Built around 1841, St Ninian’s, located at 10 Miller Street, was one of Brighton’s earliest buildings. It is best known as being the home of merchant shipping agent, politician and former British naval officer, George Ward Cole between the 1840s and 1902. Following the death of George Ward Cole in 1879 and his wife in 1898, their only surviving child, Margaret, sold the property to Sir Thomas Bent, who subdivided the land in the early 1900s. The property was demolished in 1974. John C. Paul, St. Ninian's north elevation c.1841 1971, watercolour, 29.5 x 42.3 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection. Purchased 1974.st ninian's, brighton, historic house, george ward cole, thomas bent

Built around 1841, St Ninian’s, located at 10 Miller Street, was one of Brighton’s earliest buildings. It is best known as being the home of merchant shipping agent, politician and former British naval officer, George Ward Cole between the 1840s and 1902. Following the death of George Ward Cole in 1879 and his wife in 1898, their only surviving child, Margaret, sold the property to Sir Thomas Bent, who subdivided the land in the early 1900s. The property was demolished in 1974. John C. Paul, St. Ninian's south elevation c.1841 1971, watercolour, 29.5 x 43 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection. Purchased 1974.st ninian's, brighton, historic house, george ward cole, thomas bent

Built around 1841, St Ninian’s, located at 10 Miller Street, was one of Brighton’s earliest buildings. It is best known as being the home of merchant shipping agent, politician and former British naval officer, George Ward Cole between the 1840s and 1902. Following the death of George Ward Cole in 1879 and his wife in 1898, their only surviving child, Margaret, sold the property to Sir Thomas Bent, who subdivided the land in the early 1900s. The property was demolished in 1974. John C. Paul, St. Ninian's servants' quarters 1975, watercolour, 27.5 x 39.6 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collectionst ninian's, brighton, historic house, george ward cole, thomas bent, servants' quarters

Built around 1841, St Ninian’s, located at 10 Miller Street, was one of Brighton’s earliest buildings. It is best known as being the home of merchant shipping agent, politician and former British naval officer, George Ward Cole between the 1840s and 1902. Following the death of George Ward Cole in 1879 and his wife in 1898, their only surviving child, Margaret, sold the property to Sir Thomas Bent, who subdivided the land in the early 1900s. The property was demolished in 1974. John C. Paul, St. Ninian's eastern courtyard c.1841 1971, watercolour, 28.5 x 40.8 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection. Purchased 1974.st ninian's, brighton, historic house, george ward cole, thomas bent, courtyard

politician, mayor, premier, bust, sculpture, margaret baskerville, speaker, member of parliament, member of lower house, local government, councillor, brighton, public art, bayside, thomas bent, unveiling, ceremony, mayoress, sculptor, councillor wilson, crowd, 1913, nepean highway, mrs bent, elizabeth bleazby, fountain, memorial, john madden, lieutenant governor

This work is a plaster maquette of a large bronze statue of politician and land speculator Sir Thomas Bent by Margaret Baskerville that is located on the corner of Bay Street and Nepean Highway, Brighton.Margaret Baskerville, Sir Thomas Bent c.1911, patinated plaster, 55 x 49 x 49 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection. Donated by Charles Douglas Richardson, 1931.patinated plaster thomas bent, politician, mayor, premier, bust, sculpture, margaret baskerville, land speculator, speaker, local government, councillor, member of lower house, portrait

When Thomas Bent, politician and land speculator, was appointed Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1892, a number of local Brighton constituents and supporters raised money to present him with an oil portrait. Bent had been a member for Brighton for 21 years, and the painting was seen as a way of showing their appreciation of his services to the Brighton constituency, as well as congratulating him to his new position as Speaker. In June 1892, British/Australian landscape and portrait artist Charles E. Gordon-Frazer was given the commission to paint the portrait. Thomas Bent is depicted as standing in his Speaker's robe on the dais beneath the canopy in the Legislative Assembly Chamber in the act of addressing the House. He wears the traditional Speaker’s dress of a black silk and gold laced robe over a three-piece black suit, lace jabot and cuffs, buckled shoes and a ceremonial long wig. The top of the gold parliamentary mace sits on the right of the work near the frame's edge.sir thomas bent, thomas bent, speaker, mayor, premier, brighton, moorabbin, land speculator, local government, councillor, official, member of lower house, portrait, parliament, ceremonial robes, legislative assembly, jabot, wig, mace

