Contents: • Next meeting, guest speaker; Isabel Ellender: Shire of Eltham Aboriginal Heritage • September Meeting • Spring Excursion – Maryborough • 25th Anniversary Meeting • More News Items • Andrew Ross Schoolhouse Museum • Eltham Festival • Shire Heritage Study The Shire of Eltham Historical Society was formed in October 1967. The first newsletter of the Society was issued May 1978 and has been published continuously ever since on a bi-monthly basis. With the cessation of the Shire of Eltham in late 1994, the Society's name was revised to Eltham District Historical Society and this name first appeared with issue No. 103, July 1995. The collection of the Society's newsletters provides a valuable resource on the history of the Society's activities, office bearers and committee members, guest speakers and subjects of historical interest pertinent to the former Shire of Eltham and the Eltham District.A4 photocopied newsletter distributed to membersnewsletter, eltham district historical society, shire of eltham historical society

Contents: • Next meeting, guest speaker; Bruce Nixon: The Kangaroo Ground Collection • November Meeting • Christmas Function • Andrew Ross Schoolhouse Museum • Exploring the Upper Yarra by Bettina Woodburn • Benjamin Baxter • Other News • Sages Cottage Gardens, Baxter Provender Restaurant The Shire of Eltham Historical Society was formed in October 1967. The first newsletter of the Society was issued May 1978 and has been published continuously ever since on a bi-monthly basis. With the cessation of the Shire of Eltham in late 1994, the Society's name was revised to Eltham District Historical Society and this name first appeared with issue No. 103, July 1995. The collection of the Society's newsletters provides a valuable resource on the history of the Society's activities, office bearers and committee members, guest speakers and subjects of historical interest pertinent to the former Shire of Eltham and the Eltham District.A4 photocopied newsletter distributed to membersnewsletter, eltham district historical society, shire of eltham historical society

Contents: • Next meeting, guest speaker; Grace Mitchell: My Eltham • Annual General Meeting • Grace Mitchell • 1993 – Our Year’s Program • Victorian Heritage Festival • Andrew Ross Schoolhouse Museum • List of things we need • Other Matters • Eltham Festival 1992 Eltham Discovery Walks The Shire of Eltham Historical Society was formed in October 1967. The first newsletter of the Society was issued May 1978 and has been published continuously ever since on a bi-monthly basis. With the cessation of the Shire of Eltham in late 1994, the Society's name was revised to Eltham District Historical Society and this name first appeared with issue No. 103, July 1995. The collection of the Society's newsletters provides a valuable resource on the history of the Society's activities, office bearers and committee members, guest speakers and subjects of historical interest pertinent to the former Shire of Eltham and the Eltham District.A4 photocopied newsletter distributed to membersnewsletter, eltham district historical society, shire of eltham historical society

Contents: • Next meeting, guest speaker; Mick Woiwood: Kangaroo Ground – the Highland Taken • May Meeting • Office Bearers 1995 • Subscriptions • Special general Meeting o Life membership for Peter Bassett-Smith, Russell Yeoman, Sue Law o Presentation of the Recognition o Change of name of the Society • Autumn Excursion • Andrew Ross Schoolhouse Museum • Shire History The Shire of Eltham Historical Society was formed in October 1967. The first newsletter of the Society was issued May 1978 and has been published continuously ever since on a bi-monthly basis. With the cessation of the Shire of Eltham in late 1994, the Society's name was revised to Eltham District Historical Society and this name first appeared with issue No. 103, July 1995. The collection of the Society's newsletters provides a valuable resource on the history of the Society's activities, office bearers and committee members, guest speakers and subjects of historical interest pertinent to the former Shire of Eltham and the Eltham District.A4 photocopied newsletter distributed to membersnewsletter, eltham district historical society, shire of eltham historical society

"Acquistions curently held by the Andrew Ross Schoolhouse museum Kangaroo Ground on behalf of the the Shire of Eltham Historical Society at at 15th November 1994". Includes lists of a wide range of item dated July 1987 with names of donors. Also includes item added to folder in 2019 - a handwritten list of items "held at Sweeney's" for Shillinglaw Cottage dated 2.5.1969. EDHS did not have the capacity to display artefacts although there was efforts made for Shillingalw Cottage to be a community museum when it was re-located. Artefacts were stored by EDHS members. When ARM was established some of these items were offered for their collection. 8 pagesHG Booklet 56harry gilham collection, andrew ross museum, shire of eltham historical society, judy wadham, phyllis macdonald, maree bishop, marjorie north, shallard, bob manuell, peter bassett smith, opal smith, beth mcinnes, shillinglaw cottage, collection

