Frank Henry Rennie was born on the 20^th of August 1895 in Old Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The son of John and Agnes Rennie, his father was a carter at a woollen mill. Frank departed London on the ship “Benalla” on the 23^rd of February 1922 and arrived in Melbourne on the 13^th of April 1922. He arrived with his younger brother Allan (b. 16/7/1897). Both men were listed as being millers on the passenger list.

On the 1924 electoral roll, Frank and Allan were listed as living in Brunswick and both were factory workers but soon got jobs as bus drivers in the area.

In November of that year, the two applied to run a bus route between Mont Albert and Box Hill Station which was approved pending local council approval. In 1925, they sought to have it start from the corner of Canterbury and Station Streets.

They inaugurated the route from Box Hill to Devon Street via Station Street in 1929, which received number 67A. It was operated by just one bus, bought second hand.

Allan moved into 95 Station Street, which served as his residence and their original depot. Meanwhile Frank moved to 31 Edinburgh Street which was off Canterbury Road near Station Street. Frank remained there for the rest of his life.

They operated as Rennie Bros and purchased their second bus when the route was extended to Riversdale Road in 1935. The route was further extended to Burwood in 1937. The second bus was their first new bus and was a Grummet bodied Ford.

In 1938 Allan moved to 373 Station Street which was again used as their depot.  By 1946, the service still only had two licences. There were 3 by 1948 and 4 by 1952 as the area became more settled and there was demand for higher frequencies.

Allan retired in 1954, and Rennie Brothers became F H Rennie & Son with the “son” being John Rennie.

In 1956, a variation to the route via Bennettswood was introduced and this eventually became a separate route.

Another branch off this was operated south as far as Jordanville from October 1958, soon continuing to Waverley Rd from June 1959, before being extended to Chadstone in October 1965.

The extension of the run ultimately required an additional 4 buses, and required a few buses to be housed at Frank’s place in Edinburgh Street. It was decided that a new depot was required and 285 Station Street was purchased in the late 1950s.

A branch service of 67A between Bennettswood and Burwood Tram Terminus began service around 1968 and was given the number 766 in 1971, and but soon closed in 1973. These trips attempted to generate new patronage by providing local coverage along Waratha Ave, Puetra Ave and Parer St (north of Burwood Hwy).

The Box Hill – Wattle Park – Burwood portion was neatly renumbered from 67A to 767 in the 1971 renumbering,  however would only last in this form until 1981.

The Chadstone variation of 67A (via Benettswood & Jordanville) received its own route number, the 768..

Frank Rennie died 26/3/1973, having continued to work until 1972. Allan Rennie died 4/3/1978 having moved to Blackburn.

Later that year on 19/7/1978, tram services were extended east along Burwood Hwy from Warrigal Rd to Middleborough Rd, East Burwood, duplicating Rennie’s 767.

Patronage to Burwood understandably fell and the decision was made to realign 767 to Chadstone during shopping hours, off-set with the existing 768 for a combined 20 minute frequency. This took effect on 2/3/1981. Early morning and peak periods saw some continued inter-working between both runs at Bennettswood.

Travel between Burwood and Box Hill remained possible using Ventura’s trunk Route 700 service via Warrigal Rd and Surrey Hills.

Sale to Hawthorn Bus Service
John Rennie continued to manage the company now trading as Rennie’s Bus Lines and built it up to 13 buses. 

The company was sold to Vic Haoust’s Hawthorn BS on 1/7/1986 along with the depot and its 13 buses. The Rennie’s trading name was retained, with the Station St depot also remaining operational.

The final vehicle purchases by Rennie’s were a pair of Volvo B10M Volgrens, the first arriving only a couple of weeks before the sale (CVL 390) and the second in October 1986 (CXR 904). They soon became #141 & #140 in the Ventura fleet, and later #312 & #311 from 2006. These proved a wise investment, both reaching 25 years in service and ultimately withdrawn in early 2012.

The expanded entity collectively known as “Vic Hauost Group” would go on to purchase Willis Bus Service in Mitcham exactly a year later. Willis ran Route 765 (Nunawading – Mitcham via Forest Hill & Vermont) along being a joint operator of the Route 888 Springvale Rd bus with Ventura and Grenda’s.

