Abel Thorpe came with his wife and family from England and landed at Port Phillip in 1840. He then engaged in sheep farming on the Loddon River, the property, 'Memsie,' at Bridgewater, recently purchased by the Government for the purpose of closer settlement, being part of his run. He suffered great losses of stock in the droughts of the early days, and more than once was under the necessity of boiling down his flocks to prevent total loss. Mr. Thorpe was the inventor, either wholly or in part, of the present drafting gate, which was used for the first time on his station. Unfortunately for himself, as his run was situated centrally to many important goldfields, he sold out just before 1851. He next occupied a station on the Geelong plains and afterwards another at Newlands (Coburg), where he died in 1854.

Mr. Thorpe, in conjunction with Messrs. Irish and Marris, established the older township of Albion - perhaps the first 'closer settlement' in the colony, and it is remarkable that his original run has now been put to the same purpose. These gentlemen called a meeting in Melbourne in 1850 or early in 1851 to form an association to obtain land from the Sydney Government for the purpose above stated. Each person joining the company paid in one pound for every acre he wished to occupy in the larger area, that being the price fixed for country lands, and he was to receive an allotment in the proposed township as well. 640 acres were obtained and divided, the original holder's name appearing on a subdivision plan in the possession of Mr. James Newman. Afterwards Mr. Thorpe took up another square mile. Thus Albion - the first township on the plains - was formed, but being situated some distance from the Ballarat Road and out of the line of traffic, it has dwindled away.

The formation of the association recalls the sectarian and political quarrels of Melbourne's early days, when the battle cries of the old world were louder than they are now upon our shores. A necessary condition of association was that each member must be an Englishman; and in this spirit the name of the settlement, Albion, was chosen, while an inspection of the old plan will show that the streets are, without exception, named after English counties or families.

The man who invented the drafting gate was Abel Thorpe, an Englishman, who was one of the early pioneers of the Braybrook district. He came out in 1840 and sheep farmed on the Loddon River before coming this way.

In conjunction with two others, men named John Irish and John Barmby Marris, he established the settlement of Albion, now, in part, Sunshine, which was the first 'closer settlement' scheme in Victoria. They called a meeting in Melbourne in 1850 to form all association to obtain land from the Sydney Government for the above purpose. Each person joining the company paid in £1 for every acre he wished to occupy in the larger area, that being the price fixed for country lands, and he was to receive an allotment in the proposed township as well. In this way, 640 acres were obtained and divided. Thorpe Street, Sunshine, is named after this early pioneer.

The formation of the association was made during the sectarian and political quarrels of Melbourne's early days, when the battle cries of the old world were loud upon our shores. A necessary condition of the association was that each member must be an Englishman, and in this spirit the name of the settlement, Albion, was chosen, whilst the streets, almost without exception, were named after English counties or families. Northumberland, Hampshire, Durham, Suffolk, Westmoreland, Devonshire and Cornwall, are a few of the names which illustrate this point.