St Andrew’s Anglican Church, located at 228 New St, Brighton, is the oldest continuous Anglican Church in Victoria. Opened on St Andrews day in 1842, it was one of the earliest Christian churches established in the Port Phillip District. A second church building was erected on the site in 1851, followed by a third building and schoolhouse in 1857 which was enlarged in 1886. A fire in 1961 engulfed the building and renowned Australian church architect Louis Williams was appointed to be the architect of the new building. The present church complex is amongst the largest church buildings in Australasia. Using over 500,000 bricks and over 16,000 roof tiles, this space consisted of three areas: the main church building, the Pioneer chapel and the Lady chapel. The large arcaded cloister, seen in this painting, with an internal cloister garden, is extremely rare in any church in Australasia, and links the Pioneer Chapel to the narthex of the new building.John C. Paul, St. Andrew's Brighton 1971, watercolour, 44 x 30.5 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection. Purchased 1974.brighton, john c paul, st andrews, church, anglican, cloister, arcade

Wodonga township’s first school was conducted in a small rented wooden cottage from September 1857. It was called the Belvoir National School. The building of a new schoolhouse, No. 378, began in October the same year near the corner of High and South Streets. In 1872 it changed to No. 37 Wodonga. The name was changed to Wodonga State School in 1875. This name remained until which remained until 1938 when it became a Higher Elementary School. In 1951 the Victorian Education Department purchased 12 acres of land in Ariel Street for the purpose of re-siting the State School. At this stage there were 600 pupils attending the school of which 170 were in the secondary section. Initially the Infant department moved into pre-fabricated classroom on the new site and by 1954 the whole primary school had been transferred.. The building was used became the temporary home of the Wodonga High School and later the Wodonga Technical School until they moved to new premisesA black and white image of school building mounted on card.At bottom of image: "WODONGA STATE SCHOOL 1920"wodonga state school, education wodonga

One of a series of videos "Stories from the Nillumbik Shire with Geoff Paine" A brief overview of the Skipper Cottage or Whitecloud and the Bootmakers cottage (mid 1850s) with Sue Thomas, partner of Adam Skipper who have lived there for about 40 years. Includes a view inside the Bootmaker's cottage. Discusses the flood plain and how the house was moved to its present site on high ground due to flooding. The high ground came about due to dumping of rubble from the quarry where the school car park is which was used to source stone to build the schoolhouse across the road. It was moved on horse and wagon approximately 200 metres. The cottage was previously a Cobb and Co stopping station for mail. When Montsalvat was being built in the 1940s, Lena Skipper who was originally from Sydney invested her money into buying Whitecloud rather than putting money into Montsalvat like many others. Upon her death, Matcham Skipper inherited the house. Seaweed was used as insulation in the ceiling and after Matcham owned it a spark from the fireplace set the seaweed on fire and gutted the front of the house which is now all one big room. Also illustrates some of the changes to the house over the years and its construction. The Elm forest has grown naturally from suckers spread from one tree.MP4 Digital file 00:05:50; 674MBvideo recording, bootmakers cottage, lena skipper, lena thomas, matcham skipper, school residence, skipper house, whitecloud cottage

David George Clark was the first and longest-serving headmaster at Eltham State School No. 209 (Eltham Primary) in Dalton Street, Eltham. David (then aged 26) and his sister Catherine first established their ‘private’ school which began in 1855 and was held in the Wesleyan Chapel in Henry Street, a slab built, shed-like building on land acquired by the Church in January 1855. Parents lobbied the Government to establish an official school, and a School Inspector came out to investigate. He found that the Clarks were of good moral and religious character (David taught Sunday School at St. Margaret's later on) and gave them his endorsement despite some perceived technical shortcomings. In 1856 a small stone building of 40 feet by 16 feet was erected on the school's present site at the corner of Main Road and Dalton Street. Half of the building was the school, the other half was the residence of David and Catherine and their mother, also Catherine. It appears that they were well respected by the local community: David constantly battled with the authorities to have facilities (such as toilets) at the school improved. As enrolment gradually increased, over-crowding became an issue. As well, David married Elizabeth in 1863. Needing to move out of the schoolhouse, in 1866 the Clarks bought a block of land in Metery Road next to the school and built the house "Shoestring" (which still exists albeit with significant modifications). Catherine retired in 1887 followed by David in 1889 after a period of ill health and was succeeded as Head Teacher by John Brown. David died in 1911 and is buried with his wife Elizabeth in Eltham Cemetery. In Loving Memory Of D. G. & E. ClarkBorn Digitaleltham cemetery, gravestones, david george clark, elizabeth clark, eltham primary school, eltham wesleyan chapel, state school no. 209

