A photograph of a four-horse team pulling a "Sunreed" plough at Mr A Wakenshaws' farm in Modella in 1929.
Resilient is a word used to describe our early district pioneers. And, none were more resilient than those who settled the swamp land of what is now Modella.
The Land Acts of the 1860s and 1870s had the intent of allowing people of limited means to acquire land. In Victoria, settlers paid for half of an allotment upfront at a fixed price of £1 per acre and paid rent on the other half for usually seven years, paying the balance of the purchase price at the end of that period to obtain the land title.
It was not until 1899 that the eastern edge of the Koo wee rup Swamp was partially drained and declared suitable for occupation and farming. The area was first known as Koo wee rup East and later became Modella.
There are a number of theories about the word Modella. Some believe it is an Aboriginal word meaning "strike you", others say it was the name of a famous race horse and yet another theory is that it is from the word model. This is due to the farm named Modella Park being considered a model farm.
Parcels of land for lease were released in 1900. However, this was severely hampered when a large flood covered the proposed settlement areas in 1902.
This resulted in two more large drains being dug and an upgrade and clearing of a further eight drains already in place. In fact, history shows floods across the swamp challenged the communities in 1911, 1916 and 1923. Yet another massive flood impacted in December 1934, reported as the largest ever to hit the swamp. Records show 1000 people lost their homes, stock losses of 8000 head occurred and infrastructure such as roads, drains and bridges were damaged.
It appears that the first take up of land was in 1900. The men known to have some claim to selected blocks in the Modella area include Douglas, McGregor, McFarlane, O'Callaghan, Ryan, Temby, Hanley, Kelly, Schmutter, Shandley and Smethurst. Whether or not they resided on the blocks is debatable. However, it is known that Smethurst and Douglas built homes on their properties before 1900.
Clearing the land for farming was a huge task and, in some ways, more difficult than felling trees that occurred further north.
There were virtually no roads, only very rough tracks. These crossed the area on higher ground to avoid the soft marshy ground that was typical of much of the area in winter months.
Bullock teams were needed to pull out tree stumps whilst the marshy swamp reeds grew to a great height and had to be removed.
Settlement in Modella took off in the early 1920s as soldier settlers were allocated parcels of land to take up and pay for over a period of time. The flood in 1923 was too much for some of these soldier settlers. Unable to meet lease payments, they had no alternative but to walk off their farms.
Life was difficult as no farming could take place until the land was cleared. Many selectors had to find work elsewhere to make ends meet as they brought their farms into production.
There is a lot to be thankful for. Because of the resilience of many of these pioneers who stayed, Modella now has a vibrant, successful and highly regarded farming reputation today.
Photograph and information courtesy of Victorian Museums Collection and Longwarry and District History Group.
The group is dedicated to preserving the history of the 3816 postcode, including Labertouche, Longwarry North and Modella.
To join, offer support or for further information, visit longwarryhistory.org