The photo was found behind a mantelpiece in the house at 6A Thistle Street while it was being renovated. It is thought to be of the first owner, Mrs Rachel Sweetnam (nee Lewis) and her husband, Thomas Edward Sweetnam. They were married on 24 September 1884 at St John's Church, Camberwell. REF: THE ARGUS 4 Oct 1884 Thomas second eldest surviving son of Matthew Sweetnam married to Rachel (Ray) third eldest daughter of Captain T.D. Lewis, Culm Haven, Camberwell. Thomas was active in land sales and variously described as a land agent, real estate agent and auctioneer. The property - Hillsboro or Hillsborough - was originally a house on a farm of 10 acres owned by her. It became 6A Thistle Street. According to the Alan Holt property register Rachel Sweetnam owned the property prior to 1890 and a family tree on Ancestry.com has that it was owned by her in c1886. It is likely that it was an investment rather than a family residence. Thomas Sweetnam was President of the Boroondara Shire 1888/89 and a councillor from 1886-1891. During his time as Shire councillor in 1887 he was charged with assaulting Charles A. Chandler, a window blind manufacturer, in response to an ‘insulting note’ left at Sweetnam’s house. Sweetnam was fined two guineas and 31 shillings. Sweetnam was also President of the Camberwell Gun Club from around 1890 – 91. In 1893 he relocated to Ferntree Gully, where he contested for the municipality’s North Riding council seat. Multiple references can be found on Trove. Note that the gentleman in this photo does bear a resemblance to Thomas Sweetman, President of Boroondara Shire in 1888-1889 found in the City of Boroondara Library Service mayoral portrait collection. No known photo of Rachel Sweetnam. Other property owners or residents are: 1890 Selina Gaylor 1900 Stephen Pullen 1910 William Murray (draftsman) 1920 George C Hughes 1930 Arthur Leslie Austin (tram driver) 1980 Mrs Lillian Evelyn Austin Sold in 1983 for $87,000. The house is still extant (January 2025). Note that we also have material / photos regarding George Hughes and family.This photo is one of the earliest photos of residences of Surrey Hills.Black and white photo of a woman and man in a buggy behind which is a simple house with a verandah at one end, surrounded by eucalypt trees.hillsboro, house names, thistle street, horse-drawn vehicle, clothing and dress, hillsborough, rachel sweetnam, rachel lewis, thomas sweetnam, selina gaylor, stephen pullen, william murray, george hughes, arthur austin, lillian austin

William Garnsworthy Bennett was at Linton's Diggings in 1856, when he married Susan Williams. Both had migrated from England. W. G. Bennett established a butcher's shop in Linton Township, and later purchased farming land and other town allotments. William and Susan Bennett had twelve children, eight of whom survived to adulthood. W. G. Bennett was a Trustee of the Linton Town Common, was elected to the Grenville Shire Council in 1871,and founded the Linton Rifle Club. After W. G. Bennett's death in 1903, the butcher's shop was run by the Todd family. William and Susan's daughter Elizabeth (Lizzie) married William Todd in 1882.Sepia photograph of a gentleman with long sideboards, moustache and beard, wearing a suit."Mr W G Bennett, Butcher"william garnsworthy bennett, w. g. bennett [butcher]

St. Patrick’s Tennis Club Opening c 1929 -1931. St Patrick Church in background. The photo was taken at St Patrick's tennis courts. Possible the opening. The tall gentleman standing near front, slightly right, hat in hand wearing button hole with his wife holding a Rosey is the mayor and Mayoress Mr. & Mrs. C. Brown. Gentleman near left front in collar & tie is Mr. Cowman.Black and white photograph of a large group of people assembled for a special occasion. Church building in background.stawell sport religion