Hubert and Beulah Alice (Simpson) Rutter had five children: Hubert Jnr. (Joe) in 1913, David in 1915, June in 1917, Donald in 1922 and Samuel in 1926. Samuel died as an infant aged 17 days. Hubert was a notable figure in Eltham and beyond, with a career as a mining manager in Australia and Malaya. He served in the AIF in the First World War. While the children were growing up at ‘Yarra Braes’, Eltham, their father was an Eltham Shire Councillor in the 1920s, shire president in 1928 and a leading figure in establishing the Shire of Eltham War Memorial League, which was responsible for building the Shire of Eltham War Memorial tower at Kangaroo Ground, near where the Shire Offices were located until the 1930s. The Rutter name was commemorated after the war at Eltham High School with one of the schoolhouses named ‘Rutter House’ and at Geelong Grammar School until the 1960s where a ‘Rutter Badge’ was awarded to junior boys for leadership. The family home, ‘Yarra Braes’ was destroyed in the devasting Black Friday bushfire, 13 January 1939 and Beulah relocated to Toorak, Hubert working in Western Australia. Tragedy struck the family again December 19, 1940 when daughter June was killed after falling from the Heidelberg train on to an adjacent track into the path of a Reservoir train at Victoria Park station. Sons David and Donald both served in the R.A.A.F. during the Second World War and were killed in action, David in Libya in 1941 and Donald in Germany in 1945. The wreck of his plane and his body were not recovered at the time and Hubert never ceased to chase down leads as to his whereabouts. Beulah never gave up hope that Donald was still alive. Hubert had received several reports shortly after the war that his son was still alive but these were ultimately accepted as misidentification. Such was the anguish of the grieving parents, their son’s plane not found to confirm the fact for certain. Hubert wrote to the Air Force in frustration, failing to understand how the plane could disappear when it crashed in a relatively populated area. Unfortunately the answers came too late for Beulah who died in 1946 and was buried in Eltham Cemetery along with her daughter June and baby Samuel. Donald’s plane was eventually located and his body recovered in 1949. He is buried in the Hanover War Cemetery, Germany. David is commemorated on Column 245, Alamein Memorial, Egypt. Both David and Donald are commemorated on Eltham’s Roll of Honour Board, commissioned by the Eltham War Memorial Trust to be hung in the Baby Health Centre, part of the Eltham War Memorial building precinct. Hubert Senior and Hubert Junior both continued to work in the mining industry in Western Australia. Hubert senior died 1957 at Plantagenet Western Australia and Hubert junior in 1979 at Gascoyne, Western Australia. Sacred to the memory of Beulah AliceBeloved wife of Hubert Rutter Died August 21st 1946 also June Beloved daughter of Beulah and Hubert Rutter Died 19th December 1940 aged 23 years Also her baby brother Samuel Died 7th October 1926, aged 17 daysBorn Digitaleltham cemetery, gravestones, beulah alice rutter, hubert rutter, june rutter, samuel rutter