Arguably Margaret Baskerville’s most famous work, the bronze statue of politician and land speculator Sir Thomas Bent was Baskerville’s first public commission and a significant turning point in her career. Originally located in the centre of the Nepean Highway, in Brighton, it became somewhat of signpost for many Melbournians until it was relocated to the corner of Bay Street in 1980.The statue of Sir Thomas Bent is of historic and social significance to the State of Victoria. The statue is historically significant for commemorating Bent's long, active and infamous political career in Victoria. He was responsible for many important speculative ventures both within his electorate and in the wider context of Victoria. Although not without thought for personal gain, Bent was a committed advocate of public utilities, railways, roads, tramways and gasworks. The statue is historically significant as the first large public commission given to a woman sculptor in Victoria. This work helped the sculptor, Margaret Baskerville, preserve her name as Victoria's first professional woman sculptor. The statue is socially significant as testimony to the late nineteenth century land boom and the financial and political corruption and scandals that accompanied it. https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/12614bronze and granite thomas bent, politician, mayor, premier, bust, sculpture, margaret baskerville, speaker, member of parliament, member of lower house, local government, councillor, brighton, public art, bayside

The fountain was commissioned by Elizabeth Beazby, daughter of Sir Thomas and Mrs Bent, and unveiled 27 October 1913 by Mrs Wilson, Mayoress of Brighton.The fountain is of historical interest and aesthetic significance. The memorial is a good example of the smaller commemorative work of sculptor Margaret Baskerville. The memorial commemorates the wife of notable local resident, Sir Thomas Bent, who was a long-standing parliamentary representative, Mayor of Brighton and Premier of Victoria from 1904-1909.bronze and granite thomas bent, politician, mayor, premier, bust, sculpture, margaret baskerville, speaker, member of parliament, member of lower house, local government, councillor, brighton, public art, bayside, mrs bent, memorial, fountain, drinking fountain, cherubs, elizabeth bleazby

politician, mayor, premier, bust, sculpture, margaret baskerville, speaker, member of parliament, member of lower house, local government, councillor, brighton, public art, bayside, thomas bent, unveiling, ceremony, mayoress, sculptor, councillor wilson, crowd, 1913, nepean highway, mrs bent, elizabeth bleazby, fountain, memorial

sir thomas bent, mayor, politician, brighton, speaker, premier, land speculator, local government, councillor, member of lower house, portrait, wig, jabot, government, photograph

sir thomas bent, thomas bent, speaker, mayor, premier, brighton, moorabbin, land speculator, local government, councillor, official, member of lower house, portrait, parliament

Artist unknown, Sir Thomas Bent 1909, oil on canvas, 29.5 x 24.5 cm. Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection.sir thomas bent, mayor, policitian, portrait, brighton, speaker, premier, councillor, land speculator, local government, member of lower house, mayor of brighton, premier of victoria

council, meeting, brighton, town clerk, councillor, reporters, press table, elizabeth bleazby, city engineer, g. woodward, hallkeeper, c.e. tuxen, j.h. taylor, mayor, portrait, thomas bent, local government, brighton town hall, cr. j.a. grant, cr. f.e. rogers, cr. a.r. horton, cr. a. giles, cr. e. bleazby, cr. j.v. satchwell, cr. j.a. kennedy, cr. h.e. hall, cr. e.m. young, cr. r. eustace tracey, cr. j. redapple

This capelet belonged to Ellen Grace Snowball, nee Anketell, (1866-1945), who lived with husband Oswald Robinson Snowball (1859-1928) at 'Wolsingham', 11 Boxshall Street, Brighton. Oswald Snowball was a solicitor and politician who was active in the Freemasons and the Orange Order. Active in Protestant moral crusades during the 1990s, he was a vocal opponent of liquor and gambling and advocated Bible reading in public schools. In 1909 he succeeded Sir Thomas Bent as Brighton's representative in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, a seat he held for close to twenty years until his death in 1928. During his last year of life, despite serious illness, he served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly under the Hogan government.White ostrich feather capelet. Feathers sewn onto crescent-shaped cream cotton fabric, with an elaborate silk tassel at either end.ellen grace snowball, ellen grace anketell, oswald snowball, capelet, ostrich feather, 1920s

