The history of Nathania

1890 - 1949

Nathania Springs as it is known today, has had a rich and colourful past, dating back to the late 1800’s.  

1890's - 1919 : Early settlers 
The first permanent resident of Monbulk, Benjamin Simcox, selected the 10 acre block now known as Nathania Springs in 1893, when the Government opened the land for selection. Benjamin, who hailed from Birmingham, England, arrived in Australia at the age of 18 years and around 1858 spent some time in the Ranges, having joined the Emerald Gold Rush.

Simcox, a firewood seller, lived in Frances St, Collingwood and left there to make his home in Monbulk when the land was open for selection. Ben died in 1932, at the age of 94. Ben originally called his selection 'Nethania Springs' meaning 'gift from God' because of a number of natural springs which form the source of the Emerald Creek.

The name was changed to Nathania Springs after 1909. At a time when most settlers were clearing their properties, Ben Simcox, by contrast, cultivated the native plants and planted most of the large trees seen on the property today. He diverted the natural water supply to form ornamental garden pools stocked with trout and native black fish.

In the early 1900's the spectacular gardens he established became the premier tourist attraction of the Dandenongs. In November 1909, Ben Simcox sold Nathania Springs to Councillor Ferdinand Thomas Le Juge, a boarding house proprietor and later the town baker.  

1910 - 1946 : The Tea Gardens
William Bowman, a fruiterer, bought the property in 1910. He further developed the gardens for tourists. Other early owners of Nathania Springs included William Fergusson, an Accountant, (1919-1923) and Francis Scudds, a landed Gentleman (1923-1931). In 1931, the Orchardist Frederick Gay (Ben Simcox's Nephew) and his wife Emily, bought Nathania Springs, which had become developed as a tourist attraction and a mini botanical gardens with fish ponds and lakes filled with tame black fish and trout.

Visitors came by narrow gauge railway train to Ferntree Gully thence by horse & cart. Other visitors would arrive by motor car, in the back of furniture vans or charabancs (long extended chassis with open canvas cover) to picnic in the gardens. It was run by Mr & Mrs Gay and their five children. Admission was sixpence, paid at the gate.

During the summers of 1924, 1925 & 1926 up to a thousand people a day would arrive to visit the gardens. Hot water and cut flowers were for sale. Famous Identities such as Prime Minister Billy Hughes, Dame Nellie Melba and Douglas Mawson would come to the Dandenongs to look through Nathania Springs.

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