The Mountjoy Family of Lorne

The Mountjoys, after which the main street Mountjoy Parade is named, were among the early successful pioneers. They immigrated from Cornwall, had sheep and dairy properties at Deans Marsh and also leased one of the first houses at Ceres, near Geelong.

The Mountjoys built a two-room dwelling on the beachfront at Lorne in 1865 for fishing weekends, riding their horses down from Deans Marsh. The word got around that there was great fishing and beautiful beaches there and Mrs Mountjoy, who was known as being a very hospitable old lady, would never knock anyone back for a bed. Within a couple of years they built a Temperance Hotel, which with extensions became a guest house known as Erskine House, a real landmark in the town and the scene of many of the elite social gatherings. This tiny house was to become the core of what is now 153 years later, Mantra Resort, the oldest and largest guesthouse in Victoria in continuous operation.

Thomas and Caleb Mountjoy ran the Temperance Hotel and then Erskine House and started a coach run from Birregurra and later from Deans Marsh. They did quite well with the run because they had the land to grow crops to feed the horses. Cobb and eo came to Lorne and tried to compete but failed because the green feed was not available, they had to cart all their feed into town.

The Mountjoys introduced their own horse drawn tourist coaches to service their growing enterprises and these were driven by Frank and Oscar Mountjoy from their stables on old Otway Street near the corner of Grove Road. The huge building, clad with corrugated iron consisted of ten horse stalls, a large feed loft above and room for several coaches. A four-roomed residence for the caretaker was also incorporated into the complex.

In the early days, both Mountjoy coaches and the famous Cobb & Co coaches collected Lorne bound tourists from the Winchelsea Railway Station. After 1891 passengers were transferred at Birregurra onto a smaller train to travel a branch line to the new Deans Marsh station. The Mountjoys built more stables at the rear of the new station.

The Mountjoys planted an apricot orchard on the bank of the river and it was still producing fruit for well over 50 years. The vegetable gardens and orchards were where the Kio-Ora Caravan Park is today, only ceasing operation in the early 1960s.

Laurence Mountjoy built a house and store on the corner of Grove Road and Mountjoy Parade, next door to where Argyll House was built. Argyll House was first called Roslin , after a small town 11 km south of Edinburgh, by the builder/owner William Mountjoy.

Source:

  • Lorne –  A Living History by Doug Stirling
  • Doug Stirling conversation 2024
  • Malcolm Graham Lorne Historical Society President 1996