The tiny hamlet of Johanna is one of those places that you either know or don’t. You don’t just stumble across it, as it’s pretty out of the way. You find Johanna on the southwest coast of Victoria, about 220kms from Melbourne or a 3 hour drive. Its nearest towns are Laver’s Hill and beyond that the much larger Colac to the north and Apollo Bay to the east.
Johanna’s known for a few things. First, the lush lands there are perfect for cattle grazing. Second, when the swell is down at Bell’s Beach at Easter it’s the “go to” place to hold the event. The surf always seems to be running at Johanna. And third, it’s on the Great Ocean Walk. But this post isn’t really about those things. No, as usual, it’s about things that are little known or lost.
Johanna, or Johanna River as it’s formally known, is named after the schooner Joanna that sank off the coast there on 22 September 1843. You’ll note the spelling difference – the added “H.” It’s amazing how often in history a letter is added or left off from what it is actually meant to be. The Johanna River is also so named and flows into the ocean at Johanna.
The Wreck of the Joanna
On 2 October 1843, the Geelong Advertiser reported: (1)
“WRECK OF THE JOANNA.
The Joanna, schooner, on her voyage from Launceston to Port Fairy and Portland Bay, was totally wrecked on the coast between Cape Otway and Moonlight Head, on Friday the 22nd instant. For two days previous the weather had been very boisterous. On the morning of the 20th, the wind was from the northward; the vessel's course was then W.N.W., so as to hug the coast, as there was every likelihood of the wind continuing from the northward ; the wind then shifted gradually round to the westward, still blowing a perfect gale of wind ; at ten A.M., on the 21st, wore ship in consequence of the wind hauling to the south west, an attempt was made to take observations for the latitude and longitude, but the sea was so great that it was found impracticable —the captain having been nearly thrown overboard in making the attempt. It was thought that the ship would forge to the westward so as to get round Moonlight Head, as the wind continued to haul round to the southward until it was S. W. At noon set the balanced reeled mainsail and reefed jib: the fore gaff having been previously knocked to pieces. There were at this time three feet water in the hold and all hands were kept at the pump, notwithstanding every exertion the water was fast gaining, and the only hope appeared to be to get round Moonlight Head, and that the wind might haul to the eastward, the vessel being too far to the westward to fetch round Cape Otway back again.
At midnight the gale increased until it blew a perfect hurricane, so that it was impossible to carry any canvas except what was necessary to heave her to.
At 3 A. M. the vessel began to roll very heavily and the sea to top with violence, it was at this time impossible to see twice the length of the vessel. Five minutes after this the vessel was found to be perfectly within the breakers, the first sea that broke on board swept the decks of the boat, and a seaman named William Cooper, as well as everything that was loose about the decks. Between the intervals of the sea striking her, high land was discerned to leeward.
In about five minutes afterwards, the vessel struck and beat upon the sand beach until daylight, the sea making constant breaches over her. No attempt was made to leave the ship till daylight. The Captain was not on deck when the first sea broke over here, but as he put his head up the small companion, he heard William Cooper cry out, and he supposed him to have been in the boat when it was swept away. At daylight it was found impossible to do anything for the preservation of the vessel or cargo, the sea breaking with such violence that it stove in the main hatch.
