Alexander MacDonald & Boonurrong Aboriginal TribePrint Page

The monument commemorates Alexander MacDonald who was the first permanent European settler in the District, and the Boonurrong Aboriginal Tribe whose camping grounds were along the banks of Mordialloc Creek. 

From 1842 to 1852 Alexander Macdonald had a Run known as Mordiallock No2 which was to the East of the township. This run of five square miles was conducted in conjunction with Hunter from November 1848 to January 1850 and with Ballingall from 1850 to 1851. [22] There, after the creation of the colony of Victoria in 1851 when the government withdrew the leases held by squatters, surveyed the land, divided it into portions and offered it for sale by auction, Alexander Macdonald took the opportunity to purchase 453 acres of the original run. He did this on 24 September 1855. 

For thirty seven years Alexander Vause Macdonald was a resident of Mordialloc. During that time, in addition to his work as a grazier and hotel keeper, he contributed to the community in various ways. In 1861 he made a deposition at the official inquiry into the death of a aboriginal woman known to the European settlers as Betsy. In that statement he pointed out that he distributed rations, flour, sugar, tea, tobacco, and soap together with an annual allocation of blankets, to the aboriginals at the request of Mr Thomas who held the official position of Protector of Aborigines. For this work he was not paid. He did it for the ‘sake of charity’. [27]

Alexander Macdonald was a signatory in 1865, along with several other Mordialloc residents, to a petition requesting a government grant to establish a primary school in their town. Alexander Macdonald drowned in 1881 and was buried in the Cheltenham Pioneer Cemetery. 
Excerpt from City Kingston Historical Website. 
http://localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au

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