At just thirteen years of age, Allan Erlandson left the Swedish town of Bastad with his older brother Ola and sailed to the distant colony of Victoria in 1854. Like many young migrants of the era, he arrived in a land offering both opportunity and hardship.

After early years spent during the gold rush period, Allan settled in Geelong where, in 1865, he married Mary Blakiston at Christ Church. Surviving letters between the couple reveal a deep affection and enduring devotion to one another.

The following year Allan and Mary moved to Elliminyt near Colac, where newly subdivided land offered the chance to build a farm and raise a family. Together they established a life in the harsh conditions of the Victorian bush. Allan worked full-time as a mail carrier while also clearing land by hand, fencing paddocks and building tracks so cattle could be moved across the property. The family initially lived in a simple bark hut while Allan struggled to transform the rugged landscape into a productive farm.

The pressures of pioneering life often followed Allan into the courtroom. Over the years he was fined for offences including wandering cattle, unpaid labour debts, driving furiously and failing to carry a lamp on his dray at night; small but telling signs of a man stretched beyond his limits while trying to provide for his growing family.

In 1884 Allan died of pneumonia aged only forty-one, leaving Mary to raise their nine children alone. He was remembered as “a most deserving and industrious man.” His gravestone bears the words: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”


Research by Merrill O'Donnell
Story by Kerrie Ryan


Research by Merrill O’Donnell
Story by Kerrie Ryan

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