"A perpetual spring in the adjacent creek provided a steady supply of fresh water to the site on which the homestead is built. Although we can not be certain of the identity of the builder, the first stage of ‘The Willows’ homestead appears to have been constructed in the mid 1850s. The house is situated on Crown Allotment No.1 (No Section), Parish of Kororoit, an allotment of 5 acres 3 roods 4 perches. Although it had surveyed the land, the Crown did not offer it for sale until 22nd November 1861, at which time it was purchased by Charles March Williams. (Although the property is directly opposite and immediately adjacent to the Township of Melton, and was sold as ‘Suburban Allotment 33’, it was situated within the Shire of Braybrook rather than the Shire of Melton until 1917.) Considerable improvements had taken place on the land prior to the Crown sale. When CM Williams purchased the allotment in November 1861 he paid £23.5.0 for the land itself, and valued the improvements at £400. Even allowing for some exaggeration by Williams, this is an extremely high valuation for improvements, and must have included a house. Some local research has claimed that in 1858 Williams had taken over the interest of a Mr Parkinson in the property, and that Parkinson built the house upon taking possession of the land c.1855. It was definitely built by 1861, when a map shows a square building on the site marked as ‘House’. The property is important in the district for its association with the establishment of the pound. The district pound had been established in 1854, when George Scarborough of Mount Cottrell (Mt Cottrell Road, south of Greigs Road) was appointed pound-keeper. Scarborough resigned in 1857. The pound was moved to Melton following agitation from local farmers and Charles March Williams appointed pound-keeper on 26th April 1858. Williams, the son of a doctor, had been born in London. Reminiscences of local residents of the time, as recorded in the Express newspaper, note Williams’ success in breeding horses on the property. Sales of up to 60 guineas were noted. Whether this was from Williams’s own stock or from unclaimed pound stock is not made clear. Williams appeared before a government inquiry in 1860 and advocated registration of all stock brands in the State. Williams died in 1862 leaving a widow, Catherine, and five living children aged 15 years to five months. At the time of his death Williams had entered negotiations with one Matthew Devenish and had a mortgage of £100 on allotments 1 and 2, Parish of Kororoit. Catherine Williams was appointed pound-keeper on 2 September 1863, with her eldest son Charles as her assistant. Her tenure was short for on 22nd March 1864 George Minns senior paid Matthew Devenish £135 for allotments 1 and 2 Parish of Kororoit (considerably less than Williams had claimed the property was worth in 1861) and on the same day paid William Tullidge £45 for the adjoining allotments 3 and 4. In April 1867, James Ebden Minns, the newly married son of George senior became the owner of The Willows property having entered into a mortgage arrangement with his father to the extent of £200. At the time George Minns was residing in Kaarimba having left Melton in 1867 for a short trip to England and upon his return having taken up a selection in the Kaarimba district with his son Frederick who had a hotel licence there. James paid out the mortgage on 2-1-1873. James Minns was appointed pound-keeper in 1872; in 1885 the pound was moved elsewhere and Minns purchased the old pound site and added it to his farm. The Willows residence underwent a major change about this time. A two room extension, similar in style but with a lower elevation was added to the original rear of the house with a chimney matching the distinctive originals. Window arrangements did not match the original but became a feature of the façade when the new addition became the front of the building. Six buttresses were attached to the east and west walls of the old building, two to the south wall and the whole rendered with mortar to give the appearance of dressed stonework around the windows. Galvanized iron was placed over the shingles and a verandah added on three sides. By 1876 The Willows was the homestead for a thriving mixed farm of 340 acres of which 156 was rented from a H. Ruck. In October of that year the Australasian travelling reporter visited and reported on the property. In common with the nearly every other property in the district the farm had ‘recently’ (generally within the last two years) abandoned cultivation of crops, and turned over completely to cattle pasture. Butter making was the principal occupation of the farm, which had about 50 head of cattle, a large proportion of which were milking cows. The reporter also noted that a ‘large number of pigs are kept upon this farm and are found to be very profitable stock’. Their manure was used in an orchard and garden in which ‘large quantities of lucerne and prairie grass are grown for the use of stock when ordinary feed is scarce’. Two bores attached to deep brick lined wells supplied water for the house in addition to the farm. A commodious timber barn and necessary sheds had also been constructed. Access to the property was improved following the construction of the bluestone ford across the creek c.1887, when the recreation ground came into use. Prior to this date it may have been that the crossing referred to as ‘Mr Minns bridge’ was used. This appears to have been a flimsy structure and has but two references in Council reports in the Melton Express in the 1880’s. It is believed that in the late 1890’s a timber building was added near the rear of the building to house a kitchen, ablutions and laundry rooms and rooms for seasonal workers. This was attached to the house by means of a trellised walkway using the original front entry to the house (long since the back door). A photograph of this building appears in a local history of Melton. This was demolished in recent decades during the period when the house was tenanted (after the Minns family had left). James Minns son, George, took over the property following his marriage to Alice Walsh in 1903. James and Caroline moved into a house on the former JH Games property at the eastern end of Henry Street. George held the position of Shire Secretary for Melton for 40 years. He was a most prominent member of the community being Secretary to, among others, the Melton Coursing Club, the Shooting Club and the Cemetery Trust. He also rode with the hunting parties who sported across the Plains and were entertained at Mount Kororoit. George and Alice had one son, Norman who followed his father into local government and became Secretary of the Shire of Werribee completing a record term in this position. George retired to Werribee in 1951, where he died in 1965. The National Trust records note that James Ebden Minns and his sons were ‘leading men of the district, Justices of the Peace, and Shire Councillors’. It claims that Sir Thomas Bent was a frequent visitor. The Willows passed into the hands of George’s grandson, Bruce Minns and the property was let for a number of years. In the 1960s it became vacant and was subject to vandalism. Major structural problems arose with the part demolition of the roof, the loss of windows and doors and holes dug into and under the floorboards. The outbuildings were particularly targeted. Following widespread public support, the Shire of Melton purchased the house, with 3.75 acres of land, in 1972. In 1975 the Shire of Melton and the Melton and District Historical Society were successful in nominating the building for National Trust classification, and then the Australian Heritage Commission’s Register of the National Estate. The AHC particularly noted its ‘townscape importance’. It was envisaged that the farmhouse would form ‘a picturesque centrepiece to Melton’s planned … historical park, along with Dunvegan bluestone cottage … and similar structures as they become available.’ In a time of great Melton’s ‘satellite city’ development the Council spelt out its broader vision in its submission to the AHC: ‘Melton is destined to become, by the end of the present century, a city of between 75,000 and 100,000 people. Significant relics of the past, such as ‘The Willows’, regrettably will be rare in that situation. It is essential that sufficient tangible links with Melton’s pioneering days remain to promote in the new community a sense of history and continuity’. Under the direction of ‘The Willows’ Restoration Committee and consultant architect John Hitch, all outbuildings, with the exception of the garage and toilet, were demolished and the dwelling house restored. Finances were provided by the Shire of Melton and the National Estate Grants Program, and considerable amount of voluntary labour was provided by the local community. The orchard was removed, and remaining wooden buildings were relocated to provide an open vista for visitors to the Park. The property was furnished with donations from district families keen to preserve this example of pioneer life in the area. The Willows became the headquarters of the Melton and District Historical Society". Invitation to the family reunion at the Willowslocal identities, pioneer families

