Bonnie Watson Reserve

• Home to the Cannons Creek Community Place

Bonne Watson Reserve information board

Transcription (1st paragraph)

The Bonnie Watson Reserve

One of the earliest pioneers of Cannons Creek was the Watson family. Their gift of this 10 acres of land provided a recreation reserve for the people of / the creek. In the 1940’s the block consisted of cow paddocks surrounding a house, which burnt down in 1948. Previously known as the Glenalva Re- / serve, the Cannons Creek Residents Association pushed for a name change (made official in 1996) to recognise this donation from the Watson family. / An Italian man was believed to be living in the creek as early  as 1917, although the first official permanent resident, Bert Watson, settled in Cannons / Creek in 1940. Squizzy Taylor, one of Melbourne’s notorious gangsters, was rumoured to have hidden out at the creek at times in the late 1920’s

*other information regarding the flora, fauna  and walking tracks found in this native bush reserve are included on the board but not transcribed here. 

When we returned to this site in September 2014 we found additional signage reading Bonnie Watson Bushland Reserve.