Edendale Farm is Nillumbik Shire Council's environment centre situated in Gastons Road, Eltham between the railway and the Diamond Creek. The homestead on the property was built in 1896 and is of historical significance, being the subject of a Heritage Overlay under the Nillumbik Planning Scheme. The Edendale property was originally part of an extensive land purchase in 1852 from the Crown by pioneer Eltham farmer Henry Stooke. He initially purchased 51 acres and later expanded his holdings by purchasing another three adjacent Crown allotments extending northerly from Josiah Holloway's Little Eltham subdivision. Despite clearing the land, Stooke did not build on this property, choosing to live on his property "Rosehill" at Lower Plenty. In 1896 Thomas Cool, Club Manager of the Victoria Coffee Palace in Melbourne purchased 7 acres of the original Stooke land and built the house now known as Edendale. Cool did not farm the land, instead using it as a gentleman’s residence, retiring to Eltham at weekends. In 1918 he purchased an additional 7 acres but in 1919 he sold the property. Later owners included J.W. Cox, the Gaston family and D. Mummery. In the 1980s the Eltham Shire Council purchased the site for use as a Council depot, but this use did not proceed. Subsequently, it was used as the Council pound. The Edendale Farm Pet Education and Retention Centre was established in the summer of 1988/1989 and was set up to replace the existing dog kennels with a high standard pet retention centre. The design style of the building was established to compliment the features of the existing house. It was equipped with 10 retention pens, a veterinary room and a pet education area where school children and other interested parties learnt about pet care procedures. It was later developed into a community farm and was run by an advisory committee and in 2000 it became an Environment Centre. In early 2006 an advisory committee was established for the development of a master plan for future development at Edendale Farm. The committee included Russell Yeoman, a former long-time shire planner and founding member of the Eltham District Historical Society. At the time of filming the Master Plan and future for Edendale was about continuing to develop Edendale as a centre of environment learning and looking at expanding displays and school program, running a lot more of life-long learning and workshops around sustainable living. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p101 A sharp turn from busy Wattletree Road by the railway line, brings a surprise. Only 1.4 km from Eltham’s centre, sheep feed, blissfully unaware of the hectic suburban activity so close by. At the entrance to the 5.6ha Edendale Farm is another surprise. A work of art that looks like huge tree trunks transformed into bowler and top-hatted men. The Fences Act 1968 by Tony Trembath with Mark Cain and John Doyle, 1996, is classified by the National Trust of Australia as having Regional Significance. The title refers to a government act on disputes between neighbors over the placement of fences and boundaries. This takes a ‘wry swipe’ at a community divided by trivial squabbles. It also celebrates making do with limited resources.1 Further along on the left, the office wall is decorated with a massive Eltham Copper Butterfly, designed by Robert Tickner and made by school children with used plastic bottles and other waste material. Nillumbik Council runs Edendale as an Environmental Education Centre, to help preserve and enhance the local environment. As early as 1988 the former Eltham Shire Council realised Edendale’s importance in meeting people’s needs, particularly of children, to enjoy farmland. The centre, with the Eltham North Reserve to the north - including remnant bushland and open parkland - makes up the major part of the public open space for this area. The council considers this area will become increasingly important to the local community for recreational use.2 Educational programs aim to encourage community involvement to ensure the long-term rehabilitation and protection of natural bushland areas. Edendale is used by people of all ages - from school children to adults - for environmental programs and workshops, as well as for recreation, to enjoy the domestic animals and to picnic. Edendale is also home to the Environmental Works staff who manage reserves and roadsides and support Nillumbik Friends environmental groups. The Friends propagate plants at the nursery, which grows indigenous plants and sells these to the public.3 The centre demonstrates the sustainable living the farm teaches, with features like solar hot water and drive lighting and for the fireplace, logs of recycled cardboard. Edendale has had a varied history as a dog pound and even as a retreat for Thomas Cool, Club Manager of the Victoria Coffee Palace in Melbourne. His single-storey weatherboard house built in 1896, which still stands, was grander than most homes in Eltham. Although such buildings were common in many other parts of Melbourne, Eltham’s poverty and remoteness did not encourage such construction. The Victorian rectangular-shaped house, with a corrugated iron roof and veranda, has elegant large rooms, leadlight windows, ceiling roses, two bay windows and ornately carved wooden fireplace surrounds. Cool bought seven acres (2.8ha) from pioneer Eltham farmer Henry Stooke’s 200 acre (81ha) farm, which he had bought from the Crown in 1852. In 1918 Cool bought an extra seven acres (2.8ha) but in 1919 sold the estate to farmer John Cox. In 1933 Cox sold Edendale to Mrs Elizabeth Gaston, after whom the road leading to the centre was named. The property was owned by several Gaston family members, who called it Edendale, then by a police constable, Douglas Mummery, until the Shire of Eltham bought it in 1970. Oddly Edendale was known as Mummery’s for almost 20 years, although Mummery owned it only for a short time.4 The shire used Edendale as a dog pound until amalgamation with other municipalities in 1996. The pound then moved to the Yan Yean Road, Plenty site, which had been used by the former Diamond Valley Shire Council. To the west and north the centre is bounded by Diamond Creek and on the east by the Melbourne-Hurstbridge railway line. Part of the Research creek forms the centre’s southern boundary.This collection of almost 130 photos about places and people within the Shire of Nillumbik, an urban and rural municipality in Melbourne's north, contributes to an understanding of the history of the Shire. Published in 2008 immediately prior to the Black Saturday bushfires of February 7, 2009, it documents sites that were impacted, and in some cases destroyed by the fires. It includes photographs taken especially for the publication, creating a unique time capsule representing the Shire in the early 21st century. It remains the most recent comprehenesive publication devoted to the Shire's history connecting local residents to the past. nillumbik now and then (marshall-king) collection, edendale farm