Photographic portrait of Francis (Frank) Thomas Le Page. Frank is the oldest child of Nicholas and Rachel (nee Addy), who arrived in Melbourne in 1852 from Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Nicholas was a tailor and Rachel was a dressmaker. They originally made their home in Prahran and set up a business but about two years later decided to take up market gardening. The Le Page family bought property in the Two Acre Village, Cheltenham. They had nine other children. At 14 years of age Frank was driving his father’s horse and dray to Melbourne with the vegetables they grew - standing backed in to the footpath in Little Collins Street, at the old Eastern Market. At 18 years of age, and the other members of the family growing up, Francis decided to seek work outside, and was employed as a gardener by Mr Budd, who conducted the Brighton Grammar School. It was whilst employed there that the late Sir Thomas Bent and he became friends, a friendship which lasted throughout their lives. Sir Thomas was then on the land also. Frank was an active member of social and sporting groups in the region. In 1876 Frank married Mary Geraghty and they made Cheltenham their home. He became a councillor for the then Shire of Moorabbin, a position he held for 25 years, and in 1902 was elected President of the Shire of Moorabbin. He was also a Justice of the Peace and occupied the bench at the Cheltenham Court. The next generation of Le Pages continued to be heavily involved in the civic life of the region with Frank and Mary's son Everest being elected mayor twice.Black and white image of Francis (Frank) Thomas Le Page.

Double sided A4 sheet, on plain paper, printed in colour, titled "A Century of electric trams - A Melbourne celebration" looking at the celebration by Yarra Trams of the century of electric trams in Melbourne - particularly the St Kilda Brighton VR line, Sir Thomas Bent, and its closure in 1959. Seven copies held. Has the RSL, Shine of Remembrance, 100 years of trams and Yarra Trams logos.trams, tramways, vr, st kilda brighton, opening, tramcars, centenary, 100 years of electric trams