Dowlingville. Whittaker invented a stump jump plough in 1876 about the same time that the Smith brothers did at Arthurton. This plough is outside the old Whittaker homestead with ripening wheat paddocks in front of it.
Dowlingville.
The settlement was established in 1876. It had a Post Office for many years which is now just a quaint galvanised iron shed with mail boxes which is on the State Heritage register. The school was started in 1880 which is about the time the stone school room was built. The school provided education until 1949 when it became a residence. The galvanised iron Public Hall was built in 1909. Further along the road is the Wesleyan Methodist Church built and opened in 1879. It still operates as a Uniting Church. Until recently the long drop ladies toilet here was a triple seater for one adult and two children! The settlement also has an example of the Whittaker stump jump plough. William and Maria Whittaker from America took up land here in 1876 and their eldest son George Dowling Whittaker invented the first two and three furrow stump jump ploughs in 1877 at his blacksmith shop. The Smith brothers a few miles away at Arthurton invented a single furrow stump jump plough in 1876. George’s brothers helped him in producing the stump jump ploughs which had won first prize in a ploughing competition at Ardrossan in 1880. They produced the ploughs from 1877 into the mind 1880s but his blacksmith works continued beyond that. George was born in Wisconsin in the United States. Coincidentally he died in 1901 the same year as Clarence Smith his business rival. This settlement was at the junction of five roads and it was named after a Whittaker family name- Dowling. George’s wife’s maiden name was Dowling
Dowlingville. Whittaker invented a stump jump plough in 1876 about the same time that the Smith brothers did at Arthurton. This plough is outside the old Whittaker homestead with ripening wheat paddocks in front of it.
Dowlingville.
The settlement was established in 1876. It had a Post Office for many years which is now just a quaint galvanised iron shed with mail boxes which is on the State Heritage register. The school was started in 1880 which is about the time the stone school room was built. The school provided education until 1949 when it became a residence. The galvanised iron Public Hall was built in 1909. Further along the road is the Wesleyan Methodist Church built and opened in 1879. It still operates as a Uniting Church. Until recently the long drop ladies toilet here was a triple seater for one adult and two children! The settlement also has an example of the Whittaker stump jump plough. William and Maria Whittaker from America took up land here in 1876 and their eldest son George Dowling Whittaker invented the first two and three furrow stump jump ploughs in 1877 at his blacksmith shop. The Smith brothers a few miles away at Arthurton invented a single furrow stump jump plough in 1876. George’s brothers helped him in producing the stump jump ploughs which had won first prize in a ploughing competition at Ardrossan in 1880. They produced the ploughs from 1877 into the mind 1880s but his blacksmith works continued beyond that. George was born in Wisconsin in the United States. Coincidentally he died in 1901 the same year as Clarence Smith his business rival. This settlement was at the junction of five roads and it was named after a Whittaker family name- Dowling. George’s wife’s maiden name was Dowling