Richard Howitt

The Howitt brothers, Richard and Godfrey, were amongst Alphington’s first residents. They purchased their land in the first land sales of 1840. Whilst most of the original purchasers were land speculators the Howitts planned to turn their land into a working farm. Their property ran from about Separation Street south to the Yarra River, roughly where Alphington Park now resides. Their long, narrow block was 95 acres. The brothers struggled to clear their land of the huge red gums which covered much of Alphington and lower Fairfield. In the end it proved too much for them and they passed the land onto their nephew Tom. Tom in turn failed to produce a living from the land and it was sold about 1843.

Lacey, Geoff (2004).  Still glides the stream : the natural history of the Yarra from Heidelberg to Yarra Bend.  Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing.

Lemon, Andrew (1993). Northcote Side of the River. North Melbourne :Hargreen