OSWIN, William (Bill), J.P.

23/6/1873 - 12/11/1962

William Oswin was born at the residence of his grandfather, William Mills, at Kingston, Brighton, Victoria on 23rd June, 1873.

William’s parents, John and Georgina Oswin, farmed at Balnarring on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.  Family diaries (kept meticulously by his mother Georgina) first record references to William in 1881.  Although he was only eight years of age he was given a given responsibility for chores around the farm.  He helped with the moving of stock between blocks, hunting for strays and doing messages for his mother.

William attended Balnarring school, about four miles from home.  He stayed with his grandparents during the week and returned home on Friday evening.  School attendance was irregular due to the need to help on the farm.

He was a good cricketer, playing for Bittern during his time at Balnarring.  After one game against Cowes, the press described him as a “demon bowler” when he took three wickets in four balls for no runs.  He also played football and took part in woodchopping events and rifle shooting.

In 1896, at the age of 23, William was doing contract work around the district with two other men. Diary entries tell of William packing wool with Mr Tullis, a neighbour, dipping lambs, helping to cart hay, shooting and skinning a cow.

During 1897 he spent a good deal of time working on improving the family house.  He was also said to have worked as a logging contractor, hauling heavy timber, mostly piles for Melbourne and local piers.

At the age of twenty-one William first showed interest in being involved in local council.  He opposed the president of Flinders Shire and lost by one vote; the next year he fought another election and won.

In 1899, after deciding that food processing looked healthy for the future, William left for Portland to learn the meat tinning business.  On his return home he again carried out tasks around the farm, cutting wattle wood and stripping bark to send to tanneries.

In 1906 William found permanent work at the Newlyn Butter Factory that was owned at the time by his brother Ernest.

It was here that he met Elsie May Scott, born in 1882, who was the daughter of Frederick and Emma Scott who were farmers at Kingston. At Newlyn, William played tennis and took part in shooting contests at Mt Prospect.

In 1907, with Mr Fred Crisp as partner, William bought the Newlyn Butter Factory and in 1910 Mr Crisp sold his share to William who continued the business successfully.

William and Elsie married on November 11th, 1910 at St Kilda where Elsie’s parents now lived, having sold their Kingston farm.  Elsie’s father followed his business as a boot manufacturer.

Three of William and Elsie’s children, William (1912), Audrey (1914) and Jean (1918) were born during their time at Newlyn.

In 1915 William, along with others including Sir Alexander Peacock, was recorded as speaking for residents to farewell volunteers leaving to fight in World War One.  In 1916 at a concert held in aid of the Newlyn Red Cross, William appealed by means of a poem he had composed, in support of the society.

On the 19th August, 1921 William sold the butter factory to the Wallace Dairy Company.  This company then closed the factory and collected the district’s cream and delivered it to their factory at Wallace.  William then bought a motor garage in Albert Street, Creswick on the present site of Creswick Autotune, opposite the Town Hall.  He worked in the garage and also did some hire car work.

When moving to Creswick, the family first lived in Luttet Street before moving to their home on the corner of Albert and Church Streets.  The house had a high cypress hedge on two sides and was to be their home for the next forty-two years.  Their sons John (1922) and Donald (1924) were born in Creswick, to add to their other three children.

William played cricket and captained Creswick for some years in the early 1920s, and was vice-president of the club in 1926 along with some others including Sir Alexander Peacock, with J.A. Graham as president.

Around the time of moving to Creswick, William became interested in standing for the Creswick Borough Council.  In May 1920 he stood against Thomas Cushing and was defeated by ten votes, however by September 1920 was welcomed to the council by the Mayor, Councillor Grose.  This was the

beginning of an association that lasted over thirty years, except for a brief break with illness in 1939.

Along with Councillor Boustead, William was responsible for persuading the council, not only to begin a progressive road sealing program, but to spend £2,000 on a big grader.  From that grader’s earnings, the council bought more plant which, in turn, earned money to buy more plant.

In 1934, the Shire and Borough of Creswick were amalgamated and the councillors of the united municipalities held their first meeting in the Shire Hall, Kingston on June 13th, 1934.  William was one of six of the nine former members of the Borough present at the meeting.

For forty-six years William was a member of the local committee of repatriation which acted as a liaison between ex-service personnel and the Repatriation Commission.  He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1926 and was also deputy coroner, among other public activities. In the 1930s William officiated at a number of inquests in Creswick involving accidental deaths.  Probably the most important inquiry he conducted was to establish the circumstances of a death (possibly a murder) at Kooroocheang.

Just before the depression, William and other local businessmen invested heavily in local industries (tile, paint works etc) with the idea of creating local employment, but with the arrival of the Depression all investors lost heavily.

At home, William played the piano and the organ, as well as being a reader on many subjects.  His wife was most interested in the Red Cross, the Methodist Guild and was renowned for her culinary expertise.

He was also interested in mining and did much experimenting with the divining rod.  In 1932 he had his eldest boy dig a shaft in the front garden of the house in Albert Street (not at the garage).  Unfortunately, he left the hose running on his vegetable garden and the water soaked into the shaft, ruining it.  The two youngest children were then given the task of filling in the shaft.

At the time of William’s retirement from council in 1951, the Creswick Advertiser acknowledged “…there was probably no councillor in Victoria more conversant with the Local Government Act than Councillor Oswin”.  The paper also named William as “…the author of the progressive scheme which is developing Newlyn’s and Dean’s recreation grounds, after being a century without such amenities.”

At the time of his death in 1962, the Advertiser reported that “…although he detested personal publicity and was rather retiring, he was actually a colourful as a councillor, pulling no punches when he considered a course of action correct, and watching every of expenditure”.

William and Elsie celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1960 when all member of the family met at their home in Creswick. It was the first time all the family had been together for ten years and all grand children were there.

Elsie May Oswin died at Glen Iris on August 21st, 1962 aged 80.  William died on November 12th, 1962 aged 89 years.  Both were cremated and their ashes interred at the Ballarat Crematorium.  They have since been moved to the Creswick Cemetery.