On the 23rd a small quantity of provisions was got on shore, such as was thought necessary to enable them to proceed to Melbourne with. Not knowing the country they thought there might be some rivers along the coast which they could not cross, for which reason they did not go to the westward. On the afternoon of the 23rd the party of survivors started towards Melbourne, after a short distance they found great difficulty in crossing a river (the Captain of the Joanna and many others had often supposed to be a port, but had found it not to be navigable even for boats). After traveling upwards for five miles, they effected a crossing at a flat where the water was about four feet deep. That evening they arrived at Cape Otway with much difficulty. No fresh water was found on the first day. On the third day, their stock of provisions failed. They then lived during the space of two days upon such shell fish as they could knock off the rocks. On the fifth and sixth days their route lay along sandy beaches and cliffs, where they could find no shellfish. On the afternoon of the sixth day they came to a dead whale, the blubber of which had not been taken off, and upon which they were glad to satisfy their hunger. On the same evening they fell in with a party of natives who did not however show any hostility except in asking for clothes. The shipwrecked men gave them such as they could spare, and induced one of the blacks to go with them as a guide. The black seemed disposed to act treacherously, for he did not take the party direct to Mr. Willis's station close to which they must have been. In passing along the cliffs, the tide was making very fast, so that they were compelled to swim round some parts of it, and received some very severe wounds against the rocks in doing so. When they again came to a sandy beach, they halted to dry their clothes, and when one of their number went up the bank he saw a hut which proved to belong to an out station of Mr. Willis to the west of Barwon Heads, where they were very kindly treated, and next day, (Saturday the 30th) they arrived at Geelong in a state of great exhaustion. The survivors consist of the Captain, two seamen, and one passenger. A subscription has been set on foot for their relief, and after the above statement of facts connected with the wreck, the appeal to the public, we are satisfied, will not be made in vain. The Joanna was quite a new vessel, the property of Mr. Cassidy of Launceston, and was not insured.”
Joanna’s reported manifest on sailing from Launceston was:
“September 13. — JOANNA, (schooner,) 22 tons, Irving, master, for Portland. 1 bale slops, D. & S. Benjamin; 10 boxes soap, 10 ditto' candles, J. Farrell ; 12 boxes soap, 7 tons flour, 1 ton potatoes, 4 cases stout, 2 casks ale, 1200 palings, 6 cases Geneva, 1 quarter cask brandy, 1 cask rum, 12 bushels oats, J. G. Irving; 2 tons flour, 1 case slops, 1 cradle frame, 2 packages slops, J. Robertson ; 2 tons flour, 7 bags sugar, 1 case glass, 1 chest tea, 1 bale wool packs, Kerr & Co.” (2)
Johanna River Township
A township in the parish of Aire was originally proclaimed on 12 October 1891. (3) Curiously, the township was not specifically named (as they usually are) in that proclamation but it was clearly the Township of Johanna River. The size of the proclaimed township is not at first clear but by calculation from the references given it was around 135 - 140 acres in size.
The township was then reduced in size in 1896 and correspondence held at the Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV) shows that a land selector in the area campaigned and applied to have part (most) of the proclaimed land thrown open for selection as the land proclaimed included the side of a hill and flats that flooded in winter. That selector was Martin Evans and he later managed to firstly lease and then purchase most of that originally proclaimed land. (4)
In his original letter of 14 April 1896 to Mr James Short, the surveyor of the lands, he said:
“I am writing to you to try and get the township at the Johanna thrown open for selection as it is no good for buildings purposes as you know the hills are too steep and the flat floods in winter and it is full of thisles (sic) and the selectors say it is no good for a township it only grows thisles (sic) and spoils holdings. There is about (320) acres in the township I think. I was having a look at it & I think it would make a very good block for growing crop & grazing purposes. I want a piece of ground as you know Mr Taylor better that I do. The township goes both sides of the river so if it can be got thrown open for selection I suppose selection would go both sides also.”
What’s even more interesting about his campaign is that his request prompted the proposed move of the entire township from the selected location, eastwards about four kilometres to near where Evans Track now intersects with the Great Ocean Road.
James Short, in his May 1896 letter to Mr Taylor (of the Lands Department) made the proposal, stating the following.
“I beg to state that the greater portion of the area reserved is unsuitable for township purposes, as the land consists of alluvial flats along the course of the Joanna, which are subject to flooding, of steep hills on the north & of low sand hills in the south. Portion of the latter is the only land suitable for building purposes, & I think the portion north of the coast road should be made available for selection, & the remainder between the road, & the beach reserved for public purposes. It is very problematical whether a township will ever be required in this locality, but if so there is a much more suitable site, east of the Joanna, South of the coast road & between the Joanna, & Brown’s creek.
If the township site be revoked, there would be no objection to shifting the coast road surveyed by me further south to the foot of the said hills, so as to leave more of the alluvial flat available for selection.”
In reading this one can only wonder why, in 1891, they proclaimed first this site and then the whole of this area to start with.
Not long after this the township was reduced in size in October 1896 (5), with all of the lands north of the coast road revoked as a township and thrown open for selection. As mentioned earlier, Martin Evans secured the land.