A program to repaint former Rennie’s and Willis vehicles into the red & blue livery was commenced, while buses began to carry yellow run numbers, a familiar sight on Hawthorn buses.

Things moved rapidly however with the ALP State Goverment’s push to consolidate smaller operators, and a decision was made to sell their entire route service operation to rival Ventura. This transaction was finalised on 21/7/1987 and routes, buses and drivers were all relocated to Ventura’s East Burwood depot.

The Hawthorn Coaches charter business was retained by Vic Haoust (a downsizing from 55 to 20 vehicles at the time) and renamed Crown Coaches as part of this new direction. The remaining vehicles relocated to the old Willis depot in Vermont, with the Auburn yard auctioned off in November 1987.

John Rennie retired in Yarrawonga and passed away on 8 January 2006.

Wattle Park network changes
The local Wattle Park & Bennettswood network has seen successive revisions and improvements in the years since Ventura took over, with more recent changes reflecting the growth of Deakin University’s Burwood campus.

The first tranche took place on 30/9/1991 as part of a wider program of service rationalisations across Melbourne:

• Route 732 (Box Hill – Upper Ferntree Gully) now operating directly along Station Street from Box Hill to Burwood Hwy, removing the overlap with Route 733 on Middleborough Rd & the Eley Rd dog-leg
• Increased frequency for Route 735 (Box Hill – Blackburn South) from hourly to half-hourly, although still no Saturday service
• Route 767 (Box Hill – Chadstone via Wattle Park) now diverted via Haig St, Box Hill South on selected trips. It was also extended to Southland, incorporating former Route 636.
• Route 768 (Box Hill – Chadstone via Bennettswood) closed due to realignment of Route 732. Frequency of buses in common sections of Routes 767 & 768 dropped from 20 mins to 30 mins interpeak.

Route 700 (Box Hill – Mordialloc) was upgraded to SmartBus standard on 14/6/2005 with a faster path into Box Hill via Riversdale Rd, Wattle Park & Station St. From 25/7/2005 the paths of Routes 735 & 767 between Box Hill & Riversdale Rd were swapped, with Route 767 now travelling exclusively along Elgar Rd & more local Route 735 incorporating the Haig St deviation.

The following year on 9/10/2006 saw Route 767 gain Sunday buses & 9pm finishes as part of the inaugural rollout of the metropolitan-wide minimum standards program. This also saw the end of the long-standing summer holiday timetable, with reduced peak services every 30 mins (rather than the standard 20 mins).

Route 700 was superseded by the 86km-long Route 903 Red Orbital to Altona from 20/4/2009.

A focus to better serve Deakin Uni following the 2010 Manningham-Whitehorse-Monash Bus Review saw Route 281 extended south along Elgar Rd (on 5/4/2010). This was a cost neutral change coinciding with the closure of the Eltham – Templestowe segment to avoid duplication with the new Route 902 Green Orbital.

This was soon followed by the introduction of an infrequent Route 768 shuttle during university trimesters 1 & 2 (from 19/7/2010), oddly travelling via Station St & Canterbury Rd. Both routes entered the Deakin University campus for the first time, while Route 767 continued to serve stops on Elgar Rd and Burwood Hwy. This was a “coming home” for Route 768 after it was allocated to a local Karingal – Langwarrin service from 2006 to 2009.

Routes 281 & 903 would pass from Ventura’s NationalBus arm to Transdev on 4 August 2013 and later Kinetic from 31 January 2022.

During the 2014 academic year Deakin Uni trailed a private express shuttle from Surrey Hills. The ALP would then promise a Box Hill express shuttle in the lead-up to the 2014 state election. Route 201 began operation on 22 February 2016, running at 20 min headways during all three trimesters. The “all-stops” 768 shuttle continued to limp along unchanged.

Most recently, on 15/10/2023, Route 903 was rerouted to operate via Burwood Hwy and Elgar Rd past Deakin Uni. This effectively reinstated the old Route 767 Burwood – Box Hill service after an absence of more than 42 years. In conjunction, the infrequent Route 768 trips were folded into the 201 express timetable (now every 15 mins) while Route 281 was truncated at Box Hill.

With thanks to Craig Halsall for network notes from 1991 onwards.