Qualla: Strathallan Estate https://qualla.com/strathallan-estate en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:28 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/r/n/x/h/strathallan-estate-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Strathallan Estate https://qualla.com/strathallan-estate Strathallan Estate: Introduction https://qualla.com/strathallan-estate/ Photo credit Donald Fraser, CC BY 4.0. On 5 February 1840, a Scotsman named Neil McLean paid 816 pounds for two Crown Portions in the Parish of Keelbundoora and named them Strathallan, after a valley in Perthshire he apparently missed. Nearly 200 years later, that name still marks the street grid on the eastern edge of Melbourne's suburb of Macleod - roughly 70 hectares bounded by the Hurstbridge railway line, Wattle Drive, Greensborough Highway, and the Golf Links Estate. Between those two dates lie two bankruptcies, a Royal Commission into corruption, a railway line that was never built as planned, and a land swap enabled by its own act of parliament.

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Image: Donald Fraser | CC BY 4.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/n/x/h/strathallan-estate-wp/rnxh-strathallan-estate-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Strathallan Estate: A Scottish Name in a Gum Forest https://qualla.com/strathallan-estate/ Photo credit Donald Fraser, CC BY 4.0. When McLean arrived, the flatter ground was still dotted with river red gums, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, trees that can live a thousand years and hollow out into homes for possums and parrots. Most of the canopy came down for grazing. McLean's brother Malcolm took over the estate ...

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Image: Donald Fraser | CC BY 4.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/n/x/h/strathallan-estate-wp/rnxh-strathallan-estate-a-scottish-name-in-a-gum-forest.mp3 0:06 2 full Strathallan Estate: The Bankruptcy of Charles Henry James https://qualla.com/strathallan-estate/ Photo credit Donald Fraser, CC BY 4.0. In December 1888, at the peak of Melbourne's land boom, Charles Henry James MLC bought Strathallan from the McLean family for 234,000 pounds - an extraordinary sum, nearly 300 times what McLean had paid. James was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council and a major player i...

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Image: Donald Fraser | CC BY 4.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/n/x/h/strathallan-estate-wp/rnxh-strathallan-estate-the-bankruptcy-of-charles-henry-james.mp3 0:06 3 full Strathallan Estate: A Railway That Would Not Fit https://qualla.com/strathallan-estate/ Photo credit Donald Fraser, CC BY 4.0. The Commercial Bank subdivided Strathallan into three sections and on 18 December 1908 sold the northern and central portions to Edith Jessie Macleod for 6,000 pounds. The next day, 19 December 1908, a thin 31.51-hectare strip was sold to the State Government of Victoria for 2,37...

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Image: Donald Fraser | CC BY 4.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/n/x/h/strathallan-estate-wp/rnxh-strathallan-estate-a-railway-that-would-not-fit.mp3 0:06 4 full Strathallan Estate: The Mont Park Land Act of 1910 https://qualla.com/strathallan-estate/ Photo credit Donald Fraser, CC BY 4.0. Parliament passed an entire act to fix the mess. The Mont Park Land Act 1910 authorized a land swap between Edith Macleod and the Crown, trading the unusable steep strip for flatter land that could actually carry a train. The Mont Park branch line was built heading north-west fro...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/n/x/h/strathallan-estate-wp/rnxh-strathallan-estate-the-mont-park-land-act-of-1910.mp3 0:06 5 full Strathallan Estate: Selling a Suburb https://qualla.com/strathallan-estate/ Photo credit Donald Fraser, CC BY 4.0. Part 2 was a different proposition. Surveyed by Donald Fraser, these lots were larger - one or two acres apiece - and went on sale from 1913. Sales were slow. Many buyers simply bundled lots together for later subdivision, and some parcels sat unsold so long that Edith re-surveye...

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Image: Donald Fraser | CC BY 4.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/n/x/h/strathallan-estate-wp/rnxh-strathallan-estate-selling-a-suburb.mp3 0:06 6 full Strathallan Estate: What the Name Really Marks https://qualla.com/strathallan-estate/ Photo credit Donald Fraser, CC BY 4.0. One last piece of trivia matters. The nearby Strathalan homestead - spelled without the double-l - is unrelated. The Baptcare Strathalan Aged-Care Homes take their name from that other place, and locals sometimes confuse them. But Strathallan Estate traces directly to Neil McLean...

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Image: Donald Fraser | CC BY 4.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/n/x/h/strathallan-estate-wp/rnxh-strathallan-estate-what-the-name-really-marks.mp3 0:06 7 full