By Derek Schlennstedt
“Long before Australian settlement, native peoples drifted into the Dandenongs in search of rest, coolness and respite, to the hills this quiet people gave a name Corhanwarrabul – a desirable and attractive place replete with birds flying, Kangaroos jumping and lyrebirds singing.”
Nearly 60 years ago, Helen Coulson wrote the book The Story of the Dandenongs which described pioneering life in the Dandenong Ranges from 1938 to 1958.
Today her book is considered to be hills’ historians’ primary reference guide and a bible for researchers, hobbyists, and those with any interest in the history of the region.
With the book turning 60 in January and Ms Coulson’s 100th birthday in December, the Mail took time to speak with her about the enduring legacy she has left in the hills.
“I’m quite pleased to hear that it’s still being used as a reference book,” she said.
“I suppose there have been other books since then, but the fact that it would’ve been the first to encompass that area makes it special.
“I spent a lot of time interviewing people…I was able to talk to a lot of the people who had been original pioneers.
“I suppose I was in time to actually talk to the people who lived out that era – from that point of view I was just in the nick of time.”
Growing up in Upwey in the 1920s and ’30s, Ms Coulson always had an affinity for history.
That affinity and interest was born from a love of writing and she would often ask questions of her elders, take notes and write stories for no-one else but herself.
It wasn’t until 1948, after she and her husband moved to Horsham, that she became a published historian, writing a centenary booklet for Horsham and then being commissioned by the local Dandenong Ranges council to write The Story of the Dandenongs.
That book has been reprinted even 30 years later – the history within its pages more relevant than ever.
Though Ms Coulson said that the book was delayed for several years at the time due to the council not thinking it was important enough.
“What the council of the time did is put an ad in the paper asking for people who were interested to put their hands up,” she said.
“Even though I lived in Horsham, I was frequently back in the Dandenongs so I applied to do it.
“Of course I finished it but it wasn’t published until a few years later because council felt they shouldn’t be seen putting out a book when they could be seen paying for roads, potholes and bridges.”
For the last 58 years, Ms Coulson has lived in Echuca.
There she established a historical society and wrote a number of historical books which were recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2016.
A few months off her 100th birthday, Ms Coulson said she never expected the book to become so widely regarded and read and was content in the knowledge that the history of Dandenongs had not disappeared into the background.
“I really think you have to know what’s occurred in the past so you can have some sort of pointer on how to move forward,” she said.
“I think by their nature people like to know what’s happened beforehand.”
