Talk to Charlie Watson for 15 minutes and you’ll appreciate his passion for his home town of Diggers Rest.
“We [the Watson family] have lived in the area since the 1800s,” the third-generation resident says. “It was the first stop out of Melbourne for the diggers, hence the town’s name.
“The town has changed so much. Pre-1960 it was all farm land, one post office, the hotel and a shop.”
After collecting information for many years, Watson, with the support of the Diggers Rest Lions Club, has decided to write a history of the town.
“We have folders and folders of stuff at our house,’’ he says.
“If I don’t sit down and start doing this now, it won’t happen.
“There’s school photos dating back to 1913 and we have the original Melton council meeting minutes. There’s information about my dad, who went to the school in 1918 and the family used to own the hotel in the 1890s.”
Watson says he’s looking to include as much information as possible.
“We are going to begin with the start of the town [in 1842] and work our way to the present.
“We’ll talk to the school, Scouts and sporting clubs and get copies of documents and photos.”
Author Shirley Van Keulen, who is Watson’s cousin and also attended Diggers Rest Primary School, will help with the book.
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