugger. The cofflin-bearers were Messrs. K Weitauer, F. W.Gugger, F. Deppeler, W. Deppeler, P.Tribolet and A. Junod. The funeral arrangements were in the hands of Mr. Wm. Wellington, of Ryrie Street, Geelong”.

Two days earlier, the Geelong Advertiser of 11 Aug 1908 published a brief obituary of Xavier Muhlebach. The article reads: “The death occurred yesterday of Mr. Xavier Muhlebach, one of the best-known agriculturists of the Western district. The deceased gentleman, who was 73 years of age was a native of Switzerland and came to Victoria 54 years ago in company of Mr Jacob Deppelar. For the past 30 years, he has resided at Clyde Valley, Bannockburn, and was a successful dairy farmer, orchardist and vigneron. He conducted dairy farming on one of the most advanced lines, kept one of the finest herds of the State, and was one of the first farmers to grow lucerne by irrigation for stock feed. The deceased gentleman, who leaves a widow and grown-up family of six boys and four girls, was a large property owner at Maude, Beech Forest and Batesford.”

The Melbourne Herald of 9 October 1908 reported that probate for Xavier Muhlebach’s estate was valued at £12,918, bequeathed to his widow and relatives. The executors of the will were listed as William Joseph Schefferle and Catherine Muhlebach, the eldest son and the widow of the deceased. It is interesting that in this legal matter, William is referred to in the reports as Schefferle rather than Muhlebach, the latter surname being the one he commonly went by.

In November 1908, some of the money from Xavier’s estate was likely used by Catherine and the children to purchase two parcels of land near the family’s old home of “Clyde View”. This newly purchased land, said to be three miles from the Moorabool railway station, was described as situated between the Moorabool River and the Sutherlands Creek.

One of the plots purchased was of some 143 acres at £14/10/ per acre. The second plot was 167 acres, purchased at £22/10/ per acre. It is likely that these two blocks were purchased by Catherine on behalf of her younger sons, Peter and Ernst. These two brothers were to farm the adjacent blocks in the coming decades.

The farming blocks on the Moorabool were originally part of the Strathey Estate of the Kelsall family. The Strathey Estate, situated above the confluence of the Moorabool River and the Sutherlands Creek, was part of a larger estate of 2,740 acres that had been recently subdivided. The real estate sales pitch in the Geelong Advertiser described the land thus: “The Moorabool River flats are noted for their extreme richness, and none are better than those on “Strathey.” Catherine Muhlebach’s Clyde View Farm must have been quite close to this advertised land.

Colonel Roger Kelsall, a British engineer and squatter, arrived at Sutherlands Creek in the spring of 1836, at the time of the usurpation of Wadawurrung land. Prior to his arrival, Kelsall served as Clerk of Works at Port Arthur in Van Diemen’s Land, designing and constructing several buildings for the prison complex. Kelsall was a military gentleman in the typical colonial mould based on class privilege and fraternal entitlement. By December 1854, he had converted part of his original pastoral lease into 1,490 acres of freehold land, including his pre-emptive right to a homestead allotment of six hundred and forty acres, located between the upper branches of Sutherlands Creek, which he named “Chesterdale”.

At the government land sales, Colonel Kelsall also purchased five hundred and fifty-seven acres lower down the Sutherlands Creek, directly opposite the Hope brothers Darriwill Estate. This additional Kelsall property, named “Strathey”, was eventually expanded to 1,100 acres by the time both “Chesterdale” and “Strathey” were subdivided and sold in 1908. Until that point, the two estates had remained in the hands of the Kelsall family, although following the death of Colonel Kelsall, from 1861 the land was leased to local graziers and farmers. By that stage the Kelsall family seems to have been living back in England.

From 1908 Peter Muhlebach referred to his farming property as “Strathey,” in a nod to the name of the Kelsall property, which was likely still used locally. His farm and Ernst’s block were adjacent. At the same auction at which Peter and Ernst obtained their new freehold farmland, Martin Lowndes, Anastasia’s brother, purchased a nearby two hundred and twenty-three acre block. This land cost Martin £5/10/ per acre, and was more suited to grazing livestock than growing fruit trees. These blocks purchased by the Lowndes and Muhlebach families were all close to each other. Anastasia and Ernst had married the year before and the couple could now continue farming in close proximity to relatives from both sides of their family.

Following the death of Xavier Muhlebach, the farming property bequeathed to the older sons, William and Charles, was lower down the Moorabool at Batesford. In the decades following Xavier’s death, there are numerous reports of the successful farming operations conducted on this property. For many years, William Joseph Muhlebach was the mainstay of the farm. William became a notable figure in Western District agriculture. For many years he was on the council of the Geelong Agricultural Society and he was a renowned judge of cattle at agricultural shows throughout southeast Australia.  

