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Casey's history

Aboriginal settlement

For 60,000 years before European settlement, the Casey district originally formed part of the territory of the Bunurong people. This included the boundary with the Wurundjeri people to the north.

The area previously known as Nerre Nerre Warren was the site for the Aboriginal Protectorate Station. It was established in Casey on the site of the 1837 Native Police Corps headquarters. This site is now the Police Paddocks in Endeavour Hills.

It was one of the most important sites in the Melbourne area for interaction between Aboriginal and European people in the first years of the Port Phillip settlement.

Find out more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities in Casey.

European settlement

Early European settlement occurred in the late 1830's, at much the same time as development began in Melbourne itself.

The first European settler in the Berwick area is generally regarded to be Terence O’Connor who took up the Cardinia Creek lease in 1838. Some sources credit Captain Robert Gardiner as being the first European settler.

Captain Gardiner called his run Berwick after his home town of Berwick upon Tweed in England. This meant the surrounding district was also known as Berwick. Many settlers soon followed and the township of Berwick was surveyed by Robert Hoddle at around 1852.

Early development

Pastoral activities remained the focus of the district's activity for many years, with the first community societies and associations being established in the 1850s.

District Road Boards, formed by landholders and householders, were proclaimed in Cranbourne in 1860 and in Berwick two years later. The first Cranbourne and Berwick Shires were created in 1868, two months apart.

Berwick

The Shire of Berwick underwent a number of changes due to the pressures of increasing development in the area. In 1970, the Berwick Shire Severance movement was formed to establish a new municipality in the urban section of the Shire.

The City of Berwick, being constituted from the Shire's Berwick and Doveton ridings, was proclaimed in 1973.

Wikipedia has more information about the City of Berwick.

Cranbourne

The boundaries of the Cranbourne Shire remained in place for 125 years. In April 1994, the City of Cranbourne was proclaimed by the Governor of Victoria, the Hon. Richard McGarvie.

Wikipedia has more information about the City of Cranbourne.

The City of Casey

In late 1994, local government in Victoria was the focus of widespread reform with the amalgamation of 210 municipalities into 78.

In December 1994, the City of Berwick was merged with the majority of the City of Cranbourne and a small part of the City of Knox to become the City of Casey.

How the City of Casey was named

On 15 December 1994, the City of Casey was named in recognition of the significant contributions to the region and to Australia of Lord Richard Gavin Gardiner Casey and Lady Maie Casey.

Lord Casey and Lady Maie lived on the property ‘Edrington’ in Berwick. Lord Casey was Governor-General of Australia and Lady Casey was an artist, author and aviator.

See Wikipedia for the full history of Lord Casey.

Find out more

You can read more about Casey's history on the Connected Libraries website.

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