p 105

Wopper

. . . At the time of our story one of these was a jovial, short bearded, slightly corpulent
man of about fifty-six years, neatly dressed and with the means to terminate his Melbourne business career and retire at Sorrento after establishing a comfortable home near the foreshore.
He was known as ‘Wopper’, an expression he generally used
when a hooked fish gave a heavy tug on the line . . .

Here we meet Wopper for the first time. He will become an important character. Despite extensive research we have been unable to identify a possible historical basis for him.

All the actual Councilors from the West Ward (encompassing Portsea to Rye) have been identified as either characters we have already met in the book, or are other lifelong locals. There was never a “North Riding”.

The longest serving Councilor in the Shire was John Cain (1875 -1909) ¹

p111

. . . Wopper was elected unopposed, and a few days after his first meeting, held at Murphy’s Hotel in Dromana, he described it to Alfie over their whisky at Lugger Jack’s bar . . .

There is a story that Victor accompanied his Grandfather John Boswell Clark (Councilor 1896 – 1901) to a Council meeting at Murphy’s Hotel in Dromana. This story may well be based on his recollections.

p115

. . . the geological fact that the high ridge from Arthur’s Seat, Dromana to Cape Schanck
is basaltic rock of igneous origin; and the soil eastward of this ridge is composed of clay; whereas to westward we find only sandy soil superimposed on limestone. . . .

There is some truth in Wopper’s assessment –

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1. Lime Land Leisure 1982 by Charles Hollinshed p201 ↩︎