The present store was built circa 1900 to replace another which had been destroyed by fire in 1898, which had replaced a predecessor on the opposite side of the road in 1865. The store was also used as a post office until early 2000s. The general store is historically significant because it has a long association with Kangaroo Ground and has been an important centre of community life for more than 120 years - Council meetings used to be conducted in the front room of the store at a time when Kangaroo Ground rivalled Eltham as the major centre of the Shire. The general store is historically and aesthetically significant as one of a group of three well preserved public buildings in the Kangaroo Ground hamlet and as a major heritage component of Kangaroo Ground which was one of the earliest settled areas of the Shire and which has the character of an English village rather than an Australian settlement. Covered under Heritage Overlay, Nillumbik Planning Scheme. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p77 Today the general store is an uncommon form of trade but the one at Kangaroo Ground continues a long tradition of friendliness and service. For more than 100 years it has been a centre of community life. In the settlement’s early days a previous general store, on the same site, was the meeting place for the Eltham District Road Board, precursor to the Eltham Shire Council. For years Kangaroo Ground rivalled Eltham as the shire’s major centre. It developed very differently from the rest of the shire as its rich soil attracted prosperous Presbyterian Scots who had large agricultural properties.1 The present store was built to replace another one, which had burnt down in 1898, after replacing a predecessor on the other side of the road in 1865. The store retains its outward character and its cellar, although inside it has changed considerably. It now includes a café and offers local produce, milk bar products, grocery items, gas and other fuel. Until early this century the store was also used as a post office. Kangaroo Ground’s first postmaster was Andrew Ross, who first operated from the school opposite, then from his hotel next to the present tennis court site. The first postmaster at this store was Edward Weller, followed in 1868 by James Anderson. At that time a mail coach ran three times a week between Eltham and Woods Point through Kangaroo Ground, Yarra Flats, Healesville, Fernshaw, Marysville and Matlock. Some early postmasters were Rodger, McLaughlin, Greenway and Burns.2 Burns was the only postmaster operating from the store. The others operated from Andrew Ross’s hotel. The mail service improved in 1892 when coaches ran from Melbourne to Queenstown (now known as St Andrews) and changed horses at Kangaroo Ground twice daily. The only telegraph office in the district at that time was at the Kangaroo Ground Post Office. Telegrams to outlying areas such as Queenstown and Kinglake had to be sent by hand. A local resident in the early 1900s often rode his pony to deliver telegrams and was paid one shilling a mile porterage. The store has also contributed to the lighter side of Kangaroo Ground life. During the years that Con Wraight owned the store, between 1906 and 1946, a new piano was needed for the Kangaroo Ground Hall, so monthly dances were held to raise money. When the piano was bought, a grand ball was held in the Kangaroo Ground Hall to celebrate the occasion and supper followed at Mr Wraight’s barn, cleaned especially for the occasion. Every New Year’s Eve, a Scottish piper would set off from between the store and the schoolhouse, playing his pipes, and march to Cameron’s Pigeon Bank homestead on the Kangaroo Ground-Warrandyte Road. Between 1914 and 1922, the store was a station for the Kangaroo Ground Bush Fire Brigade’s tanker. It consisted of a wooden barrel on a cart, fitted with a hand-pump, and stood on the side of the road outside the store. Joy Ness, who belonged to an early Kangaroo Ground family, moved here in 1940 and recalled her impressions of the store at that time: ‘It was a very dark shop stained in a dark colour and on the walls just below the ceiling hung hurricane lamps, ropes, kitchen utensils and other goods for sale. ‘Goods were weighed on a brass scale with weights, on which mothers also weighed their babies, because the nearest Infant Welfare Centre was at Greensborough. The bacon was cut with a hand slicer and later a pot-bellied stove warmed the store. Farmers and other locals used to gossip around it as they collected their daily mail. In those days the butter and cheese were kept in the cellar as no ice was delivered for cooling.’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, eltham-yarra glen road, kangaroo ground general store