Schuss was advertised as Victoria’s Official Ski Journal It was issued monthly from 1935 to 1961 except during the war when summer issues covered two months. This continued after the war, but it averaged 10 issues annually over its 25 year life. Schuss was published by the Ski Club of Victoria which had a membership of 38 Ski Clubs and demanded to be recognised as the prime authority on skiing in the state. The other 30 ski clubs with 85% of the members disagreed and the politics of skiing became heated. These clubs formed the Federation of Victorian Ski Clubs with their own journal, Ski Horizon. With the establishment of the Victorian Ski Association, Ski-Horizon published its last issue in Nov - Dec. 1955 and the role of the official journal was fully taken over by “Schuss”. This item is significant because it contains stories, images and information documenting the development of the ski facilities at Falls Creek.The journal features stories and events chronicling developments in Victoria and internationally. The cover features a photo of Milan Kovacic demonstrating the Wedeln Technique. Page 257 has a photo of an unknown gentleman transporting a bass on a chair lift with the suggestion that he could provide "music while you ski" to assist the Wedeln Technique. Pages 258 - 260 continued Tribute to George S Fitzgerald, Pioneer of Omeo and the Bogong High Plains from the previous issue. Page 263 reported on the success of the New Ski Tow at Falls Creek including a photo taken by Eric Burt on the opening day. An advertisement for Falls Creek Ski School was also on this page. Page 266 referred to a talk given by Bernhard Plohberger and page 275 features an advertisement for Falls Creek Ski School where Bernhard Plohberger would teach the "Wedeln Technique".schuss journal, the ski club of victoria, george fitzgerald of shannonvale, bernhard plohberger

The president, Andreas Papadopoulos, is congratulating the winners of the men's open, race a feature event of the annual Ithacan Club picnic. He is shaking hands with George Mavrokefalos (Black). Gentleman in the centre is unknown. Andreas Papadopoulos was a foundation member of the Ithacan Philanthropic Society in 1916 and secretary on the first Executive Committee. He recorded the minutes in 'katharevousa', the formal Greek language used in the judicial system, official documents, newspaper and publications at the time. He served as president from 1934-1939. A sepia photograph mounted on a grey board with a darker grey border. Two men dressed in light shorts and singlets and standing in a sports ground, are being congratulated by a man dressed in a dark suit.Written on the back: AGP - 7