Xavier Muhlebach and his sons were well known at that time as the greatest growers of apples in the Geelong district. They pioneered the use of cool storage in Geelong to ensure their apples could be marketed over an extended period. They even pioneered the export of apples to Britain, using shipboard cold storage. From press reports of the period, they were termed the “Apple Kings” and were also great breeders of livestock, both sheep and cattle, and were regular successful exhibitors at the Melbourne, Geelong and other district shows.

Two years after Xavier’s death, an article was published in the Geelong Advertiser describing the Muhlebach farm at Batesford. On Saturday 1 January 1910, under the heading “A Thriving Orchard at Batesford”, the Advertiser reports as follows: “Many years ago the late Mr Muhlebach, one of the pioneers of the Batesford district, who died some little time ago, planted a vineyard on his property, “Retreat Farm.” The vines made good headway and gave a promise of excellent results. They were attacked by phylloxera, and destroyed. About 17 years ago the cultivation of fruit trees was commenced. The most approved varieties of apples, apricots, plums, cherries and pears were planted. The site chosen was an excellent one, at the foot of a low range of hills that skirt the property. The late Mr Muhlebach’s sons have inherited the ”Retreat Farm.” It consists of 284 acres, fronting the Moorabool River. Dairying, farming and fruit growing are carried on. The orchard gives the best returns of the three…”. The report continues on from here to provide further details of this agricultural enterprise, and the full account can be found on Trove.

However, not all reports were rosy depictions of agricultural success. One negative press report involved Catherine with some dubious marketing. The Ballarat Star of 26 April 1913 has a report of a legal prosecution involving codlin moth in apples. The report reads: “At the City Police Court yesterday, a number of departmental prosecutions took place. Mrs X. Muhlebach, a fruit grower of Bannockburn, was charged with sending to market apples affected with codlin moth. The defendant did not appear. Herbert Davy, an inspector under the Vegetation Diseases Act, said that on the 14th of March he saw eight cases of apples at Ley’s fruit market. Three of these cases were much affected by codlin moth, which has been proclaimed a disease under the Vegetation Diseases Act. He had cut 100 apples open, and found each one affected with the moth. The court was told codlin moth was now very easily combated since the new sprays had come into use. Thomas Francis, salesman for Ley and Co., said that the apples examined by the inspector had been sent to his firm by Mrs. X. Muhlebach, of Bannockburn. Inspector Davey said that the presence of codlin moth in the orchard would be dangerous to neighboring orchards. The Prosecuting Magistrate said it was a glaring case. Orchardists who looked after their fruit should be protected from those who did not do so. The defendant was fined five pounds with costs.” One wonders how Catherine felt with regard to the unfortunate publicity this case might have occasioned.

In 1916, Catherine sold “Clyde View”, the family home. In the advertising prior to the sale, the property was described as being two miles from Bannockburn. Catherine announced that she was retiring from farming life. Xavier had died some half dozen years earlier. Following the sale, Catherine moved into a comfortable house in Glenleith Avenue, Drumcondra, one of the better bayside suburbs of Geelong. By this stage, she was well into her sixties. Whilst the house, some livestock, and certain agricultural chattels were sold, most of the agricultural land remained within the family, managed by Catherine’s sons. Her two youngest daughters lived with Catherine in Drumcondra until they eventually married locally and moved on with their own families.

Ernst Schefferle and Anastasia had several children following their marriage in 1907. A son was born in 1910. Tragically, Cyril John Schefferle died when he was no more than a few months old. The next child, Eileen Mary Schefferle, was born in Geelong in 1911. She is Lionel’s mother, and the author’s grandmother. Lionel and Patricia, and seemingly everyone else in the Koroit district, always referred to Lionel’s mother as Eily Schefferle, even after her rather brief marriage to Henry-Allan Jones. In 1912, Auriel Vincent Schefferle was born. In the Koroit district, he was known as Orry Schefferle. Lionel usually referred to him as Uncle Orry. Lastly, in 1915, Gerald Stephen Schefferle was born. He was always known as Gerry Schefferle. Within the Jones family, Gerry was often referred to as old Gerry, or Uncle Gerry, to distinguish him from his son, young Gerry. Lionel Jones was a first cousin to young Gerry and they knew each other all their lives. Anastasia was usually referred to locally as Anastasia Lowndes, her maiden name.

When Eily, Orry and Gerry were small children in the early 1920s, Ernst and Anastasia were living on their small family farm at Sutherlands Creek, on land bequeathed to Ernst by his parents. Ernst’s older brother, Peter Muhlebach, had the property next to theirs. Peter married in 1910 and lived on his farm with his wife and children. Martin Lowndes and other members of the Lowndes family had farming land nearby.

A tragic event was soon to occur that would alter the lives of these individuals and these families irrevocably. This event was the catalyst that triggered Anastasia’s move to Kirkstall with her three children in the mid-1920s.