Nillumbik Shire Council transferred to the former Diamond Valley Shire Offices in Greensborough after municipal restructuing. The offices became the official Nillumbik Shire Council Offices on 16 October 1995. The former Shire of Diamond Valley Civic Centre or Shire Office building was officially opened on 26th February 1972. Archtiects were A.K. Lines, McFarlane & Marshall and it was built by L.U. Simon Pty Ltd, The Diamond Valley Shire had been created in 1964 from part of the City of Heidelberg. On December 15, 1994 the Shire of Nillumbik was established. Under the Council amalgamations imposed by the Kennett government, the Shire of Eltham, Shire of Diamond Valley and City of Heidelberg ceased to exist with the establishment of Nillumbik Shire Council and the City of Banyule.The new Nillumbik shire surrended the west riding from Eltham to Banyule but in place gained parts of the former Diamond Valley Shire which itself had been created in 1964 from parts of the City of Heidelberg. Three unelected and non-local Commissioners were put in place by the government bringing democracy into question by many members of the local community. The Commissioners determined to abandon the former Shire of Eltham offices located in Main Road, Eltham and in turn occupy the former Shire of Diamond Valley offices located at the boundary of the new shire with Banyule, in Civic Drive, Greensborough. In July 1996 the Commissioners sold the former Eltham Shire Offices and had them bulldozed leading to many years of communiity protest over the process and future development applications. The site has remained vacant ever since. Published: Nillumbik Now and Then /​ Marguerite Marshall 2008; photographs Alan King with Marguerite Marshall.; p43 It was the need for roads that led to this district’s first council. In 1853 a committee was formed to improve the rough roads, some in Kangaroo Ground being almost impassable in winter.1 The committee fundraised by voluntary levies and grants to improve in particular, the main road between Kangaroo Ground and the Plenty River. From this committee arose the Eltham District Road Board, in 1856, which was the precursor to the Eltham Shire Council. The Board’s first chairman was Kangaroo Ground farmer, John Barr. Secretary was the former committee’s secretary, Andrew Ross, Kangaroo Ground’s first school teacher, and founder of the district newspaper, The Evelyn Observer.2 Most of the board’s income came from a toll-house north of the Lower Plenty Bridge, which funded such projects as a road from Kangaroo Ground to the Caledonia Diggings. In 1871 the Shire of Eltham was proclaimed, with its boundaries the same as those of the Road Board, and Councillor A Donaldson of Kangaroo Ground was the first president. Eltham was at the southern tip of the shire, which extended north to Kinglake and east beyond Yarra Glen. In 1878, part of Kinglake was added to the shire, while the area east of Watts River, near Healesville was removed. In 1912, then again in 1958, the shire was further reduced. Yarra Glen, Steels Creek, Tarrawarra, parts of Healesville and Christmas Hills, were transferred to the Shire of Healesville. In 1972 a smaller area, at Kinglake, was transferred to the Shire of Yea, leaving 277 square kilometres in the Eltham Shire. Perhaps no other Victorian municipality has had so many meeting places. Although from 1858 to 1904, the council convened at the office in the home of Secretary Charles Wingrove, the board, and later the council, also met at other more central locations.3 The board moved from the Fountain of Friendship Hotel to the Eltham Courthouse, to the Kangaroo Ground schoolhouse. It then met at the Kangaroo Ground Hotel, which some considered put it in danger of interruptions by people ‘the worse for liquor’.4 In 1885 the council met at the hall on Mr J Donaldson’s land at Kangaroo Ground. After Wingrove’s retirement, the council rented space at the Kangaroo Ground General Store and Post Office. Then, in 1917, the council bought the former office of The Evelyn Observer, after its printing works transferred to Hurstbridge. In 1934, fire destroyed the shire office, which was temporarily relocated to the Kangaroo Ground home of Shire Secretary, Mr P J McMahon. In 1941, the shire office moved to a new building (which included a public hall) in Eltham, at the corner of Arthur Street and Main Road, where the Eltham Village Shopping Centre was eventually built. Growth required new offices, which opened in 1965, on the former Shillinglaw property in Main Road.5 In 1994, as part of municipal restructuring under the Jeff Kennett Liberal Government, most of the Eltham Shire formed part of the new Shire of Nillumbik. It joined with the north section of the Diamond Valley Shire and parts of the Healesville and Whittlesea municipalities. The Diamond Valley Shire had been created in 1964, from part of the City of Heidelberg. Turbulence followed Nillumbik Shire’s formation. Under the Commissioners the council transferred to the former Diamond Valley Shire offices in Greensborough, and the Eltham council offices were demolished. In March 1997 the first five-member Nillumbik Council was elected. But, in October 1998, the government suspended the council and appointed an administrator . Early in 1999, shire residents voted to increase councillors to nine: comprising five ward councillors and four shire-wide councillors. Elections were held in March 1999. Then, before the March 2002 elections, nine new wards were created.6 In 2008 these were reduced to seven. Today [2008] the council governs a varied population of more than 60,000 people living in townships and on bush properties in the green wedge.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, greensborough, nillumbik shire council offices, civic drive

David Gordon Collection.

This photograph shows the Protestant Hall on Nepean Highway Cheltenham, which at the time of the photograph was used by the Returned Sailors' Soldiers' and Aimen's Imperial Leage of Australia (RSSAILA). The building facade, World War I memorials, fire station building and road plantation are also in view. The Protestants Hall was built by the Cheltenham Protestant Hall Company Limited in 1886. The hall has been used for a wide variety of purposes; in earlier times it served as the Sunday School for the Methodist Home for Children, and later as a schoolhouse when the Beaumaris School (now Cheltenham State School) No 84 met with overcrowding problems. It was also a popular venue for annual balls and regular dances held by church groups and sporting organisations. The City of Moorabbin purchased the building in the 1920's for use by the Returned Soldiers and Sailors League, in whose hands it remained until the late 1970s when it was taken over by a catering firm. During the 1920s, and right up to the late 1950s, it also served as Cheltenham's picture theatre. The three memorial columns, one from the South African War, one from World War I and one from World War II previously located in front of the hall were relocated when Nepean Highway was widened. The Protestant Hall still stands at 1261 Nepean Highway CheltenhamBlack and white digital image depicting three buildings. The right hand building bears a sign that reads RSSAILA. There are trees and a bench seat in the foreground. There is a World War I memorial pictured. world war i, world war ii, protestant hall, cheltenham, returned sailors' soldiers' and aimen's imperial leage of australia (rssaila), returned and service's league (rsl)