Brooksdale

History

The current owners and operators of Brooksdale, Bruce and his son David Fry are direct descendents of Daniel and Sarah Fry. Daniel and Sarah arrived in Australia in 1850 when Port Philip District (Victoria) was still part of the Colony of New South Wales. Daniel and his sons initially engaged in bullock driving between Geelong and the gold and farming sites around the Grampians.

When in 1868, land that was part of the Victoria Valley run (operated by the Robertson family) was divided for selection, Peter Fry (Daniel's son) selected the portion of the land where he noticed his bullocks spent most time grazing.

This land ran through Victoria Valley and Mirranatwa, bounded by the Serra Range to the east, Victoria Range to the west, through to the Murra Murra to the north. After a period of occupancy the applicant could then apply to the Crown to purchase the land. The property was first named 'Serra Park' as it faced the Serra Range. Later the spelling was changed to 'Sierra Park' when the property changed hands following the death of Peter Fry in 1922. Prior to this, around 1917, Peter's son Charles had bought the neighbouring property of Brooksdale. This property was originally selected by the McIntyre family.

Brooksdale has remained in the Fry hands up until today. In 1987, the neighbouring 105 hectare property of 'Rosebank' was purchased by the Fry family bringing Brooksdale's total hectares to approximately 1000.