November 1898 (6) saw the size of the township further rescinded as in August the Red Johanna Road had been formally gazetted. The adjustment was to further reduce all the land north of the road. This adjustment relates to the land on which we now find the Johanna River Special Purposes Reserve – where the two old tennis courts are located.
Then finally the “Township in the Parish of Aire” was rescinded in October 1952 (7), and while never named in the Gazettes, the name Johanna River remains as a reminder on the Aire Parish Map.
The Aire Parish map shows the site of the original proclaimed township, bordering Old Coach Road on the foreshore, as well as three township lots that were there and the public hall lands. The Public Hall was gazetted in December 1910. Interestingly the three “township” blocks were not first sold off until 1963 but now well and truly form part of the Great Otway National Park at the entry to the foreshore camping reserve and the Great Ocean Walk.
What is also little known about Johanna River, other than being proclaimed a township is that it once had a school. Johanna River School #3439 was built on the site set out for the Public Hall. The plans for the school, described as accommodating 32 students, were signed off by the Chief Architect in August 1944. (8) It seems, however, that the school was opened earlier, probably in 1942. Now long gone, the school stood near where the current day amenities block has been constructed on the entry to the reserve.
Newspaper records, however, indicate that there was another school building at Johanna River, as early at 1914, when it was listed as being a polling place for the division of Corangamite. (9)
Post Office
The immediate area also once had two post offices. One was in Johanna and was in a house, known as the “palm tree house”, that still stands near the intersection of the Blue and Red roads. The other was at Johanna Heights located, unsurprisingly, up the hill overlooking the township of Johanna River.
Roads
There are two main roads in Johanna. Blue Johanna and Red Johanna roads. I am reliably told by long-time locals that the reason for the names is the former colours of the roads. The Blue being of blue metal and the Red being of red dirt, which is odd really as today that’s reversed with the red being made of bitumen and the blue road unmade dirt.
The Blue Road has also changed its course slightly over time at the southern end nearest the water. For the last 400m or so it used to run more to the east and on the eastern side of a stand of pine trees, then over the rise to the bottom and the Red Road. In 1992, and as part of a plan of subdivision of that area, it was moved to its present course.
The other “road” in Johanna is of course the “Old Coach Road” parts of which still exist, like the first part of the road into the camping reserve and the “road” up the hill to the West on the Great Ocean Walk. One can only wonder how the early settlers navigated these roads.
Land Selection / Leases
As discussed earlier, land selection in the immediate area took place around the turn of the 19th century; however, land leases had been in place in the region for some time.
And so today there’s still no township, store, or any infrastructure at Johanna other than the old tennis courts and the new bbq’s. That’s now where the local community gets together. It’s quite fitting, in some ways, that it’s on the land that was originally set for a township.
Have fun out there.
CG
A little more about Johanna:
References:
(1) "WRECK OF THE JOANNA." Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1840 - 1845) 2 October 1843: 2 (Morning.). Web. 29 Dec 2017 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92678205>.
(2) "Launceston Shipping List." The Teetotal Advocate (Launceston, Tas. : 1843) 18 September 1843: 2. Web. 29 Dec 2017 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article228138540>.
(3) Victoria Government Gazette No. 129 16 October 1891 p. 4234
(4) 558/42, Martin Evans, Aire 71 71A, 175—0—0. PROV. VPRS 5357/P0000/237. Land selection and correspondence files.
(5) VGG No. 103 9 October 1896 p. 4155
(6) VGG No. 101 4 November 1898 p.3915
(7) VGG No. 833 22 October 1952 p. 5865
(8) SSO 3439 Johanna River School No 3439 New Building For 32 Students. PROV. VPRS 3686/P0006/3324. Pre-Metric Building Plans.
(9) "Advertising" Terang Express (Vic. : 1914 - 1918) 11 August 1914: 4. Web. 29 Dec 2017 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129368049>.
(10) Johanna River State School 6 negatives. PROV. VPRS 10516/P0001/2. Photographs and Negatives of Government Buildings.
(11) Johanna Post Office. National Archives of Australia. Series No. 5919, Control symbol 969.